The outbreak of the Second World War. Causes of World War II

The lessons of the First World War were not learned by the major powers, so in 1939 the world was again shocked by large-scale armed clashes, which escalated into the most brutal and massive military conflict of the 20th century. We propose to find out what were the main causes of World War II.

Background

Oddly enough, the preconditions for the outbreak of the Second World War began to emerge literally after the end of the First (1914-1918). A peace treaty was concluded at Versailles (France, 1919), separate conditions which the people of the new Germanic public education, Weimar Republic, physically could not fulfill (large reparations).

Rice. 1. Treaty of Versailles.

According to the results Treaty of Versailles and the Washington Conference (1921-1922) France, England, and the USA built a world order (Versailles-Washington system) without taking into account the interests of Soviet Russia, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the Bolshevik government. This prompted her to establish political relations with Germany (Treaty of Rapallo, 1922).

The Russian and German armies began secret cooperation, which made it possible to improve the military potential of both countries. Soviet Russia gained access to German developments, and Germany has the opportunity to train its soldiers on Russian territory.

In 1939, unlike Great Britain and France, which delayed concluding an alliance with the USSR, Germany offered Russia mutually beneficial conditions. So on August 23, the German-Russian Non-Aggression Treaty and a secret additional protocol on the division of spheres of influence were signed. The Germans were confident that the British were not ready for war, so it was worth protecting themselves from Soviet Russia.

Rice. 2. Signing of a non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany.

Causes

Let's talk briefly about the causes of World War II point by point:

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• The imperfections of the system of international relations formed after the First World War:
  Britain, the USA, and France ignoring the interests of other countries (including the victors), the lack of common goals among major powers, and the exclusion of Soviet Russia from resolving issues of international politics led to the collapse of the Versailles-Washington world order;
• World economic crisis that began in 1929:
  The German economy was weakened by unaffordable reparations payments, and the crisis further increased the lack of financial resources (decrease in wages, increase in taxes, unemployment). This increased the discontent of the population;
• The National Socialists, led by Adolf Hitler, came to power in Germany (1933):
  Hitler sought concessions in military restrictions and assistance in paying reparations, intimidating world leaders with the threat of the spread of the communist regime. Active propaganda of national interests was carried out within the country;
• Non-compliance by Germany with the main points of the Treaty of Versailles (since 1935):
  military buildup, cessation of payments;
• Conquest actions:
  Germany annexed Austria (1938), occupied the Czech Republic, Italy captured Ethiopia (1936), Japan invaded China;
• Formation of two military-political alliances (by 1939):
  Anglo-French and German-Italian, to which Japan leaned.

Germany's violation of the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty was largely possible due to the connivance of Great Britain and France, who made concessions, not wanting to start a war, and limited themselves to only formal expressions of discontent. So, with their permission (Munich Agreement), in 1938 Germany annexed the border region of the Czech Republic (Sudetenland). In the same year, the British and French signed non-aggression declarations with the Germans.

The reluctance of leading Western European countries to conduct constructive negotiations with the USSR on joint actions against a possible aggressor led to the strengthening of Germany.

On September 1, 1939, having organized a provocation on the German-Polish border, the Germans attacked Poland, which had mutual assistance agreements with England and France. Contrary to Hitler's expectations, Poland's allies Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3. The dominions and colonial possessions of England and France entered the war. Second World War has begun.

The Polish troops fought bravely, but they could not resist the aggressor army. Two weeks after the start of the war, the Polish army was defeated. In place of Poland, a General Government was created, controlled by the German command. As for Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, which were then part of Poland, after its surrender Soviet troops entered this territory, which was included in the USSR.

There was still calm on the Western Front. The Anglo-French troops stationed there did not take any action against Germany, although they had a large numerical superiority, since the main forces German army were in Poland. The military confrontation on the Western Front, which lasted until the spring of 1940, was called the “strange war.” The governments of England and France followed a defensive strategy during this war.

