The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - ELTE BTK Történelem Szakos Portál

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Thus the date of the 23 rd August is of course not exclusive to evoke the German-Soviet pact (and to that extent, there are not one but several anniversaries of the pact), but better still, in front of the importance of this episode for the Central and Eastern Europe, this date also became a day to remember the victims of National Socialism and Stalinism, may the proposition of the OECD retained or not. II. Diversity of perceptions and remembrance from one country to another However, within the context of our French-German study, it is necessary to mention that France and Germany naturally do not share the same history in Central and Eastern Europe. For instance, it is obvious that the Operation Barbarossa, launched by Hitler on the 22 nd of June 1941, was much more present in their spirit than the Occupation and the Napoleonic Empire. The pact was named „German-Soviet pact” or more rarely „Ribentropp-Molotov pact” in France, and „Hitler-Stalin pact” by the Germans (which is much more direct and probable more relevant). This is a first sign that the perceptions (estrangement in one hand, guilt in the other), and thus the commemorations of this event, cannot be the same on each side of the Rhine. a) On one hand a certain distance and fast indifference for the event... In the beginning of our study have we already a first idea of the importance that the German-Soviet pact could occupy in the French public debate, particularly in the press. We can complete what we have said about the very weak cover of this pact, since our meticulous study of every big French daily paper near the 23 rd of August did not allow us to find a single article dealing with this event. As far as the weekly press is concerned, things get better, since L’Express started a serial on the Second World War on the 19 th of August. Also, Le Point published Reuters 8 report on the remembrance of the human chain in the Baltic States on its website (but it never became a paper article), as well as a criticism and extracts 9 of the book of the English historian Richard Overy on 1939: Countdown to War (which reported of the process of going to war) on the 27 th of August. It was thus necessary to wait for the end of August and the beginning of September (Russian statements and ceremony in Poland) to read the first articles on this matter. This does not mean that this pact is ignored in France as having played a decisive role in the baining of the Second World 8 Reuters. Les Etats baltes commémorent la chaîne humaine contre l'URSS. lepoint.fr. http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-monde/2009-08-23/les-etats-baltes-commemorent-la-chaine-humaine - contre -l-urss/924/0/37091023/08/2009. date of consultation 1 st December 2009. 9 LORRAIN, François-Guillaume: Et le monde bascula dans l'abîme. Le Point, 27 th August 2009. OVERY, Richard: „1939. Demain, la guerre”. Translated by Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat, Seuil, 204. 36
War. On the contrary, it shows that this dimension is the only one that is taken into account. On Monday, the 24 th of August 2009, the monthly magazine Le Monde diplomatique alone published an article 10 where this only version (that of the exclusive responsibility of this pact in the start of the conflict) is questioned . It is indeed the only article of French press which reads that France has „opened the way to the destruction of Czechoslovakia” by the Munich Agreement, and that eventually „the Soviet Union did the exact same thing”. François Fillon’s speech in Westerplatte (ceremony for which France „only” sent its Prime Minister when the president of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy was working in Paris on the subjects of the security, the H1N1 flu and criminal procedure) 11 . It was the only official statement made by the French government on this anniversary and it is also eloquent. Strangely, not a word was spoken by the Prime Minister on the German- Soviet pact and on the origins of the war: „in Gdansk, where on the 1 st of September 1939, the Second World War was set on fire[…] ”12 . With a rather partial vision of history, he only mentions De Gaulle and the „France libre” that resisted during the entire war as did the Polish… b)... on the other hand consciousness of guilty and duty of memory As far as the German side is concerned, the article first quoted (which was blaming the authorities for not expressing themselves on this matter for the anniversary of this pact) can seem contradictory. But finally it is the sign that there is still a feeling of guilt besides the Rhine and that the Germans still believe in the necessity of the duty of remembrance. Contrary to the French press, every big German daily or weekly newspaper published numerous articles (sometimes even files) from the middle of August. Sometimes they only consisted on commenting the German-Soviet pact and its history (with articles exclusively dedicated to the genesis of this pact). 13 The length of those articles also is to be underlined (on average, the German ones are two or three times longer the French ones, but this can be partly explain by the size and the thickness of the German newspapers with regard to the French ones), as is their serious, since many of them are written by historians 14 or even interviews of 10 Le pacte germano-soviétique...et ses suites. Le Monde Diplomatique 24 th August 2009. 