Leader of Great Britain during the Second World War. How England fought in World War II

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The results of Britain's participation in World War II were mixed. The country retained its independence and made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, at the same time it lost its role as a world leader and came close to losing its colonial status.

Political games

Historians believe that Britain had high hopes for diplomacy, with the help of which it hoped to rebuild the Versailles system in crisis, although already in 1938 many politicians warned the peacemakers: “concessions to Germany will only embolden the aggressor!”

Returning to London on the plane, Chamberlain said: “I brought peace to our generation.” To which Winston Churchill, then a parliamentarian, prophetically remarked: “England was offered a choice between war and dishonor. She chose dishonor and will get war.”

"Strange War"

By mid-October, the British transported four divisions to the continent and took up positions along the Franco-Belgian border. However, the section between the cities of Mold and Bayel, which is a continuation of the Maginot Line, was far from the epicenter of hostilities. Here the Allies created more than 40 airfields, but instead of bombing German positions, British aviation began scattering propaganda leaflets appealing to the morality of the Germans.

In the following months, six more British divisions arrived in France, but neither the British nor the French were in a hurry to take active action. This is how the “strange war” was waged. Chief of the British General Staff Edmund Ironside described the situation as follows: “passive waiting with all the worries and anxieties that follow from this.”

French writer Roland Dorgeles recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: “obviously the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy.”

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Historians have no doubt that the “Phantom War” is explained by the wait-and-see attitude of the Allies. Both Great Britain and France had to understand where German aggression would turn after the capture of Poland. It is possible that if the Wehrmacht immediately launched an invasion of the USSR after the Polish campaign, the Allies could support Hitler.

Miracle at Dunkirk

Military experts had little faith in the success of the operation under the sonorous name “Dynamo”. The advance detachment of Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps was located a few kilometers from Dunkirk and, if desired, could easily defeat the demoralized allies. But a miracle happened: 337,131 soldiers, most of whom were British, reached the opposite bank almost without interference.

Hitler unexpectedly stopped the advance of the German troops. Guderian called this decision purely political. Historians differ in their assessment of the controversial episode of the war. Some believe that the Fuhrer wanted to save his strength, but others are confident in a secret agreement between the British and German governments.

One way or another, after the Dunkirk disaster, Britain remained the only country that avoided complete defeat and was able to resist the seemingly invincible German machine. On June 10, 1940, England's position became threatening when fascist Italy entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

Battle of Britain

On August 24, German aircraft carried out their first bombing attack on central London. According to some, it is wrong. The retaliatory attack was not long in coming. A day later, 81 RAF bombers flew to Berlin. No more than a dozen reached the target, but this was enough to infuriate Hitler. At a meeting of the German command in Holland, it was decided to unleash the full power of the Luftwaffe on the British Isles.

Within weeks, the skies over British cities turned into a boiling cauldron. Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Belfast got it. During the whole of August, at least 1,000 British citizens died. However, from mid-September the intensity of the bombing began to decrease, due to the effective counteraction of British fighter aircraft.

The Battle of Britain is better characterized by numbers. In total, 2,913 British Air Force aircraft and 4,549 Luftwaffe aircraft were involved in air battles. Historians estimate the losses of both sides at 1,547 Royal Air Force fighters and 1,887 German aircraft shot down.

Lady of the Seas

Military experts were confident that the British ground army was no stronger than the broken armed forces of France, and Germany had every chance of overpowering the United Kingdom's forces in a ground operation. The English military historian Liddell Hart noted that England managed to hold out only due to the water barrier.

In Berlin they realized that the German fleet was noticeably inferior to the English. For example, by the beginning of the war, the British Navy had seven operational aircraft carriers and six more on the slipway, while Germany was never able to equip at least one of its aircraft carriers. In the open seas, the presence of carrier-based aircraft could predetermine the outcome of any battle.

The German submarine fleet was only able to inflict serious damage on British merchant ships. However, having sunk 783 German submarines with US support, the British Navy won the Battle of the Atlantic. Until February 1942, the Fuhrer hoped to conquer England from the sea, until the commander of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Erich Raeder, finally convinced him to abandon this idea.

Colonial interests

At the beginning of 1939, the British Chiefs of Staff Committee recognized the defense of Egypt with its Suez Canal as one of its strategically most important tasks. Hence the special attention of the Kingdom's armed forces to the Mediterranean theater of operations.

Unfortunately, the British had to fight not at sea, but in the desert. May-June 1942 turned out for England, according to historians, as a “shameful defeat” at Tobruk from Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. And this despite the British having twice the superiority in strength and technology!

The British were able to turn the tide of the North African campaign only in October 1942 at the Battle of El Alamein. Again having a significant advantage (for example, in aviation 1200:120), the British Expeditionary Force of General Montgomery managed to defeat a group of 4 German and 8 Italian divisions under the command of the already familiar Rommel.

Churchill remarked about this battle: “Before El Alamein we did not win a single victory. We haven't suffered a single defeat since El Alamein." By May 1943, British and American troops forced the 250,000-strong Italian-German group in Tunisia to capitulate, which opened the way for the Allies to Italy. In North Africa, the British lost about 220 thousand soldiers and officers.

And again Europe

Events unfolded in a different vein in December 1944 near the Ardennes, when a German armored group literally pushed through the lines of American troops. In the Ardennes meat grinder, the US Army lost over 19 thousand soldiers, the British no more than two hundred.

This ratio of losses led to disagreements in the Allied camp. American generals Bradley and Patton threatened to resign if Montgomery did not leave leadership of the army. Montgomery's self-confident statement at a press conference on January 7, 1945, that it was British troops who saved the Americans from the prospect of encirclement, jeopardized the further joint operation. Only thanks to the intervention of the commander in chief of the allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, was the conflict resolved.

By the end of 1944, the Soviet Union had liberated large parts of the Balkan Peninsula, which caused serious concern in Britain. Churchill, who did not want to lose control over the important Mediterranean region, proposed to Stalin a division of the sphere of influence, as a result of which Moscow got Romania, London - Greece.

In fact, with the tacit consent of the USSR and the USA, Great Britain suppressed the resistance of the Greek communist forces and on January 11, 1945, established complete control over Attica. It was then that a new enemy clearly loomed on the horizon of British foreign policy. “In my eyes, the Soviet threat had already replaced the Nazi enemy,” Churchill recalled in his memoirs.

According to the 12-volume History of the Second World War, Britain and its colonies lost 450,000 people in World War II. Britain's expenses for waging the war amounted to more than half of foreign capital investments; the Kingdom's external debt reached 3 billion pounds sterling by the end of the war. Britain paid off all debts only by 2006.

British military historiography often likes to remind us that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 actually gave the German military machine a free hand. At the same time, the Munich Agreement, signed by England together with France, Italy and Germany a year earlier, is being ignored in Foggy Albion. The result of this conspiracy was the division of Czechoslovakia, which, according to many researchers, was the prelude to World War II.
On September 30, 1938, in Munich, Great Britain and Germany signed another agreement - a declaration of mutual non-aggression, which was the culmination of the British “policy of appeasement.” Hitler quite easily managed to convince British Prime Minister Arthur Chamberlain that the Munich agreements would be a guarantee of security in Europe.
Historians believe that Britain had high hopes for diplomacy, with the help of which it hoped to rebuild the Versailles system in crisis, although already in 1938 many politicians warned the peacemakers: “Concessions to Germany will only embolden the aggressor!”
Chamberlain, returning to London, said at the plane's steps: “I brought peace to our generation) to which Winston Churchill, then a parliamentarian, prophetically remarked: “England was offered a choice between war and dishonor. She chose dishonor and will get war.”

"Strange War"

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On the same day, Chamberlain's government sent a note of protest to Berlin, and on September 3, Great Britain, as the guarantor of Poland's independence, declared war on Germany. Over the next ten days, the entire British Commonwealth will join it.
By mid-October, the British transported four divisions to the continent and took up positions along the Franco-Belgian border. However, the section between the cities of Mold and Bayel, which is a continuation of the Maginot Line, was located far from the epicenter of hostilities. Here the Allies created more than 40 airfields, but instead of bombing German positions, British aviation began scattering propaganda leaflets appealing to the morality of the Germans.
In the following months, six more British divisions arrived in France, but neither the British nor the French were in a hurry to take active action. This is how the “strange war” was waged. Chief of the British General Staff Edmund Ironside described the situation as follows: “Passive waiting with all the worries and anxieties that follow from this.”
French writer Roland Dorgeles recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: “Obviously, the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy.”
Historians have no doubt that the “Phantom War” is explained by the wait-and-see attitude of the Allies. Both Great Britain and France had to understand where German aggression would turn after the capture of Poland. It is possible that if the Wehrmacht had immediately launched an invasion of the USSR after the Polish campaign, the Allies could have supported Hitler.