At the end of November, war began in northern Europe. The Soviet government, having lost hope of a negotiated settlement border conflict with Finland, decided to achieve its goal by force. On November 30, 1939, Soviet troops began fighting against Finland. This war was unsuccessful for the USSR. This action damaged the prestige of the USSR: it was expelled from the League of Nations. The West tried to use this event to form a united anti-Soviet front. At the cost of heavy losses, the USSR managed to end this war in March 1940. The Finnish border was moved away from Leningrad, Murmansk and the Murmansk railway.

In April 1940, the “strange war” unexpectedly ended. On April 9, the Germans occupied Denmark and landed in Norway. On May 10, the Germans, bypassing the Maginot Line, invaded Belgium and Holland, and from there into Northern France. In the Dunkirk area, the Anglo-French group of troops was surrounded by the enemy. The Germans quickly began to advance towards Paris. On June 10, 1940, the government fled Paris. A few days later, the government was headed by Marshal F. Pétain, who turned to Germany with a request for peace.

The war gained momentum, and more and more countries and territories were included in its orbit. In 1940, Italy showed aggression against British Somalia, Egypt, and Greece. On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact to divide the world into spheres of influence. Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria were involved in the orbit of this pact.

There was a war going on and Far East, where the conflict zone in China was steadily expanding.

In the spring of 1941, Yugoslavia found itself at the center of the conflict. Under German pressure, the Yugoslav government signed a protocol on joining the Triple Alliance. This caused an explosion of indignation in the country. The government has fallen. On April 6, German troops invaded Yugoslavia. She found herself under enemy control.

On June 22, 1941, German troops crossed the Soviet border without declaring war. The Great has begun Patriotic War. Hitler planned to end the war in this direction in 8-10 weeks. At first, Soviet troops suffered heavy losses. The Germans quickly advanced into the interior of the country. Fierce fighting raged throughout Eastern Front. The Germans were preparing to deliver the main blow in the Moscow direction. In December 1941, German troops approached Moscow. But they failed to take it by storm. On December 5, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive. The calculations of the Hitlerite command for the lightning defeat of the USSR failed.

The common danger looming over the USSR, the USA and England stimulated their unification within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Called the Second World War, it began not even a year ago, on the day when Nazi Germany attacked Poland. The outbreak of World War II was inevitable from the moment the war ended in 1918, which led to the redistribution of almost all of Europe. Immediately after the signing of all the treaties, each of the redrawn countries, from which part of the territories were taken away, began its own small war. While it was carried on in the minds and conversations of those who did not return from the front as winners. They relived the events of those days again and again, looked for the reasons for the defeat and passed on the bitterness of their own loss to their growing children.

It was this hatred of enemies cherished for decades, resentment from the oppression of the new owners of cities and villages, the need to get used to a different, unusual life that made the beginning of the Second World War possible. But all these reasons to resume the war were in the field of psychology. There were also real historical background, which led to the outbreak of hostilities in which almost the entire

Official reasons for the start of World War II

According to historical research, scientists identify following reasons:

