Boundaries of truth

Let us analyse what predetermined the reunification of Belarusian lands

As a result of the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921, almost half of the ethnic Belarusian territory was forcibly incorporated into the Polish state. While the 1920s-1930s marked a period of rapid economic growth for the BSSR (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic), for Western Belarus, it was a time of regression in almost every sphere. Why did such a drastic divergence in the development of one nation occur?

Aggressive bloc  

The construction of a socialist society in the USSR caused immense concern among the ruling elites of the leading capitalist powers, headed by the USA and the UK, since a real alternative to capitalism was strengthening.  

It is for this reason that the authorities of the so-called countries of Western democracy made the decision to destroy the Soviet Union through military means. To this end, they nurtured Nazi Germany, which spent approximately $40 billion in preparation for the Second World War. A significant portion of those funds was obtained from the financial and industrial structures of the USA, the UK, and France.  

Their rulers did not shy away from betraying the interests of their allies, the fate of Czechoslovakia being a striking example in this regard. Moreover, Germany, Italy, and Japan were allowed to form an aggressive bloc that directed its efforts towards a military solution to the political problems existing within the global community.  
Naturally, under such geopolitical conditions, the USSR’s initiatives to establish a system of collective security on the European continent found no understanding or support from the UK, France, or Poland, which aimed to achieve their own security at the expense of the Soviet state by directing the aggression of Nazi Germany and its satellites eastward. Incidentally, in 1933, Poland became the second state — after the Vatican — to officially recognise the Nazi Reich, thus providing it with support on a global level.

Strategic choice

Berlin’s belligerent stance was influenced by a number of foreign policy factors. This was significantly facilitated by the Anglo-German and Franco-German declarations, which provided Hitler with complete freedom of action regarding the countries of Eastern Europe. Addressing the German high military command on August 22nd, 1939, the Führer stated, “Colonel General von Brauchitsch has promised me to bring the war against Poland to a close within a few weeks. Had he reported to me that he needs two years, or even only one year, I should not have given the command to march.”
The initiative to conclude the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty belonged to Berlin. Thus, on August 20th, Adolf Hitler sent a telegram to Joseph Stalin proposing a non-aggression pact and suggested that Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop come to discuss this. In the existing circumstances, the USSR had no choice but to accept Germany’s offer to sign a non-aggression treaty in order to delay military confrontation with the Nazi Reich. Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow on August 23rd.
At the same time, neither the treaty nor the accompanying protocol contained articles on military co-operation between the parties, nor bound them to engage in hostilities against third countries or to provide assistance should one of them become involved in a military conflict.
It is worth noting that Britain and France openly delayed in concluding an anti-German agreement with the Soviet Union, while simultaneously encouraging Berlin’s Eastern European ambitions. Suffice it to recall the Munich Agreement of 1938. Furthermore, there was a secret German-Polish agreement regarding the division of Czechoslovakia, according to which Warsaw took over Teschen Region.

UNDER THE WEISS CODE NAME

In early April 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the development of a strategic plan for the invasion of Poland under the Weiss code name. According to this plan, the beginning of military actions was scheduled for August–September of the same year. On April 28th, Germany annulled the non-aggression pact with Poland. The Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, General Walther von Brauchitsch, signed a directive to launch an attack on Poland on June 15th.

GETTING BACK OUR ETHNIC TERRITORIES

Excessive self-confidence and a programmed intent to implement the idea of global domination by the German nation drove Adolf Hitler to sign the directive for an attack on Poland on August 31st, 1939. On the night of August 31st to September 1st, German intelligence services staged a provocative operation known as Himmler. Nazi German SS men and prisoners from concentration camps, dressed in Polish uniforms, ‘captured’ a radio station in the German town of Gleiwitz (now Polish Gliwice) and proceeded to broadcast anti-German propaganda with a call in Polish to unite and strike Germans.
In the morning of September 1st, Germany attacked Poland. Fascist forces occupied most of Poland by September 16th and reached the Curzon Line — the approximate border dividing the settlements of Poles on one side, and Belarusians and Ukrainians on the other. The Polish government fled to Romania on September 16th and then to Great Britain. By the second half of September, the Polish army as an organised entity no longer existed — about 66,000 soldiers were killed, approximately 134,000 were wounded, and nearly 420,000 soldiers and officers were taken prisoner by the Germans.

Despite Berlin’s attempts to drag Soviet armed forces into military actions, the leadership of the USSR adhered to a different policy. Thus, Moscow made it clear that its main priorities were not hostilities but the return of ethnic territories inhabited by Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Only after Hitler’s troops crossed the Curzon Line and the Polish government fled to Romania did the Red Army’s liberation campaign in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine begin on September 17th. The USSR did not declare war on Poland, and this fact is significant. Official Warsaw noted that there was no state of war with the Soviet Union. Therefore, Poland’s Commander-in-Chief Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły emphasised in his order to the troops on September 17th, “Do not engage the Soviets in military actions… Units towards whose formations the Soviets have approached should negotiate with them with the aim of the exit of the garrisons into Romania or Hungary.”
Thus, the pre-war geopolitical crisis, caused by the actions of the then collective West led by the Anglo-Saxons, escalated by efforts of Nazi Germany into the Second World War — the most extensive and bloody conflict in human history.
The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty was a consequence of events in the pre-war period. Belarusians and Ukrainians managed to reunite in national states. The two years gained before the start of the war, and the expansion of borders to the west allowed the USSR to bolster its defensive capabilities and avoid an even greater catastrophe at the beginning of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, thus becoming the guarantee of the Great Victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

ANTI-SOVIET PROJECT

The erroneous assessments of the situation prompted Warsaw to take thoughtless actions. It seems that Poland should have been interested in international guarantees for its borders. In contrast, it focused its policy on preventing the strengthening of Soviet influence in Europe, reacting negatively to the USSR’s entry into the League of Nations and the signing of mutual assistance treaties with France and Czechoslovakia. At the same time, Germany’s actions, which violated the peace Treaty of Versailles, elicited no negative response from our neighbour.

By Vyacheslav Danilovich, deputy of the House of Representatives, Doctor of Historical Sciences