Tue 3 Sep 2019, 05:51 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party member
Channel 5 are currently running a documentary series on WW2. A host of historians give accounts of the War between the Allies – principally America, Britain and the Soviet Union – and the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.
The programme begins with the siege of Leningrad. The aim of the Nazis was to starve its inhabitants. One contributor explained that the average Briton received around one loaf of sliced bread a day but the ration received in Leningrad was a mere two slices. More people died in Leningrad than the US and Britain put together. Over 2,000 were convicted of cannibalism during the siege.
The policy of shooting Soviet POWs and starving civilians was aimed at clearing land for German people. This murderous policy was soon elevated into murder on an industrial scale. Hitler’s belief was that Germany’s problems were a result of Jewish bankers and communism .The idea that Jews and Slavs were ‘animals’ provided the basis for the concentration camps and the genocide which followed. It also gives a clue to the extraordinary sacrifices made by the people of the Soviet Union.
I once read Castro’s writings, regarding Cuba’s military struggle against the white South African supremacists. He stated that injured enemy fighters would receive the same care as their own. This was not just for humane reasons. It was political: soldiers would rather fight to the death if capture meant death by torture. According to historians, the battle at Stalingrad was the turning point of WW2. Hitler himself stated that the outcome of the War depended on victory in the Caucasus.
The Soviet Union transported thousands of weapons factories and millions of its workers eastward, in order to avoid capture from advancing German forces. The workforce would routinely work 18 hours a day to supply the Red Army with equipment to match the Germans. In Stalingrad, a German Army of 280,000 soldiers became embroiled in a struggle for every street and every house.
The Soviet army launched an attack not unlike the German attack in Europe. The German army was eventually encircled and their supply lines cut.
The command of the German Army urged Hitler to withdraw its forces. This was refused and instead, the Luftwaffe tried to drop food to the half-starved troops, but it failed and the 91,000 troops that survived surrendered.
Over one million Russian soldiers and civilians died defending the city. A major reason for such a determined effort on both sides was oil. The city was the gateway to Russia’s oilfields and that could have been decisive in determining the outcome of the War. The Allies controlled around 90% of all the world’s oil production but the Axis powers held only 3%.
It is estimated that 60 million people lost their lives as a result of conflict during WW2. This dwarfs even the killing fields of WW1. Fortunately, at least in the more economically advanced nations, major wars have been avoided. For an explanation from a Marxist perspective, I would suggest the writings of Ted Grant, the former political editor of Militant and later Socialist Appeal. However, in my view, until the two main fetters on development; the private ownership of the means of production and nation state are replaced by Socialism, then the threat of future wars remain.
The programmes started being broadcast last night (September 2nd), with the first two episodes and then two more daily after that, but they can be caught up via the Channel 5 website here.
