The Rise of the Third Reich

“In view of the serious hostility of the German Reich and its dependent states towards the Soviet Socialist Union Republic, the Council of People’s Commissars has decided to suspend the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and Germany from now on, and makes the following demands to the German Reich:

1. The German Empire must return all the Baltic States, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the former Russian Poland, and Western Ukraine to the Soviet Union;

2. The German Empire must stop providing security guarantees and military assistance to the Republic of Finland;

3. The German Empire must stop providing security guarantees and military assistance to the Kingdom of Iran;

4. The German Empire must stop providing all forms of assistance to the reactionary forces in Afghanistan;

5. The German Empire must stop providing security guarantees and military assistance to the Kingdom of Romania;

6. The German Empire must stop its invasion of the Republic of Ireland and withdraw all its troops from the Republic of Ireland.

The above-mentioned six points are the Soviet Socialist Union Republic's final demands to the German Empire. If the German Imperial Government cannot accept all six demands within 24 hours, the Soviet Socialist Union Republic will be in a state of all-out war with the German Empire..."

Mrs. Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador to Germany and Hessmann's old friend, was standing in Hitler's office in the German Chancellery at this time. With a trembling voice, she stammered the Soviet government's ultimatum to Germany.

She was an old Bolshevik during the Lenin era and one of the founders of Soviet-German friendship. Although Soviet-German relations have been deteriorating during her more than a year as ambassador to Germany, the old lady still tried her best to maintain Soviet-German relations. But now all her efforts have been in vain, and what is most difficult for her to accept is that Germany is a socialist country after all!

Although there are many residual elements of feudalism and capitalism in Germany, the socialist revolution is not complete. But even the Soviet Union itself recognized Germany as a socialist or semi-socialist country in the past 10 years, and believed that Germany's social system was more advanced than capitalist countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. At least the working class and peasants in Germany live a happier life under the state socialist system and are less exploited. From a global perspective, their living standards are second only to those in the Soviet Union...

Moreover, before the Mediterranean campaign, the Soviet government believed that the "colonial liberation policy" pursued by the German government, although with impure motives and a desire to "charge", was still more advanced than the colonial aggression line pursued by Britain, the United States, and Japan.

At the same time, the Soviet government and the Third International both believed that the essence of the policy pursued by Germany in Europe was "expansion of state socialism" and that it was of certain progressive significance to replace the capitalist system with a semi-socialist system.

But in the blink of an eye, the Soviet state fell out of favor at any time. The promised liberation of all mankind was gone. Germany was no longer socialist, and the European Community became a tool for aggression and expansion.

Well, even if Stalin had the foresight to see through the true face of the German Nazis. But how could the Soviet Union unite with imperialist powers like the United States and Britain to fight Germany?

Isn’t it said that “British and American imperialism will never die in its desire to destroy the Soviet Union”?

Isn’t it said that “Germany is the closest comrade and brother of the Soviet Union”?

Now the Soviet Union does not want comrades or brothers. Why are you still uniting with enemies who are determined to destroy the Soviet Union to attack your former comrades and brothers?

Is this still Comrade Lenin’s line? Is this still Marxism? Could it be that Stalin was a traitor?

"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"

Adolf Hitler suddenly shouted hysterically, waved his fist vigorously, and roared at the Soviet female ambassador.

"Stalin is a traitor! A traitor to international socialism! He betrayed socialism and the working people of the world! He betrayed the revolutionary line pioneered by Comrade Lenin! He betrayed the world revolution to the capitalists in London and Wall Street. He betrayed the world He stabbed us in the back at the moment when the revolution was about to win, and he saved the entire capitalist world... He used the blood and wealth of the Soviet working people to save the imperialists who hated the Soviet people from certain destruction!"

Faced with such accusations, Mrs. Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador, did not know how to refute for a while. Say Germany is not socialist? No matter how many elements of capitalism and feudalism there are in Germany, it is still more socialist than the United Kingdom and the United States, right?

If the Soviet Union had not joined forces with Britain and the United States to fight against Germany alone, there would be something to be said for it. But now that the Soviet Union has joined forces with a colonial empire like the United Kingdom and a capital empire like the United States, how can it still have the nerve to talk about world revolution and the liberation of all mankind?

…

Comrade Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, director of the Political Department of the 18th Army of the Soviet Red Army and brigade-level political commissar, learned on May 30, 1942, when he attended a meeting in the Political Department of the Southwest Front yesterday afternoon. The world revolution will break out on June 1st.

This is of course surprising and exciting news. The beginning of the world revolution is exciting. As a loyal communist fighter and a glorious member of the Bolshevik Party, Comrade Brezhnev had long known that this day would come. .

