Poland Caused WWII: Russian Report

MOSCOW — As the Kremlin presses a campaign to recast Russia's 20th century history in a more favorable light, a research paper published Thursday on the Defense Ministry's Web site blamed Poland for starting World War II.

The unorthodox reading of history appears to be the latest effort by Russian historians to defend the Soviet Union and its leaders, especially their role in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War. Poland condemned the research paper.

Russia has angrily rejected claims that a Stalin-era famine in Ukraine amounted to genocide, and Russia's Supreme Court recently turned down an appeal to reopen an investigation into the massacre by Soviet secret police of Polish military officers and intellectuals in Russia's Katyn forest during World War II.

The generally accepted view is that Poland was a victim rather than the aggressor in the conflict, and that Adolf Hitler's 1939 invasion of Poland marked the start of the war.

Many Western historians believe Hitler was encouraged to invade by the treaty of nonaggression signed by Moscow and Berlin, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which secretly divided eastern and western Europe into spheres of influence.

Hitler's pact with the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was signed on Aug. 24, 1939. Germany invaded Poland Sept. 1.

Blaming Poland would deny Russia played a role in starting the war by sealing the secret accord.

The research paper posted on Russia's Defense Ministry Web site is not an official government statement. But the author is listed as Col. Sergei Kovalyov, director of the scientific-research department of military history, part of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense.

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Ministry spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky told the Interfax news agency that analytical articles posted on the ministry's Web site do not necessarily reflect the ministry's official position.

The paper, titled "Fictions and Falsifications in Evaluating the USSR's Role On the Eve of World War II," recounts how in the run-up to Germany's invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler demanded that Poland turn over control of the city of Danzig as well as a land corridor between Germany and the territory now known as Kaliningrad.

"Everyone who has studied the history of World War II without bias knows that the war began because of Poland's refusal to satisfy Germany's claims," he writes.

Kovalyov called the demands "quite reasonable." He observed: "The overwhelming majority of residents of Danzig, cut off from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, were Germans who sincerely wished for reunification with their historical homeland."

Kovalyov, who works in St. Petersburg, could not be immediately located for comment.

Arseny Roginsky, a historian with the rights group Memorial, said Kovalyov was entitled to his opinion "and he shouldn't be thrown in prison for that."

"But if this indeed reflects the position of the government _ in as much that it appeared on the Web site of the Ministry of Defense _ then this is indeed dangerous and shameful," he said.

Poland contacted the Russian ambassador in Warsaw for an explanation.

"This sort of exotic interpretation of historical facts appears in various marginal Russian language periodicals from time to time," Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski told The Associated Press. "For obvious reasons we don't react. This time, however, we asked the Russian ambassador in Warsaw for an explanation because the materials were posted on an official Web site of the Russian Defense Ministry, which could imply that it is the ministry's official stance."

Paszkowski said a deputy minister in Poland's Foreign Ministry spoke with the Russian ambassador, and soon after the Russian Defense Ministry posted a statement that the analytical material on the ministry's Web site was not the ministry's official position.

Paszkowski said Warsaw now considers the issue closed.

Comments

[audadvnc]

So it seems, from reading the comments, that this Russian article may have some basis in fact. I'm initially suspicious, as it doesn't jive with what I was taught in school. But knowing the ways of politicians I would not be surprised if every nation was playing each other for power advantage - Germany won that round.

[bdaved]

There's considerable truth in it. Poland did turn away from negotiation over Danzig when the British and French guaranteed Polish independence. Danzig was overwhelmingly German. But to say that Poland's intransigence caused the Second World War is a stretch: the German invasion and the western response to it gave a particular form to the coming war, but Germany did not have to invade Poland, and particularly did not have to do so as a war of conquest.
Even if Hitler had not invaded Poland, German militarism was on a collision course with the other European powers, and German imperialism was bent on conquest of eastern territories beyond Poland.

[bdaved]

That part about "the territory now known as Kaliningrad" is kind of ironic in a defense of Germany's territorial claims.

[HekmabaJuzimax]

This re-writing of history by the Russians is a dangerous development. It could led to tensions, headache, and muscle cramps. See your doctor if symptoms do not improve.

[ModernTimes1]

Statement form Liveleak why they removed Wilders film.

“Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.

This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to
place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would
like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and
religions, who gave us their support...."

Get it?

[ChristopherAtom]

To the victors goes the spoils of war.
That reminds me, I need to rewrite the history in my refrigerator. I have some caviar in there that has gone bad over time.

[arvay]

Poland stands convicted of colossal stupidity in its foreign policy.

Sandwiched between two overwhelmingly powerful neighbors, it managed to create a situation where it was occupied by both. Russia acted against Poland first.

Lenin sent Soviet troops to invade Poland after the Russian revolution and suffered a humiliating defeat.

As a result of the Munich agreement, it agreed to the German dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, taking a piece for itself. Some historians say that Hitler offered Poland part of the spoils if it joined in the eventual invasion of the USSR.

At that point, it apparently decided to play off both sides against each other, forgetting its relative powerlessness, and fixating on Danzig. .

The Brits encouraged Poland to fight, promising help that never came, and Warsaw was bombed into dust. As Germany was being defeated, the west again contemptuously betrayed Poland, and passed the nation to Soviet control and sixty years of communist oppression.

Now, Poland has agreed to station US missiles on its soil, angering Russia.

Stupidity is the only word that fits here.

Why any eastern European people would trust the west to protect its interests totally escapes me. The US, for example, encouraged the Hungarians to revolt in 1956, then watched as the Soviets, who initially withdrew in anticipation of American armed intervention, rolled back over the insurgents.

[Paulo1]

Well done Arvay, well done indeed! I was going to bring up many of the same points but you captured most of it nicely.

Though you should mention that the dictatorship in Poland had just recently joined with the Germans to dismember an slice away part of Czechoslovakia in the great betrayal. Poland was no innocent babe when attacked. Hitler was a thug and a rouge but he was also a man with a legal claim to the Danzig corridor. More blame to the hideous Treaty of Versailles.

For anyone interested I recommend Patrick Buchanan's book on Churchille and the wars. I loath the mans politics but it was an extremely well crafted book.

As for this Russian monstrosity pretending to be a thesis? Well, I am very happy to see that the art of over the top propaganda has not disappeared with the fall of the Soviet Union. I do need some papers to show students about how NOT to write history.

[arvay]

Thank you

[Neanderthal5]

In Re: Some historians say that Hitler offered Poland part of the spoils if it joined in the eventual invasion of the USSR.

At that point, it apparently decided to play off both sides against each other, forgetting its relative powerlessness, and fixating on Danzig. .

The Brits encouraged Poland to fight, promising help that never came, and Warsaw was bombed into dust. As Germany was being defeated, the west again contemptuously betrayed Poland, and passed the nation to Soviet control and sixty years of communist oppression........

IN THE TRIAL OF THE TROTSKYITES OF 1937 AND 1938, Germany and England and other forces set up a number of armies throughout Poland and the Ukraine and many of the people of those areas were pummelled with anti-communist propoganda and other nonsense which undermined the Revolution's hold on these territories. At the 1937 and 1938 trials, it was all written down for anyone to see. The generals that were involved were shot and, sadly, a lot of people were caught up in the counter-revolution. The Poles did untold damage to the Russians and during the war, they were absolutely working with The English and the Germans until the Red ARmy showed up.

[bdaved]

I'm perplexed that you keep referencing Soviet show trials of the 30's as historical sources.

[USA2Sense]

Good description - Fiction and Falsification.......

After all, misinformation was the foundation for just about everything informational - that originated in the USSR since the Russian Civil War ended in 1923 - Misinformation didn't just start with the Cold War - and it (misinformation) was brought to perfection by the Soviets.......and the KGB....and whatever successor organizations that have taken the place of the KGB....it still exists, but just in another form......with another name........

[Neanderthal5]

Isn't it funny that you accuse the Soviets of misinformation. The Trials of the Trotskyites and their trail of betrayal to the Russian people and the Trotskyites betrayal ofl other parties and people that it dealt with throughout the world was classic misinformation and subterfuge that rocked Europe in the 1930's. It is also noteworthy that this disinformation and subterfuge was the basis of Hitler's treaties with Russia and others about which the west was well versed. These are the treaties that Bush had absolutely no time for. That is because they played a role in the subversive war in the 1930's against Russia.

