La Segunda Guerra Mundial. Mito Y Realidad

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La Segunda Guerra Mundial. Mito Y Realidad - 1 - Oleg Rzheshevski1, autor de este libro, es profesor, doctor en Ciencias Históricas y jefe de sector del Instituto de Historia Uni- versal de la Academia de Ciencias de la URSS. Nació en 1924 en Leningrado. Fue piloto militar durante la guerra. De 1967 a 1979 colaboró en el Instituto de Historia Militar. Han salido de su pluma los libros La guerra y la historia (1976) y Las enseñanzas de la segunda guerra mundial 1939-1945; es coautor de los libros La victoria histórica mundial del pueblo soviético 1941-1945 (1971), Guerra, historia, ideología (1974), La misión liberadora en el Oriente (1976) y otros. Bajo la redacción de Oleg Rzheshevski han sido traducidos y editados en ruso varios trabajos de autores extranjeros sobre la segunda guerra mundial. Se le deben tam- bién muchos artículos históricos militares, publicados en la URSS y otros países. Editorial Progreso 1 Esta ficha sobre el autor, insertada aquí por el escaneador, aparece originalmente en la solapa de la sobrecubierta del libro. La redacción de la traducción fue corregida por el escaneador. La paginación no coincide con la original. Las notas, que originalmente estaban al final del libro, se trasladaron a las páginas correspondientes, y se suprimió el Índice Ono- mástico. - 2 - Олег Ржешевский ВТОРАРАЯ МИРОВАЯ ВОЙНА: МИФЫ И ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНОСТЬ На испанском языке Edición Gladys Alonso González Diseño: Armando Millares Blanco Rea- lización: Haydée Cáceres Martínez Impreso en la URSS © Издательство «Прогресс», 1984 © Traducción al español Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1985 calle 14, no. 4104, Playa, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba Р 0505030202 726 014(01) 85 без объявления - 3 - LA SEGUNDA GUERRA MUNDIAL Mito y Realidad OLEG A. RZHESHEVSKI - 4 - INTRODUCCIÓN La Segunda Guerra Mundial incorporó a su órbita 61 Estados, al 80 % de la población del planeta, y tuvo una duración de seis años. Su torbellino de fuego, después de abarcar inmensos espa- cios de Europa, Asia y África, se apoderó de los océanos Atlánti- co y Pacífico y alcanzó las costas de Australia. La contienda cau- só destrucciones colosales y se llevó consigo decenas de millo- nes de vidas. La pobreza y los sufrimientos que tuvieron que so- portar los pueblos son inconmensurables. Decenas de miles de libros se han escrito sobre la Segunda Gue- rra Mundial; un inmenso número de artículos de periódicos y re- vistas, de transmisiones radiales, de películas para el cine y la televisión se han referido a ella. A pesar de haber transcurrido 40 años desde el final de la guerra, su historia continúa atrayendo el interés de escritores, científicos y especialistas militares, y los acontecimientos de aquellos días, preocupan y conmueven aún hoy a las personas sencillas en el mundo entero. En los últimos años, la ciencia soviética ha alcanzado notables resultados en el análisis de la historia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Entre 1978 y 1980 se publicó la serie (6 tomos) de reco- pilación de documentos, denominada La Unión Soviética en las conferencias internacionales del período de la Gran Guerra Pa- tria; su redactor jefe fue A. A. Gromyko, vicepresidente del Con- sejo de Ministros de la URSS y ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de la Unión Soviética 1 En 1982 culminó la edición de la obra académica (12 tomos) His- toria de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, 1939-1945, de cuya comi- sión de redacción fue presidente D. F. Ustínov, Mariscal de la Unión Soviética. Estos trabajos no sólo han sido objeto de una 1 En julio de 1985, A. Gromyko fue elegido Presidente del Presídium del Sóviet Supremo de la URSS. - 5 - amplia atención en la Unión Soviética, sino también en el extran- jero; pues enriquecen la ciencia histórica mundial con nuevas e importantes conclusiones y generalizaciones, así como reafirman la verdad de la gran hazaña del pueblo soviético, que salvó al mundo de la amenaza de la esclavitud fascista. En 1984, científicos de los países de la comunidad socialista pu- blicaron un trabajo conjunto denominado La Segunda Guerra Mundial. Breve historia, dirigido a las amplias masas de lectores. No menor es la atención que se le presta al esclarecimiento de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en los países occidentales. “La Segun- da Guerra Mundial atrae más interés y provoca más polémicas que ningún otro tópico”, constata el destacado historiador inglés W. Laqueur.1 Los acontecimientos de la pasada guerra continúan ejerciendo una colosal influencia sobre la conciencia de las personas. La fuerza de su influencia ideológica está dada por el vínculo orgáni- co entre el desarrollo de la situación internacional y los resultados y las lecciones de la guerra, los destinos de la gente y las conclu- siones socio políticas que ofrece su historia para la actualidad. La Segunda Guerra Mundial maduró cuando el capitalismo ya no poseía poder universal, cuando ya existía y se había consolidado el primer Estado socialista en la historia: la URSS. La escisión del mundo en dos sistemas contrarios, como consecuencia