Loe raamatut: «All in order. Win the war»

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ISBN 978-5-4493-5027-5

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After the “Munich Collusion” with one of the centers of power in Europe, Great Britain, Germany, the Sudetenland with all defensive installations, populated by 90% ethnic Germans, are transferred. Poland does not want to miss Soviet aircraft to help the Czech Republic. Further, on March 14, 1939, Hitler summoned the Czechoslovak president Emile Gahu to Berlin and proposed a protectorate. The president has to agree

Resistance is rendered only by one garrison, with the commander of which the higher authorities did not manage to contact in time: twenty-four German soldiers were killed and wounded during a forty-minute battle. In the photo – Czech soldiers patrol the German quarter (prior to the famous agreement)

In addition to 3.5 million ethnic Germans, Germany receives “Skoda” factories and six hundred fully ready-to-use tanks, not bad at that time, 38 (t). England returns to the occupied country (hence, already Germany), taken out before that for storage of gold reserves – 1.4 billion marks. Slovakia becomes an independent state after it transfers southern territories to Germany’s ally, Hungary, 87% inhabited by the Hungarians.

Parade of the German fascist troops in Prague, 1939.

Ethnic Germans of ex-Czechoslovakia in national costumes meet German troops

The trophy tanks of Czechoslovak production LT vz.35 before shipment to Germany. Weight 10.5 tons, the forehead of the body, the tower 25 mm., Lateral booking 16 mm. The gun is 37 mm., two machine-guns. Total for 1939 produced 424 cars

The Czech tank T-38, 25-mm. armor, 37 mm. gun, suspension is close to the system “Christy”. More than 600 units were produced. A fairly successful armored vehicle is used in all subsequent Wehrmacht campaigns, until 1942.

Hungarian wets of Italian production “Ansaldo” are part of the Czech city of Khust, 1938.

At the height of the Sudeten crisis, Poland enters its troops in the Teshin region, which belongs to Czechoslovakia. These territories have long been inhabited by Czechs. The plentiful influx of Polish guest workers and already entrenched immigrants from Galicia changes the ethnic composition of the region, although it does not equalize it: 80,000 Poles, 120,000 Czechs, 27,000 inhabitants of other nationalities. Poland can capture the Teshin region – and therefore does so. In the photo – a Polish tank of English production Vickers Mk. E Type B in the Czech city. The weight of the armored vehicle is 7.2 tons, armor is 13 mm., 37 or 45 mm. a gun

Since October 1, 1938, Czech troops have withdrawn from the border. Poland receives 227 thousand inhabitants, usually speaking a mixed dialect and 805 sq. Km. km. territory. In the photo – ethnic Poles of Teshinskaya Oblast in festive costumes meet Polish troops

The territories of Poland, acquired by Germany at the expense of Germany under the Treaty of Versailles (Western Prussia and part of Silesia, see the map above), prevent the Reich from uniting with East Prussia, the “cradle of German militarism”, its sacred center. After negotiations on the creation of a land corridor, or at least the transit of goods through Poland without bureaucratic obstacles, September 1, 1939, the invasion begins simultaneously from Germany, Slovakia and Prussia. The Polish Air Force, having existed for three days, shoots down 130 Luftwaffe aircraft. From September 22, the bombing of Warsaw begins: 1,150 aircraft drop 4,500 tons of bombs, and on September 28 the Polish military command (the civil government takes refuge in France) signs an act of surrender. Photo – view from the cockpit of the German bunker “Junkers-88” to the Polish city (possibly the suburbs of Warsaw)

German troops in Poland, 1939. In modern historical literature, the thesis of the weak mechanization of the infantry units of the Wehrmacht is being discussed. However, this is not quite true

