When truth hurts: how US and British taxpayers ensured Soviet victory in the “Great Patriotic War”
By: Jānis Mākoņkalns
Tags: Ww2, Propaganda, Ussr, Russia, World War II

On 8 May, when the rest of the civilized world is remembering the victims of World War II, the official twitter account of the White House published a tweet about the victory of the US and UK over Nazism that took place 75 years ago.

The tweet attracted notable criticism from Russian officials who were infuriated that the US had the audacity to believe it had somehow helped achieve the victory, ignoring Russia as the main — or even the only — victor in the war it itself had caused. According to Russian officials, this is the US attempting to rewrite WWII history.

Interestingly, this sentiment was also backed by anti-Kremlin opposition activist Aleksandr Navalny who also criticized Washington for “wrongly interpreting history”, adding that 27 million Russians (!) lost their lives in the war — not Soviet citizens of different nationalities.

Neither the official Moscow, nor Navalny, who is quite respected in the West, attempted to provide any real facts for their arguments that would refute what the official White House twitter account had stated. In American words, Russia’s arguments over the history of WWII is nothing more than a pile of bullshit.

What is more, such an attitude from Russian officials and politicians is completely natural, because modern Moscow still sees WWII exclusively through a prism of historical myths made up during the Soviet era. This has resulted in Moscow (and others) refusing to open their eyes to a multitude of facts — facts Moscow is so very afraid of.

In this article, I will provide four facts about the history of World War II that make Russia uncomfortable and scared of the truth.

Fact #1: WWII would not have taken place if the USSR had not signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Nazi Germany.

Despite Moscow’s attempts to cover this up, nowadays practically everyone is well aware that on 23 August 1939 the USSR signed a non-aggression treaty with NAZI Germany. The treaty contained a secret protocol defining the borders of Soviet and German spheres of influence in Eastern Europe.

Hitler’s main concern before attacking Poland was to find itself fighting in the Western and Eastern fronts simultaneously. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact ensured that after attacking Poland, there will be no need to fight the USSR. As a result, the USSR is directly responsible for causing WWII, in which it actually fought on the side of Nazis, which Moscow now so strongly despises.

Fact #2: The unimaginable number of casualties on the USSR side was not a sign of heroism or decisiveness, but the consequences of neglect from Soviet authorities.

Speaking of the USSR’s decisive role in WWII, Russian representatives usually stress the huge number of casualties (up to 27 million soldiers and civilians died) as proof of heroism of the Soviet nation.

In reality, the casualties do not represent heroism or the willingness of people to defend their motherland whatever the cost, as often argued by Moscow’s propaganda mouthpieces. The truth is that this unimaginable number was only because the Soviet leadership was indifferent towards the lives of its citizens, as well as the fact the strategies chosen by the Soviets were thoughtless.

The Soviet army was utterly unprepared for war, because up until the last moment Stalin believed that Hitler will not attack the USSR. The army, which required developed defensive capabilities, instead continued preparing for an offensive war (perhaps hoping that together with Germany it will be able to divide not only Eastern Europe, but Western Europe as well). Additionally, during the Great Purge of 1936–1938 the USSR intentionally eliminated most the Red Army’s most capable military leaders, because Stalin simply did not trust them. This resulted in the Soviet leadership being so detached from reality that it couldn’t perceive the threat posed to it by Nazi Germany.

A great example of this is the utter failure of the Red Army in the Winter War. Soviet intelligence was so afraid from Stalin’s political requirement to attack Finland that it deliberately lied about its weak defenses and alleged pro-Kremlin and pro-Bolshevik sentiments shared by the Finnish people. USSR leadership was certain it would crush the small Finland, but the reality turned out to be one of 20th century’s most disgraceful military campaigns.

