The Rise of the Third Reich

"After discussions, General Secretary Stalin of the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union and Hitler, the leader and chancellor of the German Empire, felt that it was most appropriate to announce to the world some common principles of their two countries' policies at this time.

First, the two socialist countries, the Soviet Union and Germany, do not seek any territorial or other expansion other than recovering the lost territory caused by all imposed unequal treaties;

Second, the two socialist countries, the Soviet Union and Germany, do not want to see any territorial changes that are inconsistent with the freely expressed will of the people concerned;

Third, the two socialist countries of the Soviet Union and Germany support the efforts of all colonized and enslaved countries and peoples to pursue independence and freedom; they hope to see countries that were once deprived of their sovereignty and autonomy by colonialism regain their sovereignty and autonomy;

Fourth, the two socialist countries of Germany and the Soviet Union believed that all countries, regardless of size, victor or defeated, have the opportunity to participate in world trade and obtain world raw materials in order to achieve their economic prosperity under the same conditions. ;

Fifth, the two socialist countries, the Soviet Union and Germany, hope to help the backward countries and liberated colonies in the world to achieve economic and social progress and to maintain their independence and freedom forever;

Sixth, after the tyranny of colonialism was finally eliminated, the two socialist countries, the Soviet Union and Germany, hoped to ensure world peace and the independence and freedom of all countries, and worked hard to ensure that all countries, including the defeated, on our planet Coexist and prosper together;

Seventh, the two socialist countries of Germany and the Soviet Union believed that in order to achieve true peace and freedom, all countries in the world must gradually abandon colonialism. If those so-called world empires that own huge colonies overseas and brutally exploit colonial people and the monopoly financial oligarchs behind them refuse to give up their cruel colonial oppression policies, peace and freedom around the world will not be realized; the Soviet Union and Germany will also wage a resolute struggle against it in all its forms;

Eighth, the two socialist countries of the Soviet Union and Germany call on all progressive countries in the world that oppose colonialism and support colonial liberation and independence to immediately join the anti-colonialism movement and work together to win the best tomorrow for all mankind. .

Adolf Hitler

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

December 12, 1939, Riga. "

——The above is the entire content of the "Liberator's Proclamation" (also known as the "Riga Charter") that will be announced to the world on December 12, 1939.

It is very lofty and lofty enough to resonate among the working people of Asia and Africa who were oppressed by British and French imperialism. At the same time, it also poses a huge problem to the United Kingdom, France and the beacon countries of liberal democracy on the other side of the Atlantic.

…

"How could they do this? They are obviously two robbers, but they have the audacity to package themselves as liberators! This is the most shameful deception I have ever seen since I entered politics!"

In the Oval Office of the White House, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull is loudly condemning the "Emancipator's Proclamation".

Roosevelt chuckled at his words. He looked at the surprised looks of Hull and Hopkins and said with a smile: "We have a good opponent, don't we? We underestimated Hitler and regarded him as a fascist like Mussolini. In fact, he was A Bismarck!"

Hopkins interjected in a sharp, serious tone: "President, Hitler and Stalin have given us a big problem! They raised the flag against colonialism...and no one will think that the Germans are lying. Because Germany has no colonies, and Germany’s enemies are exactly two huge colonial empires.”

"So what?" Roosevelt's expression became serious. "The Germans cannot count on Indians, Arabs or black Africans as allies. And Stalin... he and Hitler issued this declaration together did not mean that the Soviet Union would join the war. . I think the Soviet Union just wants to carve up its heritage without risk, so Germany is still fighting alone! If the British Empire is smarter, it still has a chance to win over the Soviet Union.

"President, what do you mean..." Harry Hopkins asked.

"Rather than letting others enjoy your inheritance after you die, it is better to use your wealth wisely while you are still alive!" Roosevelt said, "Harry, you have figured out Stalin's trump card. He needs real benefits, and the British Empire has just that." There are interests that the Tsar wants most."

Of course, what the Czar wanted most was to regain Constantinople and thus open up a passage south to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean! And Stalin, the Red Czar, was no exception.

"But this is impossible," Cordell Hull said. "The British Empire cannot give up on the Middle East."

Roosevelt seemed very helpless and raised his eyebrows. "The British Empire is about to die, and if it still acts like a miser and is unwilling to spend money to buy medicine, then there is nothing the United States can do."

He looked at Secretary of State Hull, who said, "President, I will pass your message on to Prime Minister Chamberlain."

