Resistance movement

nationally - liberation, anti-fascist movement during the Second World War of 1939-45 (See World War II 1939-1945) against the German, Italian and Japanese occupiers and local reactionary elements collaborating with them. Workers and peasants, the patriotic urban petty and partly middle bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia, and part of the clergy took part in the D.S. In Asian countries, some groups of landowners also joined the struggle against the Japanese colonialists to one degree or another. In almost all the countries occupied by the fascists and in the D.S., there were two main currents: 1) democratic, led by the working class, headed by the communist parties, and putting forward the demand not only for national, but also for social liberation; 2) right-wing, conservative, led by bourgeois elements, which limited its tasks to the restoration of the power of the national bourgeoisie and the order that existed before the occupation. The Communists cooperated with those right-wing elements in the ranks of the D.S. who were ready to wage an active struggle against the invaders. S. established cooperation against a common enemy. In some countries (Yugoslavia, Albania, Poland, Greece, etc.), the bourgeois governments in exile, with the support of the ruling circles of Great Britain and the United States, created their own organizations on the territories of their countries occupied by the states of the fascist bloc, which, formally advocating liberation from German-fascist occupations, in fact, waged primarily a struggle against the communist parties and other democratic organizations that participated in the DC. Being deeply national in character in each individual country, DC was at the same time an international movement, because had a common goal for all the fighting peoples - the defeat of the forces of fascism, the liberation of the territories of the occupied countries from the invaders. The internationalism of D.S. was manifested in the interaction and mutual assistance of national D.S. and in the broad participation of anti-fascists from various countries in the national D.S. In many European countries, Soviet people who had fled from fascist concentration camps fought in D.S. Many Soviet patriots were leaders of anti-fascist groups, commanders of partisan detachments. In the D.S., the struggle against fascism and for national liberation was, as a rule, closely intertwined with the struggle for democratic transformation and the social demands of the working people, and in colonial and dependent countries, with the struggle against imperialist and colonial oppression. People's democratic revolutions unfolded in a number of countries that entered D. S. (See People's Democratic Revolution). In some countries, the popular revolutions that began during the D.S. period were successfully completed after the end of World War II.

D. S. was distinguished by the variety of forms of struggle against the invaders. The most common forms were: anti-fascist propaganda and agitation, publication and distribution of underground literature, strikes, sabotage and sabotage at enterprises that produced products for the invaders and on transport, armed attacks to destroy traitors and representatives of the occupation administration, the collection of intelligence information for the armies of the anti-fascist coalitions, guerrilla warfare. The highest form of D.S. was a nationwide armed uprising in which the leading role belonged to the working class.

In some countries (Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Albania, Vietnam, Malaya, and the Philippines), the D.S. developed into a national liberation war against the fascist invaders. In Yugoslavia and Albania, the national liberation war against the occupiers merged with the civil war against internal reaction, which opposed the liberation struggle of their peoples. In countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, the main forms of D.S. were the strike movement and anti-fascist demonstrations. In Germany, the main forms of D.S. were the carefully concealed activities of underground anti-fascist groups to involve workers in the struggle against fascism, the distribution of propaganda materials among the population and the army, the provision of assistance to foreign workers and prisoners of war driven to Germany, etc.

