In response to the Russian army's performance in Ukraine, many people will subconsciously compare the current Russian army with the Soviet army in the era of the Patriotic War more than 70 years ago, and beat their chests and stamp their feet and hate them for not fighting.
But, if you think about it again, today's Russia is not the Soviet Union. Many things from the Soviet Union, both spiritual and material, have long disappeared;
Stills from the movie "Brest Fortress" co-produced by Russia and Belarus
To this day, there are still many people coming to pay tribute to the monument of the Fuming Political Commissar Monument. Here, it is an important patriotic education base in Belarus, and Ukraine can always continue to receive equipment assistance from NATO , enjoy NATO personnel training and informatization intelligence support and tactical guidance.
Lugansk militia commander Andre Maroc, facing a question from a Russian TV reporter, said that we are not fighting against Ukraine but fighting against NATO
, and here Russia has encountered the entire Western world seven consecutive rounds of sanctions and blockades, and can only bear it by itself. Especially the shortcomings in informatization have made the Russian army look blind and dumb in the face of the reconnaissance network composed of NATO satellite , early warning aircraft , drones, personal mobile phones, and monitoring equipment. The entire logistics situation of is even more terrible.
Russian army's field command is "very traditional"
Ukrainian army command system has accepted the information transformation of the West
On the contrary, after the Soviet Union formed an anti-fascist alliance with the United States, Britain and other countries, it had continuously obtained a large amount of equipment and material support, which was still crucial for the Soviet army to successfully fight back and attack Berlin.
was also a close comrade-in-arms
At the beginning of the Patriotic War, the Soviet Union, which was caught off guard, had fallen one after another in less than half a year.
As of the end of 1941, the Soviet Union lost more than 45% of its population (injury and casualties + occupied areas); as much as 71% of iron, 58% of steel, 57% of non-ferrous metals, 63% of coal and 42% of electricity were also lost with the fall of Soviet territory.
In addition, about 84% of beet origin, 45% of cattle and 68% of pigs in stock were seized by the German army.
At this time, the Soviet Union had almost been forced to the edge of the cliff.
Surprisingly, just when it was about to be unable to bear it, the British came to "stop the timely help".
The British, who were suffering from encirclement and bombing, took the Soviet Union's consideration of dragging Nazi Germany to the point of saving various materials and arms from their teeth, broke through the German army's sea and air blockade, and transported them to the Soviet Union with difficulty.
At the same time, the British were trying hard to fool the United States into investing in the Soviet Union, but the effect was not obvious.
Roosevelt President himself is indeed more inclined to aid the Soviet Union, but unfortunately, the US Congress has always disagreed, and the president has no way to do so.
Unexpectedly, in December 1941, after being stimulated by the Pearl Harbor incident, the United States declared war directly.
In early 1942, the leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union officially reached an aid agreement to the Soviet Union. According to the Concession Law, materials from Britain and the United States began to be continuously transported to the Soviet Union from three directions: , Iran, , Arctic route and the Pacific.
Three routes to aid the Soviet Union
Those transport teams that are mainly based on sea routes are the main targets of the German Navy's "wolf pack tactics".
. Regarding the Arctic route, at the beginning of this century, the last stage of the "honeymoon period" of the United States and Russia, Russia also made a movie - "Annihilation Mission".
In that year, the US air brigade that aided the Soviet Union passed over Bering Strait , transporting supplies from Alaska to a small town on the Chukchi Peninsula in East Siberia, and then transported them to various front lines from here.
, a small town that is a "transfer station", is also used as an training base for the Soviet Air Force .
What surprised these Soviet quasi-pilot boys was that the mission of the US military to transport materials to the Soviet Union was actually a group of beautiful and particularly open female pilots...
in the movie, the shy Soviet boy and the unrestrained American female soldier
in the movie, the US military pilot
in the World War II
in the movie, the description of the West was particularly positive, and a soft and cute American pig was used to symbolize the friendship between the two countries.
According to later historical data, during the Patriotic War, the West, dominated by Britain and the United States, delivered more than 17 million tons of materials to the Soviet Union, worth about 9.8 billion to 10.9 billion US dollars, more than 90% of which came from the United States; and China, also as the main battlefield of anti-fascism and resisted for a longer period of time, only received less than 2 billion US dollars of Western aid (1.6 billion of which were provided by the United States, but failed to implement them all).
Aiding the Soviet tanks during the lifting process
. Summary of the aid received by the Soviet Union is mainly divided into three categories.
1. Energy.
Of course, the Soviet Union itself was a resource-rich country with abundant crude oil reserves. But as early as the beginning of the war, many of the large oil fields in its territory were occupied by Germany. Later, when the Germans withdrew, they were severely damaged by the German army, and there was a process to resume production.
What's more, oil cannot be used directly after being dug out, and it has to be refined through a series of complex oil-chemical processes. However, due to the wartime environment, the Soviet Union's oil and chemical capabilities were severely limited.
This led to the fuel for the Soviet Union's mechanized arms that time was once very dependent on the aid of the allies.
According to data recorded in the "Economic History of Socialist Soviet Union", as of 1945, Western allies provided a total of 2.6 million tons of oil to the Soviet Union, especially in terms of high-octane aviation fuel, and Western aid was more than four times that of the Soviet Union itself.
