A quarter of a century ago, West Germany devoured the East
October 3 1990 of the year 00 hours 00 minutes German Democratic Republic ceased to exist
On this day and hour, all state, government, parliamentary and municipal institutions of the GDR were eliminated, the army, navy and police were disbanded, the courts stopped making decisions, and East Germany became a part not only of Germany, but also - automatically - a member of NATO and The EU. A new state was not created: the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949 of the year immediately began to operate in the eastern lands. Two weeks later, six new German lands were established on this territory. October 3 is celebrated on German Unity Day.
False values of "new thinking"
Thus ended the campaign launched by the leadership of the USSR in the epoch of “new thinking”, one of the main goals of which was the absorption by the western German lands of the eastern ones, sovereignty over which the USSR gave the same day and hour, because it became a very good country. At the same moment, the Soviet military contingent left Germany to settle in the true sense of the word in an open field, because we did not need monetary compensation for ending the occupation of the GDR, and we could not build new garrisons with our own funds. But what is this nonsense when we have a “new thinking”: we have become good and kind.
The prophecy of Otto von Bismarck, the real unifier of Germany, came true: “It’s impossible to win Russians, we have seen this for hundreds of years. But Russians can be instilled in false values, and then they will win themselves. " And so it happened: although the values of the “new thinking” turned out to be, to the surprise of the whole world, and especially the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, unusually “new”, but really “Russian national” they could not be named, which is why they actually came out deceitful
“What is this 'reunion', what is this formula? - asks the colonel-general, doctor historical Sci. Leonid Ivashov, then the head of the affairs department of the USSR Ministry of Defense. - It was not a union, just West Germany swallowed East. The USSR did not put forward any conditions for the process, the previous post-war agreements were simply ignored and forgotten. And we lost in full - we just lost to the GDR ”.
The real reunification of Germany can only be called the events of 1871, when under the leadership of the Prussian king, and later Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck dozens of completely independent German principalities united into an empire. Russia, it must be said, only for neutrality in this matter, has received, with the direct assistance of Germany, the right to use the Black Sea Fleet lost after the Crimean War. In 1990, the situation was completely different: there were two German states that were formed as a result of the occupation by the victor countries of Germany after its defeat in World War II.
The USSR, the winner in this cruel war, who suffered the brunt of the anti-human meat grinder, we repeat - the organizer of the notorious "unification of Germany 1990 of the year" - after 45 years after raising the Soviet flag over the Reichstag, returned home, not only without receiving any pfennig for returning supreme power to the German government but still almost not due.
Today, one can argue for a long time whether or not German reunification would have happened without active assistance from the USSR. Of course, the historical process would one day bring one nation into one state. There are two questions here. First, would it happen in 1990 or, in general, in 1990, if not later? And second: the occupation of Germany was not the result of some kind of game or whim of the Soviet power, but the result of the war unleashed by German fascism, which, according to international law and official agreements of the victor countries, it was decided to stop, including using conventional procedures: occupation and reparations.
“Then the situation was very politically ambiguous,” recalls Leonid Ivashov. - Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand were categorically against reunification of Germany. George Bush Sr. was a supporter of the idea. And therefore it was possible to maneuver and clearly stipulate our conditions under which reunification could take place. ”
Silent cancellation of the Potsdam Agreement
According to the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, Germany was divided into four occupation zones and it had to be paid to the victorious countries of reparation. The cost of precious metals, equipment and other valuables exported from the Soviet occupation zone amounted, according to German authorities, to a total of $ 15,8 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 14 tons of gold.
Yalta Conference of the Allied Powers. In the center (sitting from left to right): British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and USSR Marshal Joseph Stalin. Photo: RIA News
But already in the 1954 year, taking into account the allied relations of the USSR, the GDR and Poland, an agreement was adopted according to which East Germany ceased to pay reparations. Do not forget about the voluntary return of the USSR priceless picturesque collection of Saxon kings - the collection of the Dresden Zwinger.
Theoretically, it was possible in 1990 to raise the question of continuing to pay reparations, since East Germany was part of the Federal Republic of Germany and automatically became a member of the NATO military block opposing the USSR.
But our leaders Gorbachev and Shevardnadze did not even think about this obvious proposal. And this is strange: there is a military alliance - there are no reparations, there is no military alliance, so pay, gentlemen, good! And in general, you have to pay for freedom - when with blood, when with money. Russia, for example, has done both in its history.
State Duma Deputy, LDPR High Council member Mikhail Degtyarev calculated how much Russia should, in his opinion, receive from Germany in terms of reparations: “Even if we calculate the cost of exported goods and labor of German prisoners of war in the USSR, reparations from the GDRs did not exceed $ 15 – 16 billion While during the war (according to the USSR State Commission) material damage amounted to 30% of the national wealth of the country, 1710 cities and urban-type settlements and more than 70 thousands of villages and districts, 32 thousands of industries were destroyed on Soviet territory agricultural enterprises, crushed 100 thousand collective and state farms. In total, only material losses were estimated at 2 trillion 600 million rubles ($ 600 billion). ” At the same time, notes Degtyarev, Germany paid reparations even to countries that did not exist during the war. “For example, Germany Israel paid over 100 billion marks (60 billion euros) without reference to“ compensation for national socialist injustices. ” It turns out that Germany paid compensation to 6 million victims of the Holocaust, but at the same time ignored 27 million killed Soviet people, of whom more than 16 million were civilians, believes Degtyarev. “I think the total amount of reparations at current prices should be no less than 3 – 4 trillion euros, which Germany should pay to the successor of the USSR - Russia.”
