Hitler attacked the USSR on orders from the West

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The twentieth century went down in history with many events that influenced the development of our civilization.

The twentieth century went down in history with many events that influenced the development of our civilization.

Along with great achievements in science, technology, culture, the past century has written tragic pages in the history of mankind - the last century became the century of two world wars.

After the First World War, which was also called the Great War, which claimed the lives of over 10 million people, it seemed that humanity, having comprehended the tragic results, will be able to do everything necessary to prevent such large-scale bloody conflicts from recurring.

But soon after its end, the revolution in Russia and revolutionary events in other European countries, it became obvious that not everyone was satisfied with the results of the war, and the victory of the Bolsheviks became the main irritant for the West.

For example, what the commander of the American troops in Germany, General G. Allen, wrote in his diary on January 15, 1920: “Germany is the state most capable of successfully repelling Bolshevism. Expansion of Germany at the expense of Russiawould distract the Germans to the east for a long time and thereby reduce the tension in their relations with Western Europe."

Entering the world stage after participating in the First World War, the United States paid great attention to the situation in Europe and especially to the events in Germany.

Back in 1921-1922. Captain Truman Smith, assistant to the American military attaché in Berlin, drew attention to the emotional and harsh speeches in Munich of the still little-known politician in the country, Adolf Hitler, who since 1921 led the German National Socialist Workers' Party (NSDAP).

In 1922, an American diplomat met him. He recommended the businessman Ernst Hanfstaengl, who had arrived from the United States, to follow his speeches and rallies of the National Socialists in particular, who, in addition to business, carried out assignments of the American special services.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. he moved with his father, who was in the publishing business in Munich, from Germany to the United States. There he received an excellent education, graduating in 1909 from the prestigious Harvard University. He knew several foreign languages, played the piano perfectly, was well-known to the aristocratic houses of Bavaria, was familiar with the future US President Franklin Roosevelt …

Arriving in Munich, E. Hanfstaengl promptly fulfilled the request of Captain Smith. Soon, having met Hitler, he entered his inner circle. After the "beer coup" in Munich, the Nazi leader hid in an American's country house in the Munich suburb of Uffing.

When the police came for Hitler with an arrest warrant, he tried to commit suicide. Helen, Hanfstaengl's wife, was able to disarm him with the judo technique that Ernst had taught her earlier. Who knows how the history of the twentieth century would have developed if Hitler had shot himself in 1923?

After being released from prison, where he spent nine months of the five years to which he was sentenced, the Nazi leader began to trust Hanfstaengl even more. And he, in turn, began to acquaint him with representatives of high society in Bavaria. Moreover, he continued to actively supply the National Socialists with money.

From 1923 to 1926 funding for Hitler and his party was carried out through Swiss and Swedish banks, and the role of Hanfstaengl in this is difficult to exaggerate. He himself personally assisted in the publication of Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" and the newspaper, the publication of the NSDAP "Folkischer Beobachter" ("People's Observer").

Ernst Hanfstaengl even wrote several marches for the brownshirts, and when his son was born, the Fuhrer became his godfather … Until 1937, he headed the press service of A. Hitler.

(The cooling of relations with the Fuhrer at Hanfstaengl came in 1936, when he learned that the fascist leader's entourage was dissatisfied with his connections and closeness to Hitler. In 1937 he fled to Switzerland …

In 1932, while working on the book The Life of Marlborough, the famous British politician W. Churchill visited the Netherlands and Germany by that time.

In Munich, he stayed at the Regina Hotel, where he was soon introduced to one of Hitler's assistants. It turned out to be Hanfstaengl, who, after a short conversation, suggested organizing a meeting between Churchill and Hitler in Munich.

This is how the English politician himself later recalled this in his book “World War II”: “In all likelihood, he was instructed to get in touch with me, and he clearly tried to make a pleasant impression on me. After dinner, he sat down at the piano and sang so well many pieces and songs that we had great pleasure …

Having received a detailed report on the conversation with Churchill, Hitler never came to a meeting with him, apparently not wanting to answer the sharp and uncomfortable questions of the British politician.