The first period of the D.S. (the beginning of the war - June 1941) was a period of accumulation of forces, organizational and propaganda preparations for the mass struggle, the creation and strengthening of illegal anti-fascist organizations with the leading participation of the Communist Parties. In Poland in September-October 1939, small partisan detachments formed by soldiers who had escaped captivity and the local population took part in the struggle against the Nazi occupying troops. The main core of the first partisan groups were workers, and their vanguard was the Polish communists, who, despite the dissolution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) (1938), continued to carry out revolutionary work. During the autumn of 1939 - summer of 1940, the D.S. covered a significant part of Silesia. Since 1940, sabotage has been spontaneously carried out at enterprises and railways. transport. Polish peasants sabotaged food supplies and refused to pay numerous taxes. The progressive Polish intelligentsia was drawn into the struggle. In Czechoslovakia, during the initial period of German fascist occupation, political demonstrations, the boycott of the fascist press, and strikes also took place (in 1939 there were 25 strikes at 31 factories in total). At the call of the underground Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (CPC), Czech and Slovak patriots set about creating groups that began in the fall of 1939 to carry out acts of sabotage and sabotage at factories, transport, etc. In Yugoslavia, the first partisan detachments, which arose mainly on the initiative of the Communists immediately occupation of the country (April 1941), consisted of small groups of patriotic soldiers and officers who did not lay down their arms, but went to the mountains to continue the fight. In France, the first participants in the D.S. were the workers of the Paris region, the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, as well as other industrial centers. One of the first major actions organized by the communists against the occupiers was a demonstration of many thousands of students and working youth in Paris on November 11, 1940, on the anniversary of the end of World War I 1914-18. In May 1941 there was a powerful strike that involved over 100,000 miners in the departments of Nord and Pas de Calais. At the call of the French Communist Party (PCF), thousands of representatives of the French intelligentsia entered, together with the working class, in the struggle for the liberation of France. In May 1941, on the initiative of the PCF, a mass patriotic association was created - the National Front, which rallied French patriots of various social strata and various political views. The germ of a military organization - the "Special Organization" was created by the communists at the end of 1940; in 1941 she joined the Frantieres and Partisans (FTP) organization. The peoples of other European states also rose to fight against the invaders - Albania (occupied by the Italian army in April 1939), Belgium and the Netherlands (occupied by the Nazi army in May 1940), Greece (occupied in April - early June 1941) and others. During this period, the liberation struggle of the Chinese people against the Japanese imperialists, which began before World War II, reached its peak. In the course of the struggle, the forces of the 8th and New 4th armies and partisan detachments led by the Communist Party grew in the rear of the Japanese. August 20 - December 5, 1940 units of the 8th Army carried out an offensive against the Japanese position in North China. Democratic transformations were carried out in the liberated regions, and democratic bodies of power led by communists were elected.

The second period of D.S. (June 1941 - November 1942) is characterized by its strengthening in the countries of Europe and Asia in connection with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-45 (See. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-45) . Under the influence of the courageous struggle and the first victories of the Red Army over the fascist German troops, especially the historic battle of Moscow, the D.S. in almost all European countries began to acquire the character of a nationwide movement. The peoples' liberation struggle was led by mass patriotic organizations - the National Fronts in Poland and France, the Anti-Fascist People's Liberation Council in Yugoslavia, the National Liberation Fronts in Greece and Albania, the Independence Front in Belgium, and the Fatherland Front in Bulgaria. In Yugoslavia, on June 27, 1941, the Communist Party formed the Main Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments (since September 1941 - the Supreme Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia). On July 7, 1941, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY), an armed uprising began in Serbia, on July 13 - in Montenegro, at the end of July, an armed struggle began in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the end of 1941, 44 partisan detachments, 14 separate battalions, and 1 proletarian brigade (up to 80,000 people in total) were operating in the country. By the end of 1942, the patriots had liberated the entire territory of Yugoslavia. On November 26-27, 1942, the Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOYU) was formed, which elected an Executive Committee; it included, along with the communists, representatives of all anti-fascist groups. In Poland, the Polish Workers' Party (PPR), founded in January 1942, played an important role in the further development of the liberation struggle. Following the example of the People’s Guards, many detachments of the “Clap’s Battalions” and the Home Army, created by the Polish government in exile, took the path of armed struggle, essentially not to fight the invaders, but to disrupt this struggle and seize power in the country at the time of its liberation. In Czechoslovakia, the first partisan groups were created in the summer of 1942. In Bulgaria, on the initiative of the Communist Party, the Fatherland Front was created underground in 1942, uniting all anti-fascist forces led by communists and starting a broad anti-fascist partisan war. To direct the armed struggle against fascism, a Central Military Commission was created, which in the spring of 1943 was transformed into the Main Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan Army. The guerrilla struggle of the Albanian people, led by the Communist Party (CPA), founded in November 1941, expanded. In Greece, the liberation struggle was led by the National Liberation Front (EAM), created in September 1941 on the initiative of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the core of which were workers and peasants. The partisan detachments that arose in early 1941 were merged in December 1941 into the People's Liberation Army (ELAS). The leading role in EAM and ELAS belonged to the KKE.

The struggle against the Nazi invaders also intensified in other European countries: France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In the second half of 1941, anti-fascist and anti-war actions of the working people in Italy took on a broader scale. On the initiative of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), in October 1941, an Action Committee for the unification of the Italian people was created in the country, and in November 1942 in Turin, a Committee of the National Front, consisting of representatives of anti-fascist parties. Similar committees were also set up in other cities. In Germany, despite the repressions of the Gestapo, in late 1941 and early 1942, much more underground anti-war and anti-fascist printed materials were distributed than in the first days of the war. The organizers of the anti-fascist struggle were underground communist groups.

