Causes and beginning of World War II. Causes of World War II

The beginning of the war was the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, and Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, but did not provide practical support to Poland. Poland was defeated within three weeks. 9-month inaction of the allies on Western Front allowed Germany to prepare for aggression against Western European countries.

In April-May 1940, Nazi troops occupied Denmark and Norway, and on May 10 invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and then through their territories into France.

Second stage of world war began on June 22, 1941, with the German attack on the Soviet Union. Together with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Finland, and Italy performed. The Red Army, retreating under the pressure of superior forces, exhausted the enemy. Defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Moscow 1941-1942. meant the plan was thwarted. lightning war" In the summer of 1941, the formation began anti-Hitler coalition led by the USSR, Great Britain and the USA.

Victories of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 - early February 1943) and in Battle of Kursk(July 1943) led to the loss of the strategic initiative by the German command. In the occupied European countries expanded Resistance movement, has reached enormous proportions partisan movement in the USSR.

On Tehran Conference the heads of the three powers of the anti-Hitler coalition (late November 1943) recognized the paramount importance of the opening second front in Western Europe.

In 1944, the Red Army liberated almost the entire territory of the Soviet Union. Only on June 6, 1944, the Western allies landed in France, thus opening a second front in Europe, and in September 1944, with the support of the French Resistance forces, they cleared the entire territory of the country from the occupiers. Soviet troops in mid-1944, the liberation of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe began, which, with the participation of the patriotic forces of these countries, was completed in the spring of 1945. In April 1945, the Allied forces liberated Northern Italy and occupied areas of Western Germany.

On Crimean Conference(February 1945) plans were agreed upon for the final defeat of Nazi Germany, as well as the principles of the post-war world order.

The US Air Force dropped atomic bombs to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), which was not called military necessity. On August 8, 1945, the USSR, in accordance with the obligations assumed at the Crimean Conference, declared war and on August 9 began military operations against Japan. After the Red Army defeated the Japanese armed forces in Northeast China, Japan signed on September 2, 1945 act of unconditional surrender. These events ended the Second world war.

72 states were involved in the Second World War. As a result of the war, the USSR received an extensive security zone in the Eastern and Southeast Europe, there was a decisive change in the balance of forces in the international arena in favor of the USSR and its new allies, then called countries people's democracy, where communist or parties close to them came to power. A period of division of the world into capitalist and socialist systems began, which lasted for several decades. One of the consequences of World War II was the beginning of the collapse of the colonial system.

reasons for the start of World War II

1. territorial disputes that arose as a result of the redistribution of Europe by England, France and the allied states. After the breakup Russian Empire as a result of its withdrawal from hostilities and the revolution that took place in it, as well as due to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 9 new states immediately appeared on the world map. Their boundaries were not yet clearly defined, and in many cases disputes were fought over literally every inch of land. In addition, countries that had lost part of their territories sought to return them, but the winners, who annexed new lands, were hardly ready to part with them. The centuries-old history of Europe did not know a better way to resolve any, including territorial disputes, other than military action, and the outbreak of World War II became inevitable;

2. colonial disputes. It is worth mentioning here not only that the losing countries, having lost their colonies, which provided the treasury with a constant influx of funds, certainly dreamed of their return, but also that the liberation movement was growing within the colonies. Tired of being under the yoke of one or another colonialist, the inhabitants sought to get rid of any subordination, and in many cases this also inevitably led to the outbreak of armed clashes;

3. rivalry between leading powers. It is difficult to admit that Germany, erased from world history after its defeat, did not dream of taking revenge. Deprived of the opportunity to have its own army (except for the volunteer army, the number of which could not exceed 100 thousand soldiers with light weapons), Germany, accustomed to the role of one of the leading world empires, could not come to terms with the loss of its dominance. The beginning of World War II in this aspect was only a matter of time;

4. dictatorial regimes. A sharp increase in their number in the second third of the 20th century created additional preconditions for the outbreak of violent conflicts. Paying great attention to the development of the army and weapons, first as a means of suppressing possible internal unrest, and then as a way to conquer new lands, European and Eastern dictators with all their might brought the start of World War II closer;

5. existence of the USSR. The role of the new socialist state, which arose on the ruins of the Russian Empire, as an irritant for the United States and Europe cannot be overestimated. The rapid development of communist movements in a number of capitalist powers against the backdrop of the existence of such a clear example of victorious socialism could not but inspire fear, and an attempt to wipe the USSR from the face of the earth would inevitably be made.

Results of World War II:

1) The total human losses reached 60-65 million people, of which 27 million people were killed at the fronts, many of them citizens of the USSR. China, Germany, Japan and Poland also suffered heavy human losses.

2) Military expenses and military losses amounted to 4 trillion dollars. Material costs reached 60-70% of the national income of the warring states.

3) As a result of the war, the role of Western Europe in global politics weakened. The USSR and the USA became the main powers in the world. Great Britain and France, despite the victory, were significantly weakened. The war showed the inability of them and other Western European countries to maintain huge colonial empires.

4) One of the main results of World War II was the creation of the UN on the basis of the Anti-Fascist Coalition that emerged during the war to prevent world wars in the future.

5) Europe was divided into two camps: Western capitalist and Eastern socialist

The Second World War was prepared and unleashed by the states of the aggressive bloc led by Hitler's Germany.

The occurrence of this global conflict rooted in the Versailles system international relations, based on the dictates of the countries that won the First World War and put Germany in a humiliating position. Thus, conditions were created for the development of the idea of ​​revenge and the revival of a hotbed of militarism in the center of Europe.

German imperialism restored and expanded its military-economic base on a new material and technical basis, and it was assisted in this by large industrial concerns and banks of Western countries. In Germany and its allied states - Italy and Japan - terrorist dictatorships dominated, racism and chauvinism were instilled.

