Stalin provoked Hitler to start first. Washington Post: The era of new Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini is about to begin The secret society of the Thule Aryans and the tacit support of the West

Some modern publications play up the version that Hitler could have captured Stalin and arranged something like an "anti-Nuremberg" over communism. But this version seems extremely dubious.

Although Nazi propaganda constantly denounced the "crimes of Bolshevism", its inspirers were well aware that the tribunal over the communist dictatorship itself is capable of stirring up the national feelings of the Russians, and this was clearly not part of the plans of the Third Reich. On the contrary, Hitler tried in every possible way to prevent the creation of a puppet Russian government, even of the type that had been created by him in occupied Serbia, and the wide participation of Russian emigrants and prisoners of war in the war against the USSR. He has repeatedly expressed a clear position that the lands in the East are acquired by the Germans and only for the Germans. The continuation of the national-state existence of Russia, even in the form of a formal fiction, after Germany's victory over the USSR, contradicted this position.

At the same time, there is only one theoretical scenario according to which Stalin could have been captured by Hitler. This is a military coup in the USSR, which would have been staged by people from Stalin's entourage in case of defeat in the war (for example, after the surrender of Moscow). Then the new rulers could buy peace with Hitler at the price of giving him Stalin. Of course, if Hitler needed it. But even in this case, the Fuehrer would hardly have begun to arrange some kind of parody of the trial.

In the USSR, 26 thousand different books were written about the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War. But practically all of them were subjected to strict censorship by the Glavlit and were just worn-out clichés of Soviet propaganda.

The Library of Congress contains nearly 20,000 books and articles on this topic. However, what happened on Soviet territory and outside it from June 22, 1941 to September 2, 1945 was called the "unknown war" by the Americans. Indeed, despite tens of thousands of publications about the Great Patriotic War, its true history has not yet been written. Even today, the Great Patriotic War remains unknown in many respects, because many of its events are distorted or simply forgotten.

Therefore, unanswered questions continue to sound. And they are asked even by those who consider themselves military historians. For example, V. Suvorov: something was being prepared. This "something" could be either a defense or an offensive. Defense is eliminated. What remains? Was it really not clear to Zhukov before the war that it was impossible to drive a huge number of Red Army troops into the mousetrap protrusions? Or M. Solonov: Was the Soviet Union ready for war? Why did Stalin oversleep Hitler's attack on the USSR? Why did he not heed the notorious warnings of Churchill and Sorge? Why didn't he announce mobilization to repel Hitler's aggression and move his troops to the border?

I will add to this list: maybe Stalin needed Hitler's aggression - especially after the inglorious Finnish war, for the unleashing of which the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations?

At the beginning of June 1941, the commanders of the 4th Army of the Western Front received a telegram from Zhukov, which reported that "German squadrons would fly in certain areas (air gates)" and that they would not be "shot at."

(And they didn’t shoot. And those who did shoot - were dealt with by the Special Departments.)

On June 10, 1941, diplomat Cadogan conveyed to the Soviet ambassador Maisky in London a personal message from Churchill, which indicated information about the German troops preparing for an attack on the USSR, down to the numbers of regiments and divisions.

On the same day, Marshal Timoshenko and Zhukov reported to Stalin that “the implementation of plans for the construction of railways in 1941 is under threat of disruption. Work on 11 new westbound rail lines, which began in April, has not yet been fully deployed. As of June 1, most lines have fulfilled only 8% of the annual plan.

The annual plan for the construction of bridges in the western and south-western directions for June 1 was fulfilled only in the range from 13 to 20%. The main reason for the difficulties is the lack of building materials ”.

(But the plan for the construction of railways east of Moscow was overfulfilled by 70%.)

On June 10, 1941, the commander of the Kiev district, Kirponos, arbitrarily ordered the troops to occupy the foreground - the front line of the fortified areas. On the same day, Zhukov became aware of this, and he demanded that Kirponos cancel the order.