Roosevelt added: "Tell the British again that the Neutrality Act will be passed by Congress soon. The F2A Buffalo aircraft they need are now ready and can be shipped at any time. In addition, the Atlantic Fleet will soon be in New York -Armed patrols on Icelandic routes to defend U.S. freedom of navigation!”

…

"On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of the German Empire and all the German people, I wish that the great socialist Soviet Union will always be prosperous and strong under the wise leadership of the Bolshevik Party!"

In the magnificent Riga Castle, a celebration party was being held at this time - a party to celebrate the joint release of the "Liberator's Declaration" by the Soviet Union and Germany.

German leader and Chancellor Adolf Hitler raised a glass of boiled water and said a toast in an emotional tone.

Although Stalin, the fatherly leader of the Soviet Union, did not understand the German spoken by Hitler, he immediately raised a glass of vodka: "The friendship between the German and Soviet peoples, created by the older generation of leaders (Emperor Wilhelm and Comrade Lenin) and solidified with blood and life, will become unbreakable in the great journey of realizing socialism in the world!"

"Long live the unbreakable Soviet-German friendship!"

"Long live the Soviet-German unity under the banner of socialism!"

All the people in the banquet hall raised their glasses together and said words wishing for Soviet-German friendship and unity in the most sincere and cheerful tone.

Hessman and Voroshilov stood side by side, holding a glass filled with champagne in their hands. After making a toast, he whispered to Voroshilov in Russian.

"Comrade Voroshilov, the Brest Fortress is not what it was in 1917. The Poles invested a lot of money in it after taking over. When Piłsudski was alive, he was most worried about you launching an attack. Therefore, the defense there is almost comparable to the Maginot Line! So it is really not General Pavlov's fault that the Red Army has been unable to capture it for a long time. I can't do anything about it."

The bloody battle in Brest is still going on! Stalin postponed the meeting again and again just for Brest-he hoped to meet Hitler in glory after the Red Army liberated Brest.

But the result made him very embarrassed. A fortress actually resisted the Soviet Red Army for 2 months and has not been taken down until now.

However, as long as you understand the defense of the Brest Fortress, you can understand why the Soviet Red Army could not conquer it for a long time - it was not that the Red Army could not fight, but that the fortress was built too solid. The defense system there is similar to the Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line. If Pavlov had commanded hundreds of thousands of Red Army troops to attack the Maginot Line, the result would definitely be the same as now.

This kind of fortification + fortress defense must be slowly bombarded by super-large-caliber heavy artillery to break through. During World War I, the German army was also blocked in front of the Liege Fortress for more than ten days. In the end, it took four 420mm caliber "Big Bertha" to bombard for 5 days to destroy 12 reinforced concrete fortresses.

But in Brest, the Soviet Red Army did not have such a big killer at all. Although the Soviet Red Army pursued artilleryism, in the past 20 years, the Soviet Union also built many factories for the production of cannons and artillery shells with the help of Germany. However, in the production and manufacturing of super-large-caliber artillery, it is still relatively backward.

The most powerful large-caliber artillery in Stalin's arsenal is the BR-18 305mm heavy howitzer and the TM-3-12 305mm/L-52 railway gun. Although this type of artillery is powerful, it is a relic of the Tsarist era after all, and the Poles have long known the details. When expanding and reinforcing the Brest Fortress, the anti-artillery requirements for important fortresses can withstand several bombardments of 305mm caliber artillery.

Therefore, after clearing the periphery of Brest, the 305mm caliber artillery mobilized by Pavlov did not blast open the 12 fortresses surrounding the core elements of Brest.

Without heavy artillery, Pavlov was helpless and launched several strong attacks, but all of them suffered heavy losses. However, Stalin did not remove him from office and investigate him, because the battle in Ukraine was also not going well. The city of Kiev was fought for more than a month, and Vinnitsa was not completely captured until December 10, and Odessa's resistance continues to this day.

At the same time, the stubborn resistance of the Ukrainian counter-revolutionary gangs also made the Red Army suffer, and the process of establishing Bolshevik rule in various parts of Right-Bank Ukraine was not as fast as expected. For this reason, Comrade Khrushchev has written several very profound and soul-touching self-criticisms - he still underestimated the class struggle situation in Right-Bank Ukraine!

In this situation, Stalin had no choice but to come to Riga to ask for help from Comrade Adolf Hitler, an old friend of the Soviet people and a close comrade-in-arms of scientific socialism.