After all, we cannot forget that the system of the USSR did not care whatsoever for its people. Because of being so far behind technologically and strategically, the USSR could only fight Germany by throwing the bodies its soldiers at the Nazis. Even in the final days of the war, when the Red Army was approaching Berlin, Marshal Zhukov, instead of waiting for the enemy to surrender, kept sending thousands of Soviet soldiers to a meaningless death on German minefields.

Therefore, it is almost not too late for Russian officials to understand that the fact that the US and UK had much less casualties than the USSR does not mean that they contributed less to the outcome of the war. It actually means that these countries treated their soldiers with respect and fought more skillfully than the USSR.

Fact #3: Soviet victory in WWII would not have been possible without material assistance from the US, known as the Lend-Lease policy.

If on 11 March 1941 the US Congress had not decided to provide material assistance to the USSR, the Soviet Union would have suffered even greater territorial losses and human casualties, even as far as losing control over Moscow.

In order to understand the extent of this assistance, I will provide some figures. American taxpayer money provided the USSR with 11,000 airplanes, 6,000 tanks 300,000 military vehicles and 350 locomotives. In addition, the USSR also received phones and cables to ensure communication on the battlefield, ammunition and explosives, as well as raw materials and tools to help the USSR’s military production and some 3,000,000 tons of foodstuffs.

Other than the USSR, the US provided material assistance to a total of 38 countries that fought against Nazi Germany. Adjusting for modern times, Washington spent 565 billion dollars to do this, out of which 127 billion were received by the USSR. I think no one will be surprised knowing that Moscow never repaid any of the money.

What is more, Moscow also cannot admit that it was not only the US, but also the UK that provided assistance to the USSR. During WWII, the Brits delivered to the USSR more than 7,000 airplanes, 27 warships, 5,218 tanks, 5,000 anti-tank weapons, 4,020 medical and cargo trucks and more than 1,500 military vehicles, as well as several thousand radios and radar equipment pieces and 15,000,000 boots that the Red Army soldiers so desperately lacked.

Fact #4: Without the campaigns of the US and UK in the Pacific Ocean, Africa and Western Europe the USSR would have capitulated to the Axis powers.

Considering the aforementioned facts proving how weak and pathetic the USSR was during WWII, it is more than clear that it wouldn’t have been able to stand against the Nazi war machine without both material assistance from the US and UK and also their military support.

US engagement in WWII and the beginning of its Pacific campaign against Japan on 7 December 1941 was the prerequisite for the USSR to defend its Far East borders. If Japan would not have been forced to focus on fighting US forces in the Pacific Ocean, it would most likely be able to seize the larger Soviet cities located in the border area, thus acquiring control over a considerable part of the USSR’s territory. Taking into account the great size of the USSR, its badly developed infrastructure and the overall unpreparedness of its army, Moscow would not have lasted even a couple of months if it was forced to war on two fronts simultaneously.

It should also be stressed that Germany’s assault on the USSR was also hindered by British activity in North Africa. If the UK had not spent huge resources to fight Germany in this region, the Nazis would be able to concentrate their forces on seizing Moscow and would most likely have succeeded.

We cannot forget that WWII concluded with the Normandy landings that finally fully opened the Western front, which was Hitler’s greatest nightmare and the reason for signing the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. If the Allies had not began their assault from French territory, Germany would have been able to focus its remaining forces in the east to hold back Soviet forces and not let them further into Central Europe. As a result, the WWII could have ended without total capitulation on the side of Berlin.

It is obvious that without assistance from the US and UK, Soviet victory in WWII would not have been possible. Everything suggested that Moscow is about to lose the war, and only because of enormous material and financial resources provided by the Americans and the Brits was the USSR able to recover from the shock of summer of 1941, recover its territories and finally seize Berlin, which was weakened by the Allies.

Politicians in modern Russia pretend to not see this, and — instead of at least admitting that the victory was possible because of the engagement of the entire Europe (including Eastern European nations that were not mentioned here — ones that Moscow now often accuses of glorifying Nazism) — they continue standing by the now ridiculed myths about WWII created way back by Soviet propaganda.