• territorial disputes that arose as a result of the redistribution of Europe by England, France and after the collapse Russian Empire as a result of its withdrawal from hostilities and the revolution that took place in it, as well as due to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 9 new states immediately appeared on the world map. Their boundaries were not yet clearly defined, and in many cases disputes were fought over literally every inch of land. In addition, countries that had lost part of their territories sought to return them, but the winners, who annexed new lands, were hardly ready to part with them. Centuries-old history I didn’t know Europe the best way resolution of any, including territorial disputes, except for military operations, and the outbreak of the Second World War became inevitable;
• To olonial disputes. It is worth mentioning here not only that the losing countries, having lost their colonies, which provided the treasury with a constant influx of funds, certainly dreamed of their return, but also that the liberation movement was growing within the colonies. Tired of being under the yoke of one or another colonialist, the inhabitants sought to get rid of any subordination, and in many cases this also inevitably led to the outbreak of armed clashes;
• rivalry between leading powers. It is difficult to admit that Germany, erased from world history after its defeat, did not dream of taking revenge. Deprived of the opportunity to have its own army (except for the volunteer army, the number of which could not exceed 100 thousand soldiers with light weapons), Germany, accustomed to the role of one of the world's leading empires, could not come to terms with the loss of its dominance. The beginning of World War II in this aspect was only a matter of time;
• dictatorial regimes. A sharp increase in their number in the second third of the 20th century created additional preconditions for the outbreak of violent conflicts. Devoting a huge army and weapons, first as a means of suppressing possible internal unrest, and then as a way to conquer new lands, European and Eastern dictators with all their might brought the beginning of the Second World War closer;
• existence of the USSR. The role of the new socialist state, which arose on the ruins of the Russian Empire, as an irritant for the United States and Europe cannot be overestimated. Fast development Communist movements in a number of capitalist powers against the backdrop of the existence of such a clear example of victorious socialism could not but inspire fear, and an attempt to wipe the USSR from the face of the earth would inevitably be made.

On November 11, 1918, the First World War ended. Two major military-political blocs opposed each other: the Entente (England, France, Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Prussia). For the first time, military operations took place on land and sea on three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. About 9 million people died on the battlefields; more than 20 million were injured. The war caused serious material damage to many countries and peoples.

This war showed that the latest achievements of science and technology can be used not only as means of creation, but also for destruction (the use of poisonous gases, tanks, aviation, heavy artillery). Having seen the consequences of the war, the world had to realize the danger that further contradictions between the major powers could bring. But it was the First World War that sowed the seeds of the even more terrible and destructive Second World War.

Typically, historians identify two main reasons for the outbreak of World War II:

The rise to power of fascist regimes in a number of countries.

Exacerbation of contradictions between the countries of the capitalist world (USA, England, France) and the USSR.

There is a third reason. We'll talk about her specifically. Let's look at the first reason:

The emergence of fascism and its spread occurred at a time when Western European civilization was experiencing a severe post-war crisis.

In March 1919, the first fascist party was created, led by Mussolini. Already in October 1922 they organized a campaign against Rome. Without waiting for the outcome of this event, the king of Italy abdicates the throne and transfers power into the hands of Mussolini. Italy becomes one of the most aggressive countries of the fascist bloc. Its goal is to transform Italy into a modern Roman Empire.

In October 1919, the German Workers' Party emerged in Germany.

In 1920, Adolf Hitler became the leader of the party. In 1933 he comes to power in the country. In March 1935, Germany began general military mobilization and created aviation. In June of the same year, an agreement was signed between England and Germany, according to which Germany received the right to increase its fleet five times, and also begin to create a submarine fleet.

It was from this time that Germany took the path of military conquest and enslavement of other peoples.

A new step towards the outbreak of World War II was the Italian-German intervention in Spain, where in 1936 a fascist organization led by Franco rebelled against the Spanish Republic. Germany and Italy not only supplied the rebels with weapons and money, but also sent their armed forces(more than 200 thousand people).

The USSR did not stand aside. Throughout the civil war, he officially supplied weapons to the Spanish Republican forces and unofficially sent military forces there.

In the summer of 1938, the governments of France and England officially recognized Franco's fascist government.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Japan was making an unprecedented leap in the development of productive forces. In a short time, numerous factories and factories appeared, railways, shipyards, modern fleet.

Since the late 80s of the XIX century, racist views have been widely developed (the idea of ​​​​the superiority of the Japanese over other peoples appears). Under the pretext of protection from the Europeans, Japan begins to prepare for the invasion of Asia. Not being a fascist country, Japan is embarking on the path of aggressive external expansion.

In November 1936, Germany and Japan concluded the “Anti-Comintern Pact,” which Italy joined a year later.

Thus, by 1937 the formation of the bloc had ended in the world fascist states Germany - Italy - Japan, which embarks on an active aggressive foreign policy.

