«23 August 1939»
23
August marks the anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
which allowed Hitlerite Germany to attack Poland nine days later without
fear of Soviet intervention against it. There will undoubtedly be
comment in the western Mainstream Media about Soviet dictator Joseph
Stalin «betraying» his would-be French and British «allies», about
«stabbing Poland in the back», «colluding» with Adolf Hitler, and so
on.
August marks the anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
which allowed Hitlerite Germany to attack Poland nine days later without
fear of Soviet intervention against it. There will undoubtedly be
comment in the western Mainstream Media about Soviet dictator Joseph
Stalin «betraying» his would-be French and British «allies», about
«stabbing Poland in the back», «colluding» with Adolf Hitler, and so
on.
It’s
an annual event, anxiously awaited by western Russophobic
propagandists, to remind us of the iniquitous Soviet role in starting
World War II. Nowadays of course when the Mainstream Media say «Soviet»,
they want you to think about Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.
Western «journalists» can’t make up their minds about Putin: sometimes
he’s another Hitler, sometimes another Stalin.
an annual event, anxiously awaited by western Russophobic
propagandists, to remind us of the iniquitous Soviet role in starting
World War II. Nowadays of course when the Mainstream Media say «Soviet»,
they want you to think about Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.
Western «journalists» can’t make up their minds about Putin: sometimes
he’s another Hitler, sometimes another Stalin.
When
it comes to World War II, Poland is above criticism and gets a lot of
sympathy in the West, as the first «victim» of both Nazi Germany and the
USSR. The Wehrmacht invaded Poland on 1 September; and the Red Army
moved in from the east 17 days later. It was a Soviet «stab in the
back».
it comes to World War II, Poland is above criticism and gets a lot of
sympathy in the West, as the first «victim» of both Nazi Germany and the
USSR. The Wehrmacht invaded Poland on 1 September; and the Red Army
moved in from the east 17 days later. It was a Soviet «stab in the
back».
Or
was it? Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, saw the
matter differently. In a BBC broadcast on 1 October 1939, he observed
that Soviet action «was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia
against the Nazi menace.» Given that the Polish government had
collapsed, better the USSR stood in those eastern borderlands than Nazi
Germany.
was it? Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, saw the
matter differently. In a BBC broadcast on 1 October 1939, he observed
that Soviet action «was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia
against the Nazi menace.» Given that the Polish government had
collapsed, better the USSR stood in those eastern borderlands than Nazi
Germany.
During
the 1930s Poland played a spoiler’s role. It was a far-right
quasi-dictatorship, anti-Semitic and sympathetic to fascism. In 1934 as
the USSR raised the alarm about Hitler, Poland signed a non-aggression
pact in Berlin. Who stabbed who in the back? France had a formal
alliance with Poland and felt betrayed. Until 1939 Poland did all it
could to sabotage Soviet efforts to build an anti-Nazi alliance, based
on the World War I anti-German coalition of France, Britain, Italy, and
in 1917 the United States. It may surprise, but Maksim Litvinov, the
Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, saw fascist Italy as part of a
defensive alliance against Hitlerite Germany. Litvinov also wanted to
bring Poland into his anti-Nazi coalition, and in 1934 warned his Polish
counterpart, Józef Beck, of the danger of Hitler. Beck laughed him
off.
