Friends of Nazi Germany, or Who Lost World War II with Hitler

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Continuing the theme of the German allies of World War II, it is worth adding to the list of distinguished states. Participation in the war on the side of Hitler in the case of some of them was not so straightforward. But be that as it may, representatives of these countries invaded Soviet territory not in the guise of grooms and cooks. It is difficult to say how many victims could have been avoided and how much earlier the Third Reich would have fallen if Hitler had not relied on his European companions. And it should be noted that with the victory of the USSR, yesterday's satellites of Germany joined the ranks of the opposite camp.

Slovakia's undeclared war

When in 1939 Hitler seized Czechoslovakia in defiance of all the Munich agreements, the Czech Republic was annexed to the Reich as a "protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia." Slovakia was declared independent. As president, the new state education was headed by Bishop Tissot, known for his radical anti-Semitic sentiments. As such, there was no declaration of war on the Soviet Union on behalf of Slovakia.

And although the formal position of Slovakia was non-aggressive, it sent its troops to the Eastern Front. Two infantry divisions, three artillery regiments, three dozen light tanks and about 70 aircraft volunteered to support Hitler. With the very first attempt of the German military leaders in the winter of 1943 to bring the Slovaks into battle in the North Caucasus, the Allies almost without exception went over to the side of the Red Army. After this experience, Slovaks were most often involved in security tasks on the territory of Belarus. In total, about 35 thousand Slovaks visited the Eastern Front, among whom at most three thousand died, but over 25 thousand surrendered. With the end of the Slovak National Uprising in the fall of 1944, the Germans decided to disarm the Slovak army. 27 Slovak aircraft flew to the side of the USSR with the Air Force commander at the head.

Anti-Soviet successes of Croatian pilots

Croatian ideology and ethnic cleansing experience were similar to Nazi attitudes. So the joining of the Croatian government on June 22 to the “pan-European anti-Bolshevik bloc was not a surprise. By mid-summer, after the declaration of war on the USSR, a motorized brigade and an infantry Croatian legion of up to 2,200 soldiers appeared. Both units were sent to confront the Red Army in the east. In total, about 10 thousand people fought from Croatia with the USSR during the war period.

To a greater extent, the Croats were noted in Ukraine, along the eastern bank of the Dnieper. In addition, under German patronage, the Croats formed a so-called sea legion based in the cities of Genichesk and Mariupol. The Croatian air squadron considered 259 downed Soviet aircraft to be its pride (most military historians deny these achievements). In 1944, the Red Army clashed in battles on the territory of Hungary with the mountain Croatian division of the SS "Khanjar", where the latter was defeated.

Anti-communist "Blue Division" from Spain

Officially, Spain did not participate in World War II, but the "Blue Division" of volunteers volunteered to help Germany out of ideological considerations. Caudillo Franco decided to repay the Union with his own coin: during the Spanish Civil War, Soviet pilots and tankers were also listed as "volunteers" and even disguised themselves as local "Miguel" with "Pablo".

The Blue Division deployed around Novgorod and Leningrad, taking part in hostilities from 1941 to 1943. It was called "blue" because of the color of the summer uniform. The staffing of the division was determined by 17 thousand soldiers and officers. In total, the rotation affected up to 50 thousand people, of whom up to 4 thousand died and about one and a half prisoners. In addition to anti-communist sentiments after the Spanish Civil War, volunteers there were driven by rampant unemployment. On July 18, 1943, the Spaniards gathered in honor of the national festival near Gatchina in the palace of Countess Samoilova. The Soviet command was informed of the whereabouts of the Spanish volunteers, and a massive artillery attack followed. The division commander led by about a hundred soldiers perished, and the palace itself is in ruins today.

The Spaniards during their alliance with Hitler were distinguished by a high level and order of material support. They got along quite well with the Russians in the occupied territories, which periodically deserved scolding from their older German brother.

French of the Third Reich

In Soviet times, it was believed that the French were occupied by the Germans and fought for the interests of the Anti-Hitler coalition. And in a sense this is so: some of the French really went into underground resistance, others even took part in battles on the Soviet side (the Normandie-Niemen fighter aviation regiment). But there were no less French, who readily accepted Hitler's ideas and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Third Reich. London and Washington contemplated considering France, subject to occupation, as an accomplice to Germany. And only Stalin, with his firm word, saved the French from the occupation regime and insisted on their inclusion in the anti-Hitler camp. Charles de Gaulle did not forget about this even after the departure of the Soviet leader from life, condemning the "de-Stalinization" arranged by Khrushchev.

By the most conservative estimates, tens of thousands of French volunteers were involved in the regular German formations and auxiliary groups. The French with Nazi convictions did not give up until the very disastrous end. The Red Army faced them even in the spring of 1945, when the 500-strong SS Charlemagne stood behind the Reichstag. For such perseverance and achievements, France became the largest Western European state in terms of numbers, which fought on the side of the Nazis in World War II.

There are also reasons why the German satellites were constantly losing. They were less prepared and engaged in precisely these matters.