On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Russian Ministry of Defense has created a special section on its website where declassified documents are presented that describe the events that preceded the outbreak of World War II and the first days of hostilities.

The section contains notes and reports of the Soviet leadership, compiled in 1938-1939, as well as memoirs and memoirs. According to the agency’s website, these materials “will allow visitors to get an idea of ​​how and why decisions were made in such a difficult military-political situation.”

The first ones in the section are cipher telegrams sent to the country's leadership from various cities of western Ukraine by the head of the main political department of the Red Army Lev Mehlis. They talk about the "genuine enthusiasm" with which the Ukrainian population met the Soviet troops entering these territories.

“The Ukrainian population meets our army as genuine liberators. Even the advanced units coming with battle are thrown to flowers. The population welcomes our fighters and commanders, makes and always tries to hand apples, pies, and drinking water to our Red Army men, ”Mehlis writes in his report.

Recall that after the Nazi attack on Germany on September 1, 1939, the USSR sent its troops into Western Ukraine and western Belarus, pushing the state border several hundred kilometers. Such borders of the Soviet Union practically corresponded to the Curzon line, the border of Poland and the USSR proposed by the Entente countries in the 1920s.

According to information from the Mehlis telegrams, the local population met the Soviet troops as “liberators from the Polish lords,” and asked the Red Army to protect them from the Germans. The very same Polish military peasants were expelled from the settlements, and some were detained and disarmed.

“Runaway Polish troops are attacked by peasants. Peasants drove up to 300 officers and soldiers from Podgaits. When Shtakor arrived (corps headquarters. - RT ), the peasants showed where the Poles are ... and several people of higher political composition, the Poles found surrendered on the spot and were disarmed, ”writes Lev Mehlis.

In the same document, the need for "normal life" in the cities and the organization of the supply of local residents is indicated. According to Mehlis, in cities and villages they complain about the lack of salt, matches, kerosene and bread, he asks the Soviet government to deal closely with this issue. Another report notes a lack of newspapers and leaflets informing the population, while “the people want to know more about life in the USSR”.

  • Report of the Deputy Army Commissioner of the 1st rank L.Z. Mehlis about the welcome attitude of the local population to the units of the Red Army that entered the territory of Western Ukraine.
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The population of Western Belarus and Ukraine did not consider Poland as their national state, regarding the situation in 1920 (the transfer of these lands to Poland. - RT ) as “great injustice. About this RT said the deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University Vladimir Shapovalov. In his opinion, the very fact of this transfer was a gross violation of international law, and the residents of these regions, therefore, ended up in "territory illegally seized by the Poles."

“In addition, there was a striking example of the development of Soviet Ukraine and Soviet Belarus, which had political subjectivity. They were Soviet Union republics, local culture was encouraged and developed, the language was state - both Ukrainian and Belarusian - schools and cultural facilities were built. And, of course, they were attracted by the policy pursued by the Soviet government, ”adds the historian.

Situation on the eve of war

In another part, documents containing assessments of the Soviet army leaders of the pre-war situation in Europe are posted. In particular, a memorandum is given by the chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, commander of the 1st rank B.M. Shaposhnikov of March 24, 1938.

In it, the commander analyzes the current political situation in Europe and the Far East. They consider Germany and Poland in the West, as well as Japan in the East, as the most likely opponents of the USSR.

Shaposhnikov believed that Poland and Germany could deploy troops on the borders of Polesie (a region on the border of modern Belarus and Ukraine in contact with Poland and Russia. - RT ). According to him, the interaction of both states will depend on their agreements regarding other territories.

“Germany and Poland can concentrate their main forces north or south of Polesie. This issue will be resolved by the said states depending on the situation in Central Europe and, finally, on how much the two states agree on the Ukrainian issue. ”

Also, according to Shaposhnikov, with the outbreak of war, Lithuania will be neutralized by joint Polish-German forces, and German troops may appear in Latvia, Estonia and Finland. From the territory of these countries, the commander writes, Germany may strike Leningrad.

Other documents

The section also contains a description of the operations of German troops on the territory of Poland, compiled in 1949 by POW Lieutenant General of the Third Reich Army German Boehme, who occupied the post of chief of the operations department of the 2nd Army Corps of the German Army during the period of the described hostilities.

  • Memoirs of the Ambassador of the USSR to Great Britain Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation; RIA News

The memoirs of the USSR ambassador to Great Britain Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky published in 1966 close the section. They detail the backstage intrigues that unfolded in the offices of European capitals in 1938. In particular, much attention was paid to the Munich Agreement, which allowed Hitler Germany to seize part of Czechoslovakia.

In particular, May describes the position of Western countries on this issue, which consisted in the intention to surrender Czechoslovakia to Germany in exchange for ending its expansion. In particular, according to the ambassador, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced this publicly.

"Chamberlain's closest associates spoke even more openly ... The British War Minister ... in a confidential conversation with American correspondents said that the fate of Czechoslovakia was a foregone conclusion; Germany will be saturated in Central Europe before the West can stop it. Of course, the Germans also learned about the content of these speeches. The train of thought of the British prime minister and his staff could only inspire fascist aggressors, ”said Ivan Maisky.