The D.S. of the peoples of the countries of East and Southeast Asia, subjected to Japanese occupation, was expanding, especially in China. In 1941-1942, the Japanese army launched a "general offensive" against the liberated regions, but was able to capture only part of their territory in Northern China at the cost of heavy losses; the territory of the liberated regions of Central and South China continued to expand during this period as well.

In May 1941, on the initiative of the Indochinese Communist Party, the League for the Struggle for the Independence of Vietnam (Viet Minh) was founded. Partisan detachments were formed and fought in the provinces of Vietnam. D.S. also unfolded in other regions of Indochina - Laos and Cambodia.

In Malaya, at the end of 1942, on the basis of the first partisan detachments formed by the communists, an anti-Japanese army of the peoples of Malaya was created. An anti-Japanese alliance was organized among the civilian population.

In the spring of 1942, immediately after the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, the liberation struggle of the Indonesian people began to unfold. Acts of sabotage and sabotage were organized at enterprises and transport, peasant uprisings were raised. All these anti-Japanese speeches were brutally suppressed by the occupiers. In 1942, a struggle began against the Japanese occupiers in Burma, especially in the west and in the central regions, where the underground communists created partisan detachments and groups. The anti-Japanese struggle in the Philippines acquired a large scale, where a united anti-Japanese front of patriotic forces was created. In March 1942, in addition to anti-Japanese organizations headed by representatives of the national bourgeoisie, the Hukbalahap People's Army was created on the initiative of the Communist Party.

The third period of D.S. (November 1942 - the end of 1943) is associated with a radical turning point in the war, caused by the historic victories of the Red Army at Stalingrad and Kursk; D.S. in all the occupied countries and even in some countries that are members of the fascist bloc (including Germany itself) has sharply increased. At this time, in a number of countries, the national unification of patriotic forces was basically completed and united national fronts were strengthened. On the basis of partisan detachments, people's liberation armies were created in Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria. The Guards of Ludov were active in Poland, enticing the detachments of the Home Army with their example, which was prevented in every way by the reactionary leaders of the latter. On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began (see Warsaw Uprising of 1943) , brutally suppressed after several weeks of heroic struggle. New partisan detachments arose in Czechoslovakia. In Romania, in June 1943, the Patriotic Anti-Hitler Front was founded. The liberation struggle expanded in France, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and Northern Italy, entire regions were liberated from the invaders, on the territory of which the organs of people's power created by the patriots operated. An inspiring example of the struggle against fascism for the peoples of the world was the actions of Soviet partisans (see Partisan Movement in the Great Patriotic War 1941-45). In China, the people's revolutionary army, partisans, and people's militia units not only regained the territories of the liberated regions lost in battles with the Japanese troops in 1941-42, but also expanded them. In Korea in 1943 the number of strikes and acts of sabotage increased sharply. In Vietnam, by the end of 1943, numerous partisan detachments had expelled the Japanese invaders from many areas in the north of the country. Committees were created here, which became the embryo of a new, democratic system. In Burma, the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, which was formed in 1944 and included the Communist Party, trade unions, and other patriotic forces of the country, became the center of the country's patriotic forces. The struggle of the patriots of Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines intensified.

The fourth period of D.S. (late 1943 - May - September 1945). During this period, the Red Army inflicted crushing blows on the fascist invaders, expelled them from Soviet soil, liberated the peoples of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, completed the defeat of Nazi Germany together with the armed forces of the Allies (on May 8, representatives of the German command signed an act of surrender) and, speaking on May 9 August 1945 against Japan, played a decisive role in the victory over Japanese militarism.

In the context of the successful offensive of the Soviet troops, the nationwide anti-fascist struggle in a number of occupied countries resulted in armed uprisings, which became important milestones in the struggle of democratic forces, which led to the establishment of a people's democratic system in the course of people's democratic revolutions (People's armed uprising on August 23, 1944 (See. People's armed uprising in Romania in 1944) in Romania, the September people's armed uprising of 1944 in Bulgaria, the Slovak national uprising of 1944, the People's uprising of 1945 in the Czech lands). The liberation struggle expanded in Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Albania, where, just as in other countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, patriotic forces under the leadership of the working class created organs of revolutionary power that solved the problems of the people's democratic revolution. In December 1943, when the victories of the Red Army brought the liberation of Poland closer, the Craiova Rada Narodova (KRN) was created in the country on the initiative of the PPR, then local Rada Narodova began to be created, and in July 1944 the Polish Committee of National Liberation was formed, which took over the functions of the interim government . The reaction's attempt to use the heroic Warsaw Uprising of 1944 to seize political power was unsuccessful. The people's democratic power was strengthened in the country.

