Pavlo Kirpenko
PhD in History
Abstract. The article is devoted to the international situation in Europe and USSR’s foreign policy before and after the outbreak of World War II. The author states that from the very begin¬ning the fascist regime in Germany was favourably received by Stalin’s USSR. Hitler also claimed that the German government was ready to develop friendly relations with the Soviet Union. However, such a situation in the bilateral relations was short-lived. Seeking benevolence from Western European countries, Hitler assumed the role of an anti-communist crusader. With a view to strengthening the country’s security, countering Germany and fascism, Stalin gave up his ideological dogmas in line with the situation. Moscow came to vigorously support all politi¬cal forces, which were advocating closer relations with the USSR against fascism.
After Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Stalin’s foreign policy suffered a total collapse, which was a devastating blow to the myth of his brilliance and sagacity. The glorification of fascism and the policy of its befriending came at a cost. Nearly 50 million Soviet citizens per¬ished in the war against the fascist Germany, of which 10 million were Ukrainian nationals.
In Russia, both public officials and scholars still avoid the truth about the foreign policy activity of the Soviet leadership in 1939 and 1940s. In this regard, the Ukrainian histo¬rian and specialist in international relations, professor at Kyiv Pedagogical University Anatolii Trubaichuk was the first in the Soviet Union to tell the truth in his writings and lectures about the essence of the Soviet foreign policy before and after the beginning of World War II based on his profound scientific research.
The author stresses that the search for full truth is to be continued. To that end, it is neces¬sary that all the archives in Russia be opened and access to documents relating to the period of World War II be provided.
Keywords: World War II, foreign policy, Soviet Union, Stalin, Germany.
References
1. Gromyko, A., Ponomarev, B. (eds). (1980). Istroiya vneshney politiki SSSR, 1919–1945 [The History of the Foreign Policy of the USSR]. Moscow: Nauka, p. 386. [in Russian]
2. Churchill, W. (1991). Vtoraya mirovaya voyna, vol. 1 [The Gathering Storm]. Moscow, p. 48. [in Russian]
3. Ibid.
4. Grenville, J. (1999). Istoriya XX veka [A History of the World in the Twentieth Century]. Moscow, pp. 203-205. [in Russian]
5. Duroselle, J.-B. (1995). Istoriia dyplomatii vid 1919 roku do nashykh dniv [Histoire diplomatique de 1919 à nos jours]. Kyiv, p. 137. [in Ukrainian]
6. Dmytryshyn, B. (1971). USSR. A Concise History. New York: Scribner, p. 201. [in English]
7. Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 150.
8. Ibid., p. 9.
9. Ibid., p. 153.
10. Ibid., p. 157.
11. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 90.
12. Grenville, Istoriya, p. 223.
13. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, pp. 91-92.
14. Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 15.
15. Kissinger, H. (1997). Diplomatiya [Diplomacy]. Moscow: Ladomir, p. 271. [in Russian]
16. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 102.
17. Bogaturov, A. et al. (eds). (2009). Sistemnaya istoriya mezhdunarodnykh otnosheniy [Systemic History of International Relations], vol. 1. Moscow: Kulturnaya revoliutsyya, p. 271. [in Russian]
18. Grenville, Istoriya, p. 234.
19. Ibid.
20. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, pp. 100-101.
21. Ibid., p. 110.
22. Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 184.
23. Gromyko, A. et al. (eds). (1965). Istoriya diplomatii [The History of Diplomacy], vol. 3. Moscow: Politizdat, p. 719. [in Russian]
24. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 127.
25. Ibid.
26. Kissinger, Diplomatiya, pp. 278-279.
27. Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 190-191.
28. Grenville, Istoriya, p. 241.
29. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 151.
30. Bogaturov, Sistemnaya istoriya, p. 296.
31.Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 206.
32. Trubaichuk, A. (1993). Brudershaft dvokh dyktatoriv [Fraternity of Two Dictators]. Kyiv: Asotsiatsiia istorykiv ‘Istyna’, p. 146. [in Ukrainian]
33. Ibid., p. 136.
34. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 166.
35. Trubaichuk, Brudershaft, p. 156.
36. Ibid.
37. Churchill, Vtoraya mirovaya, p. 177.
38. Crozier, B. (2000). The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire. Roseville, CA: Forum. Appendix A. Documents for Chapter 5. Document 1. Speech by I. Stalin, pp. 519-521. [in English]
39. Trubaichuk, Brudershaft, pp. 188-189.
40. Trubaichuk, Brudershaft, p. 199.
41. Dmytryshyn, USSR, pp. 441-448.
42. Molotov, V. (1939). O vneshney politike Sovetskogo Soyuza. Doklad predsedatelya Soveta Narodnykh Komissarov SSSR i Narodnogo Komissara Inostrannykh Del na zasedanii Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR 31 oktiabrya 1939 goda [On the Foreign Policy of the USSR. A Report by the President of the Council of People’s Commissars and the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs at the meeting of the Supreme Council of the USSR, 31 October 1939]. Moscow, p. 1. [in Russian]
43. Ibid., pp. 3-4.
44. Ibid., p. 9.
45. Ibid., p. 7.
46. Trubaichuk, Brudershaft, p. 253.
47. Ibid., p. 240.
48. Molotov, O vneshney politike, p. 4.
49. Ibid., p. 3.
50. Trubaichuk, Brudershaft, p. 251.
51. Crozier, The Rise and Fall, pp. 528-530.
52. Ibid., p. 67.
53. Duroselle, Istroiia, p. 224.
54. Crozier, The Rise and Fall, p. 64.
55. Kirpenko, P., Serbina, N. (2006). Ukrainskiy politikum, NATO i Rossiya [Ukrainian Politics, NATO, and Russia]. Kyiv: ArtEk, p. 9. [in Russian]