1941

During the special anniversary celebrations, schoolchildren and the people of Germany are still told and shown how the cruel Soviet Union tried to starve the population of West Berlin in 1948, and how valiant American aviation organized an air bridge to the city blocked by the Reds and saved the western Berliners from exhaustion.  In Berlin there is even a museum of "allies" - in which the truth is nothing about the USSR.  Apparently this country, which freed the Germans from Nazism, is not considered an ally. Now, many years after those events, it still makes sense to restore the historical truth. When Germany was defeated, in 1945 the USA, USSR, England and France decided to temporarily liquidate the German central authorities and divided the defeated country into four zones of occupation. In Berlin was located the allied governing body of Germany as a whole - the Control Council.  In order to emphasize the all-Union significance of this body, the USSR agreed...

By Andrius Dirmeikis BY THE TIME LEND-LEASE STARTED TO ARRIVE IN LARGE NUMBERS, THE SOVIETS HAD ALREADY TURNED THE TIDE Many people, who are poorly educated about the timeline of lend-lease, have a false notion that lend-lease came at the most crucial time for the Soviets and it prevented the collapse of the USSR. In actuality, if you look at the numbers, it becomes clear that most of the lend-lease deliveries arrived after 1943, meaning that in the most crucial battles the Soviets fought largely on their own supplies. Only 13% of lend-lease supplies arrived in 1941-42. For example, out of nearly 380,000 trucks that the Soviets had in early 1943, only 5% were imported lend-lease trucks. Imported firepower, mainly aircraft and tanks, was prominent in the first trickle of aid in 1941-42. Meanwhile, 64% of lend-lease supplies arrived in 1944-45. If year 1943 is included as well, than 87% of all lend-lease supplies arrived in 1943-1945. And if year 1943 is analyzed separately as well...

        Concluding the Soviet-German non-aggression pact in August 1939, the Soviet Union did not doubt for a moment that sooner or later Hitler would attack the USSR. Such confidence in the Soviet Union stemmed from the basic political and military orientation of the Nazis. It was confirmed by the practical activities of the Nazi government for the entire pre-war period.         Therefore, the first task of the Soviet Government was to create an “eastern” front against Hitler aggression, build a line of defense at the western borders of the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands, and thus organize a barrier against the unhindered advance of German troops to the East. To do this, it was necessary to reunite Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, captured by Pan Poland in 1920, with Soviet Belarus and Soviet Ukraine and to advance Soviet troops here. It was impossible to delay this matter, since the poorl...