The general heated up: the USSR did not fight alone during the Second World War

Sergey Baimukhametov

Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, Major General Rustam Minnekayev at the annual meeting of the Union of Defense Industries Enterprises told the audience about the second stage of the special military operation of Russian troops in Ukraine.

At the same time, he made a very strange statement:

“Apparently, we are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War, the whole of Europe, the whole world was against us. And now it’s the same, they never loved Russia… We didn’t start this school, but we will finish it”.

Here, to begin with, it should be noted that Russia does not lead to... She leads a special military operation. And the fact that the press replicated the words of Minnekaev in (and where to go, after all, a quote) is a violation of the instructions of Roskomnadzor.

At a briefing in the Kremlin, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not evaluate the general's statement: "We still do not comment on issues related to the conduct of a special military operation."

However, here we are talking far and not only about a special military operation.

The question is much broader. From the words of the general, a more than strange (the mildest definition) image of the USSR appears in the eyes of Russians and the whole world.

First of all, the USSR did not fight "with the whole world", and "the whole of Europe, the whole world against us" were not.

62 states participated in World War II. By the time Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, the anti-Hitler bloc, along with us, included 53 states.

Among them: Australia, Belgium, Greece, Great Britain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, USSR, USA, France, Yugoslavia... And many other countries in Asia, Africa, Central and South America. The whole world rose up against Hitler's fascism.

The Soviet people bore the brunt of World War II. But this does not detract from the feat and contribution of our allies to the common Victory.

Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939. The British had superiority at sea and in the air, they bombed clusters of ships in ports. In just 3 months, from July 10 to October 31, 1940, British aviation destroyed 1733 (!) German aircraft, significantly undermining the power of the Luftwaffe.

On July 19, 1940, Hitler proposed peace to Great Britain: "I see no reason to continue this war."

The British answered: "No." Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking in Parliament and before the people, repeated: "Victory at any cost."

Our allies fought Nazi Germany and its satellites in Africa, the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, France... On June 6, 1944, American, British and Canadian troops landed in Normandy and launched an offensive in the Western European direction .

Separately - about the economic assistance of the allies. From November 1941 to September 1945 they provided:

53% of all the needs of the USSR in explosives, including gunpowder,

76% of copper needs,

106% (relative to domestic production, that is, more than all Soviet production) - in aluminum,

223% - in tin,

138% - in cobalt,

23% of domestic production - in aviation gasoline,

62% - in car tires,

66% - sugar needs,

480% - canned meat,

107% - animal fats,

practically all sulfanilamide and penicillin, which saved the lives of thousands and thousands of Soviet people.

From November 1941 to September 1945, the USSR received:

2 million 670 thousand tons of oil products,

106 million 893 thousand tons of cotton,

4 million 478 thousand tons of food,

15 million 417 thousand pairs of army boots.

1981 locomotive,

345,735 tons of explosives,

51,503 jeeps and all-terrain vehicles,

375,883 trucks,

22,150 aircraft,

12,700 tanks.

(Stettinius E. The role of Lend-Lease in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Ryzhkov N.I., Kumanev G.A. Food and other strategic supplies to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease 1941-1945 Nigmatulin B. Great Patriotic War 1941 -1945 Victims of the peoples. The battle of the economies of the USSR and Germany.)

At the Tehran Conference, at a meeting of the leaders of the anti-Hitler bloc Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (Great Britain) and Stalin (USSR), held in Tehran on November 28 - December 1, 1943, Stalin said:

“The most important things in this war are machines. The United States has proven that it can produce 8,000 to 10,000 aircraft per month. Russia can produce at most 3,000 aircraft per month. England produces 3000 - 3500 per month, mostly heavy bombers. Without these Lend-Lease vehicles, we would have lost this war.”

These words of Stalin are recorded in the journal of daily events of the President of the United States during the Tehran Conference. First published in the United States in 1961 in Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, the Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943. ("Foreign Policy of the United States. Cairo and Tehran Conferences of 1943.")

We repeat: the USSR was not at war "with the whole world", and "the whole of Europe, the whole world against us" were not. The USSR, as part of the absolute majority of the world's states, fought against Nazi Germany and its few allies. And he made a decisive contribution to the common Victory over Nazi fascism.

Thus, General Minnekaev's statement not only grossly distorts the history of the Second World War. This nonsense, in the end, can be attributed to his baggage of knowledge.

Much worse is that his words create a more than strange (the mildest definition) image of the USSR in the eyes of the world. In the eyes of all our fellow citizens.

And it is more than incomprehensible why the Kremlin did not comment on the general's statement.

You can't be silent about it. Otherwise, both the Russians and our ill-wishers may regard this silence as a sign of consent. And no wonder, because some Russian media reported on the general's speech under the headings: "We are now at war with the whole world" and "We are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War".

In the photo: Studebakers in the Red Army reserve near Mozhaisk, August 17, 1944.