The cover plan was never introduced either in Kiev or in other districts. The covering troops did not occupy the foreground. And the German army broke into the USSR without much difficulty.

On June 12, Zhukov ordered: "In order to avoid possible provocations, to ban flights of our aviation in the 10-kilometer border strip."

(German troops could now safely deploy along the Soviet border for an offensive.)

Only on June 13, 1941, the command of the Kiev district received an order from the General Staff to move the "deep" formations closer to the border. Their nomination began on June 17-18. They were supposed to arrive in the designated areas on June 27-28. In June, the armies of the internal districts began to move into the region of the Lvov salient. But after the defeat of the Western Front, they were used to plug the hole formed.

On June 22, only 16 rifle divisions, which were at the border in the zone of the Southwestern Front, could enter into direct contact with the Germans on June 22. The superiority of the Germans over them was 2.6 times.

The second echelon of the border covering armies consisted of 14 divisions, of which 12 were tank and motorized, which were located 50-100 km from the border.

Another 27 divisions were located 100-400 km from the border. German troops began to eat them, having almost finished off the border formations. The same thing happened in the Western District. The Germans possessed one dense line against three thin Soviet ones, separated by a hundred or more kilometers. Therefore, they smashed the Red Army formations in parts.

June 14 Goebbels: “In East Prussia, our troops are so densely concentrated that the Russians could inflict heavy damage on us with preventive air raids. Crips left Moscow for London. "

On June 14, Timoshenko and Zhukov again proposed to Stalin (according to Zhukov's recollections) to bring the troops on the western border into combat readiness. To this, the secretary general and head of the government of the USSR replied that such actions could cause a war.

After that, Zhukov, having learned that the troops of the Kiev district had come close to the border, demanded to cancel the order and punish those responsible. The only answer to all their perplexed questions to high-ranking commanders was: “Calm down. The owner knows everything. "

Goebbels: “The Russians do not seem to suspect anything yet. They deploy their troops in such a way that their position is consistent with our goals. We cannot wish for the best. They are densely concentrated and will be easy prey for capturing them. "

(Goebbels is referring to the Soviet troops stationed in the Lvov and Bialystok ledges. They were concentrated so that at the base of each ledge there were weak connections, and the main forces were concentrated on the tops of the ledges. This allowed the Germans to cut off the ledges with blows on the base and encircle the divisions in them and the corps of the Red Army.)

On June 14, 1941, TASS said that "rumors that Germany is going to attack the USSR, and the USSR is preparing for war with Germany and is concentrating its troops on its borders, have been concocted by the propaganda of forces interested in further expansion and unleashing of the war."

Molotov made it clear to the population of the USSR that there was no question of any war. And to Hitler - that the USSR is guessing about something and he needs to hurry.

On June 15, 1941, Kirponos received a report that “on the border, German troops are removing all engineering structures, as well as placing shells and bombs directly on the ground, not counting on their long storage. A German attack should be expected any minute. And our troops are in places of permanent deployment.

It will take at least two days for them to take up defensive positions. But will the enemy give us so much time? It's time to announce the alarm to the border guard troops. "

In 1941, the USSR railway military department submitted an application for the supply of 120 thousand delayed-action mines to it. But I received only ... 120 pieces.

(Mines were not supposed to be placed in the path of German tanks until Moscow itself. And then suddenly appeared, like shells for anti-aircraft guns, dangerous for tanks, anti-tank rifles and grenades, as well as the PPSh machine gun, which was loved by German soldiers.)

Marshal Kulik explained the lack of mines to the surprised generals in the following way: “Mines are a powerful thing. But this is a remedy for the defenders. And when we attack, we need demining means. "

In mid-June, division commander Bogaychuk reported to the command: “On our side, defensive measures are not being taken to ensure that enemy motor vehicles are not attacked. The front line, without a garrison of troops, will not delay the German offensive.

