It is now difficult to imagine that the United States of America and the Soviet Union were allies during the Second World War. Even if we view that alliance from the point of view of the enemy of my enemy being my friend. But, the truth is that without that alliance, it would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to contain the Germans on their rampage through Europe. The seeds of the victory of the Allied Powers were planted in the fertile soil of Europe, especially in Mother Russia. Had the Germans taken the trouble to learn from history, they would have found that Russia was a graveyard for ambitious would be conquerors and would have been a lot less cavalier in their attitudes towards coveting the Russian land mass.
Just over two hundred years before Hitler unilaterally broke his infamous non-aggression pact, the Molotov – Ribbentrop pact to give it its correct diplomatic title, Carl Gustav of Sweden had invaded Russia. He had attacked Russia with the intention of incorporating her vast lands into the Swedish empire. Instead, he came up against the pitiless Russian weather and the remnants of his army was finished off at the battle of Poltava in present day Ukraine in 1709. That marked the end of the Swedish empire which was once dominant in the area around the Baltic sea. Today, Sweden is no more or less than a middle level power which was famous for car building (Volvo), her home-grown socialism, which is fading rather badly as well as the faded ABBA pop group. She is still paying for that blunder at Poltava.
One hundred years on from the battle of Poltava, in 1812, Napoleon, emperor of the French and dictator of the rest of Europe, mobilised the largest army that Europe had ever seen. It was made up in total of 600,000 troops or more and matched them into Russia. There, the Russians making skilful use of the vagaries of the brutal Russian weather completely destroyed Napoleon’s Grand Amée almost without firing any shots in anger and in doing so, brought his up till then glittering military career to an abrupt end. He never won any battle worth talking about after his Russian debacle and by 1815, all his ambitions were buried and sealed in the little Belgian village of Waterloo, now a byword for terminal failure. A little over a hundred years later, another ambitious fool was digging his grave on Russian soil.
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On June 21 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the German army to attack Russia. The attack had been meticulously planned in such secrecy over several months that when it came, it took the Soviets completely by surprise. So much so that the Red army was caught on its haunches, unable to make any effective response to what by that time was a typical German blietzegrieg; a massive and rapid coordinated attack with tanks, motorised infantry and a large number of aircraft, all acting in concert to cause terror and utter confusion in enemy ranks. The nature of the attack on Russia was in tune with the principle of total war, designed to obliterate an entire civilisation in the shortest time possible. Hitler’s orders were for total war. A war that went far beyond the limits of imperial ambition. It was a war which was designed to clear the land of its indigenous population in preparation for its occupation by Germans. In other words, it was genocide on steroids. No prisoners were to be taken as SS troopers followed in the wake of the regular army to execute all survivors, military and civilian of any attack. The victims of these mop-up operations were men, women and children of all ages. In addition, millions were quite deliberately starved to death. This was not war but genocide to be committed by any means necessary. Moreover, it was all out war against communism, the competing ideology with capitalism. In time honoured tradition Hitler was trying to use the medium of war to extend the reach of the German brand of capitalism. Like any European colonialist in the heart of Africa, Hitler wanted very much to claim all the natural resources found in Russia for himself.
The codename of this operation, Barbarossa was deliberately chosen to send a message. Frederick known as Barbarossa for his red beard was the leader of the third crusade who incidentally did not make it on his second visit to Palestine to fight the Muslims occupying Jerusalem but drowned on the way. It should not be forgotten that the Crusaders went to Palestine with nothing but murder in their heart. What is often forgotten was that each crusade started with pogroms committed against Jews in Europe before those so called soldiers of Christ went on their murderous journey to Palestine. Ironically, Barbarossa protected the Jews against the customary violence which was their usual lot at the beginning of any crusade. This irony was however lost on Hitler as he unleashed his forces against Russia. As with the crusades, Jews in Eastern Europe bore the brunt of Hitler’s crusade to Russia. The extermination camps which the Germans built and operated in Poland are some of the bloody footprints left behind by Operation Barbarossa.
Operation Barbarossa deserves a separate treatment but this is beyond the scope of the present discussion of the rise and rise of capitalism. The Soviet response to Operation Barbarossa may have been slower than expected but when it came, it was extremely vigorous and uncompromising even if it was not as effective as it could have been. It however slowed the German advance long enough to keep the armies in the field as winter arrived. The Germans had given a great deal of consideration to the approach of winter. After all, they had the example of Napoleon to guide them. The reality of it however was still as unexpected as it was devastating as their awesome machine failed to cope with the demand imposed on it by sub-zero temperatures, broken roads, virtually non-existent modern infrastructure as well as the lack of human comfort. The Russians had retreated to the east at the approach of Napoleon and Hitler thought that history was going to be repeated. Surprisingly, the Soviets were resolved to dispute every inch of their territory with the invaders. After all, they had the capacity to send millions of men into the field. In addition to their capacity to produce the armaments required for the fight, the Americans set up a steady stream of the supply of tanks, aircraft, tractors, food and clothing to their unlikely allies who were fighting for their very existence.
Determined to make history, the Germans had committed vast resources to Operation Barbarossa. They sent in no less than three million men, armed to the teeth into the fight. By that time, the Western front had been stabilised, France had been knocked out of the fight and the British were fighting desperately to prevent an invasion across the English Channel. All the Germans needed to do was to subdue the East but it was easier said than done. Twenty seven million men, women and children were wasted on the Eastern front but the survivors held firm. In the end, the Soviets pushed the Germans back all the way to Berlin and forced Hitler down into his bunker where he dosed both himself and new bride with cyanide before putting a bullet into his own brain to make doubly sure that he was not captured by vengeful soldiers of the Red Army.
The Allies had a tolerably good working relationship even though the Soviets did what could be considered as a disproportionate amount of the heavy lifting. The Germans had sent their best, most experienced troops into the eastern front and those troops were supported with the most effective equipment. For much of the war Stalin made repeated calls on Britain and the USA to open another front in the West but for a long time, his pleas fell on deaf ears as their allies preferred the southern route through North Africa and Italy. It was not until June 1944 that the allies made a frontal attack on German occupied Europe. By this time the Germans were barely hanging on in the East as they tried desperately to stem the Soviet advance on the eastern front. The reality on ground at the time was that the Allied forces who came ashore on the beaches of Normandy were being opposed by a virtually ragtag German army armed partly with refurbished equipment. The flower of German power was at the time being decimated in the East by an energised Red army bristling with confidence as they marched resolutely towards Berlin.
Every year since the end of the war, veterans (there are virtually none left now) and government delegations from all over the western world gather on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the D-day landings. They give the impression that they won the war on their own. Poppycock! Since then Hollywood has glorified those landings and celebrated them with made up stories of super human heroism. Look closely and below all the smoke, you will find evidence of naked propaganda. The decisive battles which led to the liberation of Europe from German occupation were fought thousands of miles from the beaches of Normandy.