A significant part of ethnic Poles consider themselves to be a branch of an ancient German race, or descendants of Iranian-speaking Sarmatians, but not Slavs. For some unknown reason, the unification of forces that has increased since 1938, 90 million Germany, and 35 million Poland, for their march to the East, will not take place. Otherwise, the USSR and its Anglo-Saxon allies could hardly count on winning the war. A production photograph – a German soldier, probably treats something, a guarded Polish girl

Since September 17, Soviet troops have entered Poland. Their goal is to return the Western Belorussia and Western Ukraine, captured during the Russian-Polish war of 1920, to protect the Belarusians, Ukrainians and Jews who are there, respectively. The main idea: if Poland shows enough courage in confronting Hitler, it is actively assisted by France and England, the Wehrmacht meets with a worthy rebuff, the status quo is observed on the part of the USSR. The obvious victory of the Germans, inclined, of course, to occupy the entire territory, means the entry into the game of the Red Army. Part of Poland – the Vilna (Vilnius) region with 490 thousand inhabitants are transferred to Lithuania. Some territories pass to the satellite of Germany – Slovakia. Refused to accept Soviet citizenship 78,000 refugees (including Jews) from Germany occupied by Poland, are deported back, or receive 20 years of camps. Losses of the parties: Poland – irretrievably 63 000 soldiers and officers in the battles with the Wehrmacht, 420 000 in German captivity, 230 000 in the USSR (ordinary and non-commissioned officers are dismissed at home, in 1942 most of them, in agreement with England, bypassing Iran, joins the British forces, forming the army of General Anders or Sikorsky), as well as 357 aircraft of different types. Germany – 15 000 killed, as well as 319 armored cars and 285 aircraft (as a result of air crashes, air defense and fighter operations). Soviet troops (RKKA) – 2,000 dead, 17 tanks and 10 aircraft. Poland: irretrievable losses in battles with the Red Army – 3000. Slovak army: 18 people. In the photo – the Soviet tank BT-7 in the Polish city, 1939.

Soviet troops in Western Belorussia. The Republic reunites and gets rid of violent polonization, it’s true. But, at the same time, about 100,000 wealthy (hard-working) peasants, entrepreneurs and landowners, according to Stalin’s decision, are sent “for reforging” to the Gulag. Approximately the same statistics for Western Ukraine. In the center of the photo is the Soviet armored vehicle BA-10. Weight 5 tons, crew 4 people, armor 10 mm., Gun 45 mm., Two machine guns. In subsequent battles with the Wehrmacht, this machine will prove to be quite mediocre. Manufactured 3,400 items

Lithuanian tanks, probably of their own production, on the border with the Polish Republic. The servicemen are waiting for the order to start the occupation. The prize for this campaign, with the permission of the Germans – the Vilnius region, as well as the payment for former humiliations and ultimatums from Poland

Ideas of Great Finland, uniting the peoples of the Finnish-Ugric group; Finns, Karelians, Estonians, from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Ural Mountains, are spreading with the separation of Finland proper from Russia in 1918. The Government of Suomi sends a petition to the warring Germany; conclude a Brest peace with the condition of joining Finland (an ally of the Austro-German Empire), East Karelia.

In the course of their own civil war, on April 29, 1918, the White Finns capture Vyborg, arrange the genocide of all people who do not speak Finnish (retired military, schoolboys in Russian uniforms, even Poles). Three thousand people die.

On May 15, 1918, the Finnish government declared war on Soviet Russia. Its troops occupy, in particular, the Russian, from the 16th century, Pechenga, rename the name of this village in “Petsamo”. Later, large deposits of nickel ore will be explored here, since 1935 their industrial development by Anglo-American corporations will begin.

The Finnish military partially block Petrograd, contributing to the first great famine in this city (according to averaged data, one hundred and fifty thousand people become victims of it, as well as “red” terror). At the rate of Mannerheim, a plan for “national uprisings” is being developed, Finnish instructors are being allocated to create centers of insurgency. However, the plans of the Field Marshal to conquer East Karelia, the Kola Peninsula, the offensive against Petrograd, Germany does not support. After the Vyborg tragedy, any joint operations to overthrow the Bolshevik government along with the Finns, the White Army refuses to conduct either.

