Struggle that led to a new world pattern

On the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism:

As the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism is celebrated the world over this month, May 9 has special significance in the Russian calendar of memorable dates.

Victory Day touches the hearts of every Russian, not only because of Russia’s contribution to the Great Victory by defeating the greatest number of the Nazi forces, but also because there is hardly a family in Russia which had not lost at least one member in that war. The ordeals faced by the peoples of the Soviet Union in this war, reveal the greatness of the human spirit, manifested in numerous examples of heroism, personal valour and patriotism. That is why it is recorded as the Great Patriotic War that all Russians remember.

While many veterans of the Great Patriotic War are daily leaving us, the memory of those who perished in many ways defending the Fatherland from the Nazi plague of the 20th Century, remains.

There are also lessons for the world community from this Great Victory not lost even today. It is no coincidence that ahead of the 65th anniversary of this Victory, a keen debate on it has begun in many countries.

This is not confined to the interpretation of events of the war, but new moral assessments of its outcome having a direct relationship to the present-day European and world politics; for history is politics looking into the past.

That is why, in discussing this theme, we bear moral responsibility both to those who paid with their lives to defeat Nazism, and to the new generations learning about the war from textbooks, films and historical records. It is our responsibility to uphold the historical truth about the war, and learn its lessons from the vantage point of contemporary world development.

World War II was indeed an epochal event. It was a global battle that in scale exceeded all previous armed conflicts. Amidst the collision of different interests of states and ideologies, with diametrically opposed, irreconcilable approaches to the very basis of mankind’s existence, for the first time in history, there was the coming together of divergent forces in this struggle for the preservation of life. The gas chambers and crematoria of Oswiecim, Buchenwald, Salaspils and other death camps have demonstrated both the meaning of fascism and what its so-called “new order” had in store for the world.

Those in some countries who today question both the significance of the Great Victory and the Soviet Union’s role in it, forget that without it these countries might not have remained on the map.

The attempts to distort the history of the Great War lie in a bid to assign the winners’ laurels to Western democracies and belittle the role of the Soviet Union, at the same time blaming Hitler for unleashing the Second World War.

In the history of the pre-war period, one must not forget the policy of appeasement of fascist Germany pursued by Britain and US, aimed at warding off aggression, and directing it to the East, against the USSR. The shameful pinnacle of this policy was the Munich Agreement of 1938.

Today’s assertions about an “exaggeration of the Soviet contribution to the cause of Victory” do not stand up to criticism. In 1944, the length of the Soviet-German front was four times greater than all fronts where the USSR’s allies fought. At the same period, up to 201 enemy divisions fought on the eastern front, whereas only two to 21 divisions faced the American-British troops. Even after the second front was opened by the West, the allies had 1.5 million men in Western Europe, while the Germans had 560,000. That was when 4.5 million German troops were amassed on the Soviet-German front, against which 6.5 million Soviet soldiers fought. The Hitlerite forces sustained major losses in the battles against the Red Army - 70 percent of their manpower and 75 percent of all their military equipment - tanks, guns and aircraft.

Winston Churchill wrote, “It was the Russian Army who tore the guts out of the German war machine.” George Bush echoed him at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the allies’ landing on Normandy, “If not for Russia, none of this would have happened.”

We did not divide the victory into percentages in 1945, nor do we divide it now. Together with our allies we marked the 65th anniversary of the opening of the second front; together we shall celebrate the Jubilee of Victory in Moscow. It was the common victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. Yet, no one has the right to detract from the price which the Soviet Union and its people paid in the course of the war or play down the enormity of Nazi crimes.

The main outcome of the war, apart from being the victory of one coalition against another, was in essence, the victory of the forces of construction, progress and civilization over the forces of destruction and barbarity; of life over death. The war became the greatest tragedy for the peoples of Europe and the world. Regardless of whose side their States fought, no one was untouched by its consequences. It is the duty of historians to tell the truth about this tragedy, not as political speculation, but assessing its outcome, without a shift in moral guidelines. Speaking at Oswiecim on 27 January, 2005, then President Vladimir Putin described the attempts to rewrite the history of the war to equate the rights of the victims and hangmen, and liberators and occupiers, as deeply immoral.

The creation of the anti-Hitler coalition can rightfully be called the biggest diplomatic breakthrough of its time; an example of the rallying of states of different ideologies and political systems in the face of a common danger. Today, 65 years on, there is no need to simplify or embellish history. Each State of the anti-Hitler coalition pursued its aims, its national interests. Mutual trust did not come easy. Still, the coalition succeeded in rising above differences to achieve a common victory. The opponents of fascism were united by a common understanding that evil had to be resisted together, sparing no effort, allowing no compromises, no concessions or separate deals. This lesson retains its relevance in full measure even today.

The experience of international brotherhood in arms during wartime assumes particular significance when a global challenge is prevalent - this time from international terrorism, no less dangerous or cunning than fascism; no less merciless. Thousands of innocent civilians have already become its victims. The foundations of civilization are once again in jeopardy. Like fascism, terrorism has nothing but violence to offer the world. It is prepared to trample upon the most elementary norms of morality to achieve its maniacal aims.

Coping with this kind of threat, just as 65 years ago, is only possible on the basis of solidarity and mutual trust. “Double standards” with regard to terrorists are as inadmissible as attempts to rehabilitate the fascists’ accomplices. Giving terrorists a public platform to state their man-hating views is as immoral and unnatural for contemporary Europe as the parades of former SS men in the countries claiming adherence to democratic values.

Our duty by those who paid with their blood to save humanity from fascism consists primarily of putting a reliable barrier in the way of disseminating the ideas of intolerance and racial, national or religious superiority; behind which pretensions of world dominance hide, serving as a ground for new threats. The unity of the anti-terrorist coalition of nations; harmonious development of relations between various nationalities, with tolerance and mutual respect of cultural diversity, with an open, constructive dialogue of civilizations - are the main conditions for victory over the forces of hatred and extremism.

The lessons of World War II are also relevant from the viewpoint of construction of the post-war world pattern. The outcome of the war exerted a profound influence on the development of international relations. Even now, 65 years later, when the world has changed beyond recognition, the elements of the post-war arrangement of Europe and the world retain an enormous significance for the cause of safeguarding peace and security on our planet.

The urge to deliver humanity from the scourge of war inspired the anti-Hitler coalition to establish a global mechanism to safeguard peace and security - the United Nations Organization. Its Charter became the basis of contemporary international law, and a fundamental code of conduct for states and international organizations. The principles and standards of the UN Charter, which stood the test of the Cold War, are today an unquestioned basis for shaping a new, secure and equitable world pattern in the era of globalization.

Courtesy: Russia Republic Embassy, Colombo