Border units may not warn field troops in time. In this regard, the zone of the foreground of my division, according to the calculation of the time, will be captured by the Germans before the withdrawal of our units there. "

Rodina magazine, 1995: “If the Red Army had struck at the Germans on June 21, when they had completed their concentration and deployment without defensive plans, then this blow would have taken them by surprise.

The use of the Lvov and Bialystok ledges by Soviet troops would have led to the encirclement of German shock groups in Poland and East Prussia. A strike against Romania, where there were only 7 German divisions and extremely weak Romanian troops, would also be effective.

The German command simply would not have been able to fend off him. "

On June 17, Soviet intelligence received a message that a German strike could be expected at any moment. Stalin listened to this information inattentively. According to eyewitnesses, these days he showed more and more anger if someone came to him with reports about the growing danger of a German attack on the USSR.

Already after the first words of the speaker, he lost his temper and abruptly cut off the conversation. He did not need intelligence reports demanding immediate action. Patience began to fail him. In the last pre-war days, Stalin's vocabulary was more full of obscene words than usual.

On June 17, Roosevelt told Churchill that in the near future the Germans would make “the strongest attack on the USSR. If this war breaks out, we will give the Bolsheviks energetic encouragement. "

In a conversation with Hopkins, Roosevelt predicted that “Stalin will not attack first” and that “Hitler will put all his strength into the blow, from which Stalin will not soon recover. We need to somehow enter the war. "

To Hopkins' proposal to attack the Japanese, Roosevelt replied that “this is impossible, since the United States is a democratic and peaceful country. We must continue to tease the Japanese, as Stalin does to the Germans. "

On June 19, Tymoshenko ordered the districts to camouflage military installations, paint tanks and sow all airfields with grass, as well as ensure that warehouses, workshops, and artillery parks are completely unobservable from the air, but by July 1. However, Stalin then pushed the matter aside until July 30th.

On June 19, Soviet intelligence received a message that the German attack on the USSR would take place on June 22 at 3 o'clock in the morning. This information was transmitted to the leadership of the USSR on the day it was received. Intelligence also reported that German troops were repairing roads and bridges on the western border, tanks and artillery were concentrated in the forests, and reconnaissance from the air was being intensively conducted.

The new blitzkrieg strategy was not to engage in any border battles. From the very first hours of the attack, the masses of German tanks and aircraft made a gap in the weak point of the defense, and then an avalanche of cars rushed into this gap.

Soviet intelligence was significantly mistaken in determining the forces of the enemy, but for some reason it was mistaken in the direction of overestimating these forces. For example, in March, the General Staff proceeded from the possible presence of 11,000 tanks and 11,600 aircraft in Germany. However, on June 22, the enemy's forces turned out to be significantly less than those on which the Soviet military leadership had counted. And despite this, the result was disastrous!

On June 20, the command of the Baltic District informed Moscow about the advance of German units to the border. “Construction of pontoon bridges continues along it. German troops in East Prussia were ordered to take the starting position for the offensive. "

On June 20, General Pavlov received Vasilevsky's reply from the General Staff: “Your request has been reported to the People's Commissar Tymoshenko. However, he did not allow the occupation of the field fortifications, as this could cause provocation from the Germans. "

Due to the lack of storage facilities, 50% of the ammunition of the western military districts was stored in the internal districts of the USSR, with 33% at a distance of up to 700 km from the border.

From 40 to 90% of the fuel reserves of the western districts were stored near Moscow and Kharkov, as well as at civilian oil depots in the depths of the USSR.

Since the estimated dates for the start of the war were related to 1942 and even to 1943, the mobilization plan by the beginning of the war turned out to be unsecured financially. The needs of the Red Army for guns, mortars and aircraft were planned to be satisfied only by the end of 1941, and the provision of all the rest to be completed in 1942.

(So ​​the Bolsheviks created conditions for Hitler for aggression. Later, the Wehrmacht used 30% of Soviet captured gasoline. And T-34 tanks appeared in large numbers just during the defense of Moscow.)

On June 20, 1941, Zhukov was informed about the advance of German troops to the border of the USSR. They were ordered to take the starting position for the offensive.