By May 1920, parts of the Red Army were eliminating the puppet North-Karelian state. In October of the same year, Finland and the USSR signed the Tartous Peace Treaty, according to which Russia was losing part of its territories. However, in 1921 Helsinki unleashed the second Soviet-Finnish war, by forces of “forest partisans” committing acts of sabotage and killing of supporters of Soviet power. The fighting ends in March 1922, a document is signed to ensure the inviolability of the Soviet-Finnish border. About 30,000 people dissatisfied with the new order go to Finland and, up to the end of the 1920s, armed groups formed from them, make raids on Soviet territory.

Whatever it was, the mood in Finland does not seem friendly to the Soviet government. His proposal – the removal of the border from Leningrad at the expense of Finland, in exchange for twice the size of the areas of East Karelia. Rent of the island of Hanko to create a Soviet military base. Disarmament and demolition of the “Mannerheim Line” on the Karelian Isthmus. Finland rejects these conditions. On the map – the state of things before and after the Soviet-Finnish war

“Freedom to the oppressed” – such a slogan was put on board the I-16 fighter during the Soviet-Finnish war. Many citizens, soldiers of the Soviet Union really consider the Finnish workers and peasants an oppressed class. Otherwise, they would hardly have been able to fight against the Finns and under the threat of severe reprisals. It seems that even Stalin himself, who, it must be supposed, suffers from a complex split of consciousness, thinks that in the USSR, under his personal rule, the people of Suomi would live much better. A reconnaissance network, adjusted to the needs of I. Dzhugashvili, is helpful in confirming such a distorted picture of what is happening. A more plausible option is that the dictator, as it is customary for all dictators, simply collects more and more new territories

Dot line Mannerheim 2nd generation, “millionaire” (name of the amount in the Finnish stamps expended for the erection). The thickness of reinforced concrete walls is 2 m, the length of the structure is 30—40 m. Conventional armament is two 76 mm. guns, antitank 37 mm. guns, machine guns. Addition – ditch, mines, barbed wire, concrete bungs. In total, the second generation of bunkers was built 7. Probably, the spring of 1940

Military operations begin after the delivery of an ultimatum, on November 30, 1939, from shelling (ships of the Baltic Fleet) and bombing of Helsinki. The Soviet Union is excluded from the League of Nations. European countries supply Suomi with weapons, including free of charge (350 aircraft, 500 guns) and volunteers. For two months the columns of Soviet troops advancing along the forest roads are being cut by Finnish skiers, surrounded and destroyed. This is no longer the Halkin Gol. Photo – the Soviet armored convoy, defeated in the Karelian forests. Finnish soldiers inspect the frozen Soviet tanks T-26. Probably, December 1939

In February, having saturated the troops with heavy artillery and tanks, having increased the norms of food allowance, the USSR is making progress in the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line; On March 13, Soviet troops enter Vyborg. The world lies. Irrevocable, severe losses of the USSR – 130 000 people, 650 tanks, 640 aircraft; Finns – 26 000 people, with 450 000 refugees, 62 aircraft. From the Finnish captivity, 4,354 people return, and are being filtered by the NKGB GUGB. 450 of them are released, the rest receive from 5 to 8 years of camps. In the photo there is a Soviet armored column, cut by Finnish skiers into several parts, and destroyed. In the foreground is a truck with an anti-aircraft installation. December 1939