Miracle at Dunkirk

On May 10, 1940, according to Plan Gelb, Germany launched an invasion of Holland, Belgium and France. The political games are over. Churchill, who took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, soberly assessed the enemy’s forces. As soon as German troops took control of Boulogne and Calais, he decided to evacuate parts of the British Expeditionary Force that were trapped in the pocket at Dunkirk, and with them the remnants of the French and Belgian divisions. 693 British and about 250 French ships under the command of English Rear Admiral Bertram Ramsay planned to transport about 350,000 coalition troops across the English Channel.
Military experts had little faith in the success of the operation under the sonorous name “Dynamo”. The advance detachment of the 19th Panzer Corps under the command of Colonel General of the German troops Heinz Guderian was located a few kilometers from Dunkirk and, if desired, could easily defeat the demoralized allies. But a miracle happened: 337,131 soldiers, most of whom were British, reached the opposite bank almost without interference. Hitler unexpectedly stopped the advance of the German troops. Guderian called this decision a political one. Historians differ in their assessment of this episode of the war. Some believe that the Fuhrer wanted to save his strength, but others are confident in a secret agreement between the British and German governments.
One way or another, after the Dunkirk disaster, Britain remained the only country that avoided complete defeat and was able to resist the seemingly invincible German machine. On June 10, 1940, England's position became threatening when fascist Italy entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

Battle of Britain

Germany's plans to force Great Britain to surrender have not been canceled. In July 1940, British coastal convoys and naval bases were subjected to massive bombing by the German Air Force. In August, the Luftwaffe switched to airfields and aircraft factories.
On August 24, German aircraft carried out their first bombing attack on central London. According to some, this is wrong. The retaliatory attack was not long in coming. A day later, 81 RAF bombers flew to Berlin. No more than a dozen reached the target, but this was enough to infuriate Hitler. At a meeting of the German command in Holland, it was decided to unleash the full power of the Luftwaffe on the British Isles.
Within weeks, the skies over British cities turned into a boiling cauldron. Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff Coventry, Belfast got it. During the whole of August, at least a thousand British citizens died. However, from mid-September the intensity of the bombing began to decrease due to the effective counteraction of British fighter aircraft.
The Battle of Britain is better characterized by numbers. In total, 2,913 British Air Force aircraft and 4,549 Luftwaffe aircraft were involved in air battles. Historians estimate the losses of both sides at 1,547 Royal Air Force fighters and 1,887 German aircraft shot down.

Lady of the Seas

It is known that after the successful bombing of England, Hitler intended to launch Operation Sea Lion to invade the British Isles. However, the desired air superiority was not achieved. In turn, the Reich military command was skeptical about the landing operation. According to German generals, the strength of the German army lay precisely on land, and not at sea.
Military experts were confident that Britain's ground army was no stronger than the broken armed forces of France, and Germany had every chance of overpowering the United Kingdom's forces in a ground operation. The English military historian Liddell Hart noted that England was able to hold out only due to the water barrier.
In Berlin they realized that the German fleet was noticeably inferior to the English. For example, by the beginning of the war, the British Navy had seven operational aircraft carriers and six more on the slipway, while Germany was unable to equip at least one of its aircraft carriers; in the sea, the presence of carrier-based aircraft could predetermine the outcome of any battle.
The German submarine fleet was only able to inflict serious damage on British merchant ships. However, having sunk 783 German submarines with US support, the British Navy won the Battle of the Atlantic. Until February 1942, the Fuhrer hoped to conquer England from the sea, until the commander of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), Admiral Erich Raeder, finally convinced him to abandon this idea.

Colonial interests

At the beginning of 1939, the British Chiefs of Staff Committee recognized the defense of Egypt with its Suez Canal as one of the most important strategic tasks. Hence the special attention of the armed forces of the Kingdom to the Mediterranean theater of military operations.
Unfortunately, the British had to fight not at sea, but in the desert. May-June 1942 turned out for England, according to historians, as a “shameful defeat” near Tobruk from Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. And this despite the British having twice the superiority in strength and technology!
The British were able to turn the tide of the North African campaign only in October 1942 at the Battle of El Alamein. Again having a significant advantage (for example, in aviation 1200:120), the British Expeditionary Force of General Montgomery managed to defeat a group of 4 German and 8 Italian divisions under the command of Rommel.
Churchill remarked about this battle: “Before El Alamein we did not win a single victory. We haven't suffered a single defeat since El Alamein." By May 1943, British and American troops forced the 250,000-strong Italian-German force in Tunisia to capitulate, which opened the way for the Allies to Italy. In North Africa, the British lost about 220 thousand soldiers and officers.

And again Europe

On June 6, 1944, with the opening of the Second Front, British troops had the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves for their shameful flight from the continent four years earlier. The overall leadership of the allied ground forces was entrusted to the experienced Montgomery. By the end of August, the total superiority of the Allies had crushed German resistance in France.
Events unfolded in a different vein in December 1944 near the Ardennes, when a German armored group literally pushed through the lines of American troops. In the Ardennes meat grinder, the US Army lost over 19 thousand soldiers, the British - no more than two hundred.
This ratio of losses led to disagreements in the Allied camp. American generals Bradley and Patton threatened to resign if Montgomery did not leave leadership of the army. Montgomery's self-confident statement at a press conference on January 7, 1945, that it was British troops who saved the Americans from the prospect of encirclement, jeopardized the further joint operation. Only thanks to the intervention of the commander in chief of the allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, was the conflict resolved.
By the end of 1944, the Soviet Union had liberated large parts of the Balkan Peninsula, which caused serious concern in Britain. Churchill, who did not want to lose control over the important Mediterranean region, proposed to Stalin a division of the sphere of influence, as a result of which Moscow got Romania, London - Greece.
In fact, with the tacit consent of the USSR and the USA, Great Britain suppressed the resistance of the Greek communist forces and on January 11, 1945, established complete control over Attica. It was then that a new enemy clearly loomed on the horizon of British foreign policy. “In my eyes, the Soviet threat had already replaced the Nazi enemy,” Churchill recalled in his memoirs.
According to the 12-volume History of the Second World War, Great Britain and its colonies lost 450,000 people in World War II. Britain's expenses for waging the war amounted to more than half of foreign investment, and the Kingdom's external debt reached 3 billion pounds sterling by the end of the war. The UK paid off all its debts only by 2006.

england history world war

The Second World War was for England, as for most countries of the world, a great historical test. In the mortal battle with fascism, everything was tested - the positions of classes and parties, the viability of ideologies and political doctrines, economic structures, the social systems themselves.

War 1939-1945 took place in an immeasurably more complex situation than the First World War. Subjectively, the ruling circles of England sought in this war only to defeat a dangerous competitor and to expand their world positions. But still it was a war against fascist states, against the most monstrous reaction that capitalism has ever generated. The contradiction between the liberation goals and the purely imperialist plans of the ruling circles of England, which was objectively generated by the very fact of the war against fascism, affected the entire duration of the war.

During the first year of hostilities, the reactionary maneuvers of the ruling elite clearly prevailed, and from the summer of 1941, when a military alliance between the USSR, England and the USA began to take shape, the war on the part of England finally acquired an anti-fascist liberation character.

When Hitler's troops invaded Poland (September 1, 1939), Chamberlain was still hesitant to declare war, despite the guarantees given in March and the mutual assistance pact concluded with Poland on August 24, 1939. The masses were so outraged by the government's inaction that even the Labor Party leadership strongly demanded an immediate declaration of war. As a result of pressure outside and inside the House, Chamberlain declared war on September 3. Following this, the dominions - Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Union of South Africa - declared war. Chamberlain managed to “pacify” the opposition in the ranks of his own party by giving the portfolio of Minister of Navy to W. Churchill, and the Minister of Dominion Affairs to A. Eden.

The Munich people, who had a huge majority in the government, even after the declaration of war on Germany, still dreamed of an actual alliance with it against the USSR. Poland was sacrificed to these plans, to which England did not provide any real assistance. A “strange war” began: England and France undertook almost no operations either on land or in the air; Only at sea there were several battles that did not affect the balance of forces: preparations for future battles with Germany proceeded extremely slowly. Some military measures were nevertheless taken - both for reinsurance and to calm public opinion. Slowly, military leaders mobilized and transferred expeditionary troops to France; arms production increased; arms purchases expanded in the United States, where the “neutrality law” was revised, and the evacuation of women and children from big cities began. But compared to the frantic pace of preparation of the German armies for operations in the West, all these measures were very insignificant.

Retribution soon came. On April 9, 1940, German troops occupied Denmark and began the occupation of Norway. This defeat was the fruit not only of Munich’s policy in the pre-war period, but also of Chamberlain’s policy during the “Phantom War”. But the war has already lost its “strange” character. It was no longer possible to leave power in the hands of people who had absolutely failed both in the days of peace and in the days of war.

The mood in the country also found a response in parliament. On May 7-8, 1940, the long-overdue explosion occurred. Labour, Liberals and even some Conservatives attacked the government, demanding its resignation. L. Emery, addressing Chamberlain, repeated the words that Cromwell had once uttered: “In the name of God, leave!” Lloyd George said that the prime minister's best contribution to victory would be "if he sacrificed the office he now occupies."

