FACT: The Soviet Union Was an Early ALLY of Nazi Germany and One of World War II's Aggressor Nations.
The Nazis, fascist Italy, imperial Japan and the Soviet Union were the principal aggressor nations in World War II.
The Japanese kicked things off with attacks on Chinese Manchuria in 1931. By 1937, the nations were at full-scale war.
Italy invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935.
Then Nazi Germany, after taking over Austria and Czechoslovakia, invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
But what is often forgotten are the then-secret provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics but more commonly known by the names of the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Germany. It was signed in August 1939.
But the secret provisions were that the Soviets would invade Poland from the east after Germany invaded from the west, with Poland to be divided between Germany and the Soviet Union along the lines of the Narev, Vistula, and San rivers. The Soviets were also given a free hand to invade and annex the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which it did so in 1940. Also that year the Soviets invaded Finland after demands for territorial concessions were rejected by the Finns.
On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops invaded Poland.
Poland. September 20, 1939. An officer of the Wehrmacht, an officer of the Red Army and an interpreter on the demarcation line.
While the German occupation of Poland was barbaric, the Soviets also desired to wipe out any possibility of a resurgence of Polish nationalism. So, just as the Germans put into effect Intelligenzaktion Pommern, an operation to eradicate the Polish intelligentsia, the Sovietson a lower scale massacred over 22,000 Polish prisoners of war in the Katyn forest. About 8,000 were Polish military officers, another 6,000 police officers and the remainder various former landowners, factory owners and local officials.
Ironically, it was the Nazis that discovered the graves of the Poles and the Soviets denied responsbility until 1990. In 1992 the government of Russia finally acknowledged the secret provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, even though the West had long known its provisions.
And what does Russia's Vladimir Putin say about all this?
He blames POLAND for starting World War II !!!
"(The Poles) went too far, pushing Hitler to start World War II by attacking them. Why was it Poland against whom the war started on 1 September 1939? Poland turned out to be uncompromising, and Hitler had nothing to do but start implementing his plans with Poland."
- Vladimir Putin February 2024 Interview with Tucker Carlson
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Notice Putin absolutely will not address Czechoslovakia.
AI generated
Germany attacked Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939, and invaded Poland on September 1, 1939
AI summary of the whole WWII situation...
In summary, while the invasion of Poland is often highlighted as the official start of World War II, recognizing the earlier invasion of Czechoslovakia is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the events that led to the conflict and their implications for current geopolitical discussions.
Please don't give Putin a excuse to rewrite history. You do so by not including Czechoslovakia. Lebensraum first applied to Czechoslovakia.The real Sudatinland
Please don't give Putin a excuse to rewrite history. You do so by not including Czechoslovakia. Lebensraum first applied to Czechoslovakia.The real Sudatinland
🤔
Give Putin an excuse?
I'm not even giving him an excuse to go to the bathroom.
But the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia was the disastrous result of the policy of appeasement. And the blame for appeasement rests largely on the British and French.
(And I don't just fault Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In fact, his predecessor Stanley Baldwin may be even more to blame for a failure to begin to rearm Britain to face the Nazi threat. Chamberlain favored increased defense spending, but mistakenly believed that time was on Britain's side. It was not.)
I've written extensively about that and have warned about the dangers of appeasement with regards to the situation with Russia and Ukraine today.
As far as Czechoslovakia is concerned, I strongly believe that while the German military could not have been stopped from invading Czechoslovakia had the Western allies stood firm at Munich in 1939, the Czechs would have been in a much more formidable position had they not been forced to surrender the Sudetenland. German losses would have been substantial and would have certainly delayed Case White well into 1940. Poland, too, would have been in a more defensible position.
Moreoever, the valuable Škoda Works armament factories would not have fallen to Germany intact. Some of the best tanks early in World War II were of Czech design. And the Germans would have faced stronger resistance and partisan warfare during their occupation of the country.
For more on what might have happened with an earlier start to the war in Europe, I recommend:
@beckyromero We are emphasizing different points in different ways. While Putin is rewriting the history. I've already mentioned what you said on someone else's comment.
You (and historians) give him credit when you mention Poland first though and a footnote to Czechoslovakia far further down. He loves that you do that. That is what I meant. You talk about Poland first in your post. If you (and historians) talked about Czechoslovakia first he can't ram rod the poland issue. The dates are all wrong.
You give him credit when you mention Poland first...
That's because the issue I brought up is Poland and the Soviet invasion of it and their complicity.
Czechoslovakia is itself a whole other issue and appeasement by the Western allies was a betrayal. But Putin trying to make it an excuse for the Soviets signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is a red herring.
It would be like the United States blaming the Soviets for the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor because of the signing of the Japanese–Soviet Non-aggression Pact on April 13, 1941.
Putin will lie and say anything, regardles of what anyone else says.
But I'd still like to debate him on World War II and Soviet complicity.
I'd tell him:
"Trying to blame Poland for starting World War II is like when you tried to ice skate over that carpet after that hockey game — clumsy, awkward, and bound to end in a fall. You can try skating over historical facts the same way—but sooner or later, you’ll slip."