This military operation could have a special meaning if the USSR kept Petsamo (Pechenga) with nickel ore stocks, much needed by Germany’s military industry. However, the international community, including, above all, the UK, is strongly opposed. The area Petsamo returns to the Finns, and they organize a large-scale supply of nickel to the Axis countries. Pechenga will join the Russian Federation only in 1944. The photo shows the Soviet howitzer B-4. The caliber is 203 mm. (although it seems that much more). The main hero of the Finnish war. The surname “Stalin’s Sledgehammer”, or “Karelian Sculptor”, for the fact that this instrument turns Finnish dots into a kind of avant-garde statues. The result of action B-4 – if not the penetration of the walls, then the psychological impact on the defenders of the DOTs. Many of them, after a long bombardment of the B-4 went crazy. Karelian Isthmus, February 1940

Among the advantages in the combat training of troops, after such a harsh school, is the abolition of the institution of political commissars, the experience of breaking through long-term fortifications, the winter war as a whole, and the return to production of a submachine gun (PAP). Cons, in addition to the hardest losses – the German government understands that, in principle, is able to achieve all-round success in the war against the “colossus on clay feet.” … A view of the surviving Soviet soldier in the camera. On the ruins of the Finnish pillbox, the spring of 1940.

Soviet officers are posing against the backdrop of “Karelian sculpture”. March-April 1940

…Denmark and Norway are threatened with the capture of two centers of power: England and Germany. Denmark tends to the protectorate of Germany, the leaders of the country (ethnic Germans, as a rule) give the order not to resist the invasion; which took place in March 1940, and cost the life of thirteen Danish and two German soldiers. The Reich acquires a good supplier of agricultural products, a dozen of warships, as well as a 6,000-strong voluntary corps, which fought on the Eastern Front until its disbandment in 1943. Photo – German tanks T-2 on the streets of Copenhagen (Denmark)

In April 1940, German warships attacked the British-assisted Norway and, by June 16 of the same year, with the support of airborne assault forces, seized it. The irrevocable human losses of the opponents are approximately equal: the Norwegians have 1,400 men, and also 60,000 prisoners, the British 1800, French and Polish 500, Germans about 4000. Allied forces are deprived of a total of 15 warships, including the aircraft carrier, Germany – 34 large and 10 small; these losses make the landing operation in the UK questionable. As a result of the submarine war, England is losing 485 ships, which is one third of the merchant fleet: Germany exchanges them for its 9 submarines.Photo – German paratroopers on the rocks of Norway

The harbor of the Norwegian city of Narvik, after a battle with the German fleet

The French tanks “Renault”, delivered to the Norwegian allies, despite their generally good tactical and technical characteristics, still seem somewhat frivolous. Narvik, 1940

On May 10, 1940, Belgium and Holland receive an ultimatum from the German command with reproaches in violation of neutrality – the unhindered passage of British aircraft over their territory, as well as the construction of long-term fortifications facing Germany. The note calls on Holland not to prevent the German troops entering the country, not as enemies. which, however, by this time already are on the land of the Netherlands. The government of the country of dams and cheese requests assistance from the British and French, their expeditionary corps is being put forward to establish contact with the Dutch. German paratroopers seize the strategically important bridge from Rotterdam, which allows German tanks to block all large Dutch infantry units. Under the threat of bombardment of Rotterdam, a demand is demanded for full surrender of the state. The ultimatum is accepted, however, as a result of a mistake, or deliberate action of 60 Heinkel 111 bombers, 97 tons of bombs are dropped on the city. Holland surrenders five days after the outbreak of the war. Losses of the Dutch side: 2,330 soldiers and officers, 70 aircraft, (68 Typhoons lost by the British Air Force), as well as 2,000 civilians, German – about 3,000 military, 275 aircraft. In the photo – the ruins of the suburbs of Dutch Rotterdam after the German bombing

The idea of an ambitious German officer, Erich von Manstein, is to attack the Anglo-French army, superior in number (4 million to 3 million Wehrmacht fighters), through the mountain (Belgian) Ardennes, from the north, through the forces of a few but unified tank units, the Fuhrer.In the photo – German soldiers inspect the British tank “Matilda”, killed during the Ardennes operation