On May 10, Chamberlain resigned. Labour's tactics, however, meant that power effectively remained in the hands of the Conservatives, although the new cabinet was a coalition one. Winston Churchill became the head of the government. Clement Attlee took over as his deputy. Many Munich residents remained in the new cabinet, including Chamberlain himself and Halifax. But the balance of power between them and the supporters of decisive resistance to the aggressor has now changed towards the latter.

At the same time that Churchill was selecting ministers for his government, Hitler's troops launched a gigantic offensive on the Western Front. Having invaded neutral Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, the German army rushed to the coast and to the borders of France. The Dutch army capitulated on May 14th. On the same day, the Germans broke through the front at Sedan and in five days, having passed through the entire north of France, they reached the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, they cut off the French troops who were fighting in Belgium from Central and Southern France. The threat of defeat loomed over Belgium and over France itself.

The British command, violating the plan developed by the joint headquarters of the Allies to encircle the German group that had broken through to the sea, suddenly ordered its troops to retreat to the ports for evacuation to England. Not only French patriots, but also some English officers and soldiers, this decision was perceived as a betrayal. Nevertheless, the operation to withdraw English and some French units to the British Isles was accompanied by a long-unprecedented patriotic upsurge in England. The masses did not understand the intricacies of strategy; they knew that on the other side of the English Channel, in the Dunkirk area, hundreds of thousands of “our guys” could die or be captured, and they rushed to the rescue. A wide variety of watercraft were used in the operation, from large merchant fleet vessels to pleasure yachts and fishing schooners. The heroism of ordinary people shown during the days of evacuation (May 26 - June 4, 1940) is beyond doubt, but this does not give grounds to interpret the defeat of the English expeditionary force as a victory, and this is precisely the legend about Dunkirk that many English memoirists and historians create.

The new powerful offensive of the German armies, which began on June 5, ended with the surrender of France. England lost an ally, having acquired another enemy during this time: on June 10, fascist Italy entered the war. During the entire period of the Second World War, England did not experience a more tense and dangerous period than the summer and early autumn of 1940. German naval bases and airfields appeared in the immediate vicinity of the British Isles.

Dunkirk marked the beginning of a new stage in the anti-fascist upsurge. The English working class understood the need to repel the aggressor both before the war and at its early stage, when Chamberlain's government was still looking for ways to reconcile with Hitler. The slogan put forward by the CPV is “Munich people must leave!” - was taken up by mass organizations of the working class. Although the hardships of the war fell specifically on the working class (12-hour working day with a 7-day working week, falling real wages, etc.), it did not even think about “peace without victory.” Thanks to the labor enthusiasm of the workers, military production grew rapidly: by July 1940 it had more than doubled compared to September 1939.

In preparation for the invasion, as well as for psychological pressure, Hitler ordered increased bombing of English cities. Massive German air raids began in August 1940 and caused enormous damage to London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Glasgow. On November 15, 500 German bombers destroyed large parts of the small city of Coventry. Despite the courageous resistance of British fighter aircraft, air superiority at this stage of the war was clearly on Germany's side. But the psychological effect of the aerial “Battle of Britain” was exactly the opposite of what was expected in Berlin. Hatred of the Nazis, who killed women and children, only strengthened the will of the English people to resist.

The danger looming over freedom and the very existence of the nation naturally aroused a high intensity of civic feelings, and the drama of historical battles gave rise to a thirst for true art. The leading actors of the English stage - John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Sybille Thorndike and others - found their way to an audience they had never met before. On their own initiative and on the instructions of the Arts Council of Great Britain, created in early 1940, they traveled with small but artistically valuable troupes to industrial cities and mining villages, where they had never seen real theater. And now, before people whose spiritual needs had recently been tried to be satisfied by low-grade variety revues, Sybil Thorndike appeared in the roles of Medea and Lady Macbeth...

The Unity Theater was especially active, which did not stop working even during the most brutal bombings. In 1941, the theater staged a new play by Sean O'Casey, "The Star Turns Red" - a play, according to the author's definition, "about tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." The theme of the play is the future uprising of the working class, a direct clash between communists and fascists. Consonant with the whole spirit of the theater “Unity,” a work by a first-class playwright, made it possible to create a performance that became an event in the theatrical life of the capital.

In general, however, English drama, like the prose of the war period, did not satisfy the needs of viewers and readers for works saturated with the pathos of the anti-fascist struggle, posing the most pressing social and ethical problems of our time. Moreover, there was great interest in Soviet literature. The works of M. Sholokhov, A. Tolstoy, I. Ehrenburg, K. Simonov were widely translated and published in England at the second stage of the war, when the anti-Hitler coalition took shape. "Unity" staged K. Simonov's play "Russian People", and in other theaters productions of plays from the Russian classical repertoire became more frequent.

The reaction was not averse to giving the patriotic upsurge a nationalistic character. Turning to history, bourgeois ideologists highlighted events in which purely military traditions were manifested. Let the people compare the fight against Hitler and the fight against Napoleon - despite all the senselessness of this analogy between the situations of the early 19th century. and the 40s of the XX century. there was some resemblance! The ongoing war was seen as another battle with a contender for European hegemony, and not as a fight against fascist reaction. In essence, this is exactly how the upper bourgeoisie viewed the war.

This was understood by the famous film director and producer A. Korda back in the 30s. Having settled in Hollywood, he decided to make a film about Admiral Nelson, a national hero and winner of the Battle of Trafalgar. However, this was a very unique Nelson - a knight without fear or reproach, very little like the historical Nelson. The image of Emma Hamilton, an international intelligence officer and intriguer, turned by the screenwriter into a loving and virtuous woman, devoted to Nelson, and even more so to her homeland, was even less consistent with historical truth. This is how Korda’s pseudo-historical action movie “Lady Hamilton” arose, which was a huge success. At that time, the viewer was attracted by the shallow resonance with modern events. Of course, the sentimental love line that was brought to the fore also played a role. But the main advantage of this shallow film was determined by the names of the leading actors - Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

The leftward movement of the masses, expressed in the growth of anti-fascist demands, in the struggle against the remnants of the Munich policy, in the growing influence of the communists, caused considerable concern in the ruling circles of England. The emergency legislation carried out by the Churchill government was used not only to organize resistance to Germany, but also to attack the working class and limit its rights. Labor minister Ernst Bevin issued Regulation 1305, which effectively nullified the right to strike. The persecution of communists continued in the trade unions.

Despite these measures, the struggle of the English people against internal reaction continued. On the initiative of left-wing trade union and Labor leaders, as well as prominent representatives of the left-wing intelligentsia, including communists, the People's Convention met in London on January 12, 1941. The delegates to the convention represented 1,200 thousand workers. The main slogan was "the creation of a people's government truly representing the working class." The convention demanded the implementation of a consistent democratic policy within the country and in the colonies, as well as the establishment of friendly relations with the Soviet Union. The government responded to these decisions with new repressions. On January 21, 1941, the Daily Worker newspaper was closed by order of Home Secretary Herbert Morrison.

In the most difficult days, immediately after Dunkirk, Churchill declared in Parliament that England would continue to fight “until, in the time appointed by Providence, the New World, with all its strength and might, comes forward for the salvation and liberation of the Old.” Indeed, in September 1940, a special agreement was concluded under which the United States transferred to England 50 old destroyers necessary for convoying military and food cargo. In return, England granted the United States the right to create naval and air bases on a number of British-owned islands: the American imperialists, taking advantage of the situation, strengthened their positions at the expense of England. And in March 1941, Roosevelt's supporters managed to pass a law in the US Congress, according to which American supplies were provided to England for rent or loan (Lend-Lease).

Making extensive use of the resources of the dominions and colonies, England achieved the creation of significant armed forces that conducted operations in Africa and other areas. The campaign in Africa (against Italy) went with varying degrees of success, but by the spring of 1941 the British managed not only to drive the Italians out of their colonies, but also to seize a number of Italian colonies and oust the Italians from Ethiopia. Only in North Africa, where Hitler sent the army of General Rommel to help the Italians, did the British troops retreat; the northwestern part of Egypt was occupied by the enemy.

But no matter how significant the colonial problems were from the point of view of the imperialist interests of England and its opponents, the African fronts, like the front in the Middle East, were of secondary importance. In Europe, Germany continued to strengthen. Completing preparations for the attack on the USSR, Hitler subjugated Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece. Now his plan was to achieve peace in the West and avoid a war on two fronts. For this purpose, Hitler's deputy for leadership of the Nazi Party, R. Hess, was sent to England. In correspondence with prominent Munich residents, he gradually prepared his secret visit to the most reactionary group of British politicians, hoping that they would help convince the government in one form or another to join the anti-Soviet campaign. We must not forget that the very parliament that voted for Munich was in power. But the impudent proposals of Hess, who demanded peace on the basis of freedom of hands for Germany in Europe (in exchange for freedom of hands of England... in the British Empire), were rejected. The English people, after Dunkirk and the “Battle of England,” would not have allowed anyone to make this shameful deal, and the government itself was well aware that in the event of the defeat of the USSR, England would not be able to withstand an even stronger fascist bloc.

The German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 marked the beginning of a new stage of the Second World War. From that day until the final defeat of Germany, the center of world history was on the Soviet-German front; It was there that the outcome of the war was decided and the fate of humanity was determined.