Colonel Belov recalled that “on June 20, an order was received for the air units to bring them to combat readiness, and to ban vacations. And suddenly on June 21, at 16 o'clock, an order was received to cancel the order of June 20! "

General Ivanov wrote: “Stalin strove by the very state and behavior of the troops of the border districts to make it clear to Hitler that calm reigns in our country, and even more so, carelessness. And this was done in its most natural form. For example, anti-aircraft units were at the training camp. As a result, the combat readiness of our troops was reduced to an extremely low degree. "

On June 21, the command of the Western District reported to Moscow that the Germans had removed the barbed wire, and the noise of ground motors was heard. There were border violations by airplanes. On the same day, the border troops received a day off, and Stalin appointed his henchman Lev Mekhlis as the head of the Political Directorate of the Red Army. According to him, during the years of repression, he "destroyed the enemies of the people like mad dogs."

On June 21, German diplomat Kegel, who was an agent of Soviet intelligence, announced that Germany's attack on the USSR would take place at 3-4 o'clock in the morning. Although Zhukov ordered the abolition of the blackout of the Baltic cities, Molotov ordered that the entire air defense system of Moscow be put on alert.

On June 21, at 9 pm, Tymoshenko suggested to Stalin that he give a directive to the western districts to bring the troops to full combat readiness. However, Stalin did not agree and demanded that the People's Commissar of Defense give an order to the troops not to succumb to any provocations.

Since the USSR border was defended by only 100 thousand border guards, an order from Moscow was necessary to put into effect a cover plan. In accordance with it, troops were to move to the border. However, all 170 divisions were located at a considerable distance from it. 56 divisions of the first echelon of cover - 8-20 km, 52 divisions of the second - from 50 to 100 km, and a reserve of 62 divisions - 400 km to the east.

“For a difficult military and political victory, Stalin needed German aggression against the USSR” (“WWII 1941-1945.” Book 1).

At 11 pm on June 21, Timoshenko summoned Admiral Kuznetsov, People's Commissar of the Navy, and told him that in connection with the expected German attack, all fleets must prepare to repel German air raids.

The air defense of Moscow was also activated. All anti-aircraft artillery was withdrawn to the position, and 600 of the newest fighters of the 1st Air Defense Air Corps were preparing for departure. At about 1 am on June 22, a complete blackout was introduced in Moscow, and the capital plunged into darkness.

And in the General Staff from the western districts there were continuous reports, which Marshal Timoshenko had already called panic. But there was reason for panic - the cover plan had not yet been put in place, and the border remained virtually without cover.

It is characteristic that new railways were built only east of Moscow, with a distance to the Urals, Kazakhstan and the Far East. The west of the European part of the USSR had old roads that were supposed to fall into the zone of German occupation.

Before World War II, not a single (even the most insignificant) issue was resolved by the General Staff of the Red Army and the People's Commissariat (Ministry) of Defense of the USSR without the approval of Molotov and Stalin. Especially when it comes to military construction.

Marshal Rokossovsky wrote: “Judging by the concentration of Soviet airfields near the border and the location of warehouses, it was like preparing to jump forward. However, the location of the Red Army troops and the measures in the troops did not correspond to this. "

Field Marshal Manstein said more: “The Soviet troops at the border were so deeply echeloned that it spoke only of defense. For example, tank units in Voroshilov's group were located all the way to Pskov. "