In addition, there are a large number of industrial raw materials, such as various models of steel, steel plates, steel wires, aluminum, petroleum-related products, various chemical products, etc.
2. Arms.
mainly consists of TNT explosives, various engines, fighter jets, military vehicles , armor, etc., with a huge amount.
British Valentine tanks aided by the Soviet Union were watched by the public when they left the factory
For example, the following Stubeck US6 truck belonged to the main transportation force of the Soviet artillery back then. From traction of howitzers to acting as the chassis of the "Katyusha" rocket launcher , they could do almost everything.
still remains in the Russian Military Museum today, a combination of Katyusha rocket launcher and American truck
1959, when Khrushchev visited the United States, he also expressed his special thanks for the assistance in transportation - "If there were no transportation vehicles provided by the United States, how can we march from Stalingrad to Berlin?"
also has various American light and heavy armor. According to the Soviet army's recollections, the tanks assisted by the United States were equipped with guns and ammunition, and some even brought military rations, including chocolate.
Soviet soldiers who drove American tanks
In the late period of the Patriotic War, the West also provided the Soviet Union with a large number of communication equipment and radar , which significantly improved the command efficiency of the Soviet army.
Allies have also provided a lot of assistance in roads, airports, bridge construction machinery, and military processing machinery, and the cost of these materials is about US$15 million that year.
It can be said that without the vertical machine tools provided by Britain and the United States, it would be difficult for the Soviet Union to process a large number of 1,600mm diameter turret seats in the short term. Then, the fate of T-34, which is known for its high yields in wartime, will also be rewritten.
In addition to vehicles and aircraft, the Soviet Union also obtained a large number of naval ships and maritime supplies.
includes 27 naval ships equipped with naval radar and sonar sets from the United States; 10 ocean-going tankers, 90 cargo ships, various icebreakers, tugboats, repair ships, rubber rafts, etc.
also has a large number of combat ships, including various types of submarines , frigate , as well as marine engines, submersible rescue pressure compartments, navigation machinery, electrical equipment to naval guns , ammunition, naval radar and other weapons and materials.
1943 A female welder at a US military shipyard
3. Food, clothing and various daily necessities.
At that time, the Soviet Union had almost used all its domestic labor force in military production, so that living materials and food were seriously scarce.
According to statistics, the United States has provided a total of 2.154.17 million pairs of military boots to the Soviet Union and 4.986 million tons of leather, which is almost equivalent to issuing a pair of boots to each of the Soviet people.
Moreover, the United States also provided the Soviet Union with 987 tons of cigarette paper , please note that the unit of weight is - "ton".
Soviet Red Navy, which smokes American cigarettes,
From March 1942 to May 1945, the Soviet Union received a total of 4.9 million tons of food aid from the West, of which 4.2 million tons were given by the United States. Most of these foods are canned foods such as easy to store and high calories such as meat, eggs and milk. It helped a large number of Soviet military and civilians to survive those difficult years.
, the most famous one, probably everyone is familiar with it, which makes American soldiers "disgusted" it, but in the hearts of the Soviet military and civilians, it has become a canned " lunch meat " that exists in the "delicious world".
"Spam lunch meat" specially produced by Hormer Company for the Soviet Union has been marked as Russian
For the Soviets who have been in a hungry and cold manner, having been barely able to survive with black liba mixed with wood chips and a little pitiful salted lard, being able to eat this " canned meat " can be regarded as a Tsarist treatment.
During those years, this kind of canned American lunch meat was often used as a "prize" for the Soviet army's meritorious personnel and a "small stove" before performing special tasks, and was also a magic weapon to curry favor with superiors.
In addition, the Allies also provided the Soviet Union with "intangible assistance" such as repairing fighter jets, ships, training pilots, seafarers, , medical staff, radio communication personnel, and a large amount of intelligence support. The specific material cost and human value are also immeasurable.
Soviet Air Force using American radio
It can be said that during the Patriotic War, except for not directly sending troops to fight side by side with the Soviet army on the front battlefield on the Eastern Front, basically all those who can participate in the Western world have been involved.
, do you feel a bit familiar in this regard?
However, it should be emphasized that the aid of the Allied Group, mainly the United States, to the Soviet Union, is not all free. The return cost is mainly calculated according to the Lease Act amended by the US Congress in 1942.
In return, the Soviet Union in the war had successively provided the United States with a lot of rare ore.
After the end of the war, referring to the Lease Law, the United States and the Soviet Union also set up relevant committees specifically responsible for settlement assistance matters.
In the ten years after the war, the Soviet Union successively paid back 500 million. But as the calculations were made, the two countries had objections to the understanding of some accounts and began multiple rounds of "marathon" negotiations. It was not until October 1972 that an agreement was reached that was acceptable to both sides - under the conditions of the United States' commitment to provide "most-favored-nation treatment" and export loans to the Soviet Union, the Soviet side repayed the US US$722 million in batches.
However, in the later implementation, this agreement was implemented intermittently by the Soviet Union and was delayed until the era of the Russian Federation. It was not until 2006 that the government of Putin completely returned it. Gone are the harmonious scenes like
.
. It is obvious that for any country, there are no eternal friends or enemies, and the eternal one is "the enemy of the enemy is a friend."
Now that the West is working so hard to aid Ukraine, it is not accumulating any "democratic blessings" ~ Everything needs to be paid by Ukraine for it.