On the possible presentation of reparation claims to Germany, said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He believes that the issue is still not resolved. Germany has not returned the interest-free loan in 476 million Reichsmarks, which the Third Reich forced to issue the National Bank of Greece to cover the "occupation costs" in 1942. In general, all the losses from the occupation of Greece calculated - 162 billion euros. Germany said it was not going to pay anything. Apparently, they too later realized it.
It is interesting in this story that the Western Germans themselves, unlike Mr. Gorbachev, for some reason, more than once had the idea of paying the USSR for East Germany. Former head of the international department and secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Valentin Falin recalled that “even under German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard (1963 – 1966), West Germans offered 124 billion marks of“ compensation ”for unifying Germany. At the beginning of the 1980-s for the fact that the USSR excluded the GDR from the Warsaw Pact and it would receive a neutral status, like Austria, were going to pay 100 billion marks. I told Gorbachev: "We have all the opportunities to achieve the status of a nuclear-free territory for Germany and prevent NATO from expanding eastward; according to polls, 74% of the population will support us." Gorbachev replied: "I'm afraid the train has already left."
Mikhail Gorbachev and Erich Honecker, leader of East Germany. Photo: Boris Yurchenko / AP
Why did he leave? Where? When exactly? A quarter of a century has passed, and we still cannot get answers to such simple questions. Maybe the fact is that some money was paid, but not in the state treasury, but in someone's pockets?
After all, the most important thing about which Russian patriots have been talking about for many years: how could the fundamental security issues of the USSR fail to come to mind? Since the beginning of the Cold War, we were told that NATO is the main enemy of our country. In spite of any “perestroika”, “glasnost”, “new thinking”, no one was in a hurry to join NATO. We ourselves broke up the Warsaw Pact "as unnecessary." And why, in exchange for the unification of the German people, who, as rightly and that Thatcher feared, created the strongest state in Europe and became a leading member of NATO, should not hedge against and conclude an “No NATO to the East” treaty?
“Gorbachev later either lied, or thought out what he was supposedly promised orally,” recalls Leonid Ivashov. - But I do not believe that he speaks sincerely, because he is a lawyer. And only for this reason he had to understand that all agreements are valid when put on paper and signed accordingly. ”
Sad return of winners
Even more humiliating was the process of withdrawing the contingent of Soviet troops from Germany. We note again that the unification of Germany and the withdrawal of Soviet troops do not directly correlate in any way: the British and American occupying forces both were in Germany and continue to remain there until now. Only the Soviet troops turned out to be fools, thanks to the preacher of “well, a completely new thinking” to Gorbachev. The whole army — officers with their families, sergeants, soldiers, a huge amount of equipment — was led to nowhere. Although it is clear: the Soviet troops were in Germany not on their own initiative, but as a result of international agreements that followed the defeat of Germany in World War II.
“There began a complicated procedure of counting. The USSR began to unexpectedly play the role of a subordinate, reminds Leonid Ivashov. - We have to, they say, leave. We were suddenly to blame. A commission was created to transfer land plots, real estate, and then the Germans, Hungarians, Czechs began to bill us for one method of "for environmental damage." And we in vain were involved in some counting calculations. And just handed over everything. Some money was paid to us, but it was a miser. Helmut Kohl, according to unofficial data, was ready to pay about $ 80 billion for the withdrawal of troops. And when Gorbachev in Mineralnye Vody told him the number - 8 billion, he simply could not speak with happiness. In fact, we went free. And then the military offered, but the politicians did not agree: if they put forward a bill for environmental damage, for our stay, the exploitation of land, then it was necessary to issue a different bill that we ensured your safety, and we have an agreement on this. And then imagining how we suffered damage, we would have simply zeroed out. We do not owe you and you do not owe us. But, unfortunately, we have not applied this technique. ” The same question: why such a simple solution was not given a turn? Again, maybe someone else has already taken the money due, but we just do not know anything?
One of the most important reasons why the USSR had to demand a whole series of guaranteed, developed contracts was the fact that with the unification of Germany the Helsinki system collapsed, the configuration of not only one of the largest countries in Europe changed, but also military blocs and zones of influence. It is clear why the United States supported Gorbachev. They got what they wanted: the dominance of NATO, and therefore, the United States itself in Europe. It is clear why France and Great Britain opposed: they, on the contrary, lost their strategic influence in Europe. But why did the USSR agree? And what did he get in return? As our current leader says, a donut hole.
Brandenburg Gate. Photo: Kurt Hilliges / AP
The essence of the post-war structure of the German states was one important circumstance, which Ivashov reminds of: “There was another moment that was forgotten: at the Yalta Conference, three powerful people decided that the victorious countries establish supreme power over Germany in their occupation zone. And we simply gave up our part of the supreme power, and in fact full sovereignty over East Germany, without specifying any conditions. ”
And now, when the current German Chancellor rushes about decisions on the Crimea, or on the Donbass, or is trying to sit on three chairs at once in matters of European security, the economic interests of German-Russian cooperation and the satisfaction of their American owners, I would like to remind who Frau Chancellor and Germany owe their influence. And to remind also that Mr. Gorbachev is not the whole of Russia, just like Hitler is not all of Germany. Therefore, it is necessary to negotiate, taking into account the real deeds, in particular, the voluntary return of the sovereignty and supreme power of Germany by Russia. And add: this happens the second time already. The first was during the Seven Years War: then Peter III presented the independence of Prussia, when Elizabeth Petrovna conquered it, but died suddenly.
And it would be nice to re-read Bismarck: “Do not expect that, once taking advantage of Russia's weakness, you will receive dividends forever. Russians always come for their money. And when they come - do not rely on the Jesuit agreements that you have signed, supposedly justifying you. They are not worth the paper they are written on. Therefore, it is worth playing with Russians either playing honestly or not playing at all. Make alliances with anyone, unleash any war, but never touch the Russians. ”
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