"Hitler’s Europe vs. the USSR:
The Unknown History of World War II" by Igor Shumeiko, summary Automatic translate

Igor Shumeiko’s book, published in 2009, reexamines established views on the extent of European nations’ responsibility for the strengthening of the Third Reich. The author shifts attention from purely military operations to diplomatic maneuvers, economic collaboration, and the surrender of national interests. The historian documents the uninterrupted operation of the industrial capacities of the occupied countries and attributes this to the German army. Avoiding trivial accusations, the researcher demonstrates the real mechanisms of operation of Hitler’s ZAO "Europe."

This work was published in the "World War II: Behind the Scenes of the Catastrophe" series without a specific serial number. This series also includes "Anti-Suvorov: Ten Myths of World War II" by Alexey Isaev, "War, Damn It!" by Vitaly Rapoport, and "The Defeat of 1941: On Peacefully Sleeping Airfields" by Mark Solonin.

The Economy of the Hitler Coalition

Igor Shumeiko begins his analysis with pre-war events. Czechoslovakia possessed a powerful army of 2 million men, 469 tanks, and over 1,500 aircraft. The unique mountain fortifications in the Sudetenland made a direct assault extremely risky for the Wehrmacht. British and French policies forced the government of Eduard Beneš to surrender the country without a fight. The Munich Agreement transferred the Czech Škoda and ČKD factories to Nazi control.

These factories operated without strikes or sabotage until the end of the war. Czech workers and engineers doubled German tank production, producing PzKpfw-38 light and medium tanks, tractors, off-road vehicles, and the Hörtzer self-propelled artillery. The equipment they produced killed Soviet soldiers near Minsk, Smolensk, and Moscow. French, Belgian, and Dutch industries similarly supplied the Germans with essential equipment, coal, and vehicles. French factories in Bordeaux built Focke-Wulf 189 reconnaissance aircraft. Sweden supplied the German metallurgical industry with iron ore from Kiruna.

Igor Shumeiko measures the scale of resistance. Poland left ruins to the occupiers. France and the Czech Republic handed over their economies intact. German anti-fascists inflicted the greatest damage on the Nazi leadership. The Red Orchestra and the Black Orchestra assassinated several field marshals: von Kluge, von Witzleben, and Rommel. Resistance in the Czech Republic was limited to isolated actions. British paratroopers assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, but a mass national revival of the Czechs only began with the formation of the First Czechoslovak Corps in the USSR at the Dukla Pass. At the Nuremberg Trials, Albert Speer confirmed the absence of significant sabotage in the factories of occupied Europe. Europeans protected their infrastructure and property.

In the Balkans, Serbian Chetnik and Partisan units under Josip Broz Tito pinned down hundreds of thousands of German soldiers. The Croats created a fascist state led by Ante Pavelić. Muslims in Bosnia and Albania formed the SS Handschar, Kama, and Skanderbeg divisions. The author draws a direct historical parallel. During the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Western countries supported the Croats and Muslims against the Serbs. The West’s geopolitical sympathies coincided with Hitler’s.

Soviet soldiers liberated Europe at the cost of enormous losses. Czech students immolated themselves in front of Soviet tanks in 1968. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain cold-bloodedly surrendered the Czech Republic to the Nazis thirty years earlier. Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein deliberately made impossible demands. The aggressor received world-class military factories. French politicians sent trainloads of food and wine to Germany. The populations of occupied countries cherished their lives and comforts.

The Concept of the Great War

Igor Shumeiko takes issue with Carl von Clausewitz. The well-known formula states: war is a continuation of politics. The writer cites Bruce Catton and Martin van Creveld. They argue that modern total war generates its own politics and subjugates states.

A major war eliminates diplomatic niceties. Participants act preemptively, sacrificing the neutrality of smaller countries. A striking example is Operation Catapult. In July 1940, Admiral James Somerville’s British squadron attacked the French fleet in the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kebir. The British destroyed the battleship Bretagne and damaged the Dunkerque and Provence, killing about a thousand recent allies. Winston Churchill feared the ships would fall under the control of the Kriegsmarine. The British resolve convinced US President Franklin Roosevelt of the need for London’s support. Later, Britain occupied Iceland without declaring war to control North Atlantic convoys. In 1807, a British squadron burned Copenhagen to prevent the Danish fleet from falling into Napoleon Bonaparte’s hands.

The Soviet Union was guided by the laws of the Great War. The entry of troops into the Baltics was dictated by the need to push the border away from Leningrad. In March 1939, Lithuania submitted to Joachim von Ribbentrop’s ultimatum and ceded Memel to Germany. Lithuanian politicians did not invoke British guarantees. Moscow was providing a buffer zone against the impending conflict. Igor Shumeiko criticizes Viktor Rezun’s version of the Soviet attack plans. Developing offensive plans is the responsibility of the general staffs of the powers. The USSR was preparing for a difficult conflict, not a treacherous defection to Germany. Polish historian Pawel Wieczorkiewicz dreamed of a parade of Polish and German troops in Moscow. Such fantasies reveal the true face of some Eastern European politicians.