Let's look at the second reason:

October 25, 1917 is a turning point in the history of Russia. Four years later, a new state appeared on the map - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which declared itself the bearer of a new socialist culture. The USSR became the enemy of the rest of the capitalist world.

In turn, capitalist countries treated the USSR in the same spirit. They regarded the thesis of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) about the inevitability of the world socialist revolution as a program of Soviet expansionism and did not distinguish between the totalitarian regimes in Germany and the USSR.

From my point of view, Western countries carried out the so-called policy of appeasement.

Now let's look at the third reason. In my opinion, it is not just the main one, but the only one; moreover, it is radically different from those mentioned earlier.

So, the third reason:

One of the main culprits in unleashing the Second World War is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Marx and Engels predicted a world war, but they did not call on the proletariat to prevent it; on the contrary, the coming world war is necessary. War is the mother of revolutions, world war is the mother of world revolution. The results, Engels believed, would be “general exhaustion and the creation of conditions for the final victory of the working class.”

Marx and Engels did not live to see the World War, but they found a successor - Lenin.

In the fall of 1914, Lenin adopted a kind of minimum program: if as a result of the First World War the revolution does not occur, then it is necessary to capture at least one country, and then use it as a base for the subsequent world revolution.

By putting forward a minimum program, Lenin did not lose perspective. But according to the program, as a result of the First World War, revolution is possible in only one country. How then will the world revolution happen? Resulting in? In 1916, Lenin gives the answer to this question: as a result of the Second Imperialist War (“Military Program of the Proletarian Revolution”).

As we remember, a year later there is a revolution in Russia, Lenin urgently returns from abroad. In Russia, he and his small but militarily organized party seize state power. Lenin's moves are simple, but precisely calibrated. At the first moment of the formation of a communist state, he announces the “Decree of Peace.” This is very good for propaganda. But Lenin needed peace not for peace, but in order to stay in power.

In March 1918, Lenin concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. At this time, Germany's position was already hopeless. Does Lenin understand this? Of course, that’s why the peace is signed by:

Frees Lenin's hands to fight for the strengthening of the communist dictatorship in the country.

Gives Germany significant resources and reserves to continue the war in the West.

The defeat of Germany was already close, and Lenin concluded a “peace”, according to which Russia not only renounced its rights to the role of winner, on the contrary, without a fight, Lenin gave Germany a million square kilometers of fertile land and industrial areas of the country, and also paid indemnity in gold. For what?!

But why. The Brest-Litovsk “Peace” made millions of soldiers unnecessary, who became uncontrollable by anyone. The Brest-Litovsk “Peace” became the beginning of a brutal civil war, much bloodier than the First World War. While everyone fought against everyone, the communists strengthened and expanded their power, and then a few years later they subjugated the entire country.

Lenin’s calculation was accurate: the exhausted German Empire could not withstand the intense war. The war ended with the collapse of the empire and revolution. In devastated Europe, on the ruins of the empire, communist states are emerging that are strikingly similar to Lenin’s Bolshevik regime (just remember Soviet republics in Hungary, Slovakia, Bavaria, numerous armed uprisings of workers under the slogans: “All power to the Soviets!”). Lenin exults: “We are on the threshold of a world revolution!”

Lenin creates the Comintern, which defines itself as the World Communist Party and aims to create a World Soviet Socialist Republic.

But the world revolution did not follow. The communist regimes in Bavaria, Slovakia, and Hungary turned out to be unviable, and Lenin could only support them morally at that time. Although the Red Army in Ukraine was ordered to begin advancing in the direction of Hungary in order to provide it with the necessary assistance.

It was only in 1920 that Lenin, who had sufficiently strengthened his position within Russia, immediately sent huge forces to Europe to push the revolution.