It is difficult to say what such a meeting could give, but even without it it soon becomes clear that The West increasingly relies on Hitler and seeks to help himb. The main goal of Western politicians in those years was to push Germany against the USSR.

In May 1933, the president of the imperial bank, Hjalmar Schacht, again visits America, where he meets with President F. Roosevelt and the largest American financiers.

Soon Berlin receives investments in German industry and loans from the United States totaling over a billion dollars.

A month later, in June, at an international conference in London, Hjalmar Schacht also holds a series of meetings and negotiations with the head of the British bank N. Montagu. As then, during the Nuremberg trials, J. Schacht said, Great Britain has provided loans to Germany in the amount of over a billion pounds, which in dollar terms amounted to two billion dollars.

After the economic crisis experienced by Germany in the 1920s, which was aggravated by the payment of reparations to the winning countries, American industrial corporations and banks, taking advantage of the situation, bought up the assets of many of the country's key enterprises.

For example, Standard Oil, owned by the Rockefeller family, gained control over the German corporation I. G. Ferbenindustri , which actively financed the election campaign of A. Hitler in 1930.

From 1929 to the present day, the American automobile corporation General Motors, which belongs to the Du Pont family, has exercised control over Opel. It was at the factories of this corporation in Germany that the famous Blitz trucks were produced for the German army.

The American telephone company ITT has acquired 40% of Germany's telephone networks.

On the eve of World War II, US corporations and banks invested $ 800 million in the country's industry and financial system. The sum for those times huge.

Of these, the leading four from America invested about $ 200 million in the militarized economy of Germany: "Standard oil"- 120 million, General Motors- 35 million, investments ITTamounted to 30 million, and Ford $ 17.5 million

It cannot but shock the fact that even after the United States entered World War II on December 11, 1941, American corporations continued to actively fulfill orders from firms from enemy countries, supported the activities of their branches in Germany, Italy and even Japan.

To do this, it was only necessary to apply for a special permit to carry out economic activities with companies under the control of the Nazis or their allies.

US presidential decree of December 13, 1941 allowed such transactions, doing business with enemy companies, unless specifically prohibited by the US Treasury Department.

Very often, American corporations easily obtained permits for activities with enemy firms and supplied them with the necessary steel, engines, aviation fuel, rubber, radio components …

So the power of the military industry in Germany and its allies was supported by the economic activity of the United States, whose companies received super-profits from their deals with the enemy. Truly to whom the war, and to whom the mother is dear …

Thus, the powerful "Standard Oil" regularly supplied the Hitlerite army with various fuels, and supplied the industry with synthetic rubber and various raw materials. Deliveries also went to Italy and Austria.

At the same time, during the war years, there were serious problems in the United States with the supply of synthetic rubber for the American industry.

The war did not prevent Standard Oil, using British intermediaries, to conclude a contract with I. G. Ferbinindustri , which made it possible to produce aviation gasoline in Germany. So the Luftwaffe planes, which bombed the peaceful cities of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, killed British and American soldiers, received gasoline created by an American corporation.

During World War II, not a single Standard Oil tanker was sunk by German submarines. This is understandable - no one chops the branch on which they sit.

Almost until the end of the war, with a special permit for trade with Germany, Italy, Japan, the American ITT was running its business.

The automobile concern "Ford" did not stop production in France after the German occupation.

Special patronage of the concern's activities in Europe was provided personally by Hermann Goering, who headed the industrial concern "Reichswerk Hermann Goering".

Even a company far from military supplies "Coca Cola" established the production of a drink in Germany "Fanta".

And these are not all examples of cooperation between big business in the United States and Nazi Germany during the war.

Subsequently, Yalomir Schacht, in an interview with the American doctor Gilbert during the Nuremberg trials, said: “If you want to indict the industrialists who helped to rearm Germany, then you must indict yourself.