The aggressive program of Hitler's "Reich", which set a course for the enslavement and extermination of "inferior" peoples, provided for the liquidation of Poland, the defeat of France, the displacement of England from the continent, the mastery of the resources of Europe, and then the "march to the East", the destruction of the Soviet Union and the establishment of "new living space". After establishing control over Russia's economic wealth, Germany hoped to launch another round of conquests to extend the power of German monopolies over large areas of Asia, Africa and America. The ultimate goal was the establishment of world domination of the "Third Reich". On the part of Hitler's Germany and its allies, the war was imperialistic, aggressive, and unfair from beginning to end.

The bourgeois-democratic regimes of England and France, which advocated the preservation of the traditional values ​​of Western society, did not realize the universal threat of Nazism. Their inability and unwillingness to subordinate selfishly understood national interests to the common task of defeating fascism, their desire to solve their problems at the expense of other states and peoples led to a war in conditions most favorable to the aggressors.

The leadership of the Western powers entered the war based on the desire to weaken competitors and maintain and strengthen their own positions in the world. They did not intend to destroy fascism and militarism, betting on the collision of Germany and Japan with the Soviet Union and their mutual exhaustion. Feeling distrustful of the Soviet Union, British and French leaders did not make significant differences between the policies of the Nazi rulers of Germany and the course of the authoritarian Stalinist leadership of the USSR. The strategy and actions of the Western powers on the eve and at the beginning of the war caused enormous damage to the peoples of these countries, led to the defeat of France, the occupation of almost all of Europe, and the creation of a threat to the independence of Great Britain.

The expansion of aggression threatened the independence of many states. For the peoples of the countries that became victims of the invaders, the struggle against the occupiers from the very beginning acquired a liberating, anti-fascist character.

Confident that England and France would not provide real assistance to Poland, Germany attacked it on September 1, 1939. The Polish people offered armed resistance to the aggressors, despite their significant superiority in forces. Poland became the first state in Europe whose people rose up to defend their national existence and waged a just, defensive war. The Nazis were unable to completely encircle the Polish army. Large group Polish troops managed to escape to the east, but they were captured by the Nazis and, after stubborn fighting on September 23-25, capitulated. Some units continued to resist until October 5. In Warsaw, Silesia and other areas, the civilian population actively came out in defense of independence. However, since September 12, the general direction of military operations has practically ceased. On September 17-18, the Polish government and military command crossed into Romanian territory.

Poland turned out to be unprepared in military-political terms to defend national independence. The reason was the backwardness of the country and the disastrous course of its government, which did not want to “spoil relations” with Germany and pinned its hopes on Anglo-French help. The Polish leadership rejected all proposals to participate together with the Soviet Union in a collective rebuff to the aggressor. This suicidal policy led the country to a national tragedy.

Having declared war on Germany on September 3, England and France saw it as an unfortunate misunderstanding that was soon to be resolved. “The silence on the Western Front,” wrote W. Churchill, “was broken only by an occasional cannon shot or a reconnaissance patrol.”

The Western powers, despite the guarantees given to Poland and the agreements signed with it, did not actually intend to provide active military assistance to the victim of aggression. During the tragic days for Poland, the Allied troops were inactive. Already on September 12, the heads of government of England and France came to the conclusion that help to save Poland was useless, and made a secret decision not to open active hostilities against Germany.

When the war began in Europe, the United States declared its neutrality. In political and business circles, the prevailing opinion was that the war would bring the country's economy out of crisis, and military orders from the warring states would bring huge profits to industrialists and bankers.

None of the pre-war diplomatic events now arouses such interest as the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939. Much has been written about it by Soviet historians. When considering a contract, it is important to proceed from the reality that existed at its conclusion, and not to be guided by considerations taken out of the context of time.

In accordance with the initial plans, the Nazis planned to begin the main military operations to ensure “living space” in 1942-1945. But the current situation brought the start of these operations closer. Firstly, the militarization of Germany and the rapid growth of its armed forces created internal difficulties for the Nazis: the country was threatened by a financial and economic crisis, which could cause discontent among the population. The simplest and quick way To overcome the difficulties that arose, the Nazis saw the expansion of the economic base by seizing the wealth of other countries, and for this it was necessary to start a war as soon as possible.

Secondly, Germany and other fascist-militarist states were pushed to a more rapid transition to aggressive actions by the connivance of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp. The compliance of the ruling circles of the Western powers to the fascist aggressors was especially clearly demonstrated by the Munich Agreement in September 1938. By sacrificing Czechoslovakia, they deliberately pushed Germany against the USSR.

In accordance with the concept of conquest adopted by the military-political leadership, Germany intended to launch successive attacks on its opponents with the goal of defeating them one by one, first the weaker ones, and then the stronger ones. This meant the use not only of military means, but also various methods from the arsenal of politics, diplomacy and propaganda with the task of preventing the unification of Germany’s opponents.

Knowing about the expansionist plans of Nazi Germany, the Western powers sought to direct its aggression against the USSR. Their propaganda tirelessly spoke about the weakness of the Red Army, the fragility of the Soviet rear, and presented the USSR as a “colossus with feet of clay.”

In the Nazi press one could also find many statements about the weakness of the USSR. This fueled the hopes of the ruling circles of the Anglo-French-American camp that German expansion would be directed eastward. However, the German General Staff in 1938-1939. (unlike 1940-1941) he assessed the Red Army as a very serious enemy, a clash with which he considered undesirable for now.

Based on an assessment of the strength of its opponents, the fascist leadership identified Poland as the first victim of aggression, although shortly before this, Ribbentrop suggested that the Polish government pursue a “common policy towards Russia.” And when Poland refused to be a vassal of Berlin, the Nazis decided to deal with it militarily, taking into account the fact that the war with the Soviet Union, as a very strong enemy, was postponed by them to a later date.