Transition to the Cold War

The second part of the narrative is devoted to the Cold War. On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill spoke at Westminster College in Fulton. The former prime minister called for the creation of a United Nations armed force. Winston Churchill declared, "We must never cease to preach fearlessly the great principles of liberty and human rights." He proposed maintaining the monopoly on the atomic bomb in the hands of the United States and Great Britain until universal brotherhood was established. The British politician accused the Soviet Union of erecting an iron curtain from Stettin to Trieste. The Briton asserted the superiority of English-speaking nations.

On March 14, 1946, the newspaper Pravda published Joseph Stalin’s responses. The Soviet leader called the Fulton speech a dangerous act by a warmonger. Stalin responded: "Undoubtedly, Mr. Churchill’s position is a position for war, a call for war against the USSR." The leader recalled the seven million Soviet citizens who had died at the time of the count and the need to ensure security on the western borders. Stalin rejected accusations of totalitarianism, pointing to the coalition governments in Eastern European countries.

The confrontation evolved into an ideological and economic competition. The Soviet Union maintained parity in nuclear weapons. Domestic engineers developed asymmetrical, low-cost responses to multibillion-dollar American projects. The threat of mutual annihilation kept the generals of both sides from direct confrontation. The geopolitical adversaries took the conflict to third countries.

Congressman Charles Wilson financed the purchase of missiles for Afghan militants. The American was guided by the casualty calculations from the Vietnam War. Zbigniew Brzezinski sent a memo to President Jimmy Carter on July 3, 1979. The document authorized covert aid to opponents of the Kabul regime. The White House deliberately provoked the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. The American administration lured the USSR into a grueling military trap. Decades later, the United States suffered attacks from the terrorists they had nurtured.

The consumption race and the information front

The United States imposed a consumer race on the Soviet Union. Soviet light industry was slow to respond to changes in demand. In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev criticized wide trousers at the CPSU Central Committee Plenum. The planning system was unable to instantly retool clothing and footwear production. Western countries used fashion as a tool of economic pressure. The rapid change in styles and cuts drained the enemy’s resources. Soviet citizens began comparing their daily lives with those of foreign countries, which fueled social resentment.

Information manipulation

The defeat in the Cold War sparked a wave of historical falsifications. Writers like Hermann Rauschning created the myth of Nazism’s occult nature. Books about the Ahnenerbe and the secrets of Tibet transformed Adolf Hitler into a mystical magician. This hoax diminishes the responsibility of European governments for collaborating with the Reich. The true causes of the global catastrophe are replaced by pseudoscientific fiction.

The United States uses democratic rhetoric to achieve geopolitical goals. Military interventions are justified by the protection of minority rights. Double standards are applied to Eastern European countries. Modern revanchists demand an apology from Russia for the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, ignoring the Munich Agreement. European states refuse to acknowledge their historical guilt for the rise of Nazism.

The European Union is using the Kyoto Protocol to economically constrain competitors. The document sets quotas for emissions of six gases. Russia received a quota of three billion tons of carbon dioxide. Western environmentalists accused Gazprom of methane leaks. Academician Georgy Golitsyn and his German colleagues developed the mobile observatory "TROIKA." The laboratory measures the atmospheric composition along the Moscow-Vladivostok railway route. Accurate data refuted Western accusations. The equipment proved that the actual emissions are 6 megatons. The cause is evaporation from Siberian swamps. Western railways are not electrified, and diesel locomotives pollute the air more than Russian electric locomotives. Information attacks are based on falsified environmental assessments.

Igor Shumeiko describes Zbigniew Brzezinski’s creation of Islamic fundamentalism. The American national security adviser provoked the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Brzezinski openly boasts of funding the mujahideen. Western diplomacy uses terrorist organizations to weaken competitors. Later, the United States itself suffered at the hands of its own creation, al-Qaeda.

Glossy magazines act as conduits for Western consumer values. Publishing houses control the Russian media market. Advertising budgets from transnational corporations suppress domestic producers. Men’s magazines impose brand cults and foster loyalty to foreign products.

In the afterword, Lev Anninsky analyzes the idea of the Great War. The critic evaluates the metaphor of the redistribution of European property. British politicians destroyed the French squadron to maintain control over sea lanes. The Soviet leadership similarly secured the Baltic coast on the eve of the clash with the German army. The experience of the Great War shows that concessions and political correctness lead to defeat.