Russia was gripped by the excitement of the imminent world revolution. So, back on May 9, 1920, Pravda published an appeal: “To the West, workers and peasants! Against the bourgeoisie and landowners, for the international revolution, for the freedom of all peoples!” Newspapers wrote enthusiastically about the storming of Warsaw by the Western Front (under the command of Tukhachevsky), about the battles on the outskirts of Lvov, which were waged by the Southwestern Front (where J.V. Stalin was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council), published Tukhachevsky’s order to his troops: “Fighters of the workers’ revolution! Direct your gaze to the West. In the West, the fate of the world revolution is being decided. Through the corpse of white Poland lies the path to a world fire. On bayonets we will bring happiness and peace to working humanity. To the West! To decisive battles, to resounding victories!"

On the banners of combat units Western Front slogans flashed: “To Warsaw!”, “To Berlin!”, meetings and rallies of the Red Army soldiers ended with a choral cry: “Give Warsaw!”, “Give Berlin!”.

The manifesto of the Second Congress of the Comintern was published to the whole world: “The Communist International is the party of the revolutionary uprising of the international proletariat: Soviet Germany, united with Soviet Russia, would immediately be stronger than all capitalist states combined. The Communist International declared the cause of Soviet Russia its cause. The International Proletariat will not sheathe the sword until Soviet Russia joins as a link in the federation of Soviet republics around the world."

But there was no common border between the USSR and Germany, so it is necessary to destroy the dividing barrier - a free and independent Poland. These plans were not destined to come true. The Red Army was defeated and fled.

By the way, why was Germany the target of the USSR? Let's remember 1920. Until recently, Germany was the largest empire, a country that dictated its terms to the rest of the world. Germany in 1920 is disarmed and humiliated, the country is in a severe economic crisis. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, turned Germany into a third-rate state. Germany lost 67.3 thousand square kilometers of territory in Europe and all its colonies. The military articles turned out to be especially humiliating: the army should not exceed 100 thousand people, the officer corps - 4 thousand, there should be no heavy artillery, aviation, tanks, submarines in service, the General Staff, all military educational institutions were liquidated, universal conscription was abolished ; Germany was not allowed to have military missions in other countries, and its citizens were not allowed to undergo military training in the armies of other states. It was necessary to pay multimillion-dollar reparations to the Entente. The country is ready for the proletarian revolution. According to the leader of the USSR, Germany is the key to power in Europe.

Was the Soviet-Polish war an aggressive one on the part of Poland? Józef Pilsudski, the head of the Polish state, and his entourage interpreted Lenin’s decree on the abolition of the secret 18th-century treaties regarding the partitions of Poland as an automatic restoration of the Polish state within the borders of 1772. This interpretation (in relation to the Russian side) was, in general, fair, because the text of the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of August 29, 1918 on the renunciation of agreements between the government of the former Russian Empire and the governments of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires, the kingdoms of Prussia and Bavaria, the duchies Hesse, Oldenburg and Saxe-Meiningham and the city of Luben read as follows: “Article 3. All agreements and acts concluded by the government of the former Russian Empire with the governments of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in view of their contradiction to the principle of self-determination of nations and the revolutionary legal consciousness of the Russian people, who recognized the inalienable right of the Polish people to independence and unity are hereby irrevocably revoked.”

In February 1919, Pilsudski and his supporters passed through the Sejm Commission on Foreign Affairs a demand for the withdrawal of Soviet troops (the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee dated June 1, 1919, signed by M.I. Kalinin, proclaimed the formation of a military union of Soviet republics: Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus to repel the advance of common enemies) “beyond the borders of 1772.” Without waiting for an answer, the Polish government decided to expel Soviet troops from the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The defeat of Tukhachevsky's hordes in Poland was very important for the Bolsheviks. unpleasant consequences. Russia, which the Bolsheviks had seemingly completely drowned in blood and brought under their control, suddenly stirred up in a desperate attempt to overthrow the communist dictatorship. The workers of St. Petersburg, the cradle of the revolution, went on strike. Workers demand freedom. A squadron of the Baltic Fleet is on the side of the rebels. The sailors of Kronstadt, the same ones who gave power to Lenin, demand that the Soviets be cleansed of communists. A wave of peasant protests swept across the country. In the Tambov forests, peasants create an anti-communist army (remember how the opponents of Soviet power would later be called “Tambov wolves”).

