The US Department of Defense published a presentation on its website dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. It lists the main milestones of World War II. Moreover, the role of the Soviet Union is mentioned mainly in a negative context.

For example, the Pentagon believes that the mission of the Red Army in Europe led to devastating consequences for the region. In particular, according to the US military, Moscow “occupied” the Eastern European republics.

"The countries of Western Europe, liberated by the Allied forces, had to become prosperous democracies, and those liberated in the east - for decades to be in Soviet occupation," the material says.

Not only that, according to the drafters of the presentation, Germany and the USSR unleashed World War II, having invaded Poland in 1939. The capture of this country, according to the US Department of Defense, led to the deaths of 6 million Jews.

At the same time, the mission of the American armed forces is extolled in the document. For example, it states that the landing of US and British troops in Normandy on June 6, 1944 marked the inevitability of the collapse of the Third Reich.

“Nearly five years after the outbreak of the war, American and Allied forces landed on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. For Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, this invasion marked the beginning of the end. In less than a year, Germany will surrender and Hitler will be dead, ”the document says.

"Historical unconsciousness"

Experts interviewed by RT called the Pentagon's view of World War II blasphemous and contradictory objective historical data. According to them, such manipulations are aimed at silencing the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of the Third Reich and assigning the laurels of the main winner to the United States.

“The inadequate and narcissistic approach of Americans is due primarily to political reasons. In particular, the USA is trying to impose a kind of duty of conscience on Europeans, to make them feel their moral and political commitment to America, which is as if the only power that gave them freedom, ”said Colonel Reserves Colonel Miroslav in a conversation with RT at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Morozov.

In addition, ignoring and denigrating the role of the USSR in the victory over the Third Reich fit into the ideology of American exceptionalism. According to the expert, by speculating and redrawing the facts, the US authorities and the expert community loyal to them in the West form a far-fetched view of the Second World War and the USSR.

  • American soldiers patrol the city freed from the Wehrmacht
  • AFP

“In this context, the positive role of the Soviet Union is sparingly spoken. The emphasis is on his political ambitions in Europe. This allows Americans to support the image of the USSR and its heiress - modern Russia - as the enemy of freedom, democracy, the enemy of all the good and bright that the United States allegedly brings to the world, ”said Morozov.

As the expert explained, such a straightforward view of history is easily refuted even by well-known facts. A similar point of view is adhered to by the scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society Mikhail Myagkov.

“What the Pentagon published on its website is historical unconsciousness and part of the information war that is being waged today against Russia. Yes, you can recall the recent joint statement of Putin and Trump regarding the meeting of the Allies on the Elbe, but this approach does not form the entire US historical agenda, ”Myagkov said in a comment to RT.

“Dry numbers make you think”

Experts do not deny that the United States made a serious contribution to the victory over Nazism, but it is not comparable with the role that the USSR played in it. They attributed the main merits of the Americans to the war with Japan and Lend-Lease, according to which Moscow received a significant amount of military products and industrial raw materials. However, the opening of the second front in Normandy in June 1944, analysts called an important, but belated measure from the point of view of the interests of the Soviet Union.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, for the entire period of World War II, the United States and Western allies defeated and captured 176 enemy divisions. The Red Army also received significant material assistance in the framework of Lend-Lease, although the total volume of overseas supplies amounted to about 4% of the gross industrial production of the USSR in 1941-1945.

“Overcoming the extreme difficulties of wartime, meeting the needs of the front was achieved through the dedication of every Soviet worker, deprivation of all walks of life, due to a sharp decrease in the material condition of citizens,” the materials of the Russian military department say.

It is also noted that the main blow of the Wehrmacht fell on the Soviet Union - the most trained forces of the Third Reich and its allies were thrown on the USSR. As calculated by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, from 190 to 270 divisions of the fascist bloc simultaneously operated on the Eastern Front - more than 3/4 of the total number of troops of Germany and the countries of the Hitler axis.

“On the Soviet-German front, 607 enemy divisions were defeated and captured. The total human losses of the German Armed Forces in World War II reached 13.4 million people, on the Soviet-German front - 10 million people ... During the war, Soviet troops destroyed and seized more than 75% of all weapons and military equipment of the enemy, ”the RF Ministry of Defense reports. .

However, the victory went to the USSR at an extremely high price. 26.6 million people became victims of the Great Patriotic War, and a significant part of those killed were civilians who did not survive illnesses, hunger, torment in concentration camps, bombings and punitive actions of the invaders.

  • A column of Soviet soldiers next to the Reichstag captured earlier
  • RIA News
  • © Oleg Knorring

Such a colossal loss was not suffered by any country in the world. About 600 thousand Soviet soldiers were sacrificed for the liberation of Poland alone. Whereas the American army in all battles with the Wehrmacht in Europe lost about 250 thousand soldiers. At the same time, the US civilian population was practically not affected by the aggression of the Third Reich and its allies.

“We, of course, appreciate the contribution to the victory of the Western allies and the United States, and in Soviet times their role was not diminished. But simple dry numbers make any sane person think. By the way, in 1945, none of the Western politicians doubted that the Red Army made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany. An attempt to reconsider this fact can only be called an abomination, ”Myagkov said.

Miroslav Morozov also made a categorical assessment of the Pentagon document. He stressed that the feat of the Red Army has saved a huge number of lives of American soldiers.

“The Americans greatly helped the USSR with weapons, military equipment, machine tools, transport, strategic raw materials. But in war, the most valuable thing is people and their lives. While deliveries were under Lend-Lease, millions of Soviet citizens and soldiers died and suffered. In the most difficult period for the USSR, the Americans did not open a second front, realizing how many of their soldiers would inevitably die in the battle with Germany. Therefore, the US contribution to the victory is not comparable with the feat accomplished by the Soviet Union, ”concluded Morozov.