List of sources used
J. Boffa "History of the USSR", v. 1-2 (M., International Relations, 1990), K. Tippelskirch "History of the Second World War" (M., AST, 1999), A. Bulok "Hitler and Stalin: Life and power ”(Smolensk, Rusich, 1998),“ History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union ”, vols. 1-6 (M., 1989), G. Zhukov“ Memories and Reflections ”(M., Olma-press, 2001) , E. Rzhevskaya “Goebbels. Portrait against the background of a diary "(M., AST, 2004), G. Kumanev" War and railway transport of the USSR "(M., 1969), N. Muller" Wehrmacht and occupation "(M., 1974), M. Beshanov" Tank pogrom 1941 Where did 28 thousand Soviet tanks disappear? " (M., AST, 2001), S. Burin “Recent history. XX century ", textbook (M., 2000), K. Becker" War Diaries of the Luftwaffe "(M., 2004), G. Rudel" Pilot "Stuka" (Memoirs of a German pilot officer) "(M., Tsentrpoligraf, 2004 ), V. Keitel "Memoirs of a Field Marshal" (M., Tsentrpoligraf, 2004), "The Great Patriotic Catastrophe". The tragedy of 1941 " (M., Yauza, 2006), B. Sokolov “Molotov. The Shadow of the Leader ”(M., AST, 2005), V. Nevezhin“ If Tomorrow is on a Campaign ”(M., Yauza, 2007), A. Isaev“ Five circles of Hell. Red army in "boilers" (M., Yauza-Eksmo, 2009).

Shortly before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Hitler awarded the Russian pilot Ivan Fedorov with one of the highest awards of the Reich - for the mastery of aerobatics. Fedorov, with a German cross, immediately knocked out the heel of his boot.
Ivan Fedorov after the Victory with his wife Anna Babenko.
He was unusually fearless. It is not surprising that during the war Ivan Fedorov was assigned to command a regiment of aces. And that in 1948 he became a Hero of the Soviet Union is also not surprising, because he was the first in the country to overcome the speed of sound while testing a jet aircraft. It's amazing that the Star of the Hero was not given to him for so long.

Too close to the ground

The legendary pilot who shot down dozens of enemy aircraft lived a long life, leaving this world in 2011 at the age of 97. “At the age of 80, Ivan Evgrafovich could climb the steps of the entrance to the second floor in his arms,” says Vyacheslav Rodionov, a candidate of historical sciences, writer, who was friends with Fedorov, about the pilot. - He was a brilliant pilot. Once, when I landed in Zhukovsky after a test flight of La-174 and entered the glide path, approaching the runway, I felt that the plane was lurching to the right. According to flight science, the pilot needs to align the car, which in this situation was impossible to do, because the car almost stopped obeying. After that, it usually crashes - the ground is too close ... Fyodorov, in a split second, decides: since the car wants to roll over, let it roll over. And the plane makes a 360-degree turn around its axis, miraculously landing at the airfield. Fedorov gets out of the cockpit and says: "Probably something with the aileron thrust." And when the mechanics checked his assumption, it turned out to be so.

Ivan Fedorovon the eve of the Great Patriotic War.
He was one of a kind, a nugget. By origin - Don Cossack, Old Believer. Born in the February steppe, when his parents were riding on a sleigh to the village of Kamenskaya. I saw the plane for the first time at the age of 15, working as a train driver. And he fell ill with the sky, in which, after graduating from the flight school, he will literally live. "
On the eve of World War II, in May 1941, Fedorov, along with three colleagues, was sent on a short business trip to Germany, where they were met by aircraft designer Messerschmitt. Our ace shocked the local specialists: for the first time, he sat in the cockpit of an experimental and unfamiliar German fighter, immediately soared into the sky and began to perform aerobatics, which attracted the attention of Hitler, who was on the airfield. The Fuhrer expressed a desire to dine with the Soviet pilots. And then Fedorov was handed a small box, which contained one of the highest awards of the Reich - an iron cross with oak leaves. The next day he appeared on the airfield without a cross on his chest and to the question "Where is the reward?" pointed to the heel of his boot, where he had nailed the cross the day before: "This is where the German orders are worn in Russia!"
“Oh, and I got it from our man from the embassy, ​​who dealt with the protocol. They took off the shavings from me, ”Ivan Evgrafovich himself later recalled. This and his other stories were preserved for history by the famous Belarusian documentary filmmaker Anatoly Alai, who shot a film in Moscow about Fedorov for his 90th birthday in 2004.
He took the plane to the front "It was with great difficulty that we managed to obtain permission for our film crew to get acquainted with Fedorov's personal file No. 14874, since the access to documents of this category of officers is determined by the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation," director Anatoly Alai tells AiF. - But I read it with cuts. Many sheets were sealed with gray paper. " The pilot told Alai how he ended up at the front. He was eager to beat the enemy with all his heart, but the aviation designer Lavochkin, whose planes he tested at the Design Bureau in Gorky, did not let him go to the front. And then, during the testing of the LaGG-3 fighter, Fedorov simply took the car to the front line. He did not have a map, he was guided by the railway tracks and the Volga current. He flew to the Kalinin Front, where at this time, in July 1942, a group of penalty pilots was preparing. This group was assigned to lead Fedorov, no one else agreed. And a few months later, in September 1942, the command entrusted Colonel Fedorov with the formation of a regiment of aces on the Kalinin Front at the 3rd Air Army. For the brilliant performance of the task in December of the same year, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. From the summer of 1942 until the Victory, Fedorov was uninterruptedly on the front line, fighting as division commander (273rd fighter aviation division) and deputy division commander (269th fighter aviation Novgorod Red Banner division).
It was he who invented the famous "Great Royal U-turn": he soared up, then dived sharply and already from below in the "belly" shot enemy planes.