The joke though was on Europe. When Hitler invaded the low countries and took France, everyone was sure that it was not his army that defeated France but the spooks for the Fifth Column. This is the stuff that "Wild Bill" Donavin, the father of the CIA, lived and breathed. For further comment, write distonworkers at peoplepc dot com. Put "history" in the subject line.

[Neanderthal5]

To continue, The trials were the backdrop of WWII and show that Germany attempted to take over a large swath of territory better know as eastern Europe or Russian territory. In fact, the area that was being discussed seems like the same area from the Caucuses to leningrad that was under the radar.

After the trials in 1938, I believe that Stalin wanted any kind of deal with Hitler to prevent war. But as it turned out, the Molitof-Ribbentrop protocol was just a pretense.

[Neanderthal5]

It seems that Hitler tried to bring Europe under one flag but for some reason or other, when he tried to take Poland, Churchill declared war on him. If Hitler was able to spit back Versaille until he came up to Poland, what was it about Poland that caused Churchill to declare war.

The Versaille treaty actually took away the Eastern part of Germany and the western Part of the Ukraine to make up Poland. What Russia and Germany had done was to take back what the West had taken from them in 1920.

In addition to all of this, Why did Churchill declare war on Poland but not on Russia? Didn't they both divide up Poland?

For Further reading, check out a book which is a verbatim report published by the People's Commissariat of Justice of the USSR, Moscow, 1938 which is a Report of Court Proceedings in the Case of the Anti-Soviet "Block of Rights and Trotskyites" heard before the MILITARY COLLEGIUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE USSR, Moscow, March 2--13, 1938 IN RE: N.I. BUKHARIN, A.I. RYKOV, G.G. YYAGODA...[who were] Charged with crimes covered by Articles 58, ...of the Criminal Code of teh R.S.F.S.R. and Ivanov, Zelensky, and Zubarev, in addition with crimes covered by Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R. These are called the Purge Trials which were public and attended by Ambassador Joseph Davies who attended.

[bdaved]

When you say that eastern Germany and western Ukraine were taken away to make up Poland you overlook the history of Poland's previous partitions, and how that land came to be German and Russian in the first place. And the Treaty of Versailles didn't define the borders between Poland and Russia. They were determined by the Treaty of Riga, which ended the Polish-Soviet War in 1921.

[ModernTimes1]

Ukraine, formerly the heartland of Russia, was the battleground between Turks, Poles and Russia. Poles tried very hard to convert as many Ukrainians into Catholicism. They partially succeeded. However Greek Orthodox Ukrainians, especially Cossacks resisted this forcible conversion. And finally join Russia for protection against Polish missionaries and Tatar-Turkish invasions.
Poles have nothing to be proud in their relationship with their Eastern neighbors.Ever.

[Neanderthal5]

Versaille converted lots of German and Soviet territory including the area around Archangel and Lenningrad but Russia took a lot of those territories back from the west.During those years,1917-1921. US, English, American, and Japanese Occupation forces finally left Archangel.The Red Army waged a relentless war against the White Russians, Poles and cossacks in Ukraine and Poland. Still, there were battles that would have to wait. One underground battle remained and caused lots of damage to Russia. It is all spelled out in the trial of the Trotskyites in 1937-38 those so called fake or Purge trials. That battle went public in June of 1941 when Germany pretended to fight England and Yugoslavia but turned its huge military against Moscow.

[newyorkid]

Danzig was clearly German and the treaty of Versailles was so utterly unfair that it provoked WWII.

[Spencaa]

Poland is responsible for WW2 because ti didn't agree to German demands? Isn't that what we call appeasement? Isn't that what the British and French were doing every time Germany took a step forward?

As if Germany wouldn't have invaded anyways if Poland gave in. Wasn't it agreed between Russia and Germany they would split Poland in half?

[VirginiaJeff]

So the GOP isn't the only group intent on re-writing history.

[Jazz88105]

can't stop laughing i wonder if the russians realize how silly they appear to be.

[Michael Quigley]

History and politics can never be seperated.

[Dystopic]

hmmm... so Poland WANTED the Blitzkrieg?? They wanted their rail head destroyed?

Makes perfect sense ... with all the polish jokes