In Hungary, under the conditions of the beginning of the liberation of the country by Soviet troops, on December 2, 1944, on the initiative of the Communist Party, the Hungarian National Independence Front was created, and on December 22, 1944, the Provisional National Assembly in Debrecen formed the Provisional National Government.

In Yugoslavia, as early as November 29, 1943, the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia was created, which performed the functions of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, and on March 7, 1945, after the country was liberated by the Soviet and Yugoslav armed forces, a democratic government was formed. In Albania, a legislative body was created - the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council of Albania, which formed the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Committee, endowed with the functions of a provisional government.

In Greece, the patriots took advantage of the favorable situation caused by the rapid advance of the Red Army in the Balkans, and by the end of October 1944 achieved the liberation of the entire territory of continental Greece from the Nazi invaders. However, the forces of Greek reaction, with the help of British troops that entered the country in October 1944, succeeded in restoring the reactionary monarchical regime in Greece.

D.S. achieved great success in France. On March 15, 1944, the National Council of Resistance (NCR), created in May 1943, adopted the program of the D.S., which outlined the urgent tasks of the struggle for the liberation of France and envisaged the prospects for the economic and democratic development of the country after its liberation. In the spring of 1944, the combat organizations of the Resistance united and created a single army of French internal forces, numbering up to 500,000 people, in which the communists played the leading role. Under the influence of the victories of the Red Army and the landing of Allied troops in Normandy (June 6, 1944), the struggle against the invaders developed into a nationwide uprising, the culmination of which was the victorious Paris Uprising of 1944 (See Paris Uprising of 1944). French patriots on their own liberated most of the territory of France, including Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and a number of other large cities.

In Italy, in the summer of 1944, a united partisan army of patriots of the Corps of Freedom Volunteers was created, numbering over 100,000 fighters. The guerrilla army liberated vast areas in northern Italy from the invaders. Patriotic action groups sprang up in towns and villages. In the winter of 1944-45, mass strikes took place in a number of industrial centers in Northern Italy. In April 1945, a general strike began in the north of the country, which grew into a nationwide uprising, which ended with the liberation of Northern and Central Italy from the invaders even before the arrival of Anglo-American troops there (see the April Uprising of 1945).

By the summer of 1944, up to 50,000 partisans were active in Belgium. The armed struggle between the partisans and the patriotic militia, thanks to the efforts of the communists, ended in a nationwide uprising that engulfed the entire country in September 1944.

In Germany, despite the brutal mass repressions and executions that killed most of the members and leaders of anti-fascist groups, the surviving communist groups continued to fight against the fascist regime. Resistance groups were created among prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. In July 1943, on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), a national leading center for the anti-fascist struggle was created in the USSR - the National Committee "Free Germany" (NKSG), which brought together representatives of various political views and beliefs. In France, in November 1943, the Free Germany Committee for the West was formed, which led German anti-fascist work in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands with the help of local communists. communists among the occupying troops.

D.S. achieved great success in Asia. In the Philippines, the people's army of Hukbalahap in 1944, with the active participation of the population, cleared a number of areas of the island of Japanese invaders. Luzon, where democratic reforms were carried out. However, the progressive forces of the Philippine people failed to consolidate the gains made. In Indochina in May 1945, all the liberation armed forces united into a single liberation army of Vietnam (the Vietnamese People's Army). D.S. their liberation of Northeast China and Korea. The victories of the Soviet troops allowed the 8th and New 4th National Liberation Armies to clear almost all of Northern and part of Central China from the Japanese invaders. The liberation struggle of the Chinese people laid the foundation for the further development of the people's revolution in China. In August 1945 there was a Popular Uprising in Vietnam (see August Revolution of 1945 in Vietnam) , which led to the creation of the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. In Indonesia, where D.S. embraced various social strata, a republic was proclaimed on August 17, 1945. In Malaya, in 1944-45, the anti-Japanese people's army liberated a number of regions of the country, and in August 1945 disarmed the Japanese troops even before the British armed forces landed there. In March 1945, a nationwide uprising began in Burma, which completed the liberation of the country from the Japanese occupiers. D.S. was one of the essential factors that contributed to the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition. The glorious traditions of D.S. are used by the peoples in their struggle against imperialist reaction and for world peace.