Tukhachevsky washes away the shame of his strategic failure with someone else's blood. Tukhachevsky's atrocities in Kronstadt became legendary. The monstrous extermination of peasants in the Tambov province is one of the most terrible pages in the history of Russia.

On September 25, 1920, after the unsuccessful war with Poland, Lenin spoke at the IX All-Russian Conference of the RCP (b). The text of his speech was not published until 1992, although the approximate content of Lenin’s speech was well known abroad. Let me give you an excerpt:

“We have a new task ahead of us. The defensive period of the war against world imperialism is over, and we can and must use the martial law to start an offensive war. We beat them when they attacked us. We will now try to attack them to help the Sovietization of Poland ". We will help the Sovietization of Lithuania and Poland... We decided to use our military forces to help the Sovietization of Poland. From here the further general policy followed. We did not formulate this in an official resolution recorded in the minutes of the Central Committee and representing the law for the party until the new congress. But We said among ourselves that we must test with bayonets whether the social revolution of the proletariat has matured in Poland.”

In 1923, almost all power was concentrated in the hands of Stalin. Stalin's point of view was similar to Lenin's.

As we see, from the moment of its creation, the USSR pushed Europe into chaos and destruction in order to realize the great dream - the World Socialist Revolution. This leads to the inevitable conclusion: the Second World War was simply necessary for the Bolsheviks.

The provocation was organized by Reinhard Heydrich and his subordinate, the boss Groups VI-F(sabotage) by SS Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujoks on the instructions of Adolf Hitler.

The role of “those killed during the attack” was intended for concentration camp prisoners who were killed by injection and then brought to the scene of the events. In SS jargon they were called “canned food”; hence the name of the operation.

Adolf Hitler threw back right hand V Nazi salute and looked around at the faces of those who entered. Before him stood the entire top military elite of the Great German Empire. The commanders-in-chief, chiefs of staff and leading generals of the Wehrmacht arrived on this Tuesday, August 22, 1939, at the Berghof residence to hear from the lips of the Fuhrer the fatal decision: there will be war. “I have gathered you,” Hitler began, “to explain the current political situation, so that it becomes crystal clear to you what my final decision is based on - to act immediately.”

From the Fuhrer’s many-hour monologue, the military learned that “never before has the position of Germany been as favorable as it is now”: England is in a threatening situation, the position of France is also not developing in the best possible way, Soviet Russia is ready to conclude a non-aggression pact with Germany.

“Nobody knows how long I have left to live. Therefore, the clash is now,” Hitler concluded.

In the middle of the day everyone went out to eat. The meeting then continued. With every new minute, Hitler worked himself up into a fit of hysteria. His gaze became more and more fanatical and obsessive.

“Lock your hearts against pity and compassion! - he shouted. - The cruelest course of action! Eighty million people must finally get their rights!”

Suddenly, in a completely calm, icy voice, he announced that the very next day he was ready to announce the exact date the beginning of hostilities against Poland.

“One way or another, war cannot be avoided... I will provide a propaganda pretext for starting a war. How plausible it will be does not matter. The winner is not judged or found out, he said, whether it is true or not. In starting and waging war, it is not questions of law that play a role, but victory.”

When the military left, they could not imagine that the people called upon to provide the “propaganda pretext for starting the war” promised by Hitler were already in full combat readiness. Hitler chose Heinrich Himmler to carry out this mission. This operation forever linked the SS chief with the blood and tears shed during the Second World War.

History of security detachments. Chapter 10 SS and foreign policy

The idea of ​​​​Operation Canned Food was born to Heydrich back in 1938, during the Sudetenland crisis, but then it did not find application, since Great Britain and France made concessions by signing the Munich Agreement.