From the beginning of 1939, intensive preparations for a military campaign against Poland began in Germany. A plan was developed, called "Weiss". It provided for delivering “unexpected strong blows” and achieving “quick successes.” By order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. V. Keitel dated April 3, 1939 the Weiss plan was to begin "at any time beginning on September 1, 1939." The political leadership of Germany sought to “isolate Poland as much as possible” and to prevent interference in Polish affairs by England, France and the Soviet Union.

The measures taken by Germany to prepare an attack on Poland were no secret to the governments of England, France, the USSR and other countries. The world was aware of the danger of fascist aggression. Sincerely striving to create a collective front for the defense of peace, to unite the forces of non-aggressive countries, on April 17, 1939, the Soviet government turned to England and then to France with specific proposals to conclude an agreement on mutual assistance, including a military convention, in the event of aggression in Europe . It proceeded from the fact that the most decisive and effective measures to prevent war, especially the firm position of the great powers regarding the problem of collective salvation of the world.

The governments of England and France greeted the Soviet proposals with restraint. At first they took a wait-and-see attitude, and then, realizing the danger that threatened them from Germany, they changed their tactics somewhat and agreed to negotiations with Moscow, which began in May 1939.

The seriousness of the USSR's intention to reach an equal agreement on military cooperation with England and France was especially evident at the special negotiations of the military missions of the three powers, which began on August 12, 1939 in Moscow. The negotiating partners were provided with a detailed plan, according to which the USSR pledged to field 136 divisions, 9-10 thousand tanks and 5-5.5 thousand combat aircraft against the aggressor in Europe.

In contrast to the Soviet Union, the governments of England and France, as is known from open archives, acted insincerely during the negotiations in Moscow and played a double game. Neither London nor Paris wanted to establish equal allied relations with the USSR, as they believed that this would lead to the strengthening of the socialist state. Their hostility towards him remained the same. Agreement to negotiations was only a tactical step, but did not correspond to the essence of the policy of the Western powers. From exhorting and encouraging fascist Germany with concessions, they moved on to intimidating it, trying to force Germany to come to an agreement with the Western powers. Therefore, in negotiations with the USSR, England and France proposed agreements that would only put the Soviet Union at risk, and were not bound by their obligations towards the USSR. At the same time, they tried to secure his support in case Germany, contrary to their wishes, moved not to the east, but to the west. All this testified to the desire of England and France to put the Soviet Union in an unequal, humiliating position, and to their reluctance to conclude an agreement with the USSR that would meet the principles of reciprocity and equality of obligations. The failure of the negotiations was predetermined by the position taken by the governments of Western countries.

The ineffectiveness of the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations negated the efforts of the USSR government to create a coalition of non-aggressive states. The Soviet Union continued to remain in international isolation. He was in danger of a war on two fronts with very strong opponents: Germany in the west and Japan in the east. From the point of view of the leadership of the USSR, the danger of an anti-Soviet conspiracy by the entire imperialist camp also continued to exist. In this extremely difficult situation, fraught with grave consequences, the government of the USSR had to think first of all about the security of its own country.

Since May 1939, when negotiations between the USSR and England and France began, employees of the German Foreign Ministry persistently entered into contacts with representatives of the USSR in Berlin, and in various unofficial ways made it clear that Germany was ready to move closer to the USSR. Until mid-August 1939, while there was hope for concluding an Anglo-Franco-Soviet treaty on mutual assistance, the Soviet government left the German side’s probing unanswered, but at the same time closely monitored its actions.

On August 20, Hitler addressed a personal message to Stalin, proposing to receive on August 22 or at the latest August 23 the German Foreign Minister, who “will be invested with all emergency powers to draw up and sign a non-aggression pact.” Thus, a minimum of time was allocated for making extremely important decisions.

The Soviet government was faced with a direct question: to reject the German proposal or to accept it? The proposal, as is known, was accepted. On August 23, 1939, a Soviet-German non-aggression pact was signed for a period of 10 years. It meant a sharp turn in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, had a significant impact on the military-political situation in the world, and also to some extent influenced internal life in the USSR.

The agreement was accompanied by a secret protocol that delimited the parties' spheres of influence in Eastern Europe: Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and Bessarabia were included in the Soviet sphere; in German - Lithuania. It did not directly talk about the fate of the Polish state, but in any case, the Belarusian and Ukrainian territories included in it under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1920 should have gone to the USSR.

When Stalin made the decision to conclude an agreement with Germany, the Japanese factor also played a role. The treaty with Germany, according to Stalin, saved the USSR from such a threat. Japan, shocked by the “betrayal” of its ally, later also signed a Non-Aggression Treaty with the USSR.

The decision of the USSR government to conclude a non-aggression pact with Germany was forced, but quite logical in the conditions of that time. In the current situation, the Soviet Union had no other choice, since it was not possible to achieve the signing of a mutual assistance treaty with England and France, and there were only a few days left before the predetermined date for Germany’s attack on Poland.

From a moral point of view, the Soviet Union, having concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany, suffered certain damage in the global public opinion, as well as in the international communist movement. The unexpected change in the policy of the USSR and in relations with Nazi Germany seemed unnatural to progressive-minded people. They could not know everything that was known to the Soviet government.

In a rapidly changing situation and the growing danger of exit German army to the Soviet-Polish border, using the opportunities provided by the “secret additional protocol”, soviet government sent its troops into Western Ukraine and Western Belarus on September 17, which were transferred to Poland under the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921. Officially, this was justified by the fact that Poland had become a convenient field for all sorts of accidents and surprises that could pose a threat to the USSR, and the validity of treaties concluded between the USSR and Poland, stopped. The Soviet side declared its duty to protect the lives and property of the population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. Moscow's assertion that the Polish state had actually ceased to exist was contrary to the norms of international law, since a temporary occupation could not erase the fact of the existence of the state as a subject of international law.