Broken chandelier

“In the personal file of Fedorov, there are descriptions of two amazing battles that took place in September 1942, - says A. Alai. - In the first case, he fought alone with 18 bombers and 6 enemy fighters, in which he shot down one and knocked out two bombers. In the second - Fedorov single-handedly fought with two bombers and 8 enemy fighters, shot down one bomber and one fighter. This document (combat characteristics) was signed by the commander of the 3rd Air Army, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation Gromov. Ivan Fedorov was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union three times, but he was awarded it only after the war. "
And for the first time the pilot could receive the Star of the Hero in 1938, when he returned from Spain, where he spent almost a year, having made 286 sorties and personally shot down 11 enemy aircraft and hitting 13 vehicles in the group. “He went there voluntarily,” says V. Rodionov. - As a tester of the latest technology, Fedorov once took part in a flight over Red Square. Then there was a reception in the Kremlin, and Marshal Voroshilov, delighted with the pilot's skill, asked what reward he wanted. He asked to send him to the war in Spain. "
Fedorov returned to his homeland with other volunteers. In Moscow, this event was celebrated with a banquet. And a fight.


"The drunken" officer in civilian clothes ", having quarreled with Fedorov's friend, the pilot Turzhansky, took out a small ladies' Browning and shot at the combat pilot. Ivan, being a master of sports in boxing, killed the shooter with one blow. And then a general fight began, - says V. Rodionov. - Fedorov gave all the "fighting" for Spain for a broken crystal chandelier and dishes. The pilots in this story were appointed extreme. I had to forget about the Star. Although, of course, Fedorov was not any drunkard. He loved his job and the sky too much to exchange it all for a bottle. He always drank milk. And the second time, when he was presented to Zvezda in 1944 for heroism at the front and the number of aircraft shot down (10 bombers and 5 fighters), ill-wishers simply did not give the papers up. Banal envy ... ".

"Shoot me first"

