— George Allen —
(cpcml.ca, February 2, 2022)
On February 2, the world joins the peoples of the former Soviet Union and present-day Russian Federation to celebrate the anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad. That victory changed the course of the Second World War known as the anti-fascist war. It marks the point at which the anti-fascist fight went on the offensive, delivering mortal blows to Hitler’s forces all the way to their final demise and surrender in Berlin on May 9, 1945. The victory at Stalingrad, followed by the victorious battle of Kursk, imbued the peoples of the Soviet Union and the world with optimism and certainty that, thanks to the sacrifices made by the peoples of the Soviet Union, the anti-fascist forces of the world would be victorious.
The tenacity, courage and audacity of the defenders of the city and their sacrifice were without precedent as they implemented the call of J.V. Stalin — “Not One Step Back!” The peoples of the entire world saw the mettle of the Soviet people under the leadership of Stalin, the field commanders of the armed forces and the Bolshevik Party. In the battle against the Nazis, the Soviet peoples united as one. They stood with the people of Stalingrad and their Red Army, Air Force and special brigades. The role of the People’s Militia formed by the factory workers to defend their city street by street, house by house, room by room, factory by factory, inspired hundreds of millions of people the world over who accompanied them with bated breath and admiration.
The Soviet women formed advanced sniper brigades and became pilots who caused Hitler’s air force irreparable damage and contributed to blowing their morale to bits. Women and girls also stood second to none in the partisan units behind enemy lines. Women took over assembly lines in the factories and worked on the farms which provisioned the fighting forces and all of the Soviet Union in the war conditions. The unprecedented positions the Soviet women assumed in the trenches and front lines gave inspiration to the women working in the factories and fields of the countries which formed the anti-fascist front and in the resistance organizations and made the entire world proud.
right: at work in the Stalingrad Tractor Factory.
The sacrifice and determination to defeat the scourge of fascism and save humankind made the Soviet Union the vanguard of the world anti-fascist front. The courage, cool-headedness and bold leadership of the great commander Joseph Stalin and the Bolshevik Party he led made them the architects of the anti-fascist victory in Europe.
forward to victory!”
In the present, it is because of the activities of the U.S. imperialists and their aggressive alliance NATO which target Russia as the enemy of the peoples of the world that the Russian government uses celebrations of the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad to unite the people to defend their motherland once again against invasion. For example, the theme used on the 75th anniversary of the victory, “We Are Proud, We Remember,” sought to kindle nationalist sentiment in preparation for dangers which threaten the peace as a result of the U.S. imperialist striving for domination, and the manner in which one great power is being pitted against another.
And remember the people must, but not to be used as cannon fodder in inter-imperialist wars between big powers, imperialist coalitions and cartels. They can never again suffer what they suffered when Hitler invaded in 1941 to 1945 and the aftermath of the war when they had to bury their dead, care for the injured and reconstruct their cities and towns, factories, schools and vital infrastructure. To this day not all the bodies of the fallen have been recovered or identified. Thus the people remember that their struggle today, to be victorious and favour them, must be imbued once again with the spirit of Lenin and Stalin which led the people to establish and defend Soviet Power as the condition of their victory. It is the control of that power which enabled the people to win victory and build a life which made them proud.
This kind of pride cannot be achieved by taking up the chauvinist slogan of the Tsars to “Make Russia Great.” It is by basing themselves on proletarian internationalism as they did during the war that the working class and peoples of the Russian Federation constitute a mighty force the imperialists have to contend with — the best allies of the peoples of all of Asia, Africa, Europe, North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Oceania.
That is what the peoples of the world remember from the Battle of Stalingrad. That is what makes them proud. Let no-one tear asunder the bonds forged between the peoples of all lands during the anti-fascist war. Let us unite today to uphold the cause of peace by forming anti-war governments and ensuring each of our countries is a zone for peace!
(TML Archives)