rel="nofollow" href="#image54_5b994cb3c7916d0700a0cbe1_jpg.jpeg"/>Soviet (Russian) soldiers in Riga, 1940. I believe that none of them wishes evil to any of the inhabitants of the three Baltic countries. Every person in this column considers himself, if possible, a bearer of good and a hero – a liberator. Evil is only a general idea in the all-powerful ruler, which in this case is (non-Russian) Joseph Stalin and his, formed on 90% of the representatives of Jewish nationality, a repressive apparatus… It’s not me
Since July 1940, the battle for the Atlantic has become extremely acute. Germany receives new naval bases. France withdraws from the war, and fascist Italy, on the contrary, enters it. The photo shows the death of the British heavy cruiser Hood, the morning of May 24, 1941. Before that, the ship is marked by the conduct of Atlantic convoys and, notice, the flooding of the battleship Brittany, during Operation Catapult. With life more than a thousand French sailors are forgiven. Now, “Hood”, as part of a group of battleship and 6 destroyers, goes to intercept the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen. The British cruiser opens fire from 24 km. and at full speed moves closer with its opponents. A volley of one of the German ships covers the unfolding “Hood” from a distance of 15—18 km. The cruiser for a while follows the same course and, a kilometer from the “Prince Eugen” (probably there and made this picture) as a result of a powerful explosion breaks in half. A hail of debris falls on the German cruiser. 1415 people are dying. Only 3 sailors survive
The German battleship Bismarck, the world’s largest ship of its time. Displacement fully equipped – 50 000 tons (twice as high as the average aircraft carrier), length 251 m, width 36 m, draft 10 m. Speed maximum 55 km. h, the range of autonomous navigation is 17,000 km. The main armament is eight 380 mm. guns in four towers.
In the evening, the same May 24, 1941, “Bismarck” receives a torpedo on board from one of the seven torpedo bombers “Swordfish”, taking off from the deck of an approaching aircraft carrier. The British are extremely sensitive to the death of the cruiser “Hood” and intend to at all costs get rid of the German battleship. The torpedo hits the main armored belt (145—320 mm.) And does not produce any special action. One sailor perishes. The attack from the air is repeated on May 25, and more successfully. One of two or three torpedoes damages the steering, so the ship begins to describe the circulation (to move forward in a spiral). In this state, “Bismarck” has to take a fight with two battleships, a heavy cruiser and several destroyers. German submarines to help him come do not have time. In the photo – the last minutes of the flaming superlinkor
The roll negatively affects the accuracy of the firing of the Bismarck guns. British shells destroy the main range-post and damage the gun turrets. Then the English heavy cruiser hits the super-ship with three torpedoes. The ship is turned upside down with a keel. Of the 2220 people, 114 are being saved (three are taken by a German submarine coming up). Since then, the German command hides the strike forces of the surface fleet, primarily in the winding Norwegian fjords, and does not give them the opportunity to once again face off against the British. German Kriegsmarines are moving to the tactics of unlimited submarine warfare. If before that, before the ship was flooded, the crew of the submarine was obliged to give the appropriate signals, and to wait for the sailors to transfer to the boats, now such tenderness is no longer there. Photo – the surviving sailors of the Bismarck board aboard the British ship
The Prime Minister of Yugoslavia signs a protocol on the accession of his country to the Tripartite Pact, March 25, 1941. On the same day, in Belgrade, an 80,000-strong demonstration against the alliance with Germany is taking place, marking, among other things, the defeat of the German Information Bureau. A new government is being formed, on April 5 the USSR and Yugoslavia are signing a treaty of friendship and non-aggression. These events Hitler views as an excuse for an invasion. And, on April 6, the armed forces of Germany, Italy, Hungary enter Yugoslavia. Stalin does not hasten to render assistance, in accordance with the concluded agreement. On Belgrade, 2,000 tons of bombs fall, and on April 16 the Yugoslav army surrenders. About 344 000 people are taken prisoner (Croatians, Hungarians and Germans – Volksdeutsche are later released). Irreversible losses: Germany 165 people, 40 aircraft, 3 tanks. Italy 3300 people, 13 aircraft, 11 tankettes. Hungary 130 people, 1 airplane. Yugoslavia: 5,000 military, 57 downed, 150 aircraft destroyed on the ground. In the photo, the Yugoslavs are celebrating the signing of an agreement on friendship with the USSR, April 5, 1941.
talian bersaliers (arrows of elite units) on the street of the Serbian city, April 1941.
For some political reasons, the seizure of Yugoslavia prompts Hitler to render more effective assistance to his Italian allies. And, on April 6, 1941, from the territory of Bulgaria, German troops invade Greece. Athens is captured on April 27, after another three days Greece will capitulate. A month later, the Wehrmacht invaded the island of Crete, considered primarily as an airfield for control of the Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean. In the photo – coastal Greek city after shelling with artillery of the Wehrmacht. April 1941
The brave but poorly armed Greek soldiers are preparing to meet the German troops. April 1941, Greece
The large losses of paratroopers do not allow further operations to be carried out to capture Cyprus and the Suez Canal immediately. Losses of Greece: 14,000 killed, allies 900, with 14,000 prisoners, the Wehrmacht 1,450 killed, Italy – about 20,000 people. It is believed that the need to seize Yugoslavia, as well as the stubborn resistance of Greece, delayed the beginning of the invasion of the USSR from May 15, 1941 to June 22, and these five weeks had a decisive effect on the course of the entire war. It seems that Serbia has returned the debt of Russia, since 1914. In the photo – German soldiers deploy a Nazi flag near the Athenian Acropolis. April-May 1941
In the Battle of Crete (May 20—31, 1941) the decisive force is the German paratroopers. On both sides perish about 5 thousand people. More than 5 thousand Greeks and 12 thousand allies (Englishmen, New Zealanders, Australians) are taken prisoner. The operation as a whole is successful, but since then the German command has refused to practice large parachute assault forces. Such a decision by Hitler allows Britain to retain the strategically important island of Malta
Count the forces of the warring parties. The population of the Soviet Union according to the results of the 1939 census is 170 million. It should be borne in mind that the leaders of the 1937 census, who showed the result of “only” 162 million for “undercounting” of the population, were shot. In 1940, territories with a population of 18 million people were annexed to the USSR, though not always loyal to the new system, having a different mentality. We assume that the results of the “shot” population census are the only correct ones, then by 1941 the population of the colossal state was 180 million people. The Third Reich, 1941, ie, Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland and some other territories inhabited by ethnic Germans subject to conscription –