Since the beginning of the Patriotic War, the situation in England has changed dramatically. Hitler's huge war machine was moving to the East, meeting heroic resistance, and the immediate danger of an invasion of the British Isles by German armies no longer hung over England. Air raids also fell sharply. But the main thing is that England was no longer alone in the war against Germany; she had an ally who took upon himself the main burden of the fight against the common enemy. While remaining an implacable enemy of socialism, Churchill considered it advantageous to choose the path of cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Already on June 22, 1941, Churchill made a statement about his readiness to provide “Russia and the Russian people with all the assistance that we are capable of.” In other words, the British government agreed to an alliance with the USSR, which was formalized by an agreement signed in Moscow on July 12, 1941. This was the beginning of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The English working class made great sacrifices to increase military output, especially in cases where Soviet orders were being carried out. The mood of the masses also influenced the trade union leadership. Even the leaders of the Trade Union Congress were forced to establish close ties with Soviet trade unions.

In wide circles of the English people, interest in life in the Soviet Union and the social conditions that fostered mass heroism, perseverance, and selflessness in the Soviet people has increased unusually. At the same time, interest in Russian and Soviet culture and the history of Russia increased. Books by Russian and Soviet writers published in England were sold out in great demand. War and Peace was read by all levels of society - from the worker or clerk snatching a free minute, to Mrs. Churchill.

From the very first days of the existence of the Anglo-Soviet union, the Soviet government raised the question of creating a second front in Europe before Churchill's cabinet. A large English landing in France, Belgium, and Holland would have pulled several dozen divisions from the Soviet-German front. This would be truly effective help to the Red Army in the most difficult period of the war. The ruling circles of England preferred to avoid this operation under any pretext, shifting the entire burden of the war onto the shoulders of the Soviet people.

The question of a second front not only took a central place in the relationship between members of the anti-Hitler coalition, but also became the subject of an acute internal political struggle in ENGLAND. Communists, left-wing Laborites, some liberals and even some conservatives openly demanded the creation of a second front in Europe. However, Churchill's government, true to the long-standing tradition of fighting by proxy, failed to fulfill its most important allied duty for three years.

The pressure of democratic forces on the issue of supplying the Soviet Union with weapons turned out to be more effective. England, and after it the United States, agreed to provide weapons on the basis of Lend-Lease and provide escort for transport ships by the British and American navies. In September - October 1941, a meeting of representatives of the three powers was held in Moscow, at which the scale of supplies of aircraft, tanks and other weapons, as well as strategic raw materials, was determined. At the same time, the British and American representatives agreed to satisfy the Soviet side’s demand only by 50%, and for some requests - even by 10%. Subsequently, supplies increased, but still the assistance with weapons was significantly lower than the needs of the Red Army and the capabilities of industry in England and, especially, the United States.

The war economy was brought under state control, which led to a sharp leap in the development of state-monopoly capitalism. Ministries created to manage various sectors of the economy - aviation industry, fuel and energy, food, supplies, etc. - became new links between the state and monopolies. Government control of the economy played a positive role in England's war effort, but at the same time it was exploited by monopolists, who either personally headed the new departments or sent their employees to them. By fettering to a certain extent the arbitrariness of individual monopolies, this system ensured the interests of monopoly capital as a whole.

During the war years, British industry produced 130 thousand aircraft, 25 thousand tanks and many other types of weapons and equipment. The Dominions and India produced 10% of all weapons available to the Imperial military. Dominions and colonies played an even greater role in mobilizing human resources. Of the 9.5 million people under the command of British generals and admirals during the war, over 4 million were part of the Indian, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African divisions.

From the above data it is clear what enormous capabilities England had during the war and how little of it it used to help its Soviet ally. And yet, the very logic of joint struggle with the enemy, the efforts of Soviet foreign policy, and pressure from the British people led to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition.

A new stage in the development of the Anglo-Soviet alliance and the entire anti-Hitler coalition began at the end of 1941. The victory of the Soviet armed forces in the Battle of Moscow unusually raised the international prestige of the Soviet Union. The positions of England and the United States were also significantly influenced by the attack on them by imperialist Japan (December 7, 1941) and the outbreak of the war in the Pacific Ocean. Now that a new front has emerged, the interest of England and the United States in an alliance with the USSR has increased even more.

Japan's attack on the United States led to the further formation of the Anglo-American bloc. Now that the United States has become a belligerent power, not only with Japan, but also with Germany and Italy, concrete coordination of military-strategic plans has become possible. This issue was considered at the Washington Conference, which lasted about a month - from December 22, 1941 to January 14, 1942. England and the USA agreed on the creation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of both countries.

Soviet-British negotiations continued, and in May 1942 England made a commitment, which was formulated in a communiqué as follows: “Full agreement has been reached regarding the urgent tasks of creating a second front in Europe in 1942.” There was similar wording in the communiqué on the Soviet-American negotiations. If the statement about the second front did not acquire practical significance, since it was not opened not only in 1942 but also in 1943, then the conclusion of the Anglo-Soviet “Treaty of Alliance in the War against Nazi Germany and its accomplices” was truly outstanding. in Europe and about cooperation and mutual assistance after the war."

However, immediately after the conclusion of the treaty and the solemn commitment to open a second front, Churchill began to prepare to abandon the plan to invade Europe. Instead of landing in France, the Anglo-American headquarters agreed to prepare for an invasion of North Africa. The talk was about conquering Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and in the future, the entire Mediterranean basin. In addition to the fact that this operation could be presented to the public as a “second front,” it suited England because it strengthened its position on the most important imperial communications.

In order to calm British public opinion and create the impression that the Soviet Union did not object to the strategy of the Western powers, Churchill went to Moscow in August 1942. He tried to prove to Soviet leaders that the operation in North Africa would be essential to the defeat of Hitler. At the same time, on behalf of England and the United States, a promise was made to open a second front in 1943. Most of all, Churchill wanted to make sure that the Soviet Union would continue the war under any circumstances. It is not for nothing that in a telegram sent from Moscow to the military cabinet, he considered it necessary to emphasize: “Throughout all the negotiations there was not a single, even the slightest hint that they could end the war.” And if so, then, according to Churchill’s logic, it was possible to continue to build up military power and conduct operations on fronts that were important for British imperialism, but of secondary importance for the overall course of the war.

Since the spring of 1941, when Italo-German troops invaded Egypt, there have been no significant operations in Africa. In May 1942, General Rommel's army went on the offensive and in June ousted the British from Libya. On June 21, 1942, Tobruk fell, the last stronghold in Libya covering the approaches to Egypt. Pursuing the rapidly retreating British, Rommel's army invaded Egypt and rushed to the Suez Canal. Only on the defensive line south of El Alamein did British troops manage to stop the enemy - only 100 km from Cairo. The Suez Canal was under immediate threat. Rommel was unable to build on his success these days and completely expel the British from Egypt only because a gigantic battle had already unfolded on the Soviet-German front and Hitler could not send even those relatively insignificant reinforcements to Africa that could have decided the matter.

Having received a respite, the British command strengthened its troops in Egypt, fully provided them with weapons and equipment, and also reorganized the administration. All units were consolidated into the 8th Army under the command of General Montgomery. At the same time, preparations for the landing of Anglo-American troops in North-West Africa were completed. Having launched an offensive in the El Alamein area on October 23, the British reoccupied Tobruk on November 13. Over the next months, just at the time when the Red Army, having surrounded Paulus' 300,000-strong army, was waging offensive battles, British troops completely occupied Libya and approached (February 1943) the Tunisian border.

Successful operations in Northeast Africa were accompanied by active operations in Morocco and Algeria. On November 8, six American and one British division landed simultaneously in the ports of Algiers, Oran and Casablanca and launched an offensive to the east. Trying to maintain their positions in Africa, the Germans urgently transferred several divisions from Italy to Tunisia, and already in December 1942 they managed to stop the offensive from the West. The Anglo-American command had a huge superiority of forces, but it preferred to thoroughly prepare the decisive blow; this again made it possible for Hitler to transfer divisions to the Soviet-German front. Only in March - April 1943 did major battles break out in Tunisia. The 8th British Army - from the east, American divisions - from the south and west, broke through the defenses of the Italo-German troops, occupied the cities of Tunis and Bizerte, which were of great strategic importance, in early May, and on May 13 accepted the surrender of the 250,000-strong enemy army.

The great victory at Stalingrad, which marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the war, created excellent preconditions for delivering decisive blows against the common enemy. The summer and autumn offensives of the Red Army in 1943, and then the access to the state border, finally sealed the turning point in the war and created a completely new situation. The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad gave a powerful impetus to the rise of the Resistance movement in the occupied countries, and this caused considerable concern among British and world reaction. During the Resistance, peoples fought not only against invaders. There was a mature understanding among the masses that after the war there should be no return to the old reactionary regimes, which were responsible for national catastrophes in France, Poland, Yugoslavia and a number of other countries. The authority of the communist parties, which acted during the war as selfless fighters for the national interests of the peoples of their countries, increased enormously.