The battle continues to unfold in neighboring Belgium, where the combined French, English, Belgian troops, and Wehrmacht forces converge on May 10—11. The first, truly grandiose operation of the Germans begins almost a failure: in the vicinity of Luxembourg, a motorized column of 41,000 units of equipment, a bumper to the bumper, stands in a 250-kilometer traffic jam. However, the confused allies and do not subject this light, desired goal to the bombing. Finally, 1,100 tanks break away from the concentration of infantry and break through the mountain serpentines to Belgium. Three days later, steel cars, with carriages filled with primitin, almost unimpededly cross the borders of France.Photo – German motorcycle scouts are advancing along the street of a dilapidated French city

Of the battles of this period, one should note the first major tank battle at Ann, where 623 German (mainly Panzer 1—2) and 415 French (Renault, Gochkis, practically the same) tanks came together. The shortcomings of German armored vehicles were revealed – thin, 14.5 mm. armor and weak 20 mm. gun, against 45mm. armor and 37 mm. Guns tanks, Gochkis, whose crews, incidentally, consist of only two people. The tactics of the Panzerwaffe – beating with a single steel fist, with clear coordination over the radio and the clear purpose of the operation being conducted, shows superiority over the manner of the opponents to place the non-radiofected tanks in a shaky line. Belgium surrenders on May 28, its armed forces are getting out of the fight.In the photo – the dead French tankman near the broken tank Renault, France 1940.

During the offensive operations of the Wehrmacht in the Benelux countries, and in France, in addition to parachute assault, airplane-piloted planes are actively used (see photo). This way of landing is often associated with the loss of a valuable aircraft, but allows the soldiers to stay in the group, along with the cargo. It seems that for these German soldiers the war is just such an interesting adventure

German fighter “Messerschmitt Focke-Wulf 190”, the basis of German achievement of domination in the air of the first half of the war. Takeoff weight 2200 kg., The maximum speed after the replacement of the engine in 1938 – 570—580 km. h. Armament – four 7.92 mm. machine gun, or two machine guns and 20 mm. a gun. During the war years, 33,000 units were manufactured (the most massive combat aircraft in history)

Places of battle are moving to French Dunkirk. The movement of the German panzerwaffe is hampered by the rugged terrain; They also do not aspire to enter the zone of action of the large-caliber naval artillery of the British. Surrounded by Anglo-French troops, taking advantage of the bad weather, interferes with the actions of aviation, they are evacuated by the sea, leaving all their heavy equipment to the enemy. The idea to create here a springboard, a splinter in the body of fascist Continental Europe, is not considered. Photo – the evacuation of British soldiers on ships that came almost right to the shore. Dunkirk, June 1940

Italy enters the war on the side of Germany; although its 300,000-strong army does not have much success, it completely demoralizes the French, and, on June 21, in the Compiegne Forest, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed 20 years ago, France’s surrender is announced. The loss of Belgium: 6,000 people irrevocably, 202,000 prisoners, as well as 112 aircraft, France 84,000 killed, 1.8 million prisoners (the majority are sent to forced labor in Germany), 50 aircraft. Great Britain – 68,000 people, about 1,000 aircraft, 64,000 vehicles, Germany – 18,000 soldiers and officers on German data and 45,000 according to estimates of English historians, 432 aircraft. In addition to the developed French economy, Germany receives 2,000 combat tanks (used against guerrillas or converted into ACS), 1,400 aircraft and a 7,000-strong French volunteer legion. Photo – the rescued British “Tommy” are moving to the shores of the Foggy Albion, the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, June 1940

Burning oil storage Dunkirk. On the right – patrol British plane

Dunkirk through a German camera

The car in Compiegne Forest (France), the very one in which the Treaty of Versailles, humiliating for Germany, was signed 22 years ago. The capitulation of France, or, more precisely, of its northern half, is taken once by the glorious Marshal Petain, the hero of the First World War (right in the center)

The occupation of half of France, Germany and Italy, 1940. In Toulon, the main part, maintaining a high degree of combat capability, is based on the French fleet. The resort city of Vichy becomes the capital of the new government

German children and soldiers welcome the success of Nazi Germany, 1940.

