Iosif Vissarionovich was a great leader of a great country for a long time. He is known and respected far beyond the CIS countries. He was an outstanding ruler and dictator. But during the beginning of the Second World War, Stalin disconnected from the world around him, so the country lost its commander, but this did not last long…
Stalin's silence or reasons for silence
I. V. Stalin, silent at the beginning of the war, introduced all the inhabitants of the Soviet Union into complete prostration. They expected to hear Stalin's speeches, instructions from their leader, from the one to whom they trusted their lives and were ready to go to die for their homeland. But instead they heard the voice of Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the USSR.
It was he who, on June 22, 1941, told that Hitler moved east. The thoughts of people at that time were very confused, and everyone had only one question: why did not Stalin, but Molotov, inform about the war? After all, it is necessary that the head of the country inform about this…
Chief's Stupefaction
All this caused a complete turmoil among both the higher ranks and the common people. How long did Stalin avoid public speaking? It was the second, third, fourth day after Hitler's attack, and there was silence on all the streets. No news in the papers, no sound from the radio, nothing. As it became known later, Stalin, stunned, simply locked himself in, did not see anything around him, considering what he needed to do with all this. Everyone was in the dark. The ambassadors who might have tried to solve the problem received no instructions and were simply confused. Nobody expected this.
Although, judging by the words of Vyacheslav Molotov, it was Stalin who decided that he should speak on the radio and tell the people what was happening in the country. He also said that Stalin was completely defeated, because he is the same person as everyone else. The leader assured Molotov that he would speak out soon, but you just need to see the state of affairs at the front, give some adequate comments about what happened.
Stalin's disbelief in Hitler's betrayal
How many days did Stalin avoid public speaking, why did this happen? According to the comments of Georgy Zhukov, marshal and honorary commander of the USSR, Joseph Stalin was confused, but then he came to his senses, began to work with full dedication and energy in order to resolve the problem with the war as quickly as possible. True, at the same time, Stalin showed great irritation, perceived almost everything with hostility, unsettling the entire team, literally forcing them to give up at work.
For someinformation from the leader's diary, in which he recorded all his visits to the Kremlin, it was found that he did not believe until the very end that Adolf Hitler had attacked the USSR, even expressed this to his colleagues. He said that, most likely, the German head was not even aware of what was happening, it was necessary to call him and talk so that he would give a full assessment of the situation. After that, Stalin's first public appearances were planned.
When there was a meeting with the German ambassadors, everything became clear. Molotov confirmed the fears of everyone, telling Stalin that the war had begun, and Hitler himself ordered the attack on the USSR.
Iosif Vissarionovich simply could not believe that the foreign policy he had been building for so many years, protected by various pacts and agreements with the Fuhrer, collapsed in an instant. He thought that Hitler would be afraid to start a war, because it was pure suicide, and he considered all hints that the Fuhrer was hostile towards the East to be the intrigues of everyone else who wanted to quarrel "friendly peoples".
Rejection of Stalin's speech
In early July, all of Stalin's associates went to his dacha in the Middle. He met them very irritably, as if they had declared war on him, and not Hitler, from whose friendship everyone wanted to save him. The leader sat in his chair and smoked. Then he asked why they all came to him, why they had come such a long way. The reason was clear, everyone wanted to hear Stalin speak at the congress.
Vyacheslav Molotov expressed the general opinion that the country needs to be put on its feet after suchstrike, raise the people, do at least something, and Joseph Vissarionovich himself must give orders as commander in chief. They needed the strength of their leader, which is why they came to him to bring him back into line. Stalin was surprised at such courage on the part of the Politburo members, but did not express any objections, on the contrary, supported such an initiative.
On the same day, the State Committee for the Defense of the Country was created, and the very next day all the newspapers were trumpeting about it. This committee included the closest people of Joseph Vissarionovich: Molotov, Beria, Malenkov and Voroshilov. Approved the powers of Stalin as commander in chief.
The people heard the voice of the leader only three days after the creation of the defense committee. At this time, Minsk had already been taken by the Nazis, deployed hostilities began. In 1941 alone, the USSR lost almost four and a half million people. As it turned out later, two and a half million of them were captured Red Army soldiers, among whom was the son of Joseph Vissarionovich, Yakov. At the beginning of 1942, the enemy was twenty kilometers from Moscow.
Admiration for the Russian people
In the next two years, the heroic people of the Soviet Union recaptured their territories, were able to push the fascist invader away from the borders of the Motherland. The displayed courage and strength of the Russian spirit impressed everyone. In his speech, Stalin noted that the courage of the Russian people is something great, but courage lies in the fact that they are fighting not for the state, but for their land on which they live, this is the whole secret.