Fedorov received the honored title of Hero in 1948. In peacetime, he returned to test work and was the first in the USSR to overcome the speed of sound on a jet aircraft.
“After the war, Ivan Evgrafovich lived in Moscow,” says V. Rodionov. - In Khimki, for all the flight money owed to him for the war, he bought a house - a pre-revolutionary mansion. Then he gave it to kindergarten. He had no children of his own. With the pilot Anna Babenko, whom he himself taught to fly the plane, Fedorov married before the war. The wife, like her husband, fought on the front lines. Both he and she were wounded more than once, but the battle wounds affected Anna Artyomovna's health much more strongly. She passed away in 1988. Ivan Evgrafovich was constantly there, caring for his wife.
He was an amazingly kind person. In all his life he did no harm to anyone. On the contrary, he saved many. Once his group of penalty boxers was accused of not taking to the skies and covering our bridgehead from the air. Marshal Konevra ordered to shoot everyone. Dug graves. Konev himself arrived. And then Fedorov began to breastfeed, saying: "Shoot me first." Konev: "Who are you?" - “I am Russian Ivan, and you are Russian Ivan (Konev’s name. - Ed.). Why should we shoot each other? And my guys went up to the sky. The weather was bad. And from below they simply could not be seen. " Everything turned out to be so. Konev then said: "This is the first time I cancel my order."
Ivan Evgrafovich had a winged soul and a fiery heart. He never gave up, never lost heart. I was always ready to defend the weak, to fight for the truth, - continues V. Rodionov. - Yes, the pilot has no children. But for the umpteenth time, my daughter and I will carry his portrait at the Immortal Regiment procession. Like the rest of the country, we believe: heroes do not die - they live in the grateful memory of their descendants. "

I will try to write the accumulated thoughts about revolutions, about political technologies and my conclusions about the ways of development. Already in the process of writing, I was faced with the fact that even having completely omitted the evidence part, I still cannot fit into one post and will have to break it down into several. So, part one "Russia and Germany. How a cat became a dog":

At school I did not like the subject "history". An overripe, plump woman with an unpleasant-looking skin and a squeaky voice tediously talked about the affairs of some ancient dudes, demanding only stupid memorization of dates. It wasn't even boring because I wasn't even listening. Nobody was listening. They slapped a threefold, on that and fled. And then I no longer had the obligatory subject "history" and I lived happily without knowledge of the past for most of my life. I am sure many have had similar "teachers" and you will understand me.
I started thinking about the significance of history as a science when I was already quite an adult. When some political changes began in Russia and the world, references to the concept of "revolution" began, then I asked the first question that gave me an interest in history as an important tool for understanding the current situation and predicting future developments. That question sounded simply "Until 1917, for many hundreds of years, Russia was a monarchical state with quite a good economy, traditions and relatively stable political situations. How did it happen that in October 1917 everything changed COMPLETELY and the country turned towards catastrophic development, like the USSR ? ". I found the answer to this question by reading several articles about Lenin, Stalin, the First World War, the Second World War, about the political games of Germany and Russia, about the influence of the United States and a bunch of different notes. I must say that this greatly changed my vision of the situation and made it possible to take a different look at what is happening now.

As he wrote repeatedly: Russia and Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century are twin brothers, the countries are not just twinned, but literally literally two countries with the same EVERYTHING. This paradox is surprising in that just a few years earlier, Russia and Germany were fierce enemies. The German Empire of Bismarck and the Russian Empire of Nicholas II fought for life and death for their economic interests and claims to "disputed" (in fact, weakly armed) lands. But literally in 20-30 years everything changed exactly the opposite (the first allusion to the revolution of 1017).
At about the same time, the monarchies are overthrown and both countries begin military industrialization and military build-up, which obviously speaks of preparations for a global world war. In both countries, immediately after the overthrow of the tsars, power passes into the hands of even revolutionary, but quite moderate forces, which prepared the ground for further economic growth of the country and for reconstruction after the war. And literally at the same time, power smoothly passes from the hands of moderate forces aimed at "licking their wounds" into the hands of extremists, militants and outright bandits. In Russia it is Lenin's terrorist cell, and in Germany it is the National Socialist Party. Moreover, the most surprising thing in this story is that even though these two political forces opposed themselves to each other (one of the reasons for Hitler's victory in the elections is a fierce criticism of the German Communist Party), they act IN THE SAME TO SMALL METHODS using the same political technologies. Hitler was elected as the monopoly chairman of the party only after his demonstrative "withdrawal" from it. Exactly the same story happens with Stalin: Lenin criticizes him in his letter, Stalin makes an offended face and allegedly leaves the party, but then he was "persuaded to return" and he becomes the sole "owner" of the only real political force in the country.
The entire history of the reign of Hitler and Stalin is replete with amazing coincidences. Both begin to physically eliminate their political opponents, both announce a total modernization of production and reorientation towards increasing military potential, both at the end of the 30s begin an IDENTICAL expansion into Europe. Now I will not dwell on the proofs of these theses, it will take a VERY long time and will require a truly gigantic work. Simply, if you decide to read about this period yourself, pay attention to the similarity of the methods and ways of development of two initially completely different states.

