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norecovery's avatar

Historical revisionism to suit a narrative seems a rather weak explanation for what we are witnessing particularly in Europe, given the violent events of both World Wars that had engulfed the populace with extreme hatred and self righteousness. I would suggest “historical fabrication to obfuscate the truth and deceive” as an alternate. But even that phrase doesn’t quite reveal the level of irrationality, insanity, and fealty to financial power that apparently has gripped the current European leadership.

Do they really believe they can prevail against the new superpowers of the East by ignoring reality and issuing ultimatums? Or is this the last desperate gasp of a superfluous imperial political order that inexorably must fall due to its malevolence and its inadequacy to serve the great masses, especially those within the European sphere who are now being deprived of their means of livelihood? Apparently, the Eastern and Global South leaders – and many of us in the West – clearly are aware of the latter, which broadly elicits both fear of violent reprisals and hope for the prospect of a new world order that respects different cultures and values human resources, fairness and honesty.

The ‘mask is slipping,’ so the biased artificial interpretations of recent upheavals (e.g. “unprovoked Russian aggression”) cannot stand against serious scrutiny as a majority of people insist “never again.” Such scrutiny must be harnessed through media in order to contradict the false narratives. We can be grateful for Glenn Diesen’s efforts and those of Russia’s leaders that present such articulate analysis.

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Michael  Lynch's avatar

I wrote and posted this essay on SubStack on May 8th, 2025:

"VICTORY DAY?"

"Eighty years ago, on May 8th, 1945, Nazi Germany was finally crushed.

I salute all who fought, suffered, and died in that victory—regardless of nation. But let’s stop pretending everyone bore the same burden.

The truth is simple:

The war in Europe was won on the Eastern Front, and the Russian people paid the highest price, by far. That is not an opinion—that is a historical fact. Denying this is propaganda and revisionist history, plain and simple.

The United States didn’t win the war in Europe alone. Neither did Britain, France, or any other Western ally. Without the Soviet Union, there would have been no victory in Europe. Period.

The Red Army bled Nazi Germany dry. While American and British forces were still preparing for D-Day, the Russians were locked in brutal combat across a thousand-mile front—at Stalingrad, Kursk, and countless other blood-soaked battlefields. Without that front, Hitler’s armies wouldn’t have stopped at the English Channel—they would’ve kept going. And without the Russians, Allied casualties would have been unimaginably higher.

Here’s the hard reality:

The Russians did 80% of the fighting and dying in the European Theater. They engaged and destroyed the best of the German military machine. Their sacrifice gave the U.S. the space to become the Arsenal of Democracy, to focus on the Pacific, and to obliterate Imperial Japan.

And yes—27 million Russians died in that war. That was 14% of their entire population. Not just soldiers—civilians as well, entire cities, towns, and villages erased. Entire generations wiped out. For perspective: a proportional loss in the U.S. would mean 19.5 million American dead. That’s the price the Russians paid—fighting and dying for every inch of land, all the way to Berlin.

Let that sink in.

Yes, the U.S. was a major supplier of weapons, food, and fuel—but supplies mean nothing without someone to use them in battle. Without the Russians fighting tooth and nail on the Eastern Front, all that aid would’ve been irrelevant. America substituted war material for American blood. Russians died in American-built tanks and planes so that American boys didn’t have to. And yet, decades later, smug politicians and armchair patriots still whine that the Soviets didn’t “repay” their Lend-Lease loans.

As if 27 million lives weren’t payment enough?

Reducing that kind of sacrifice to a balance sheet isn’t just ignorance—it’s obscene. It’s an insult to the dead. It’s historical amnesia parading as patriotism, and it exposes the moral rot of every Western leader or pundit still clinging to that lie.

If you deny this, you’re not engaging in debate—you’re whitewashing history to fit your politics. And I don’t care what title you hold, what office you sit in, or how many flags you wrap yourself in—you are lying.

The record stands.

The dead demand the truth.

And the truth doesn’t need anyone's permission to exist."

Politicos in the West have been lying to themselves and their constituents for so long, they are no longer even able to recognize the truth. These constituents are either Woefully or Willfully Ignorant of the Historic accounts of WW2. The Politicos absolutely LOVE that fact above all else.

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marcjf's avatar

Well, I understand that there is Western revisionism going on (and then some), but the Soviet Union, and then Russia, also had and has blind spots when it comes to WW2. Without taking anything away from the USSR, its people and its sacrifice, the fact is that under Stalin it was a murderous tyranny set on exporting that mode of government as far as it could. In 1939 Stalin was faced with Hobson’s choice – he was offered an alliance with France/Germany/Poland – but Poland did not agree to have Red Army forces on its territory – or it could agree a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. Stalin chose the latter as it gave him some opportunity to restore the Tsarist patrimony. Before Russia was attacked on 22 June 1941 they invaded 6 nations. Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Rumania. In each they employed the state apparatus of repression – mass deportations, executions and arrests. The USSR under Stalin was no sort of altruistic nation.