Lit.: Anti-fascist resistance movement in European countries during the Second World War, M., 1966; Boltin E. A., Kunina D. E., Urgent issues of the Resistance movement, "New and Contemporary History", 1961, No. 5; Heroes of the Resistance, M., 1970; Koloskov I. A., Tsyrulnikov N. G. The people of France in the struggle against fascism, M., 1960; Boltin E. A., The Soviet Union and the Resistance Movement in Europe during the Second World War, "Questions of History", 1961, No. 9; Semiryaga M.I., Soviet people in the European Resistance, M., 1970; Klokov V. I., The struggle of the peoples of the Slavic countries against the fascist enslavers (1939-1945), Kyiv, 1961; Pozolotin M., The struggle of the Bulgarian people for freedom and independence during the Second World War, M., 1954; Valev L. B., From the history of the Fatherland Front of Bulgaria (July 1942-September 1944.), M. - L., 1950; Nedorezov A.I., National liberation movement in Czechoslovakia 1939-1945, M., 1961; Lebedev N. I., Romania during the Second World War, M., 1961; Gintsberg L. I., Drabkin Y. S., German anti-fascists in the struggle against the Nazi dictatorship (1933-1945), M., 1961, Maryanovich I., War of Liberation and the People's Revolution in Yugoslavia, trans. from Serbian-Croatian, M., 1956; Longo L., The people of Italy in the struggle, trans. from Italian., M., 1952; Battaglia R., History of the Italian Resistance Movement (Sept. 8, 1943 - April 25, 1945), trans. from Italian., M., 1954; Secchia P. and Moscatelli C., Monte Rosa descended to Milan. From the history of the resistance movement in Italy, trans. from Italian., M., 1961; Grenier F., That's how it was, trans. from French, Moscow, 1960; Galleni M., Soviet partisans in the Italian resistance movement, trans. from Italian., M., 1970; Konyo J., Communist Parties of Western Europe during the Second World War, "Questions of the history of the CPSU", 1960, No. 3; Sapozhnikov B. G., The Japanese-Chinese War and the colonial policy of Japan in China (1937-1941), M., 1970; Dudinsky A.M., The Liberation Mission of the Soviet Union in the Far East, M., 1966; European resistance movement. 1939-1945, First International Conference on the history of the Resistance movements held at Liège - Bruxelles - Breendonk, 14-17 September 1958, Oxf., 1960; European Resistance Movements 1939-1945, v. 2, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the history of the Resistance movements held at Milan 26-29 March 1961, Oxf., 1964; Le Parti Communiste franc ais dans la Resistance, P., 1967; Tito J. B., Struggle for special Jygoslavia , 1941-1943, Beograd 1947; Michel H., Les mouvements clandestins en Europe (1938-1945), P., 1961; Laroche G., On les nommait des étrangers, P., 1965. Periodicals: "Revue d" histoire de la deuxième guerre mondiaie" (P., 1941-); "Il movimiento di Liberazione in ltalia" (Roma, 1949- ); "Cahiérs lnternationaux de la Resistance" (Wien, 1959-).