For me, these similarities served as a wake-up call that sang "and here, after all, not everything is clean." No, well, really, if a cat starts wagging its tail, running after a stick and writing on trees with its paw raised, then you involuntarily wonder what happened to it. I will say right away - I do not know exactly what happened to Germany or Russia, but there are very funny facts that Lenin was very active in Austria and Germany since the end of the 1890s, and later received serious financial subsidies from there. In the same way, there are facts that in the early 1920s, already Soviet Russia was very actively pushing its ideas into Germany and sharing resources. This is despite the fact that the entire south of the future USSR did not even suspect that they belonged to the Soviets. That is, the new government in Russia paid Germany with which Russia did not have common borders, much more attention than that of Ukraine and Central Asia, with which there were borders. It's amazing why. And so in everything. I say - twin brothers.

That's all for now.

The history of the early 20th century may repeat itself again due to the collapse of the liberal world order.

Sometimes a certain event or the fate of a particular person becomes a symbol of a global, historical trend. The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul was one such moment.

It symbolizes the departure of the United States from the role of power that has held back the evil actors in the world, writes the Washington Post.

There were other dire signals as well. ... The Myanmar military committed the genocide of the Rohingya people. In Syria, there is a deliberate and constant massacre of civilians with the use of even banned chemical weapons. Russia invaded Ukraine and occupied Crimea. The rise of right-wing radicals in Europe and other parts of the world is also associated with a loss of strength and vitality among democratic countries. Doubts about America have echoed across the planet for over 10 years, and the rest of the forces have begun to respond accordingly.

When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban boasted of his “illiberal state” several years ago, he stressed that he was only responding to new realities, namely, “a large redistribution of global financial, economic, trade, political and military power, which became apparent in 2008 year ".

“Congratulations on the decline of the liberal world order that the US once supported. And this is just the beginning, ”the newspaper writes.

The world order is one of those things that people don't think about until it disappears. This is the lesson America learned in the 1930s, when the old European order collapsed and the United States refused to intervene to support or replace it. It was then that the Americans realized that there will always be dangerous people in the world who lack the strength and capabilities to fulfill their plans. They can be suppressed by a justifiable stable international order. It doesn't matter if it will be Rome, the united Christendom, the European concept of forces, or any form of "civilization" in a certain place and at a certain time.

As long as the world order is strong, evil sits in the shadows, but never disappears. When the prevailing order falls apart, then the time comes when the shadow dissipates, and those dark sides of human nature that lived in it creep out.

This is exactly what happened in the first half of the 20th century. The conditions in which Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini came to power were provided for a world in which no one wanted or could maintain some semblance of world order. This gave the bloody dictators a chance to show what they are capable of. If there was order to dispel their ambitions, the world would probably never have to deal with the bloody tyrants who went down in history as aggressors and mass murderers.

“Today the shadow dissipates again. Those who urge us to distance ourselves from the world and demonstrate greater restraint tell us that we must accept the world as it is. But they have no idea what the world is really like, “as it is.” They grew up inside a bubble of protection created by the power of the United States and the liberal world that it supported. In a world where other countries had to behave as they demanded those realities of power, ”the article says.

It was shaped by the beliefs of its leaders about what the United States can or will have to put up with. They were guided by a sense of the strength and consolidation of the liberal order. The same applies to the behavior of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and every state or non-state actor who may have looked for ways to undermine or overthrow the existing order. All of them would have behaved differently long ago if America and its allies also behaved differently.