In connection with the planned attack on Poland, a problem of probable cause arose. And this is where the idea of ​​staging an attack came in handy.

According to Heydrich's plan, SS officers, dressed in Polish military uniforms, were to:

Attack a radio station in Gleiwice* (now Gliwice, Poland) and broadcast an anti-German appeal to Polish language;
.attack the forestry in Pinchen north of Kreuzburg (now Kluczbork, Poland);
.in Hochlinden, on the section of the border between Gleiwitz and Ratibor (now Raciborz, Poland), destroy the customs point.

Radio station in Gliwice

The leadership of the 23rd and 45th SS Standards, stationed at the site of the proposed operation, was instructed to immediately place at the disposal of the SD 120 personnel who speak Polish.

The following were appointed responsible: for the attack on the customs point - SS Oberführer Herbert Mehlhorn, for the attack on the radio station - SS Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujoks**, for the attack on the forestry - SS Oberführer Otto Rasch, for the provision of Polish uniforms - SS Brigadeführer Heinz Jost, for the delivery of " canned food" - SS Oberführer Heinrich Müller. Melhorn was also supposed to clear the area around Hochlinden of the Wehrmacht and coordinate the actions of the groups of SS Obersturmbannführer Ottfried Hellwig (“Polish soldiers”) and SS Standartenführer Hans Trummler (“German border guards”). General management of the operation was entrusted to Alfred Naujoks, who received the following instructions from Heydrich:

First: regarding this story, you have no right to contact any German institution in Gleiwitz. Second: no one from your group should have documents proving his membership in the SS, SD, police or certifying citizenship of the German Reich.
The code signal was supposed to be Heydrich’s phrase: “Grandmother is dead.”

On August 10, Naujoks with five accompanying people and a translator arrived in Gleiwitz and settled in two hotels. He carried out reconnaissance and found out that capturing the radio station would not be a problem.

In mid-August, Himmler and Heydrich reported their readiness to Hitler, who ordered Admiral Canaris to provide the SD with sets of Polish military uniform. The uniform was given to Jost by Captain Dingler, an Abwehr officer at the headquarters of the VIII Military District in Breslau.

The group attacking the forestry was supposed to represent militia in civilian clothes, the rest - Polish soldiers.
On August 20, Melhorn gathered everyone in the assembly hall of the SD school, instructed and reported on the essence of the operation. After this, the SS men drove off to their destination in covered trucks.
On August 22, Heydrich received a report of complete readiness. On August 23 (the day the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed), Hitler set the time and date of the action - August 26, 4.30 am.

The first pancake is lumpy

Opponents of the regime from the Abwehr also did not sit idly by. They organized an information leak by drawing up a protocol of Hitler’s speech to the Wehrmacht command on August 22, adding to the words spoken by Hitler a phrase (however, very close to reality) about sending several companies to stage a Polish attack.

This protocol fell into the hands of Hermann Maas, who, with the help of Associated Press Berlin bureau chief Lewis Lochner, forwarded it to the British Embassy. And already in the afternoon of August 25 political leadership Great Britain had information about Hitler's intentions.

Meanwhile, preparations for the provocation continued as usual. Everyone returned to their starting positions.

But on the evening of August 25, two news arrived: the Italian ambassador reported that Mussolini was not ready to support Hitler, and Great Britain had concluded a mutual assistance agreement with Poland. Hitler summoned Keitel, ran out to meet him and shouted:

“Cancel everything! Urgently bring Brauchitsch to me! I need time for negotiations.”

Keitel immediately called von Brauchitsch:
“The operation that began according to the Weiss plan must be stopped at 20.30 due to the changed political situation!”

The war machine, which had gained full speed, was stopped with great difficulty. Heydrich also had to give an urgent order to cancel Operation Canned Food. There were some hiccups here. It was not possible to contact Hellwig's group, which was already on Polish territory, and it attacked the customs point. Only Mueller's intervention prevented bloodshed.