N. G. Tsyrulnikov.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

RESISTANCE MOVEMENT, patriotic liberation democratic movement against fascist occupiers and regimes, as well as against collaborators in Europe during World War II 1939-45. It developed in the territories occupied by the aggressors and in the countries of the fascist bloc. The activities of the governments of the occupied countries, patriotic organizations and parties in exile also joined the Resistance Movement. The main goals of the Resistance Movement were the liberation of European countries from fascist enslavement, the restoration of national independence, the establishment of a democratic political system, and the implementation of progressive social transformations. Members of the Resistance Movement used a variety of forms and methods of struggle: failure to comply with the orders of the invaders, anti-fascist propaganda, assistance to persons persecuted by the Nazis, intelligence activities in favor of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, strikes, sabotage, sabotage, mass actions and demonstrations, partisan struggle (about partisan struggle, in including in the occupied territory of the USSR, see Partisan movement), armed uprisings. Various social groups and strata of the population participated in the Resistance Movement: workers, peasants, intelligentsia, clergy and bourgeoisie. The Resistance Movement also included prisoners of war, people forcibly driven to work in Germany, and prisoners of concentration camps. The USSR provided the Resistance Movement of many countries with a variety of direct assistance: training and transfer of specialists for the deployment of guerrilla warfare; supplying anti-fascist forces with means of agitation and propaganda; providing members of the Resistance Movement with weapons, ammunition, medicines; evacuation of the wounded to the Soviet rear, etc. Significant assistance to the Resistance Movement was provided by other countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The radical wing of the Resistance Movement was led by communist and workers' parties that created liberation organizations and armies that operated in Yugoslavia, Greece, Albania, Poland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, and Italy. The communists considered the armed struggle against the invaders and collaborators as a way not only of national liberation, but also of the implementation of revolutionary changes in their countries. The moderate wing of the Resistance Movement, led by emigrant governments, bourgeois organizations and parties, fighting for the independence of their countries, sought to restore the pre-war order or establish a liberal democratic system. Influential bourgeois-patriotic organizations of the Resistance formed in France, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries. In Yugoslavia, France, Greece, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and a number of other countries, anti-fascist fronts arose, uniting anti-fascist patriots of various persuasions. An important role in the consolidation of the anti-Hitler forces was played by the National Committee "Free Germany", the All-Slavic Committee, the Union of Polish Patriots, and others formed on the territory of the USSR. At the same time, internal political contradictions in the Resistance Movement led in a number of countries (Poland, Greece, etc.) to dramatic struggle between his factions, especially at the final stage of the 2nd World War.

The development of the Resistance Movement was directly influenced by the course of hostilities on the fronts of World War II, especially on the Soviet-German front after the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR in June 1941. There are several stages in the development of the Resistance Movement. The period from September 1939 to June 1941 was for the Resistance Movement a stage of organizational and propaganda preparation for a mass struggle, the creation and strengthening of underground organizations, and the accumulation of forces. During this period, under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle, the Free French movement was formed, the French communists began an anti-fascist underground struggle. In Poland, the formation of the Resistance Movement at this stage took place under the leadership of the government in exile in London. June 1941 - the end of 1942 - a period of expansion and intensification of the struggle, the creation of large military organizations and people's liberation armies, the formation of national liberation fronts. In Yugoslavia in July 1941, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, armed uprisings began in Serbia and Montenegro, armed uprisings in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the autumn of 1941, Yugoslavia became a small "second front" in Europe for the countries of the fascist bloc. On November 26-27, 1942, the Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed. Established in January 1942, the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) organized partisan detachments, united in the Guard of Ludow. The PPR did not reach an agreement on joint action with the London government and its military organization, the Home Army. In Czechoslovakia, the first partisan groups were formed in the summer of 1942. In Bulgaria, on the initiative of the Communist Party in 1942, the Fatherland Front was created underground, uniting all anti-fascist forces and starting a partisan struggle. The partisan movement of the Albanian people was gaining strength. The most influential force in the Greek Resistance Movement was the Greek National Liberation Front (EAM), created in September 1941 on the initiative of the Communist Party of Greece. The partisan detachments were merged in December 1941 into the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). The struggle against the invaders intensified in other European countries: France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In 1941-42 there was a consolidation of the underground network of anti-fascist organizations in Italy. The end of 1942 - the spring of 1944 - a period of expansion of the social base of the Resistance Movement, mass protests, the deployment of a diverse in its forms and methods of struggle against the fascist invaders, the development of policy documents on political and socio-economic issues. The victories of the Red Army at Stalingrad and Kursk contributed to a sharp activation of the Resistance Movement. In France, Charles de Gaulle managed to enlist the support of most of the organizations of the internal Resistance. The French Committee of National Liberation was created and began to operate actively in June 1943, uniting 16 organizations and parties, including the French Communist Party. On the basis of partisan detachments, people's liberation armies were created in Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria. In Poland, the guerrilla war was waged by detachments of the Army of the People and the Home Army, the Warsaw Uprising of 1943 took place. In Romania, in June 1943, the Patriotic Anti-Hitler Front was founded. In Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia and northern Italy, entire regions were liberated, where the authorities created by the patriots operated. From the spring - summer of 1944 until the liberation - a period of active mass struggle against the invaders and fascist regimes, armed uprisings and the participation of the Resistance Movement forces in the liberation of European countries from the fascist yoke. The entry of the Red Army into the countries of Eastern Europe and the opening of the Second Front in Western Europe as a result of the landing of the troops of the Western Allies in Normandy in early June 1944 created the prerequisites for a powerful upsurge in the anti-fascist struggle, which in a number of countries grew into nationwide armed uprisings (People's armed uprising 23.8. 1944 in Romania, the September People's Armed Uprising of 1944 in Bulgaria, the Slovak National Uprising of 1944, the People's Uprising of 1945 in the Czech lands). In Poland, after the defeat of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, raised on the initiative of the government in exile, who hoped to seize the political initiative, the leadership in the Resistance Movement finally passed to the Polish Committee of National Liberation, created by the PPR in July 1944, which took over the functions of the provisional government. In Hungary, under the conditions of the beginning of the liberation of the country by Soviet troops, on December 2, 1944, on the initiative of the Communist Party, the Hungarian National Independence Front was created, and on December 22, 1944, the Provisional National Assembly formed the Provisional National Government. In Yugoslavia, on November 29, 1943, the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia was created, which served as the Provisional Revolutionary Government, and on March 7, 1945, after the country was liberated by the Soviet and Yugoslav armed forces, the Provisional People's Government of Democratic Federative Yugoslavia. In Greece, the patriots took advantage of the favorable situation created by the rapid advance of the Red Army in the Balkans, and achieved the liberation of the entire territory of continental Greece by the end of October 1944. In France in the spring of 1944, the combat organizations of the Resistance united and created a single French internal force, which began an armed struggle against the German invaders. Its apogee was the victorious Parisian uprising of 1944. French patriots on their own liberated most of the territory of France. In Italy, in the summer of 1944, a united partisan army, the Corps of Freedom Volunteers, was created, which liberated vast areas in the north of the country. In April 1945, a general strike began there, which grew into an uprising, which ended in the actual liberation from the invaders of Northern and Central Italy even before the arrival of the Anglo-American troops (see the April uprising of 1945). In Belgium, the armed struggle between partisans and patriotic militia culminated in a nationwide uprising in September 1944.