The wall was constantly being completed for two thousand years - until 1644. At the same time, due to various internal and external factors, the wall turned out to be "layered", similar in shape to the channels left by bark beetles in the tree (this can be clearly seen in the illustration).

During the entire construction period, only the material changed, as a rule: primitive clay, pebbles and compacted earth were replaced by limestone and denser rocks. But the design itself, as a rule, did not undergo changes, although its parameters vary: height 5-7 meters, width about 6.5 meters, towers every two hundred meters (distance of the shot of an arrow or arquebus). They tried to draw the wall itself along the ridges of mountain ranges.

And in general they actively used the local landscape for fortification purposes. The length from the eastern to the western edge of the wall is nominally about 9000 kilometers, but if you count all the branches and layering, it comes out to 21,196 kilometers. On the construction of this miracle in different periods worked from 200 thousand to two million people (that is, a fifth of the then population of the country).

Now most of the wall is abandoned, part of it is used as a tourist site. Unfortunately, the wall suffers from climatic factors: the downpours erode it, the drying heat leads to collapses … Interestingly, archaeologists still discover hitherto unknown fortification sites. This mainly concerns the northern "veins" on the border with Mongolia.

Adrian's shaft and Antonina's shaft

In the first century AD, the Roman Empire actively conquered the British Isles. Although by the end of the century, the power of Rome, transmitted through the loyal heads of local tribes, in the south of the island was unconditional, the tribes living to the north (primarily the Picts and brigants) were reluctant to submit to foreigners, making raids and organizing military skirmishes. In order to secure the controlled territory and prevent the penetration of the raiders' detachments, in 120 AD the Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a line of fortifications, which later received his name. By the year 128, the work was completed.

The shaft crossed the north of the British Isle from the Irish Sea to the North and was a wall 117 kilometers long. In the west, the rampart was made of wood and earth, it was 6 m wide and 3.5 meters high, and in the east it was made of stone, the width of which was 3 m, and the average height was 5 meters. Moats were dug on both sides of the wall, and a military road for the transfer of troops ran along the rampart on the south side.

Along the rampart, 16 forts were built, which simultaneously served as checkpoints and barracks, between them, every 1300 meters - smaller towers, every half a kilometer - signaling structures and cabins.

The rampart was built by the forces of three legions based on the island, with each small section building a small legion squad. Apparently, such a rotational method did not allow a significant part of the soldiers to be immediately diverted to work. Then these same legions carried out a guard duty here.

As the Roman Empire expanded, already under Emperor Antoninus Pius, in 142-154, a similar line of fortifications was built 160 km north of the Andrianov Wall. The new stone Antoninov shaft was similar to the "big brother": width - 5 meters, height - 3-4 meters, ditches, road, turrets, alarm. But there were much more forts - 26. The length of the rampart was two times less - 63 kilometers, since in this part of Scotland the island is much narrower.

However, Rome was unable to effectively control the area between the two ramparts, and in 160-164 the Romans left the wall, returning for Hadrian's fortifications. In 208, the troops of the Empire again managed to occupy the fortifications, but only for a few years, after which the southern one - the Hadrian's shaft - again became the main line. By the end of the 4th century, the influence of Rome on the island was declining, the legions began to degrade, the wall was not properly maintained, and the frequent raids of tribes from the north led to destruction. By 385, the Romans had stopped serving Hadrian's Wall.

The ruins of the fortifications have survived to this day and are an outstanding monument of Antiquity in Great Britain.

Serif line

The invasion of nomads in Eastern Europe required the strengthening of the southern borders of the Rusyn principalities. In the XIII century, the population of Russia uses various methods of building defenses against horse armies, and by the XIV century, the science of how to correctly build "notch lines" is already taking shape. Zaseka is not just a wide clearing with obstacles in the forest (and most of the places in question are wooded), it is a defensive structure that was not easy to overcome. On the spot, fallen trees, pointed stakes and other simple structures made of local materials, impassable for the horseman, are stuck in the ground crosswise and directed towards the enemy.