The reaction of Polish society to the entry of the Red Army into the eastern regions of Poland was painful and even hostile. The Ukrainian and Belarusian population generally welcomed the Red Army units. Soviet troops were stopped approximately at the “Curzon Line,” defined back in 1919 as the eastern border of Poland. According to the Treaty of Friendship and Border, signed by the USSR and Germany on September 28, 1939, the border of “mutual state interests"was established along the San and Western Bug rivers. Polish lands remained under German occupation, Ukrainian and Belarusian lands went to the USSR. Recognition of the line of ethnic division as the border between the two states meant a gross violation of international law. Stalin's serious political mistake was his promise to develop friendship with Nazi Germany Immoral in essence, it actually whitewashed fascism, deformed the consciousness of people and trampled on the principles of Soviet foreign policy.

The signing of the Soviet-German treaties had dire consequences for the anti-war movement and led to the disorientation of leftist forces. The Executive Committee of the Comintern, weakened by repression, was unable to resist Stalin's dictates. At his request, the leadership of the Comintern refused to consider fascism the main source of aggression and removed the slogan of the Popular Front. The outbreak of the war was called imperialistic and unfair on both sides, with emphasis placed on the fight against Anglo-French imperialism. The Comintern did not have a clear position on the issue of the struggle for the national liberation of peoples subjected to Nazi aggression.

In the plans of England and France, a significant place was occupied by the war between Finland and the USSR, which began at the end of November 1939. The Western powers sought to turn a local armed conflict into the starting point of a united military campaign against the USSR. Providing extensive military assistance to Finland, England and France developed a plan to land a 100,000-strong expeditionary force to capture Murmansk and occupy the territory south of it. A project was also hatched to attack the USSR in the Transcaucasus region and carry out air strikes on the oil fields of Baku.

For seven months there was no fighting on the Western Front. British and French weapons and material resources exceeded the military-economic potential of Germany, which at that time was not ready for a long war. But London and Paris still made it clear to Hitler that he was given freedom of action in the East. In the countries of Western Europe, an atmosphere of complacency remained, generated by the “strange” war, which was essentially a continuation of the previous Munich policy. Meanwhile, Germany was intensively preparing for an offensive on the Western Front.

Key Findings

The Second World War was generated by a whole complex of various complex reasons. The discovery in the 90s of historical, military, diplomatic, and intelligence archives in many countries of the world that participated in this war caused the emergence of a huge flow of literature, some of which reveals the reasons for the preparation and beginning of the Second World War and the course of world events in the pre-war years. But the causes of the war are still the subject of controversy and debate in many countries around the world.

1) One of the causes of World War II was territorial disputes and claims that arose after World War I as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, ended the First World War. It was signed on the one hand by the victorious countries - Britain, France, USA, Italy, Japan, Belgium, on the other hand - by defeated Germany. Germany returned Alsace and Lorraine to France, large territories were taken from Germany and returned to Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, German and Ottoman colonies were divided between the victorious countries. As a result of this war, the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires collapsed, and on their ruins 9 new states with disputed borders arose - Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the future Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland. The country that lost its territories wanted to return them, and the countries that received these territories wanted to preserve them. The desire for a new redistribution and capture European territories, and at the same time the robbery of other countries - this is one of the reasons for WWII.

2) The next reason for the war matured and took shape in Germany itself. Since the time of the King of Prussia and the German Emperor Wilhelm II in Germany, the views of pan-Germanism, the superior race - the Aryans, views of other peoples as inferior, as manure for German culture, have been instilled among the German elite and ordinary Germans. Therefore, the bitterness of defeat after the First World War, national despair and humiliation, the desire to come to the aid of those compatriots who remained in other countries after the division were very acute, inciting in the Germans hatred and a desire for revenge, revenge, psychological readiness to war, as well as the desire to find a “scapegoat” for one’s misfortunes and blame the bitterness of failures on him. According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay huge reparations, could have a small army of volunteers of 100 thousand people, armed with light weapons, could not have tanks, military aircraft, or heavy artillery. Universal conscription was abolished, the victors captured and sank the German navy, built warships and had General Staff prohibited. However, on April 16, 1922, Germany and the USSR signed the Treaty of Rapallo, according to which Germany could restore its military power on Soviet territory. German tank crews trained in Kazan, German pilots in Lipetsk, the German Junkers concern designed military aircraft in Fili, and German production factories heavy artillery and chemical weapons were built in Central Asia. This allowed Germany to quickly restore its military production in subsequent years. In 1924, under the Dawes Plan, Germany was able to obtain loans from the United States to pay off reparations, and then, due to the crisis, received a deferment in the payment of reparations. This allowed Germany to restore its military-industrial potential by 1927, and then by the beginning of the 30s to overtake the victorious countries. In the wake of revanchist sentiments, the National Socialist Party began to gain increasing popularity among the German public, and Nazi leader A. Hitler attracted the attention of Germans from top to bottom with his aggressive slogans. Hitler's main slogans were the idea of ​​a "superior race", which gave the average person a feeling of superiority over other peoples, atoned for the bitterness of defeat and romanticized, allowed brutal violence and militarism, the idea of ​​the need for "living space" for the Germans, and also called the cause of all problems for the Germans - Versailles system, communists and Jews within the country. At the beginning of 1933, Hitler was appointed head of the German government - chancellor, and after that - brazenly, contrary to the Treaty of Versailles, completely ignoring it, universal conscription was introduced in the country, aviation, tank, artillery and other factories were built. The corresponding military units are created and the armed forces and economy of Germany are surpassing the victorious countries. By September 1939 Germany has an army of 4.6 million people, France - 2.67 million, Great Britain - 1.27 million, USSR - 5.3 million. Preparations for World War II are in full swing in Germany.