This new situation significantly influenced relations within the anti-Hitler coalition, and in particular the policy of the British government. It became clear to Churchill and his advisers that the Soviet armed forces were powerful enough to achieve complete victory in the war and liberate Europe without any participation from Britain and the United States. In addition, the West was interested in the Soviet Union's help to defeat imperialist Japan.

At numerous meetings of British and American statesmen, diplomats and generals that took place during 1943, the question of a second front continued to occupy a central place. Hypocritically assuring the Soviet side that the opening of a second front would occur in 1943, Churchill and his American colleagues decided to postpone this operation to 1944. Under such conditions, the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers of the USSR, USA and England took place (October 1943), and a month later - Tehran Conference of Heads of Government - J.V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill. Here, under the influence of the firm position of the USSR, an agreed decision was made on the invasion of Anglo-American troops into France in May 1944.

While preparing for the invasion of France, Anglo-American troops at the same time continued operations in the Mediterranean. The defeats of the Nazis on the Soviet-German front, where the 8th Italian Army was defeated, the growing internal crisis in Italy, and the dominance of the Anglo-American fleet in the Mediterranean Sea made the capture of the island relatively easy. Sicily.

The further Allied offensive in Italy took place with their absolute superiority, especially at sea and in the air. The powerful blows that the Red Army delivered in the winter and spring of 1944 distracted more and more enemy divisions. Hitler had to send a lot of troops against the partisan armies and formations that operated in the occupied countries. Nevertheless, in the spring of 1944, the Anglo-American troops moved forward extremely slowly. Only by the end of May they managed to oust the enemy from Central Italy. On June 4, the Allies entered Rome, abandoned by the German command, without a fight.

And two days later, on June 6, 1944, the second front finally opened in Europe. The British and American command prepared this complex operation perfectly, and the soldiers of the allied armies, who had long been eager to fight the fascists, showed steadfastness and courage. England and the United States were able to superbly arm and train their armies solely due to the fact that for three years the Soviet Union, at the cost of the greatest effort and unheard of sacrifices, withstood the full brunt of the war.

The invasion forces included 20 American divisions, 14 British, 3 Canadian, and one each French and Polish. The Allies had absolute superiority in naval forces. American General D. Eisenhower was appointed commander-in-chief of the expeditionary forces, and British General B. Montgomery was appointed commander of the ground forces. The fleet and air force were also commanded by the British.

The Allies managed to create a bridgehead between Cherbourg and Le Havre. By the end of June, about a million soldiers and officers were already concentrated on the slowly expanding bridgehead. The German command transferred divisions from other regions of France, Belgium, and Holland to this area, but did not dare to withdraw troops from the Soviet-German front: just at this time the offensive of the Soviet armies began in Karelia and Belarus. The advance of expeditionary forces across French territory was ensured by the actions of combat detachments of the French Resistance, which not only disorganized the fascist rear, but also liberated cities and entire departments with their own forces. By August 24, the rebel Parisians liberated the capital of France with their own forces. By autumn, all of France, Belgium and part of Holland were almost completely liberated from the enemy. Anglo-American troops reached the German border.

In December 1944, Hitler's command launched an offensive in the Ardennes, where he managed to secretly concentrate large forces. On a relatively narrow front, the Germans threw into battle 25 of the 39 divisions they had at their disposal on the Western Front. Having broken through the Allied defenses, by the beginning of January they advanced 90 km, trying to cut off the northern group of the Allied armies. There were English troops here, and the threat of a “second Dunkirk” loomed over them. The reinforcements sent by Eisenhower slowed down the German offensive, but they failed to push back the armies that had broken through. On January 6, 1945, Churchill asked the Soviet government to launch “a major Russian offensive on the Vistula front or somewhere else,” as “very heavy fighting is taking place in the West.” The Red Army, which in bloody battles in the fall of 1944 brought liberation to the peoples of Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Hungary, was preparing for a new offensive, but it was planned a little later. However, given the position of the Allies, the Supreme High Command accelerated preparations, and on January 12, the Soviet Armed Forces went on the offensive on a huge front from the Danube to the Baltic Sea. This dramatically improved the position of the Anglo-American troops, who managed to force the Germans to retreat by the end of January. In this situation, a new meeting of heads of government was required to resolve urgent military issues and especially post-war problems that had become urgent.

In Berlin they were already fully aware that the war was lost. The only hope that remained for Hitler was connected with plans for a separate peace in the West.

The Yalta Conference of the Heads of Government of the USSR, USA and England, which took place on February 4-11, 1945, convincingly demonstrated the groundlessness of Hitler’s calculations. Churchill had long been making plans for the post-war encirclement of the Soviet Union with a new “cordon sanitaire”, planned the restoration of Germany as a potential ally in the fight against the USSR, ordered his troops to suppress democratic forces on the continent, but neither Churchill nor to any other statesman the English working class, the entire English people. Western delegations also could not help but take into account the real balance of forces in Europe, as well as the role that the Soviet Union had to play in the defeat of Japanese imperialism.

The war in the Pacific was approaching its decisive stage. During its first months, Japan, thanks to surprise attacks and the slow deployment of Anglo-American forces, achieved dominance in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. Having destroyed the main forces of the American Pacific squadron in the harbor of Pearl Harbor (Hawaii Islands) with a treacherous strike and sank the English battleship Prince of Wales, the Japanese captured the most important American possessions in the Pacific Ocean, including the Philippines, and at the same time attacked British bases and colonies. Soon the most important strongholds of British imperialism in the Far East - Hong Kong and Singapore - fell. Malaya and Burma were almost completely in enemy hands. By entering the borders of India, Japan threatened this “jewel of the British crown.” Therefore, the British command concentrated a large group of troops in the northeastern part of India under the command of Admiral L. Mountbatten. For more than two years it was inactive, and only in the summer of 1944, when the military-political position of Japan was greatly shaken due to the approaching collapse of German fascism and the successes of the American armed forces in the Pacific, Mountbatten invaded Burma and by the spring of 1945 cleared it of Japanese troops .

In addition to the agreed decisions on the final operations in the European war and in the war with Japan, the Yalta Conference adopted a detailed program for the destruction of “German militarism and Nazism”; it was a truly democratic program corresponding to the interests of all peoples of the world, including the German people.

Protecting the independence of the liberated peoples of Europe and their right "to establish democratic institutions of their own choice" was declared one of the goals of the three powers. Only the enormous power and authority of the Soviet Union, only the mighty rise of democratic forces throughout the world could force the imperialist governments of England and the United States to sign documents establishing the just, liberating nature of the war.

At the final stage of the war in Europe, as at all its stages, the main blows to the enemy were delivered by the Soviet Armed Forces. Breaking the resistance of Nazi troops, Soviet troops reached the last line before the assault on Berlin. Under these conditions, the offensive of the Anglo-American troops was not associated with great difficulties, especially since Hitler deliberately opened the front in the West, still hoping that a clash between the USSR and the Western powers would occur on German territory. Anglo-American troops, having launched an offensive on February 8, 1945, crossed the Rhine only at the end of March. The offensive was accompanied by massive air raids on German cities.

On May 2, Berlin was captured by Soviet troops, and on May 8, Germany capitulated. This was a great historical victory of peoples over fascism, in which the Soviet Union played a decisive role.

The victory of the Soviet Union undermined the forces of world reaction, destroyed its strike force, and defeated its main headquarters. In the anti-fascist Resistance in the countries of Europe and Asia, the unity of the working class and democratic forces took shape. The communist and workers' parties grew into a powerful force, accumulated vast experience and called the people to radical social and political changes. In the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, liberated by the Soviet Armed Forces, people's democratic revolutions had already begun. The crisis of the world system of capitalism entered its second stage, and through all the variety of processes taking place in various countries, the contours of the future world system of socialism were already visible.

The English people did not experience the horrors of the German occupation during the war, but they also suffered considerable hardships. The class struggle in England did not become as acute as in the countries of the continent. No matter how insidious the plans of the British reaction were, no matter how indignant the unjustified passivity of the British command was, England still fought as part of the anti-Hitler coalition and the English bourgeoisie did not compromise itself in the eyes of the people by direct collaboration with fascism, as was the case in the countries of the continent. But a serious shift in the alignment of class and political forces also occurred in England.

Throughout the war, the British working class put pressure on the government, demanding stronger cooperation with the Soviet Union and effective operations against the fascist states. While making a major contribution to the victory over the main centers of reaction on a world scale, the advanced workers of England did not forget about their own internal reaction.

It is not surprising that in this situation the authority of the CPV increased sharply. By the end of 1942, the party consisted of 60 thousand people - more than 3 times more than on the eve of the war. The party's position in trade unions has strengthened. Communists were often elected to the executive committees of trade unions and secretaries of local organizations. At the Trade Union Congress of 1944, a prominent figure in the trade union movement, communist A. Papworth, was elected to the General Council.

The masses of the working class forced the government to lift the ban on the CPV organ, the Daily Worker; in August 1942, publication of this popular newspaper resumed.