In this thorny windbreak were earthen traps, "garlic", which incapacitated the foot soldiers, if they tried to approach and dismantle the fortifications. And from the north of the clearing there was a shaft fortified with stakes, as a rule, with observation posts and forts. The main task of such a line is to delay the advance of the cavalry army and give time to the princely troops to gather. For example, in the XIV century, Prince of Vladimir Ivan Kalita erected an uninterrupted line of marks from the Oka River to the Don River and further to the Volga. Other princes also built such lines in their lands. And the Zasechnaya guard served on them, and not only on the very line: horse patrols went out on reconnaissance far to the south.

Over time, the principalities of Russia united into a single Russian state, which was capable of building large-scale structures. The enemy also changed: now they had to defend themselves from the Crimean-Nogai raids. From 1520 to 1566, the Great Zasechnaya Line was built, which stretched from the Bryansk forests to Pereyaslavl-Ryazan, mainly along the banks of the Oka.

These were no longer primitive "directional windbreaks", but a line of high-quality means of fighting horse raids, fortification tricks, gunpowder weapons. Beyond this line were stationed troops of the standing army of about 15,000 people, and outside the intelligence and agent network worked. However, the enemy managed to overcome such a line several times.

As the state strengthened and the borders expanded to the south and east, over the next hundred years, new fortifications were built: Belgorod line, Simbirskaya zaseka, Zakamskaya line, Izyumskaya line, woodland Ukrainian line, Samara-Orenburgskaya line (this is already 1736, after the death of Peter !). By the middle of the 18th century, raiding peoples were either subdued or could not raid for other reasons, and linear tactics reigned supreme on the battlefield. Therefore, the value of the notches came to naught.

Berlin Wall

After World War II, the territory of Germany was divided between the USSR and the allies into the Eastern and Western zones.

On May 23, 1949, the state of the Federal Republic of Germany was formed on the territory of West Germany, which joined the NATO bloc.

On October 7, 1949, on the territory of East Germany (on the site of the former Soviet occupation zone), the German Democratic Republic was formed, which took over the socialist political regime from the USSR. She quickly became one of the leading countries of the socialist camp.

Berlin remained a problem: just like Germany, it was divided into eastern and western zones of occupation. But after the formation of the GDR, East Berlin became its capital, but West, nominally being the territory of the FRG, turned out to be an enclave. Relations between NATO and the OVD heated up during the Cold War, and West Berlin was a bone in the throat on the road to GDR sovereignty. In addition, the troops of the former allies were still stationed in this region.

Each side put forward uncompromising proposals in their favor, but it was impossible to put up with the current situation. De facto, the border between the GDR and West Berlin was transparent, with up to half a million people crossing it unhindered a day. By July 1961, over 2 million people fled through West Berlin to the FRG, which made up a sixth of the population of the GDR, and emigration was increasing.

The government decided that since it could not take control of West Berlin, it would simply isolate it. On the night of 12 (Saturday) to 13 (Sunday) August 1961, the troops of the GDR surrounded the territory of West Berlin, not allowing the inhabitants of the city either outside or inside. Ordinary German communists stood in a living cordon. In a few days, all streets along the border, tram and metro lines were closed, telephone lines were cut off, cable and pipe collectors were laid with gratings. Several houses adjacent to the border were evicted and destroyed, in many others the windows were bricked up.

Freedom of movement was completely prohibited: some could not return home, some did not get to work. The Berlin conflict on October 27, 1961, would then be one of those moments when the Cold War could turn hot. And in August, the construction of the wall was carried out at an accelerated pace. And initially it was literally a concrete or brick fence, but by 1975 the wall was a complex of fortifications for various purposes.