On the night of July 3, 1940, British divisions seized the French warships stationed in British ports. It does not do without bloody incidents, several people die on both sides. The meaning of this operation is not to allow the French, if they so suddenly wish, to transfer their fleet to the Germans (or, even more so, to go over to their side). Similar actions are also being taken in all the bases of the Mediterranean Sea, where the ships controlled by the Vichy government are located. In the Egyptian port of Alexandria, the initiative of the British captain-negotiator allows us to arrive at a reasonable compromise. In July 1943, the battleship, four cruisers and several destroyers join the Anglo-American allies. But, in other places everything is much, much more complicated. Photo – Mers-el-Kebir Harbor, June 1940.

To neutralize part of the French fleet, which is in the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir (Algeria), the British are equipped with a squadron of three battleships, two cruisers, an aircraft carrier and eleven destroyers. In the ultimatum, the French demanded: go to the ports of the West Indies, or flood their own ships. The British commander orders to open fire at 16.45, without waiting for the expiration date of the note presented to him. Shells cover the bored, anchored battleships, cruisers, destroyers, navigational vessels and submarines. Three battleships receive hard-to-repair damage and are stranded. Survivors finish off torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier “Ark Royal”. One battleship, the newest “Strasbourg”, taking advantage of the short-lived lull and the help of a destroyer who removed some of the minefields, leaves for Toulon. On the way this serious ship meets almost board to board, almost defenseless now, the British “Ark Royal”, but the captain orders the fire not to open. The English do not appreciate such a nice gift and send six “Swordfish” to Strasbourg. Anti-aircraft guns left without damage to the battleship knocked down two aircraft

Similar battles will also take place in Dakar (French North Africa, now Sinegal). Attack on a group of ships in the West Indies, the island of Guadalupe, prevents the intervention personally of the US President, Franklin Roosevelt. For two days “Catapults” France loses 1,400 people, England -2 pilots and 6 aircraft. In addition, tens or hundreds of thousands of French with an easy heart become collaborators. Photo – French ships breaking from the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir

The Richelieu battleship (displacement 27,000 tons), which was seriously damaged in the port of Dakar, is subsequently bought from France by the US government. Powerful 380 mm. guns are drilled to the appropriate American standard, and, after this war they are firing off the coast of Burma. But the most interesting is contained in the holds of this elegant, aureole-covered secrets of the ship. It was the gold of the French National Bank, and also of Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, only $ 2.5 billion of that time. What happens to the precious metal further, and by what agreement it falls into the hands of the Americans, we just do not know. It is believed that in 1945 its monetary equivalent was transferred to the countries of Europe, under the Marshall Plan, as a loan for exclusively American goods

From July 10 to October 30, 1940, Britain and Germany are engaged in a fierce battle in the air. As a result, England loses a little more than a thousand aircraft, its opponent – 1800 combat vehicles. In Western historical literature, this result is considered to be the greatest battle of its time, which will be remembered for thousands of years. The air battle for the Kuban (RSFSR, 1943) is characterized by similar numbers of downed aircraft, but, for some reason, remains in the shadows. Actually, in the Soviet and Russian historiography, the air battle for Britain is also a relatively insignificant episode, among the really epic land battles on the territory of the Soviet Union. Be that as it may, Germany loses interest in the UK and focuses entirely on preparing an invasion of the USSR. Photo – raid of Luftwaffe bombers to ships in the English port of Dover, 1940.