But what surprised him was that the Soviet Union would actually join forces with British and American imperialism to liberate all mankind. This was really incredible... Originally, he and most Soviet people believed that the Soviet Union would join forces with Germany to liberate all mankind.

Although since last year, major newspapers like "Pravda" have begun to frequently criticize Germany, accusing Germany of being imperialism under the banner of socialism. Moreover, as a senior political worker in the army (the brigade level and above are senior, the regiment and battalion levels are superiors, and the battalion level and below are intermediate, there are no subordinates), Brezhnev was also instructed to expose the German Empire in agitation and propaganda. true colors.

But Brezhnev and most of the political cadres who rubbed shoulders with him believed that the contradiction between the Soviet Union and Germany was always smaller than the contradiction between the Soviet Union and Britain and the United States. The problem between the Soviet Union and Germany was how to divide the territory, while Britain and the United States were trying to destroy the Soviet Union.

But I didn't expect that now the Soviet Union would join forces with enemies who are trying to destroy itself to attack its former socialist allies... As a loyal communist fighter, of course, I must firmly support this matter!

"Down with German Nazi fascism, liberate all of Europe, long live the world revolution! Long live the Bolshevik Party! Long live Stalin, the great teacher, great leader and great commander-in-chief of the working people of the world!"

After conveying Stalin's latest supreme instructions to the regiment-level political commissars, battalion-level political commissars, captain-level political instructors and captain-level political instructors of the 18th Group, Brezhnev took the lead in raising his arms and shouting slogans. Comrade Stalin’s latest slogan: the great mentor, great leader and great commander-in-chief of the working people of the world!

"Long live! Long live! Long live..."

The political cadres at all levels in the conference room were of course comrades with high consciousness and quick reactions. Although they had no mental preparation, Brezhnev had just finished conveying the instructions, and everyone's thoughts were already at a high level with the Party Central Committee. Consistent. Everyone stood up and shouted long live Brezhnev.

Seeing that his comrades were highly aware, Brezhnev nodded happily. When everyone was tired of shouting long live, he began to arrange the next step of ideological and political work - not all Red Army soldiers are as good as political cadres. Highly aware.

"Comrades, although our 18th Group Army is not the first batch of troops to plunge into the torrent of world revolution, there is not much time left for us to carry out ideological work in the army. According to the plan, after one or two weeks, we will The team will embark on the journey of liberating all mankind, so we must seize the little time to let all Red Army soldiers know the great significance of this war - this is a great world revolutionary war that will lead all mankind to the next step. The great war of liberation and freedom!”

This kind of propaganda caliber was actually something Stalin, the great leader of the world revolution, had thought about repeatedly. At the beginning, he also thought about mobilizing in the name of the "Great Patriotic War" and planned to create the illusion that Germany would invade and then be counterattacked by the Soviet Union.

But after careful consideration, I feel that this propaganda is inappropriate. The ignorant people in the rear may believe it, but how come the officers and soldiers fighting on the front line don't know who is attacking whom? To spread such panic, it is better to hold high the banner of liberating mankind.

At 7 o'clock in the evening on May 31, 1942, Mrs. Kollontai, the Soviet ambassador to Germany, delivered an ultimatum to Hitler. More than 200 divisions of Soviet Red Army troops, tens of thousands of tanks/assault artillery and various armored vehicles have entered starting positions near the Soviet-German border (including Poland and Western Ukraine). More than 600 artillery regiments and nearly 20,000 cannons have been deployed at preset artillery positions in the Soviet-German border area.

Many Soviet Red Army scouts have even crossed the border and broke into Poland, Western Ukraine and the German Baltic States!

Second Lieutenant Alexander Solzhenitsyn, commander of the 1st platoon of the reconnaissance company of the 55th Artillery Regiment directly under the 4th Infantry Corps of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (belonging to the 3rd Army of the Western Front). As early as 24 hours ago, he took his acoustic measurement platoon (acoustic measurement is one of the methods of finding artillery positions behind enemy lines) and established an acoustic observation station on the bank of the quietly flowing Bug River.

As a graduate of the Department of Physics and Mathematics of Rostov University, Comrade Solzhenitsyn, who also studied literature at the Moscow Academy of Literature, History and Philosophy, was drafted into the army in 1941 when the Soviet Union began to accelerate preparations for war. Because he had a good foundation in mathematics (acoustic reconnaissance requires a lot of calculations), he was assigned to the artillery school for short-term training. In early 1942, he was sent to the 4th Infantry Army stationed on the Soviet-German border. Before he was drafted into the army, he knew that his generation of Soviets was destined to make sacrifices and contributions to the liberation of mankind.

But at that time, like most of the Red Army officers and soldiers who were preparing to attack Germany, he thought that he would join the National Socialist German army to liberate London and New York and plant the red flag on the roof of the White House...