del triunfo de la Gran Revolución Socialista de Octubre, condujo a la apari- ción de la principal contradicción de la época: entre el capitalismo y el socialismo. Además, continuaron desarrollándose las contra- dicciones entre las potencias imperialistas, se fueron conforman- do gradualmente dos coaliciones imperialistas opuestas: la ger- mano ítalo japonesa y la anglo franco norteamericana. Una particularidad de la Segunda Guerra Mundial también consis- tió en que la contienda no sólo se desarrolló como la lucha por el 1 Walter Laqueur: “Introduction”, en Journal of Contemporary History, t. 16, N° l, enero de 1961. Número especial. “The Second World War”, parte I, p. 1. - 6 - reparto del mundo entre las potencias imperialistas. Una de las agrupaciones —la germano ítalo japonesa— era representante de regímenes fascistas que obraban como una manifiesta dictadura terrorista de las fuerzas más agresivas del capital monopolista. Está agrupación se planteó como objetivo, conquistar el mundo y establecer el dominio de razas “elegidas”, exterminar pueblos y naciones completas considerados “inferiores”, abolir su existencia como Estados y su cultura multisecular. El fascismo proclamó abiertamente que su objetivo fundamental consistía en extirpar la ideología marxista leninista, en destruir a sus defensores —los comunistas— y en liquidar el baluarte de la revolución socialista: la Unión Soviética. El bloque germano ítalo japonés amenazó con castigar a sus adversarios capitalistas de Europa y Asia, con aplastar a los Estados Unidos de América, con suprimir, incluso, las elementales libertades burguesas. La Gran Guerra Patria, en la cual se levantaron los pueblos de la URSS al sufrir el pérfido ataque de la Alemania fascista y sus aliados, se convirtió en el elemento componente más importante de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Se desarrolló el enfrentamiento, sin precedentes en la historia, entre un Estado socialista aliado a las fuerzas democráticas de muchos países y el agresivo bloque fascista. Este enfrentamiento significó un cambio cualitativo radi- cal en el carácter sociopolítico, la escala, el transcurso y las pers- pectivas de la guerra. Los pueblos del mundo hallaron un claro programa de lucha por la derrota total de los agresores, por el aniquilamiento del fascismo; un programa de lucha por la inde- pendencia nacional y la democracia. La Gran Guerra Patria fue la guerra del país del socialismo triun- fante contra las fuerzas de choque de la reacción internacional, personificadas por el fascismo. Fue una lucha heroica que aunó, de manera consecuente, el patriotismo y el internacionalismo pro- letario, en defensa de las conquistas revolucionarias de los traba- jadores, por el progreso social y la civilización humana. Los obje- tivos de la Gran Guerra Patria eran humanos y afines a los pue- blos de todos los países. Estos objetivos eran salvaguardar la - 7 - Patria, aniquilar a los invasores, cumplir la gran misión de liberar a la Europa esclavizada —incluida Alemania— de los fanáticos fascistas y dar a los pueblos la posibilidad de decidir por sí mis- mos las cuestiones referentes a su sistema estatal y económico. En la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el largo y difícil camino hacia la victoria sobre los agresores se planteaba, en primer lugar, a tra- vés de la lucha armada en el frente soviético alemán. Precisamente en este frente, el más importante de la guerra, se desarrollaron las batallas y los combates de mayor envergadura y más encarnizados, como resultado de los cuales el enemigo fue desgastado y arrojado del territorio soviético. El Ejército Rojo libe- ró, total o parcialmente, 13 países de Europa y Asia con una po- blación de 200 millones de personas. El pueblo soviético no sólo salvaguardó sus conquistas socialistas, sino también salvó al mundo de la barbarie fascista. La lucha de la Unión Soviética contra la Alemania nazi y sus alia- dos, la encabezó el Partido de Lenin: la vanguardia combativa de la clase obrera y de todo el pueblo soviético. El Comité Central del Partido, consciente de su responsabilidad histórica por los destinos del pueblo y el Estado, por la causa del socialismo, puso de manifiesto su sabiduría y su ingente valor para superar las colosales dificultades provocadas por la guerra; movilizó todas las fuerzas materiales y espirituales de la sociedad; inspiró y organi- zó al pueblo soviético para derrotar al enemigo y conquistar la victoria total. Las ventajas del sistema socialista, la cohesión de todo el pueblo bajo la bandera del Partido Comunista, devinieron las fuentes más importantes de la invencibilidad del Estado socia- lista, de la victoria que, con sus esfuerzos conjuntos, conquistaron en la Gran Guerra Patria la clase obrera, el campesinado coope- rativista, la intelectualidad popular, todas las naciones y las na- cionalidades del País de los Soviets. Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, una coalición antihitleriana se opuso al bloque fascista militarista. La coincidencia de intere- ses nacionales de varios Estados, fue la base sobre la cual se - 8 - formó, por primera vez en la historia, un frente internacional de diferentes fuerzas socio políticas.
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