The struggle of currents within the Labor Party has intensified, and its left wing has strengthened. The anti-communists in the party leadership were defeated. But they took revenge when discussing the old issue of admitting the CPV into the Labor Party. Twice the CPV made a corresponding request, and in 1943 it was supported by such mass organizations as the British Coal Miners Federation, the Builders' Union, etc. But the more influential the CPV became, the more right-wing Labor leaders feared the role it could play in the Labor Party - the role of ideological leader and center of gravity of all left forces. The Executive Committee therefore rejected the Communists' proposal and thereby once again damaged the cause of working class unity.

The most pressing issues in the internal party struggle were issues of a programmatic nature. What social changes should victory in the anti-fascist war bring? What tasks should a party calling itself socialist set for itself? What plan of change should voters be offered when the war is over? On all these problems, the positions of the right-wing Labor leadership and the left wing of the party diverged throughout the years of the war, but especially during its last stage.

The matter was complicated by the fact that even at the top of the bourgeois political hierarchy they thought a lot about complex issues related to the transition from war to peace. The main idea that Conservative leaders wanted to instill in the masses was that social change was not needed in England, even within the narrow framework of Labor “socialism.” The government itself intends to carry out a “reconstruction” that will supposedly satisfy all segments of society. To study the problems of reconstruction, a committee was created back in 1941, headed by Labor Minister A. Greenwood; this appointment was supposed to give reconstruction plans a bipartisan, coalition character. In 1943, Churchill's government adopted the Beveridge Plan, a liberal reformer who proposed a radical overhaul of the entire social security system. This plan did not touch the foundations of the capitalist system, but it could form the basis of truly progressive reform. It is no coincidence that the CPV and other progressive forces spoke out for the implementation of the “Beveridge Plan”. The law on public education adopted in 1944 and some other measures were progressive in nature.

The Labor Party Executive Committee, for its part, also put forward various reconstruction projects. His plans involved maintaining the state control over the economy that had developed during the war. The Labor right did not intend to include the nationalization of industry in its post-war reconstruction program - a policy provision that has appeared in the party charter since 1918. When in December 1944 the executive committee presented a detailed resolution to the party conference, the concept of “socialization of the means of production” or “nationalization” was absent from it. It was only about “control over the economy.” In other words, Labor leaders once again came to the defense of the capitalist system.

In England, which was approaching the end of the war in the camp of the winners, there was no immediate revolutionary situation. But here objective prerequisites have arisen for carrying out such fundamental changes that could undermine the omnipotence of the monopolies. Taking this into account, the Communist Party adopted at its XVII Congress in October 1944 the “Victory, Peace, Security” program, which, along with foreign policy objectives, indicated the paths of social progress: the nationalization of leading sectors of the economy and the participation of the working class in their management. The masses of the working class, the trade unions, in which the influence of the communists was great, achieved the inclusion of the demand for nationalization in the decisions of the trade union congress of 1944. Relying on this mass support, the left-wing Laborites at the party conference fought against the resolution of the executive committee. They managed to pass an amendment to “transfer into public ownership the land, large construction companies, heavy industry and all banks, transport and the entire fuel and energy industry.”

The Labor leadership was defeated and, in the atmosphere of the rise of democratic forces in England and throughout the world, did not dare to completely ignore the will of the masses. At a conference in April 1945, when things were already heading towards parliamentary elections, the “Facing the Future” program proposed by the executive committee was adopted. After general declarations about the socialist character of the party, voters were promised the nationalization of those industries that were “ripe for transfer to public ownership.”

After the victory over Germany, on May 18, 1945, Churchill proposed that Labor maintain the coalition at least until the victory over Japan, but mass protests thwarted this plan. Now Churchill preferred to rush through the elections, hoping to use his popularity as a military leader.

During the election campaign, Labor strongly emphasized the “socialist” nature of its program, and this made a considerable impression on the masses who sincerely strived for socialism. The people did not want a return to the past, to the reactionary Conservative government. Churchill’s personal popularity was still very great, but, as his English biographer figuratively writes, the Conservatives had nothing in their arsenal during the election campaign “except Churchill’s photo card.”

The elections took place on July 5 and brought a brutal defeat to the Conservative Party. She lost about half of her parliamentary seats; it now had only 209 seats, while Labor had an absolute and solid majority; they had 393 seats - 146 more than all other parties combined. 2 seats were received by the communists - W. Gallagher and F. Piretin.

The election results stunned the Labor leaders themselves as much as the Conservatives. Considering that Labour's election campaign was carried out under "socialist" slogans, the voting results could be seen as a decisive verdict on the capitalist system, pronounced by the majority of the English people. Now the right-wing Laborites saw their task as gradually - through real and imaginary concessions, pseudo-socialist reforms, propaganda of anti-communism, etc. - to change the public mood, save capitalism, and suppress leftist forces.

Party leader Clement Attlee, having become head of government, appointed Herbert Morrison as his deputy, Ernst Bevin as foreign minister, and equally well-known right-wing politicians to other posts. The bourgeois press welcomed the new composition of the government - it served as a reliable guarantee of the preservation of bourgeois rule.

The new cabinet had to take its first steps in the field of foreign policy. From July 17 to August 2, a conference of heads of government of the USSR, USA and England was held in Potsdam. Although the conference began after the elections in England, the counting of votes was not yet completed. The British delegation was headed by Churchill, who prudently invited Attlee with him as a potential prime minister in the event of a Conservative defeat in the elections. For two days - July 26-27 - the conference took a break, since it was on these days that the cabinet was changed in London. Having left for his capital, Churchill never returned to Potsdam; Attlee became the head of the delegation.

Both Churchill and Eden, and Attlee and Bevin, in contact with the American delegation, tried to use the Potsdam Conference to undermine the position of the Soviet Union in Europe, as well as to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe in order to disrupt the process of democratic transformation in these countries .

The British and American delegates in Potsdam were inspired by the first successful test of the atomic bomb, which was carried out in the United States the day before the opening of the conference. Churchill even said that the bomb would help “straighten the balance of power with Russia.” But the very first attempts at disguised blackmail were decisively suppressed by the Soviet delegation. The decisions taken in Potsdam were generally consistent with the objectives of a democratic solution to post-war problems. In the spirit of the Yalta decisions, detailed regulations were developed on the governance of Germany, on preparations for concluding peace treaties with its former satellites, on the status of Berlin, and on the trial of the main war criminals. The Soviet delegation rejected attempts by England and the United States to interfere in the internal affairs of Bulgaria and Romania. The Soviet Union confirmed its intention to enter the war against Japan. Under these conditions, for the final victory over Japan there was no need at all to use the atomic bomb. However, on August 6, by order of US President Henry Truman, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and on August 9, on Nagasaki. The calculation of the American imperialists was simple: to intimidate the people with weapons of unprecedented power, to prepare the ground for “nuclear diplomacy” towards the Soviet Union, to take a step towards achieving US world domination. Although British scientists also participated in the production of the atomic bomb, the emergence of new weapons made England even more dependent on the United States.

However, Japan, despite the death of almost 250 thousand people, was not going to capitulate. Only a powerful blow by the Soviet Army against the Japanese armed forces in Manchuria (the Kwantung Army) and their complete defeat forced Japan to capitulate. On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended. Like other countries, England entered a new period in its history.

The results of Britain's participation in World War II were mixed. The country retained its independence and made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, at the same time it lost its role as a world leader and came close to losing its colonial status.

Political games

On September 30, 1938, in Munich, Great Britain and Germany signed another agreement - a declaration of mutual non-aggression, which was the culmination of the British “policy of appeasement.” Hitler quite easily managed to convince British Prime Minister Arthur Chamberlain that the Munich Agreements would be a guarantee of security in Europe.

"Strange War"

French writer Roland Dorgeles recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: “obviously the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy.”

Miracle at Dunkirk

Battle of Britain

Lady of the Seas

Colonial interests

And again Europe

According to the 12-volume History of the Second World War, Britain and its colonies lost 450,000 people in World War II. Britain's expenses for waging the war amounted to more than half of foreign capital investments; the Kingdom's external debt by the end of the war reached 3 billion pounds sterling. The UK paid off all its debts only by 2006.

There is less and less time left until the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, only about 2 and a half months. But the war for history did not begin yesterday or today, it is ongoing. More and more attempts are being made to denigrate the heroism of the Red Army in this global conflict in order to take this Victory away from us.

The measures taken by the Putin government to restore historical objectivity are (and in fact have already suffered) a complete failure. Under these conditions, we have only one chance: to respond with a similar blow of “historical retribution” through the glorification of the defeats of our “allies” and the exceptional role of the USSR for its contribution to the defeat of Western aggression. The first step towards this was made in the material devoted to Operation Overlord, which was reinterpreted not as the liberation of France from Nazism, but as a planned act of Anglo-American aggression. Indeed, as the further course of history will show, it was Britain and the United States that became the main aggressors of the Second World War, joined by Hitler in 1941. In fact, they always have been. After all, what unites the history of both Great Britain and the “history” of the United States is that both sides have been waging constant wars since their formation. Great Britain set the tone, and the Americans picked it up in 1776. Both sides acted separately at first, but during the Second World War they were already a single whole. It is generally accepted that the war in Europe ended on May 9, 1945, but few people know that for Great Britain, which never left the war until that day, it ended much earlier than that date. Our veterans have probably forgotten that Britain never considered the USSR as an ally; for them, Russia was an auxiliary tool with which they could pull chestnuts out of the fire. Great Britain itself (and somewhere - thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the Soviet side led by Stalin and Molotov) dragged itself into a war on 3 fronts at once, which turned out to be beyond its power, and as a result was forced to shamefully capitulate long before the end of the war in Europe .