3) One of the reasons for the worldwide nature of this war was Japan’s aggressive policy. The fact is that in 1910 - 30. China was in a state of fragmentation. The Japanese Empire, which had scarce natural resources, wanted to take advantage of China's weakness to gain control over its richest resources and markets, and therefore pursued aggressive policies, conflicts, and military campaigns there. In November 1936, Germany and Japan concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy joined a year later. By the end of the 1930s, the Japanese army occupied the entire northeast of China, and in 1937. The full-scale Sino-Japanese War began, which in 1939 became part of the Second World War and lasted until 1945. At the same time, on April 13, 1941, an agreement on neutrality for a period of 5 years was signed between Japan and the USSR in Moscow.

A short work cannot examine all the causes of the Second World War; for this, historians write monographs and multi-volume studies; debates about its causes have been going on in world science for more than 60 years.

The Second World War can be considered a direct continuation of the First. As part of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the Allies humiliated Germany with reparations and restrictions. It was infringed territorially, deprived of colonies in Africa and the Pacific Ocean. The country's armed forces were limited to a hundred thousand people, and the remaining naval ships were confiscated. At the same time, the amount of reparation was not immediately agreed upon, and the amount increased several times. French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, having learned about the terms of the treaty, predicted that this was not peace, but a truce for twenty years. Reparations for Germany were unaffordable, and the economy was in ruins.

Genoa Conference

In April 1922, the Genoa Conference began in Rapallo (northern Italy). For the first time, representatives of both the Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic (Germany) were invited to it, along with diplomats from more than thirty countries. Part of the conference, aimed at developing a solution to the economic problems of post-war Europe, was devoted to the issue of the Bolsheviks returning debts to the Russian Empire, as well as loans from the Provisional Government, paying compensation for actions against foreign industrialists during the coup and civil war. But the most important achievement of Soviet diplomats for history was the conclusion of the Rappal Treaty on cooperation with Germany.

On the one hand, the parties agreed to write off each other’s expenses and debts from the First World War, while Germany recognized the legality of the nationalization of its property on the territory of the USSR by the Bolsheviks, on the other, from that moment secret military cooperation began. German pilots, military chemists, tank crews and other specialists had the opportunity to study at Soviet military educational institutions, study the latest models of equipment and weapons. Civilian specialists also came to study.

American aid

European and American leaders, noticing Germany's revanchist sentiments (including a series of border conflicts in the demilitarized zone that escalated into the Ruhr conflict of 1923), decided to allow Germany to receive American loans to pay reparations, which, of course, allowed Germany to restore the military-industrial complex by 1927.

Seeing such a strengthening of Germany in the West and the growing appetites of the Bolsheviks in the East, the victors began to reshape Europe, creating a buffer zone of new, previously unknown or previously dependent states. Poland was reborn, the Baltic states that had broken away from Russia raised their heads, Czechoslovakia was revealed, and the Kingdom of the Three Nations - Serbs, Slovenes and Croats - was born - what later became Yugoslavia. The leaders of the Entente turned a blind eye to many things. In 1930, reparation payments by Germany were suspended.

Adolf Hitler and his party

And in this situation, the National Socialist Workers' Party and its charismatic leader, Adolf Hitler, gained great love from the Germans. In 1933, Hitler's party quite legally came to power in the Reichstag with a majority of votes, and Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor, chairman of the government. That same year, accusing the Communists of burning down the Reichstag, he established a one-party system. In this regard, German military specialists returned from the USSR to Germany.

• By 1936, Hitler began to increase his military power at an accelerated pace, and the entire German industry switched to military footing with German precision. Also in 1936, the Nazis brought the army into the Rhineland with impunity. Then, in 1938, they carried out the Anschluss of Austria and, under the pretext of fighting for the freedom of Germans in Czechoslovakia, introduced occupation troops.
• In August 1939, the Russian and German foreign ministers in Moscow signed the famous Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Act between the USSR and Germany, with a number of secret agreements.
• On September 1, 1939, with the tacit consent of the USSR, German soldiers invaded Poland. The British and French immediately declared war on her, but were in no hurry to take risks for the sake of a distant country in Eastern Europe, although, according to some estimates, they had the strength to do something. A second, even longer and bloodier world war begins. The twenty-year truce ended in collapse.

Called the Second World War, it began not a year ago, on the day when Hitler's Germany attacked Poland. The outbreak of World War II was inevitable from the moment the war ended in 1918, which led to the redistribution of almost all of Europe. Immediately after the signing of all the treaties, each of the redrawn countries, from which part of the territories were taken away, began its own small war. While it was carried on in the minds and conversations of those who did not return from the front as winners. They relived the events of those days again and again, looked for the reasons for the defeat and passed on the bitterness of their own loss to their growing children.

It was this hatred of enemies cherished for decades, resentment from the oppression of the new owners of cities and villages, the need to get used to a different, unusual life that made the beginning of the Second World War possible. But all these reasons to resume the war were in the field of psychology. There were also real historical preconditions that led to the outbreak of hostilities, in which almost the entire

Official reasons start of World War II

According to historical research, scientists identify the following reasons:

• territorial disputes, which arose as a result of the redistribution of Europe by England, France and After the collapse of the Russian Empire as a result of its withdrawal from hostilities and the revolution that took place in it, as well as due to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 9 new states immediately appeared on the world map. Their boundaries were not yet clearly defined, and in many cases disputes were fought over literally every inch of land. In addition, countries that had lost part of their territories sought to return them, but the winners, who annexed new lands, were hardly ready to part with them. The centuries-old history of Europe did not know a better way to resolve any, including territorial disputes, other than military action, and the outbreak of the Second World War became inevitable;
• To olonial disputes. It is worth mentioning here not only that the losing countries, having lost their colonies, which provided the treasury with a constant influx of funds, certainly dreamed of their return, but also that the liberation movement was growing within the colonies. Tired of being under the yoke of one or another colonialist, the inhabitants sought to get rid of any subordination, and in many cases this also inevitably led to the outbreak of armed clashes;
• rivalry between leading powers. It is difficult to admit that Germany, erased from world history after its defeat, did not dream of taking revenge. Deprived of the opportunity to have its own army (except for the volunteer army, the number of which could not exceed 100 thousand soldiers with light weapons), Germany, accustomed to the role of one of the leading world empires, could not accept the loss of its dominance. The beginning of World War II in this aspect was only a matter of time;
• dictatorial regimes. A sharp increase in their number in the second third of the 20th century created additional preconditions for the outbreak of violent conflicts. By devoting huge armies and weapons, first as a means of suppressing possible internal unrest, and then as a way to conquer new lands, European and eastern dictators with all their might brought the beginning of the Second World War closer;
• existence of the USSR. The role of the new socialist state, which arose on the ruins of the Russian Empire, as an irritant for the United States and Europe cannot be overestimated. The rapid development of communist movements in a number of capitalist powers against the backdrop of the existence of such a clear example of victorious socialism could not but inspire fear, and an attempt to wipe the USSR from the face of the earth would inevitably be made.

The military-political blocs that formed in Europe sought to achieve their own goals, which could not but lead to war. Great Britain and France sought to direct German expansion to the East, which should have led to a clash between Germany and the USSR, their mutual weakening, and would have strengthened the position of London and Paris in the world. The Soviet leadership did everything to avert the threat of being drawn into a possible European war. This war was supposed to weaken Germany, Great Britain and France, which, in turn, would allow the USSR to maximize its influence on the continent. For its part, Germany, realizing the impossibility of a simultaneous military conflict with a coalition of great powers, hoped to limit itself to a local operation against Poland, which would improve its strategic position for the further struggle for hegemony in Europe with Great Britain, France and the USSR. Italy sought to obtain new concessions from London and Paris as a result of their conflict with Germany, but itself was in no hurry to enter the war. The United States needed a war in Europe to eliminate the possibility of an Anglo-German alliance, to finally take England’s place in the world and to weaken the USSR, which would allow them to become the main world power. Japan, taking advantage of the preoccupation of the other great powers in Europe, intended to end the war in China on its own terms and obtain from the United States consent to strengthen Japanese influence in Far East and, under favorable conditions, take part in the war against the USSR. Thus, as a result of the actions of all the main participants, the pre-war political crisis escalated into a war unleashed by Germany.

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Versailles-Washington system of international relations

European ( Versailles) part of this system was largely formed under the influence of political and military-strategic considerations of the victorious states (mainly Great Britain and France) while ignoring the interests of the defeated and newly formed countries (Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Latvia , Lithuania, Estonia).

The formation of a new world order in Europe was complicated by the Russian revolution and chaos in Eastern Europe. The victorious states, which played the main role in developing the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, pursued different goals. For France the main importance was maximum attenuation Germany, which made it possible to consolidate French hegemony in Europe and secure its eastern borders. United Kingdom And USA were more interested in maintaining the balance of power in Europe, which forced them to to a greater extent take into account the interests of Germany, which, in the conditions of collapse Austria-Hungary, revolutions in Russia, the general national revolutionary upsurge and effective Bolshevik propaganda could be used as a stabilizing factor in Central and Eastern Europe.

As a result, the Versailles agreements became a compromise between these extreme positions at the expense of the vanquished, which predetermined the formation of mass communist parties and the revanchist orientation of German foreign policy. At the same time, England and France tried to use the new states that arose in Europe, both against the Bolshevik revolution and against German revanchism.

Due to the fact that the basis of any system of international relations is “the balance of power, understood as a specific historical relationship between the relative weight and influence of the states included in the system, and primarily the great powers,” the lack of a coordinated position between Great Britain and France on the issue of the prospect of a European balance and self-removal of the United States from participation in the functioning of the Versailles system, the isolation of Soviet Russia (USSR) and the anti-German orientation of the Versailles system (while maintaining the division of the political map of Europe into winners and losers) turned it unbalanced and non-universal, thereby increasing the potential for a future world conflict.

Immediately after the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty became known, the President of the Weimar Republic, Ebert, stated that these conditions and the reparations stipulated in them could not be fulfilled by the German people even with the utmost effort of all their forces. He emphasized that under such conditions it is impossible to ensure long peace in Europe on the basis of cooperation between peoples and a new bloody war will be inevitable.

The winners of the First World War faced a difficult dual task - to eliminate the threat from Germany and a new danger - the spread of communist ideas from Bolshevik Russia. The solution was found in creating buffer states: the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the declaration of independence of Hungary, and the proclamation of the never-before-existent Czechoslovakia were legitimized. The re-establishment of Poland was recognized, some East German lands were transferred to it and a “corridor” to the Baltic Sea was allocated. The Baltic states that separated from Russia were recognized, but at the same time the Lithuanian Vilna region became part of Poland, and the German Klaipeda region, on the contrary, went to Lithuania. Transylvania was given to Romania. Another Hungarian region - Vojvodina - became part of the emerging Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - the future Yugoslavia.

In 1920-1921 in Eastern Europe, the so-called “Little Entente” was formed - an alliance of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia, the initial goal of which was to contain Hungarian irredentism, as well as to prevent the re-establishment of the Habsburg monarchy in Austria or Hungary. The alliance received the support of France, which signed military agreements with each of the three member states. France's "Little Entente" made it possible to open a second front in the event of armed conflict with Germany. At the same time, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania were seen in France as a counterweight to Germany and the USSR.