Let's list them in order: a concrete fence, a mesh fence with barbed wire and electrical alarms, anti-tank hedgehogs and anti-tire spikes, a road for patrols, an anti-tank ditch, a control strip. And also the symbol of the wall is a three-meter fence with a wide pipe on top (so that you cannot swing your leg). All this was served by security towers, searchlights, signaling devices and prepared firing points.

In fact, the wall turned West Berlin into a reservation. But the barriers and traps were made in such a way and in the direction that it was the inhabitants of East Berlin who could not cross the wall and get into the western part of the city. And it was in this direction that the citizens fled from the country of the Internal Affairs Department to the fenced-in enclave. Several checkpoints worked exclusively for technical purposes, and the guards were allowed to shoot to kill.

Nevertheless, in the entire history of the existence of the wall, 5,075 people successfully fled from the GDR, including 574 deserters. Moreover, the more serious the fortifications of the wall were, the more sophisticated were the escape methods: a hang glider, a balloon, a double bottom of a car, a diving suit, and makeshift tunnels.

Another 249,000 East Germans moved west "legally". From 140 to 1250 people died while trying to cross the border. By 1989, perestroika was in full swing in the USSR, and many of the GDR's neighbors opened borders with it, allowing East Germans to leave the country en masse. The existence of the wall became meaningless, on November 9, 1989, a representative of the GDR government announced new rules for entering and leaving the country.

Hundreds of thousands of East Germans, without waiting for the appointed date, rushed to the border on the evening of November 9. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the maddened border guards were told "the wall is no more, they said on TV," after which crowds of jubilant residents of the East and West met. Somewhere the wall was officially dismantled, somewhere the crowds smashed it with sledgehammers and carried away the fragments, like the stones of the fallen Bastille.

The wall collapsed with no less tragedy than the one that marked every day of its standing. But in Berlin, a half-kilometer stretch remained - as a monument to the senselessness of such usurpation measures. On May 21, 2010, the inauguration of the first part of the large memorial complex dedicated to the Berlin Wall took place in Berlin.

Trump Wall

The first fences on the US-Mexico border appeared in the middle of the 20th century, but these were ordinary fences, and they were often demolished by emigrants from Mexico.

The construction of a real formidable line took place from 1993 to 2009. This fortification covered 1,078 km of the 3145 km of the common border. In addition to a mesh or metal fence with barbed wire, the functionality of the wall includes auto and helicopter patrols, motion sensors, video cameras and powerful lighting. In addition, the strip behind the wall is cleared of vegetation.

However, the height of the wall, the number of fences at a certain distance, surveillance systems and materials used during construction vary depending on the section of the border. For example, in some places the border runs through cities, and the wall here is just a fence with pointed and curved elements on top. The most "multi-layered" and often patrolled sections of the border-wall are those through which the flow of emigrants was greatest in the second half of the 20th century. In these areas, it has dropped by 75% over the past 30 years, but critics say this simply forces emigrants to use less convenient overland routes (which often lead to their death due to harsh environmental conditions) or resort to the services of smugglers.

On the current section of the wall, the percentage of illegal immigrants being detained reaches 95%. But on sections of the border where the risk of drug smuggling or the crossings of armed gangs is low, there may be no barriers at all, which causes criticism about the effectiveness of the entire system. Also, the fence can be in the form of a wire fence for livestock, a fence made of vertically placed rails, a fence made of steel pipes of a certain length with concrete poured inside, and even a blockage from machines flattened under the press. In such locations, vehicle and helicopter patrols are considered the primary means of defense.

The construction of the separation wall along the entire border with Mexico became one of the main points of Donald Trump's election program in 2016, but the contribution of his administration was limited to moving the existing sections of the wall to other directions of migration, which practically did not increase the total length. The opposition prevented Trump from pushing the wall project and funding through the Senate.

The heavily media-covered issue of building the wall has resonated in American society and outside the country, becoming another point of contention between Republican and Democratic supporters. New President Joe Biden promised to completely destroy the wall, but this statement has remained words for now.

And so far, to the delight of the emigrants, the fate of the wall remains in limbo.