To some extent, this material is my personal response to Mr. Cameron, when, shortly before the referendum on the status of Scotland, he reminded the Scots that they (the English and the Scots) defeated Nazism together, although they themselves never realized that It was England (and not Scotland or other regions of the UK) that became the instigators of world fires, including the Nazi one.

Numerous possessions administered by the British Empire were located throughout the world, in particular the strongest British influence was in India, the “pearl of the Empire” and in South Africa. Britain emerged victorious from World War I, but the Britons' joy was short-lived. In 1919, a local conflict broke out between London and Dublin, which resulted in a two-year armed confrontation, as a result of which Dublin emerged victorious. The entire territory of the Irish island except Ulster was declared free from the English. This is how the independent Republic of Ireland appeared on the map. Ulster is still preparing a plan to secede from Great Britain. The declaration of independence of the Irish Republic was the first blow to the integrity of the Empire.

Great Britain was one of the countries that created the international political system after the First World War. At the same time, as the strongest European “great power,” Great Britain has traditionally sought to maintain parity of power on the continent, alternately supporting certain countries. A new full-scale war on the European continent was extremely undesirable for Great Britain from both economic and political points of view.

But one way or another, everything was heading towards the worst scenario for the British. And in many ways, Britain itself created the ground for this, together with the United States, directly supporting the Nazis. As a result, on January 30, 1933, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, Hitler set a course for remilitarizing the country and preparing for a new war. Even the German communist Ernst Thälmann warned: “If Hitler means war.” Thälmann looked into the water and was not mistaken in his forecast. 1933 passed relatively quietly for Europe, but from 1934 it slowly began to smell of something fried.

Austria, which Hitler disliked so much, fearing that the country could turn into an entirely Slavic state, became the first political theater in Europe after the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. The bloody drama unfolded on July 25, 1934, when as a result of a pro-Nazi putsch, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was killed - a man who, on the one hand, was a puppet of the Duce, concentrated all power in his hands and began to play his own game. Of course, Hitler in every possible way dissociated himself from his involvement in the putsch, although his trace was still there. The Fuhrer limited himself to only an act of regret about what had happened, but the worst was yet to come.

October 3, 1935: Mussolini, after 13 years of peaceful stay in power in Italy, decides to take revenge in the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1897-98. At 5 o'clock in the morning, without a declaration of war, Italian troops invade Ethiopia, and the bombing of the city of Adua begins. The ground forces of Marshal Emilio De Bono begin their offensive from Eritrea and Somalia.

The Italian invasion army was divided into three task forces, advancing in three directions[:
Northern Front(10 divisions) - was supposed to deliver the main blow in the direction of Dessie and further - to Addis Ababa;
Central Front(1 division) - had the main task of ensuring the internal flanks and protection of communications of the Northern and Southern fronts, was supposed to advance from Asseb through the Danakil desert to Ausu and further, in the direction of Dessie;
Southern Front(4 divisions, commander - General Rodolfo Graziani) - had the task of advancing from the territory of Italian Somalia, distracting and engaging in battle as many Ethiopian troops as possible, supporting the offensive of units of the Northern Front with a strike in the direction of Corrahe - Harar, and then joining the Northern Front in area of Addis Ababa.

This was Mussolini's first serious military campaign. In January, for some time, the Ethiopians seized the initiative, but the Italians, who had superiority in manpower and technology, still took their toll. The Duce even had to replace Marshal De Bono with Pietro Badoglio. Failures infuriated the dictator. On May 5, 1936, motorized units of the Italian army entered Addis Ababa, and on May 9, the Italian monarch Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor. The emergence of a competitor in Africa threatened British colonial possessions. Emperor Haile Selassie flees the country to British Djibouti.

This was another blow to Britain's reputation and the integrity of the Empire. On March 7, 1936, Hitler returned the Rhineland demilitarized zone to Germany without a fight. He later admitted:

"The 48 hours following the march into the Rhineland were the most exhausting of my life. If the French had entered the Rhineland, we would have had to retreat with our tails between our legs. The military resources at our disposal were inadequate to offer even moderate resistance." But nevertheless, the armed French units did not engage in battle with the Wehrmacht units.

July 1936: The Spanish Civil War begins with the Francoist rebellion. On July 17, a support base for the Franco regime is formed in Burgos. The civil armed conflict in Spain lasts 3 years. At the very beginning of 1938, Hitler, during a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, put forward an ultimatum for the voluntary surrender of Austria. On March 11, Schuschnigg resigns. The Nazi Seiss-Inquart becomes the President of Austria, with whose consent Wehrmacht units cross the country's border on March 12, the Anschluss is officially recognized on the 13th, and on March 15 Hitler solemnly announces the completion of his great mission at Heldenplatz. And all this, like the Munich Agreement that followed in the same year, was with the tacit consent of the British.

On April 1, 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended, and on the 4th, General Franco already hosted the victory parade. The emergence of a third fascist state in Europe sharply undermined Britain's position in Europe and in the world. Anti-British riots and the growth of anti-British sentiment began in the British colonies. In South Africa, the fascist Ossevabrandwag movement formed, which opposed entry into the war on the side of the British. Ossevabrandvag included the paramilitary formation "Stormjaers" (African Stormjaers - "hunter-stormtroopers"), reminiscent of the Nazi SA units, which were responsible for sabotage against the government of Jan Smuts. Each Stormyarse recruit swore an oath: “If I retreat, kill me. If I die, avenge me. If I advance, follow me." During the war, many members of the Ossevabrandwag were arrested for participating in sabotage against the South African government and supporting the Nazis. Among them was the future Prime Minister of South Africa, John Vorster, who was imprisoned in a camp in Koffiefontein along with 800 other South African fascists, as well as captured Italians and Germans. Stormjars and the Ossevabrandvag became the first symbols of Resistance to British occupational oppression.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was absolutely not part of the plans of the Anglo-Saxons, which is why they began to worry about their safety. The conclusion of this pact effectively lowered the barrier to British invasion of Europe. The secret protocols of the treaty envisaged the division of Eastern Europe between the USSR and Germany, including Poland, to which Great Britain had previously guaranteed security. This meant the collapse of the entire British foreign policy in Europe and put the empire in an extremely difficult situation.

The United States played a decisive role in England declaring war on Germany, putting pressure on England that if England refused to fulfill its obligations towards Poland, the United States would abandon its obligations to support England. The conflict between Great Britain and Germany meant exposing the spheres of British interests in Asia to Japanese aggression, which was hardly possible to cope with without the help of the United States (there were Anglo-American obligations for joint defense against Japan). Joseph P. Kennedy, US ambassador to England from 1938 to 1940, later recalled: “Neither the French nor the British would have ever made Poland the cause of the war if not for the constant instigation from Washington.” Faced with the fact of the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, being under pressure from the United States, which threatened to deprive it of its support if England refused to fulfill its obligations towards Poland, England decided to declare war on Germany.

However, England did not take concrete actions for a long time. From September 1939 to May 1940, all of Europe was practically in the hands of Hitler. The defeat of British troops at Dunkirk forced the British to evacuate home, and on June 22, 1940, the surrender of France was signed in the Petanov carriage. And England had a hand in this, every now and then attacking French ships.

“Our goal has been and will be to bring England to its knees.”

This is exactly what Hitler said after France was defeated. On June 10, 1940, Mussolini declared war on England. Hitler supported his ally. A long North African campaign began, lasting for 3 years, which began to exhaust the British forces. The war in North Africa became the finest hour of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who showed himself brilliantly as a military leader. For his resourcefulness, fearlessness and military cunning, he was nicknamed the “Desert Fox” (Wüstenfuchs).

Unser Rommel - Das Lied der Afrika Korps:

The British had a system of bases guarding the shipping route to India and the oil-bearing regions of the Middle East. And the Italians, thanks to the fact that this sea route passed here, could cut it at any moment, and not in one, but in several places. The fighting in North Africa began in September 1940. British armed units in Africa were too dispersed, which the Italians decided to take advantage of. The Egyptian operation became the first chord of the North African theater of military operations.

On the night of September 12-13, Italian aircraft dropped a large number of special bombs on the section of the road between Sidi Barrani and Mersa Matruh, which acted like mines, which blew up soldiers of the 11th Hussars early in the morning. That same morning, Italian artillery shelled the Musaid area and the airfield and empty barracks of Es-Salloum. After artillery preparation, the troops of the 10th Army went on the offensive and crossed the Egyptian border. According to English descriptions, this Italian offensive was more like a parade of troops than a military operation. Units of the 1st Libyan Division soon occupied Es Salloum. The 1st Blackshirt Division "March 23" recaptured Fort Capuzo, which had been occupied by British troops earlier during border skirmishes.