Melhorn and Hellwig blamed each other. During the analysis, it turned out that Hellwig misunderstood the passwords: he believed that “Little Wood Grouse” was a signal of full readiness, and “Big Wood Grouse” was a command to begin the operation. For Melkhorn, the passwords meant: “Little wood grouse” - “in the gun”, “Big wood grouse” - “readiness number one”, “Agatha” - a signal to attack.

Heydrich, who suspected that someone wanted to disrupt the action deliberately, made organizational conclusions: Melhorn and Hellwig were fired from the SD, and their places in the operation were taken by Müller and Trummler, respectively.

On August 31, Hitler determined new date and time - September 1, 4 hours 45 minutes in the morning.

On August 31 at 16.00, a sound was heard in Naujoks’s hotel room. phone call. Picking up the phone, he heard: “Call me back urgently!” Naujoks dialed the number of the SD headquarters known to him and asked Adjutant Heydrich to speak to him. In response, he heard the same high-pitched voice say: “Grossmutter gestorben” (“Grandmother died”). Naujoks gathered all his subordinates and scheduled an action to seize the radio station at 19.30. Muller also received the command and hurried: the “canned food” had to be delivered to the site no later than 20.20.

At 20.00 Naujoks and his subordinates burst into the radio station premises. Seeing the worker Feutzik, he pointed the gun and shouted: “Hands up!” He gave a signal, and the attackers opened fire indiscriminately. The radio station workers were tied up and locked in the basement. It took quite a long time to find a thunderstorm microphone, which used to warn radio listeners about the approaching thunderstorm. Shortly after his discovery, residents of the surrounding area heard a “fiery proclamation” in Polish amid gunfire. The whole operation took no more than 4 minutes. As he was leaving, Naujoks noticed corpses in Polish uniforms carefully laid out by Müller’s men. The same thing happened in other places of the action.

The next day, Hitler addressed the German people, declaring that Poland had carried out an attack on German territory and that from that moment on Germany was at war with Poland. The newspapers came out with screaming headlines.

Speaking in the Reichstag, Hitler announced 14 clashes on the border, three of them major. Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop informed the French ambassador that the Polish army had crossed the border in three places. Hermann Goering told Birger Dahlerus:

The war broke out because the Poles carried out an attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz.
Heinrich Müller went to the scene together with the head of the criminal police, Artur Nebe, to conduct an “investigation”. Nebe also ordered the production of an electrified model demonstrating the course of “events.” Heydrich, who attended one of the demonstrations, confirmed:

"Yes, yes, that's exactly how the war began."

The Second World War began... Polish propaganda beat with fanfare: “Polish air raid on Berlin”, the Siegfried Line was broken in 7 places”...

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*Gliwice (formerly Gleiwice) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland. First mentioned in 1276. First as a Czech city, then as a Polish city, in 1742 it became part of Prussia. In 1945, after the end of World War II, Gliwice, like all of Silesia, became part of Poland.

**Naujocks, Alfred Hellmuth (Naujocks), (1911-1960), secret agent of the secret services of Nazi Germany, who gained the reputation of “the man who launched the 2nd World War.”

Alfred Helmut Naujoks (right)
Naujoks's testimony in Nuremberg:

"Müller said that he had at his disposal twelve or thirteen convicted criminals who were to be dressed in Polish uniforms and whose corpses were to be left at the scene in order to show that these people were allegedly killed during the attack. For this purpose there was an operation involving the injection of poison was provided, which was to be carried out by a doctor invited by Heydrich; it was also stipulated that the corpses should have gunshot wounds. After the end of the mock attack, representatives of the press and other persons were to arrive at the scene; then a police report was to be drawn up.

Müller told me that he had received orders from Heydrich to place one of these criminals at my disposal to carry out my task in Gleiwitz. The code name he gave to these criminals was “canned food.”

The incident in Gleiwitz, in which I took part, took place on the eve of the German attack on Poland. As far as I remember, the war began on September 1, 1939."