Bulgarian partisans - fighters of the Fatherland Front. 1944.

The Resistance Movement made a significant contribution to the defeat of fascism and had a significant impact on the post-war development of the world, contributed to the strengthening of the influence of democratic and leftist forces, created the prerequisites for the development of revolutionary processes in a number of countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In the colonies and dependent countries occupied by the forces of the fascist aggressors, the Resistance Movement merged with the national liberation struggle against colonial oppression (see the article Anti-Japanese Resistance Movement).

An important feature of the Resistance Movement was its international character, it brought together people of different nationalities, including Soviet citizens who ended up on the territory of other countries (mostly prisoners of war who fled from echelons and concentration camps). In Poland, the total number of Soviet citizens who fought in 90 Soviet or mixed Soviet-Polish partisan detachments and groups was 20 thousand people. A total of 3,000 Soviet partisans fought in Czechoslovakia, over 6,000 in Yugoslavia. In France, at the beginning of 1944, there were up to 40 partisan detachments and almost the same number of groups in which up to 4 thousand Soviet citizens fought. 5 thousand Soviet citizens participated in the partisan detachments of Italy in the fight against fascism. Soviet patriots also fought in the Netherlands (800 people), Belgium (800 people), Norway (100 people), Bulgaria (120 people), Greece (300 people) and other countries. The Resistance Movement in France, as in other countries, was attended by many representatives of the Russian emigration.

Lit.: Resistance Movement in Western Europe, 1939-1945. Common problems. M., 1990; The Resistance Movement in Western Europe, 1939-1945. National features. M., 1991; Resistance movement in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, 1939-1945. M., 1995.

April 10 is the International Day of the Resistance Movement. The resistance movement during the Second World War was called the underground and insurrectionary struggle of the peoples of Europe against Nazi Germany and its allies. The most common forms of struggle against the occupiers were: anti-fascist agitation and propaganda, publication of underground literature; strikes, sabotage and sabotage in transport and at enterprises producing products for the occupiers; armed attacks to destroy traitors and representatives of the occupation administration; collection of intelligence data for the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition; partisan war. The highest form of the resistance movement was an armed uprising and popular (partisan) war, which covered entire regions and could lead to their liberation from the invaders (as in Belarus, Ukraine and Yugoslavia).

It should be noted that a lot has been said and written about the European resistance movement, which allegedly caused great damage to the Third Reich. And now the highly exaggerated myths about the European Resistance have become part of the revision of the Second World War in the interests of the West.