The buffer states represented a constant source of tension for Germany in the east and Bolshevik Russia in the west. At the same time, it turned out that almost all the countries of Eastern Europe have territorial claims against each other. Russia was completely excluded from the Versailles process. The Bolshevik leadership of Soviet Russia declared the need for a world revolution and the overthrow bourgeois governments throughout the world, and therefore was unable to negotiate, and during the peace conference the Whites suffered defeats from the Reds and were heavily dependent on foreign assistance, not representing a distinct entity. Türkiye was deprived of territories outside Asia Minor and the Sanjak, and during the Versailles Conference it almost lost its statehood. Outside the Versailles Conference, there was consideration of the situation in Asia - Japanese claims to govern China, which had practically disintegrated and fallen into chaos by that time.

Washington system, extending to the Asia-Pacific region, was distinguished by a somewhat greater balance, but was also not universal, since its subjects did not include the USSR and China, which could become guarantors against Japanese expansionism in cooperation with the USA and Great Britain. The instability of the Washington system was caused by uncertainty political development China, Japan's militaristic foreign policy, US isolationism, etc.

German remilitarization policy

For their part, Great Britain and the United States were not interested in a sharp weakening of Germany, seeing in it a counterbalance to French dominance in Western Europe. The crisis of 1923 convinced them of the danger of revanchist forces coming to power in Germany. Therefore, in 1924, Great Britain and the United States achieved the adoption of the Dawes Plan, allowing Germany to receive US loans to pay reparations. This allowed Germany to restore its military-industrial potential by 1927. In 1930, an even softer “Jung Plan” was adopted, which provided Germany with a delay in paying reparations during the crisis.

France and Great Britain tried to blur the special character of Soviet-German relations. This course was actively promoted by German Foreign Minister G. Stresemann, who argued that Germany had more in common with Western countries than with the USSR. To this end, Germany, France and Britain signed the Locarno Agreements. In accordance with its terms, Paris and London guaranteed the inviolability of Germany's western border, but did not give similar guarantees regarding its eastern borders. This posed an immediate danger to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania. After Locarno, capital, mostly American, rushed to Germany, accelerating the modernization of its industry. The Locarno agreement gave rise to deep distrust of French policy in Eastern Europe, which largely derailed negotiations on the creation of the system collective security in Europe in the 1930s.

With Hitler's rise to power, the Geneva Disarmament Conference, through the efforts of France, Great Britain, Italy and Germany, turned into a screen covering the legalization of the weapons of the Third Reich. Hitler intimidated the victors of World War I with the communist threat posed by the USSR, presenting his country as a buffer between the West and the Soviet Union. In March 1935, Germany finally ceased to comply with the military articles of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919. Universal conscription was introduced in the country and the rearmament of the army began, but this did not meet with any opposition from the Western powers, the guarantors of the Versailles Peace. The Saarland was returned to Germany as a result of a plebiscite. In 1936, the Germans sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland. By the end of 1936, Germany had 14 army corps and one cavalry brigade. The regular army reached a strength of 700-800 thousand people. In 1936, Germany already had at least 1,500 tanks, and the air force consisted of 4,500 aircraft. A wide network of airfields was deployed throughout Germany. In 1939 ground forces The Third Reich consisted of 2.6 million people, the Air Force - 400 thousand, the Navy - 50 thousand people.

The rise of Nazism in Germany

Germany, the main loser, remained extremely unstable. A democratic system was introduced in the country (Weimar Republic), but the majority of the population was dissatisfied low level life and very high level inflation. The position of left radicals, including communists, was strong in the country. At a certain point, German society began to lean towards revanchism. After the death of Socialist President Friedrich Ebert, his place was taken by Paul Hindenburg, the leading German military leader of the First World War. The global economic crisis that began in 1929 caused more damage to Germany than to other countries; despite the emergency decrees of Chancellor Heinrich Brüning on wage cuts and new taxes, state budget Germany had a billion-dollar deficit - falling incomes and unemployment were compounded by national humiliation and onerous reparations.

Under these conditions, the National Socialist Workers' Party, an organization that proclaimed as its goals both national revival and social protection of the population, began to gain increasing popularity in Germany. The National Socialists said that the cause of the problems was the infringement of the German nation - the Versailles system in international politics, Jews and communists within the country. Simple slogans, a penchant for theatricality and the emotionality of the leader of the National Socialists, Adolf Hitler, attracted the attention of voters, and then the German elite, financial and industrial circles, the military, and the Prussian nobility. In mid-1930, in accordance with the “Jung Plan,” the amount of reparations was reduced, and with the announcement of a moratorium by the United States, Germany stopped paying reparations altogether. At the beginning of 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as head of government - chancellor. A few months later, having staged a provocation with the arson of the Reichstag (the building of the German parliament), Hitler accused his main opponents, the communists, of treason. This occasion was used to establish the National Socialist party dictatorship, which quickly turned into Hitler's personal dictatorship. All parties except the National Socialist were dissolved and their leaders imprisoned in concentration camps.

German and Italian expansionism

Even before coming to power, in the summer of 1932, Hitler, at a meeting of his like-minded people, voiced a plan to create a German “racial empire” designed to dominate Europe and the world. “We will never achieve world domination,” he said, “if a powerful, steel-hard core of 80 or 100 million Germans is not created at the center of our development.” In addition to Germany, this “core” included Austria, Czechoslovakia, and part of Poland. Around this “foundation of great Germany” there was supposed to be a belt of small and medium-sized vassal states: the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, and a number of southern Russian and Caucasian states.