The Government of the USSR sends an ultimatum to the Romanian government demanding the return of Bessarabia (the former Russian province that was rejected by Romania in 1920) and Northern Bukovina as compensation for the exploitation of the population of Bessarabia (June 27, 1940). A few hours before the start of the Soviet invasion, the Romanian king accepts all conditions. The received lands are divided between the Soviet Ukraine and Moldova. In total, the USSR receives 3.7 million people and 50 thousand square meters. km. territory. About 28,000 heads of the most well-to-do families are deported to Siberia (relatively few)

The population of Bessarabia, indeed, undergone many humiliations and terror from the Romanian authorities, as a whole is loyal to the Soviet government. Ethnic Romanians and Ukrainians (85%) Bukovina, 0.8 million people who did not feel this kind of attitude, are annexed without much enthusiasm. In the photo there is a parade of Soviet troops and a festive folk demonstration in Chisinau, July 3, 1940.

Representatives of the young generation of Bessarabia (Moldavia) present flowers to the Red Army soldiers

In October 1940 the Soviet Union invites Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, under a mutual assistance agreement, to deploy a military contingent of 25,000 troops on their territory to defend themselves against Hitlerite Germany. It is already clear that the Red Army is inclined to achieve its goals, regardless of any losses. Two weeks later, the governments of these countries are accused of collusion with Germany (which is partly true), repressions against foreigners (Poles, etc.) and are shifting. In the summer of 1940, following the results of nationwide voting, the republics are formed by communist governments and adopt declarations of entry into the Soviet Union; which are immediately approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. According to documents of the NKVD of June 17, 1941, in Lithuania – 5663 persons, mainly employees of the secret police and “classical capitalists” were subjected to confinement – 10186, Latvia, respectively, 5624 and 9547, Estonia – 3179 and 5979. Lithuanian President Antanas Smyatona wisely emigrates to Germany, then to Switzerland and the USA. His Estonian counterpart Konstantin Päts is deported with his family to Siberia, receives 25 years of camps, since 1942 is kept in a prison psychiatric clinic, he died there in 1956. The head of Latvia, Karlis Ulmanis convinces the people that “friends have come”, actively cooperates with the new, pro-Soviet government, and in particular, publishes the “Law on the Fight Against Wrecking”. Somewhat later he begins to understand the situation, asks the Kremlin for permission to travel to Switzerland, but eventually ends up in the NKVD camp near Krasnovodsk (Turkmenistan), where, in 1942, he dies. Photo – a demonstration of the population of Latvia for joining the Soviet Union. May-June 1940

Karlis Ulmanis, Head of Latvia

Anastastus Smyatona, prudent leader of Lithuania

Konstantin Päts, Head of Estonia

Parade, or at least a demonstration of Soviet troops in Riga, summer 1940.

Soviet (Russian) soldiers in Riga, 1940. I believe that none of them wishes evil to any of the inhabitants of the three Baltic countries. Every person in this column considers himself, if possible, a bearer of good and a hero – a liberator. Evil is only a general idea in the all-powerful ruler, which in this case is (non-Russian) Joseph Stalin and his, formed on 90% of the representatives of Jewish nationality, a repressive apparatus… It’s not me

Since July 1940, the battle for the Atlantic has become extremely acute. Germany receives new naval bases. France withdraws from the war, and fascist Italy, on the contrary, enters it. The photo shows the death of the British heavy cruiser Hood, the morning of May 24, 1941. Before that, the ship is marked by the conduct of Atlantic convoys and, notice, the flooding of the battleship Brittany, during Operation Catapult. With life more than a thousand French sailors are forgiven. Now, “Hood”, as part of a group of battleship and 6 destroyers, goes to intercept the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen. The British cruiser opens fire from 24 km. and at full speed moves closer with its opponents. A volley of one of the German ships covers the unfolding “Hood” from a distance of 15—18 km. The cruiser for a while follows the same course and, a kilometer from the “Prince Eugen” (probably there and made this picture) as a result of a powerful explosion breaks in half. A hail of debris falls on the German cruiser. 1415 people are dying. Only 3 sailors survive