11 Elysee.fr, Agenda du Président de la République. http://www.elysee.fr/actualites/ index.php?mode=agenda&lang=fr&month=9&year=2009&day=1&cyear=2009&cmonth=9, date of consultation 1 st December 2009. 12 Discours du Premier ministre, François Fillon, aux cérémonies du 70e anniversaire du déclenchement de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, http://www.gouvernement.fr/premierministre/discours-du-premier-ministre-francois-fillon-aux-ceremonies-du-70e-anniversaire-du. date of consultation 1 st December 2009. 13 REISSMULLER, Johann Georg: Der Pakt. FAZ, 21 st August 2009. 14 SCHIELE, Ulrich: Der Weg in den Krieg. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 27 th August 2009. Historian who is teaching at the universities of Paris and Berlin. SCHÖLLGEN, Gregor: Als Stalin und Hitler den «Teufelspakt» schlossen. Die Welt, 24 th August 2009. Historian an the 37
Page 2 and 3: ISBN 978-963-284-164-9
Page 5 and 6: Unknown Clauses: The Background Dea
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS Foreword (István MAJOROS,
Page 9 and 10: Foreword The world remembers in 200
Page 11: The Historical Judgement of the Mol
Page 14 and 15: went often on emotional instead of
Page 16 and 17: What is much more interesting is th
Page 18 and 19: such an international agreement as
Page 20 and 21: Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggress
Page 22 and 23: Done in duplicate, in the German an
Page 25 and 26: Lachaise, Bernard Historiography of
Page 27 and 28: Relations) are the focus of special
Page 29 and 30: Russian agreement (…) would allow
Page 31 and 32: Europe and on the French communists
Page 33 and 34: adopted a stance of denying the fac
Page 35 and 36: Ortolan, Guillaume The 70 th annive
Page 37: government (more than twenty) came,
Page 41 and 42: this anniversary and more widely of
Page 43: interesting: „Illusions. In summe
Page 47 and 48: Kretschmann, Vasco The ideological
Page 49 and 50: One of the most influential associa
Page 51 and 52: Germanness in the provinces of West
Page 53 and 54: Prętkiewicz, Przemysław The syste
Page 55 and 56: interwar period and the treaty was
Page 57 and 58: situation of rising danger accepted
Page 59 and 60: Manchukuo and broke relations with
Page 61: I would like to finish my article w
Page 64 and 65: party itself but for the whole Slov
Page 66 and 67: In summary, the group of the „Mod
Page 68 and 69: make proposals or suggestions. 6 In
Page 70 and 71: (Aland), Hanko and the islands of t
Page 72 and 73: have had a less serious effect on t
Page 74 and 75: not expect strong resistance and ho
Page 77 and 78: Winkler, Paul Adolf Eichmann’s Vi
Page 79 and 80: individual offenders, 10 who used h
Page 81 and 82: esearch. But how could the suppress
Page 83 and 84: expert of this matter 29 and had as
Page 85 and 86: Arendt on the contrary is in the op
Page 87 and 88: the „matter”, where there was a
Page 89 and 90:
adoption of the model it became cle
Page 91 and 92:
of Eichmann. For that Heydrich deli
Page 93:
esistance […] but of logistics. N
Page 96 and 97:
British government refused to give
Page 98 and 99:
ole in the defence of Madrid in Nov
Page 100 and 101:
public doubt the democratic idea of
Page 102 and 103:
Republicans. In the refugee camps i
Page 104 and 105:
102
Page 106 and 107:
iron? Where can one find more nicke
Page 108 and 109:
According to his diaries, the main
Page 110 and 111:
announced: „We have no active all
Page 112 and 113:
110
Page 114 and 115:
negative, an analysis of the disapp
Page 116 and 117:
can let think of an imminent war po
Page 118 and 119:
de la guerre [il] ne fait que l'agg
Page 120 and 121:
Party), the enemy of the inside. Of
Page 122 and 123:
120
Page 124 and 125:
Before the Pact M. Coulondre, the F
Page 126 and 127:
Lets us skip a few decades and list
Page 128 and 129:
argain with. Hitler had an offer th
Page 130 and 131:
secret protocol clarified that the
Page 132 and 133:
to reach out for Russia through the
Page 134 and 135:
of a war interesting rather on civi
Page 136 and 137:
At the same moment, we can note an
Page 138 and 139:
Faure 2 , remains hostile to war. I
Page 140 and 141:
war can still be avoided in June 19
Page 142 and 143:
acked by a „belligerent” coalit
Page 144 and 145:
142
Page 146 and 147:
agreement” sound anachronistic. E
Page 148 and 149:
1939 between Germany and the Soviet
Page 150 and 151:
Two ideas emerge from the press: on
Page 152 and 153:
soviets didn’t have motive. Blum
Page 154 and 155:
Moscow's line, with the national an
Page 156 and 157:
154
Page 158 and 159:
2.000 German speaking inhabitants).
Page 160 and 161:
The Eastern Polish border was not r
Page 162 and 163:
Army. The mayor of Lviv did not wan
Page 164 and 165:
162
Page 166 and 167:
Budapest, and for Warsaw. The two c
Page 168 and 169:
could not destroy the Polish Air Fo
Page 170 and 171:
independence, Romania was forced to
Page 172 and 173:
importance for the events considere
Page 174 and 175:
possible future opposition to the S
Page 176 and 177:
ate of communists within the Jews o
Page 178 and 179:
the initial positive feeling toward
Page 180 and 181:
wanted to take revenge for the NKVD
Page 182 and 183:
German Reactions A last point that
Page 184:
182
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