The small British force holding back the Italians, who were advancing towards the Halfaya Pass, was forced to retreat east under pressure from tanks and artillery. By evening, two large columns of Italian troops united at the Halfaya Pass: the 2nd Libyan, 63rd Infantry Divisions and the Maletti Group, advancing from the Musaid area, and the 62nd Infantry Division from the Sidi Omar area. Further advance of the Italians through the pass towards the coastal road began the next morning.

On the afternoon of 14 September, British troops in the coastal area retreated to previously prepared positions east of Buk-Buk, where they were reinforced the next day. The Italian units reached the British positions by mid-afternoon on September 15, where they were bombarded by horse artillery. Due to a lack of ammunition, the British were forced to retreat and by the end of the day the Italians occupied Buk-Buk. On the morning of September 16, the British guards took up positions at Alam Hamid; in the afternoon, due to tank shelling, they were forced to retreat to Alam el-Dab. The column of advancing Italian tanks and trucks turned north towards the plateau. Under threat of encirclement, the British abandoned Sidi Barrani and took up positions at Maaten Mohammed. In the evening, the advance elements of the 1st Blackshirt Division entered Sidi Barrani. At this point, having covered a total of about 50 miles, the advance of the Italian troops stopped. In many ways, the slowness of the Italian generals became an obstacle to the development of success, which the British naturally took advantage of.

Italy's serious failures in its war against Greece could not but affect its position in Africa. The situation in the Mediterranean also changed for Italy. The German military leader Friedrich Ruge remarked:

“...It took only a few months to expose the military weakness and political instability of Italy to the whole world. The negative consequences of this for the conduct of the war by the Axis powers were not long in coming.”

Italy's failures allowed the British command to take more effective measures to ensure the security of the Suez Canal. Wavell decided on an attack, which in his order he called “a raid by large forces with a limited purpose.” British units were given the task of pushing the Italo-fascist troops outside Egypt and, if successful, pursuing them to Es-Sallum. Wavell's headquarters did not plan any further advance.

Shortly before the first British offensive in North Africa, the Luftwaffe carried out a famous raid on Coventry, practically razing the city to the ground. Coventry was an important economic hub in England. The bombing of Coventry dealt an irreparable blow to the British economy and British military power. On land, England tended to be inferior and therefore relied more heavily on its navy. The struggle in North Africa proceeded with varying degrees of success.

Bomben auf Engeland:

In China, the Japanese captured the southeastern part of the country in 1939-1941. China, due to the difficult internal political situation in the country, could not provide a serious response. After the surrender of France, the administration of French Indochina recognized the Vichy government. Thailand, taking advantage of the weakening of France, made territorial claims to part of French Indochina. In October 1940, Thai troops invaded French Indochina. Thailand managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Vichy army. On May 9, 1941, under pressure from Japan, the Vichy regime was forced to sign a peace treaty, according to which Laos and part of Cambodia were ceded to Thailand. After the Vichy regime lost a number of colonies in Africa, there was also a threat of the seizure of Indochina by the British and De-Gaullevites. To prevent this, in June 1941, the fascist government agreed to send Japanese troops into the colony.

The British Empire was collapsing right before our eyes. Churchill's government was completely at a loss. It became obvious that the world was tired of enduring British violence. Europe is completely in the hands of Hitler, the struggle in North Africa has not yielded results for a long time, and in the Pacific Ocean the Japanese machine is gaining momentum. The Soviet government is not sleeping either. The Stalinist elite, shortly before Hitler's invasion, concludes a neutrality pact with Japan, which causes distrust among all other warring parties, especially the British and the Americans, who are in no hurry to enter into the conflict. The USSR thwarts the Cantokuen plan and hammers another nail into the coffin of the British Empire, effectively pitting England against Hitler. The bombing of British cities continued until 1944, until the final turning point came in favor of the USSR, and not the entire anti-Hitler coalition.

The victory of the USSR in the battle of Moscow on December 6, 1941 also ruins the Japanese plans to start a war against the Soviet Union, which both Hitler and the British and Americans so desired. The Empire of Japan declares war on the United States and bombs Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, dragging America into yet another military adventure. Here is how events developed until mid-1942 in the Far East in the Pacific Ocean:

In addition to the United States, the next day Britain, the Netherlands (government in exile), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela also declare war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy, and on December 13 - Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria - declare war on the United States.

On December 8, the Japanese blockade the British military base in Hong Kong and begin an invasion of Thailand, British Malaya and the American Philippines. The British squadron, which came out to intercept, is subjected to air strikes, and 2 battleships - the striking force of the British in this area of the Pacific Ocean - go to the bottom.

Thailand, after a short resistance, agrees to conclude a military alliance with Japan and declares war on the United States and Great Britain. Japanese aircraft begin bombing Burma from Thailand.

On December 10, the Japanese captured the American base on the island of Guam, on December 23 on Wake Island, and on December 25 Hong Kong fell. On December 8, the Japanese break through British defenses in Malaya and, rapidly advancing, push British troops back to Singapore. Singapore, which the British had previously considered an "impregnable fortress", fell on February 15, 1942, after a 6-day siege. About 100 thousand British and Australian soldiers are captured.

The British, who capitulated near Singapore, are marching with a white flag indicating the surrender of their fortress.

Japanese military march "Gunkan":

Liberation of Malaya and Singapore from the British:

The Japanese army is fighting on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

In the Philippines, at the end of December 1941, the Japanese captured the islands of Mindanao and Luzon. The remnants of American troops manage to gain a foothold on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island.

On January 11, 1942, Japanese troops invade the Dutch East Indies and soon capture the islands of Borneo and Celebs. On January 28, the Japanese fleet defeats the Anglo-Dutch squadron in the Java Sea. The Allies are trying to create a powerful defense on the island of Java, but by March 2 they capitulate.

On January 23, 1942, the Japanese captured the Bismarck Archipelago, including the island of New Britain, and then captured the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands in February, and invaded New Guinea in early March.

On March 8, advancing in Burma, the Japanese captured Rangoon, at the end of April - Mandalay, and by May captured almost all of Burma, defeating British and Chinese troops and cutting off southern China from India. However, the onset of the rainy season and lack of strength prevent the Japanese from building on their success and invading India.

On May 6, the last group of American and Filipino troops in the Philippines surrenders. By the end of May 1942, Japan, at the cost of minor losses, managed to establish control over Southeast Asia and Northwestern Oceania. American, British, Australian and Dutch forces suffer a crushing defeat, losing all their main forces in the region. Australia and New Zealand, under attack from the Japanese, began to realize that Britain was unable to defend its entire empire.

Thanks to such stunning successes, the Japanese have a springboard for capturing Australia, New Zealand and the remaining islands in the Pacific Ocean. The victories of the Japanese caused a chain reaction in India, where anti-British sentiment also began to rapidly grow. In August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi began a campaign of civil disobedience, demanding the immediate withdrawal of all British. Along with other Congress leaders, Gandhi was immediately imprisoned and the country erupted in riots, first among students and then in villages, especially in the United Provinces, Bihar and West Bengal. The presence of numerous wartime troops in India made it possible to suppress the unrest within 6 weeks, but some of its participants formed an underground provisional government on the border with Nepal. In other parts of India, riots broke out sporadically in the summer of 1943.

Due to the arrest of almost all the Congress leaders, significant influence passed to Subhas Bose, who left the Congress in 1939 due to differences. Bose began working with the Axis powers to liberate India from the British by force. With the support of the Japanese, he formed the so-called Indian National Army, recruited mainly from Indian prisoners of war captured at the fall of Singapore. The Japanese established a number of puppet governments in the occupied countries, in particular making Bose the leader of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (Free India). The Indian National Army surrendered during the liberation of Singapore from the Japanese, and Bose himself soon died in a plane crash. At the end of 1945, trials of INA soldiers took place, which, however, caused mass unrest in India.

In North Africa, from 26 to 27 May 1942, Rommel went on the offensive, attacked British positions on the Gazala Line west of Tobruk, and broke through the British defenses. From May 26 to June 11, Fighting France troops successfully defended the Bir Hakeim fort south of Tobruk from superior enemy forces. On June 11, French units, like the entire British 8th Army, received orders to retreat to Egypt. On June 20, German-Italian troops captured Tobruk. By June 22, 1942, England was deprived of absolutely all of its colonial possessions and from that moment on it became not only an ally, but also a direct accomplice of the United States, which, after the aggression at Midway, began to implement its aggressive plans. The Soviet Union receives a unique historical opportunity to become a superpower as opposed to the United States, which it successfully takes advantage of.

Great Britain undertakes further major operations only with the help of the United States, because it is unable to resist the Nazi evil itself. In reality, Britain is no longer at war, but is fighting back in the hope of regaining lost positions, but even then it became clear that the British lion had finally suffered a global collapse. The war cost the lives of 1.5 million British people, which eloquently demonstrates that Britain, like Hitler, received the deserved punishment not only for its colonialism, but also for war crimes throughout its history.