The Germans decided to attack Russia in July 1940 – not December as is often thought (see Halder’s diaries) largely due to the fact that as the Nazi’s were totally embroiled in France, Russia attacked Rumania in June 1940 without warning and annexed what is now called Moldovia. The French allied Rumania soon realised that it had better sign up with Germany or else fall under communist rule – which of course it did later. The Germans panicked about Ploesti which was their main oil supply. In July 1940 they cancelled a plan to build a large air force and navy and instead tried to create a force designed to conquer Russia.

The Icebreaker Theory put forward by Rezov/Suvorov has intrigued me. Of course it is stated as simple revisionism by Soviet and latterly Russian historians. However the fact remains that the 15th May Red Army attack plans were being put into action, and the Red Army was either deployed or moving towards those deployment zones on 22 June 1941. A phased and largely secret mobilisation was under way in the USSR. In my view there is ample evidence that the Red Army planned to attack the Nazi state but Hitler was quicker to the draw. And so at least the USSR/Russia can now claim the moral high ground, but the price paid for this miscalculation was immense. Maybe some 3 to 4 million dead higher than official figures suggest according to the latest Russian research. Why Stalin was fooled is another matter and one I won’t dwell on here. Suffice to say in his world, anyone who disagreed with him soon found a cell and then a pit in pine forest, so it was wise to agree with what the “Boss” thought. A catastrophic misjudgement on Stalin’s part.

Nazi Germany was always going to attack the USSR. It had objectives of eliminating “Jewish Bolshevism”, acquiring lebensraum and also resources to fight a global war against the British Empire and what was clearly going to be the future enemy, the USA. It could achieve none of these things by not attacking the USSR, and all of them by doing do. Its early “alliance” with the USSR was never a permanent thing, and was always going to be broken. The USSR may have been planning to attack Germany but we will never now know for sure. You won’t hear confirmation from Russian sources, that is certain.

The initial period of the war was catastrophic for the USSR and the fact they prevailed a miracle. No other nation could have absorbed the blows and losses. The USSR play down western aid in the form of lend lease but that is to misread history. Nevertheless the Soviet people paid the blood price of defeating the Nazis and tore out the living heart of the Wehrmacht, rendering it impotent by mid-1944, and probably a year earlier. Russia and the other successor nations of the USSR rightly honour their forebears on 9th May each year.

All I am saying here though is that everyone writes their own history and holds dear certain myths and fables. Russia has not yet fully come to terms with the acts of the USSR between 1 September 1939 and 22 June 1941, or how close it came to defeat and the role that allied aid came in avoiding that.

I am usually subject to insults from Bde 77 trolls so it might be interesting to get some flak from the other side!!

This is already a long comment so I am closing it down. If Mr Diesen wishes me to expand things further then I will do my best to oblige.

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SimSceptic's avatar

I can't bear to hear this ongoing mythology of the brave Soviet allies and the demonising of Germany only.

Has Glen et al forgotten that the USSR was in alliance with Germany until 1941.

Has he forgotten the Soviets invaded Finland before Germany invaded Poland (which followed a great deal of Polish and British provocations and attempts by Germany to resolve the Danzig issue on favourable terms with Poland); and that the Soviets also invaded Poland with the Germans in 1939 and occupied a larger portion of Poland than Germany.

The Germans received a great deal of support from Eastern Europe countries because of the fears of Soviet occupation and domination which turned out to be prescient.

Has Glen and everyone else forgotten that the Soviets brutally occupied all of eastern and central Europe for 50 years after the war?

Britain and France allegedly went to war against Germany to protect Poland- yet Churchill and FDR were quite happy to let the Soviets occupy Poland for 50 years!

Not to forget that approximately 1m Soviet soldiers changed sides and fought for the Wehrmacht rather than for the Soviet Union.

And the Soviets would never have defeated the Wehrmacht without Lend Lease.

And according to Suvarov there is a lot of evidence that the Soviets were preparing for an offensive war in the west. Hitler pre-empted the Soviet attack.

And who can trust the numbers of Soviet deaths now stated as gospel. Stalin himself stated that the total Soviet deaths were about 5m, not the 25m now bandied about.

This is just more cartoon history, like we hear from mainstream media about Russia and the Ukraine War and the causes of that war.

Hopefully Glen and others will review their cartoon version of WW2 that is still propagated in schools and the mainstream media and amongst the court historians who parade around Churchill and FDR as heroes- which they were not! And nor was Stalin!!

WW2 is a war that could and should have been avoided, rather than allowing the terrible carnage that took place and the domination of eastern and central Europe by a totalitarian regime for 50 years.

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