In 1936-1939. The leadership of Nazi Germany, without resorting to direct military confrontation, under the pretext of fighting the communist threat, began to introduce a force component into its foreign policy, constantly forcing Great Britain and France to make concessions and conciliation (the so-called “appeasement policy”). During these years, Nazi Germany created a bridgehead for a future war. In March 1938, Hitler carried out the “Anschluss” of Austria, and then organized the “Sudetenland Crisis” - “ national movement» Germans in the west and north of Czechoslovakia for joining Germany. On September 29-30, 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed on the German occupation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia under the pretext of “ensuring the security of the German population” of this region (which constituted the overwhelming majority in it). Subsequently, Czechoslovakia was dismembered (with the participation of Poland and Hungary).

Fascist Italy pursued a no less aggressive policy. In 1935-1936, the invasion of Ethiopia was carried out, which caused condemnation from the world community and even led Italy to withdraw from the League of Nations in 1937, but the entire territory of Ethiopia was occupied and included in the Italian colonial possessions in Africa. Against the background of economic sanctions imposed on Italy, in the summer of 1936 there was a rapprochement with Germany, which refused to join European sanctions and supplied Italy with the raw materials it needed.

By the end of 1938, the Versailles system in Europe had practically ceased to exist, and the Munich Agreement significantly strengthened Germany. Under these conditions, the German leadership set itself a new foreign policy goal - to achieve hegemony in Europe, securing the role of a great world power.

In March 1939, Germany occupied the Czech Republic, turning it into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and Slovakia into its satellite. On March 22, 1939, a German-Lithuanian agreement was signed in Berlin on the transfer of the Memel region with the port of Memel to Germany.

At the same time, Hitler openly made claims against Poland, demanding the annexation of the Free City of Danzig to Germany and the construction of extraterritorial highways and railway through Polish Pomerania.

As a result of the aggressive actions of Germany and Italy in March-April 1939, a pre-war political crisis began in Europe - a period of direct alignment of military-political forces in anticipation probable war. It was these actions that forced Great Britain and France to begin probing the position of the USSR in search of allies to contain German expansion.

Diplomatic activity in Europe on the eve of the war

In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is generally accepted that the goals of Great Britain and France in the negotiations that began in Moscow were as follows: to remove the threat of war from their countries; prevent a possible Soviet-German rapprochement; demonstrating rapprochement with the USSR, reach an agreement with Germany; to drag the Soviet Union into a future war and direct German aggression to the East. As for the goals of the USSR at these negotiations, this issue is the subject of debate. As a rule, it is believed that the Soviet leadership set three main tasks for diplomats - to prevent or delay the war and to disrupt the creation of a united anti-Soviet front. Supporters of the official Soviet version believe that the strategic goal of the Soviet leadership in the summer of 1939 was to ensure the security of the USSR in the context of the emerging crisis in Europe; their opponents point out that Soviet foreign policy contributed to the clash between Germany and Great Britain and France in anticipation of a “world revolution.”

On April 17, in response to proposals from Great Britain and France, the USSR invited these countries to conclude a mutual assistance treaty. On May 3, when it became clear that Great Britain and France did not accept the Soviet proposal, V. M. Molotov, who also remained the head of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, was appointed People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs instead of M. M. Litvinov. On May 14, the Soviet side again proposed concluding an Anglo-French-Soviet alliance, a military convention and providing joint guarantees to the small countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Meanwhile, on May 22, the so-called “Pact of Steel” was signed between Germany and Italy, and the very next day, speaking to the military, Hitler outlined the main goal of German foreign policy - returning to the number of “powerful states”, which required expanding the “living space ", which was impossible "without invading other people's states or attacking other people's property."

Negotiations between the USSR and Great Britain and France that began in Moscow, however, proceeded sluggishly and clearly reached a dead end. In addition, the Soviet leadership became aware of secret contacts that were taking place simultaneously between Germany and Great Britain. During the secret negotiations that were held in London, the delimitation of spheres of influence, plans to seize new and exploit existing world markets, including the “markets” of Russia, China and a number of other countries, were discussed.

On May 31, at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Molotov’s speech criticized the position of Great Britain and France. Under these conditions, Molotov noted, “we do not at all consider it necessary to abandon business ties” with Germany and Italy. Thus, Moscow sought to put pressure on both Great Britain and France, and Germany.

Meanwhile, the German leadership grew more confident that Great Britain was not yet ready for war, and in these conditions they should not tie their hands to an agreement with Great Britain, but fight with it. Germany also entered into contacts with the Soviet leadership, proposing to improve relations with the USSR on the basis of delimiting the interests of the parties in Eastern Europe. On August 8-10, the USSR received information that German interests extended to Lithuania, Western Poland, Romania without Bessarabia, but, in the event of an agreement with Germany, the USSR would have to abandon the agreement with Great Britain and France. The Soviet leadership invited Germany to conclude a full-fledged non-aggression pact. Germany accepted all Soviet proposals, including regarding the secret additional protocol on the delimitation of spheres of interest in Europe.

On the night of August 23-24, 1939, a Non-Aggression Treaty was signed in Moscow between the USSR and Germany, as well as a secret additional protocol to it in the event of a “territorial and political reorganization” of the Baltic states and Poland. Latvia and Estonia were within the sphere of interests of the USSR. At the same time, Lithuania received Vilnius (at that time Polish), and the border of interests in Poland ran along the Narew, Vistula and San rivers. The question of Polish independence, according to the protocol, could “be finally clarified” later, by agreement of the parties. Also, the USSR emphasized its interest in Bessarabia, and Germany emphasized its disinterest in it.

According to the Russian historian M. Meltyukhov, the Soviet-German non-aggression pact can be considered a significant success of Soviet diplomacy, which was able to use the European crisis to its advantage, outplay British diplomacy and achieve its main goal - to stay out of the European war, while gaining significant freedom hands in Eastern Europe, greater room for maneuver between the warring factions in their own interests, and at the same time blaming London and Paris for the breakdown of the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations.