Currently, some Western countries are stepping up their campaigns distorting the history of World War II. Thereby, USSR, the key player in annihilating fascism in the war is condemned to invade Europe. Therefore, to protect the justice, we should have in-depth study to clarify the value of the victory of the war to the world peace.
Summary of the campaign distorting the history of World War II
The 80th anniversary of the World War II (September 1st 1939 – September 1st 2019) was held at Warsaw, Poland with the attendance of nearly 250 leaders and senior officials of 40 countries. However, Russia (the successor state of the USSR) was not invited to the event. Explaining the reason, Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shimon Shinkovsky Vel Senka said that visitors to the event were chosen on the basis of “historical truth”. Is there a different “historical truth” from the one that has been recognised for the past 75 years?
At the ceremony, all delegates didn’t mention about the role and decisive contributions of the USSR in the war to destroy fascism in Europe and Asia. Recently, some Western countries quoted the Molotov-Ribbentrov Pact signed on August 23, 1939 between the Soviet Union and Germany to condemn that the Soviet Union joined hand with the latter to start the World War II. However historical truth has refuted this allegation. In fact, prior to the Molotov-Ribbentrov Pact, Germany had also signed some other agreements with European countries, such as: The German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact; The Anglo-German Naval Agreement; and The Munich Agreement with the UK, France, and Italy, etc. Nevertheless, some European countries deliberately “forget” the history of World War II, destroying monuments commemorating the Soviet Red Army soldiers who had heroically fought and died in the war against the fascism. Some European countries even honoured the extreme nationalists who fought in the ranks of German fascists against the Soviet Red Army as "national heroes" and consider the Soviet Union as an invader of Europe in World War II.
In fact, the United States, the leader of the Western countries, has carried out a campaign to distort the role of the Soviet Union in World War II right after the end of the war in 1945 and considered it one of the important measures of the “Peaceful Evolution” strategy aimed at dissolving the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Western countries, led by the US, stepped up this campaign with new tricks. The purpose of this campaign was to turn the Soviet Union from the “liberating nation” of Europe into the “invading nation” of the continent. Thereby, they aimed to entice European countries, post-Soviet countries and some countries around the world into a broad front against the Russian Federation. Because they think that today, Moscow is “the biggest obstacle” to their ambition of a world hegemony. At Munich Security Conference in 2007, President V. Putin was the first leader in the world to officially declare his opposition to that ambition and emphasized Russia's policy of building a new world order, in which countries, whether “strong” or “weak”, “big” or “small”, “rich” or “poor”, ... must be equally respected.
Reviewing the cause of World War II
According to President V. Putin, the primary and also the root cause of World War II came from the Treaty of Versailles drafted by Britain, France and the United States to end World War I. To the Germans, the Treaty was a symbol of injustice. According to historical documents, the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany, loser of the war, must cede the Alsace - Lorraine area to France. In economic terms, in 03 years (1919-1921), Germany had to compensate for the winners a total of 20 billion DM (Deutsche Mark's currency) in gold; transfer to the victorious countries all commercial ships with total tonnage of over 1,600 tons and 1/5 of the river fleets; build commercial ships with a total tonnage of 200,000 tons/year for 5 years. In 10 years, Germany had to transfer 140, 80 and 77 million tons of coal to France, Belgium and Italy, respectively; at the same time, transfer to them half of the total chemical industrial reserve. On the military side, Germany is not allowed to equip submarines or surface ships with more than 10,000 tons of tonnage and must disband the General Staff, etc. It is this “national humiliation” that drives the revival and nurturing of radical nationalism and revenge in Germany. Members of the Nazi Party used this to call for revenge and abolish the Treaty of Versailles.
The second reason, according to President V. Putin, is a paradox from the Treaty of Versailles. That is, the financial and industrial corporations of Western nations, first of all, Britain and the United States, used the Nazis' will of revenge to turn them into Europe's most powerful military machine for launching a new world war aimed at destroying the Soviet Union - the first socialist state in the world. According to declassified documents, in order to realise this ambition, the conglomerates of the United States and Great Britain provided comprehensive political, economic and military support to the Nazis led by Adolf Hitler. By the time before the outbreak of World War II, the American and British conglomerates had controlled nearly 80% of the Nazi industrial potential.
The third cause is the League of Nations’ inability to stop the threat of World War II. The League of Nations was established on the basis of the Treaty of Versailles with primary objective of preventing war through collective security and disarmament, and resolving international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. However, since Britain and France, two winners of World War I, manipulated the League's activities, the organization failed to function as a guarantee of world peace and security. The most obvious manifestation is that it ignored the Soviet Union's repeated calls to build a system of fair and equal collective security in the world. As a result, the League of Nations was unable to prevent wars and conflicts in many parts of the world, such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the civil war in Spain and the Japanese invasion of China.
Protecting historical truth about World War II for the peace of mankind
The overall goal of the campaign to distort the history of World War II is to create an international political environment conducive to the vigorous work to prepare for a new world war to prevent the “risk of invasion” from Russia, first of all, to exclude Russia from the UN Security Council - an international mechanism that determines the security of the world. In that context, Russia must prepare for the risk of a new world war. Although economic conditions are still difficult due to the siege and embargo, President V. Putin still directs the research and development of new weapons, capable of piercing all missile shields in respond to acts of invasion. Russia's military doctrine was for defense purposes, he once asserted, and that Russia would never use first strike. With the new theory, any enemy incoming ballistic or cruise missiles towards Russia can be seen as a reason for Moscow to launch a nuclear strike for immediate retaliation.
On the basis of respecting historical truths, progressive people of the world need to affirm and resolutely reject all attempts to review the history of World War II; doubts about the decisive role of the Soviet Union in the victory over fascism and militarism. At the same time, it is necessary to assert that the victory of the Soviet Red Army in World War II has paved the way for many countries to liberate themselves from the dangers of fascism, militarism and colonialism. Therefore, mankind should realize that distortion of the history of World War II in the context of neo-fascism and rising powers in some countries is dangerous to international peace and security.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, Russian President V. Putin proposed to hold a meeting with leaders of five Permanent States of the UN Security Council, including: Russia, the United States, France, Great Britain and China to work together to deal with threats to global peace and security, first and foremost, to prevent the risk of World War III. Analysts call this proposal of President V. Putin the Yalta-2 Conference. The Yalta-1 Conference was signed in 1945, between the heads of the Soviet Union, the US and the UK to establish world order after World War II. The proposed Yalta-2 Conference would establish a new world after the Cold War. Currently, US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have agreed with President V. Putin's initiative. This meeting is scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this meeting may be postponed to an appropriate time. The international community hopes that this meeting will soon be held so that the great powers can unify their actions and strive to protect world peace from the current serious challenges and threats.
Associate Professor, DINH CONG TUAN, PhD.