The scale of European Resistance (excluding the territory of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Greece) was greatly exaggerated for ideological and political purposes even during the existence of the socialist bloc of countries led by the USSR. Then it was good form to turn a blind eye to the fact that many states were members of the Nazi bloc or surrendered to the Nazis with little or no resistance. Resistance in these countries was minimal, especially compared to the support they provided to Nazi Germany. In fact, it was the prototype of the modern European Union led by Hitler. The economic, demographic resources of Europe were combined with the aim of destroying the Soviet (Russian) civilization. Most of Western Europe simply fell under Hitler, as it was in the interests of the masters of the West, who actually created the Third Reich project.

In some states, the appearance of resistance arose only when the Red Army approached (Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic), and when the so-called. The second front, in others it was minimal. However, during the years of the existence of the Soviet Union, they tried not to stick out this fact so as not to offend the allies and European "partners", including the fraternal socialist countries.

The only exceptions were Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece (not counting the Soviet Union), where the resistance took on a wide scope and popular character. However, this was due to the fact that the Balkan region does not quite fit into the Western (European) civilization, preserving the Orthodox and Slavic traditions, the cultural and civilizational type of the Byzantine Empire. In this respect, the countries of the Balkan Peninsula are closer to Russian civilization, especially Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. Although in modern times, Westernization has practically already won on the Balkan Peninsula.

Female partisan of the Italian resistance movement in the mountains of northern Italy

The Third Reich was the most striking, outspoken manifestation of the Western project. No wonder the German Nazis took the British Empire and its racist practices as an ideal. The "Eternal Reich" in all colors and very frankly showed the future that awaits all of humanity if the Western project of the New World Order wins. This is a slave-owning, caste civilization, where there are “chosen” and “two-legged tools”, slaves, and some people are generally classified as “subhuman” (Russians, Slavs), who were sentenced to total destruction. Huge concentration camps, Sonderkommandos, the total destruction of any opposition, the zombification of people, etc. all this was expected by mankind if the USSR had not crushed the “brown plague”. Then the West had to disguise its cannibalistic insides.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in Europe, with one or another success, they tried to recreate the "pan-European empire" (European Union) - the empire of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire (since 1512 - the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation), the French Empire of Napoleon and the Second Reich. Since 1933, the project of a "pan-European empire" was headed by the Third Reich. The roots of this German aspiration for imperial superiority go very far into the depths. It was not for nothing that Nazi ideologies turned to medieval Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, the empire of Charlemagne, and even further to the Roman Empire. After all, it was the "Germans", however, under the conceptual and ideological leadership of Rome, which was then the "command post" of the Western project, who created a millennium ago what is now called "Europe", the "West". It was Rome and the “Germans” (there was no single people then) that initiated the process of “Onslaught on the East and North”. Therefore, assigning the name “Barbarossa” to the plan of war against the USSR-Russia, nicknamed the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190, Frederick I Barbarossa (Red-bearded, from Italian barba, “beard”, and rossa, “red”), had a great meaning. After all, it was the “empire of the German nation” that united a significant part of Western Europe and, one way or another, ruled it for several centuries.

The leaders of the Third Reich considered themselves the heirs of this tradition. Austria was invaded bloodlessly in 1938. In accordance with the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland was annexed. In September 1939, Germany began hostilities, and by July 1940, it had actually united almost all of continental Europe under its rule. Finland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria became voluntary helpers of the Eternal Reich. Only the Balkan outskirts - Greece and Yugoslavia - were captured in April 1941.

Greek partisans and partisans in the ranks

At the same time, invading the boundaries of a European country, the Wehrmacht met resistance that could surprise with its indecision and weakness. This was especially surprising because the Wehrmacht was still in its infancy and reached a good level only in the spring of 1941. So, the invasion of Poland began on September 1, 1939, and after a few days serious resistance was broken. Already on September 17, the Polish military-political leadership fled the country, leaving the troops, who still continued to resist. Denmark hoisted the white flag on April 9, 1940 almost immediately. Within an hour after the start of the operation, the government and the king ordered the armed forces not to resist the German troops and capitulated. Norway, with the support of the allies (mostly British), held out longer until the beginning of June 1940. The Netherlands capitulated during the first five days of the war - May 10-14, 1940. The Belgian campaign continued from May 10 to May 28, 1940. France fell almost instantly , especially if we recall the bloody and stubborn battles of the First World War: German troops began to seize the country on June 5, 1940, and on June 14 Paris capitulated. On June 22, an armistice was signed. And in the First World War, the German Empire tried in vain for four years to defeat France.

It is not for nothing that the beginning of the German blitzkrieg in Europe received in France a "strange war", in Germany - a "sitting war", and in the United States - an "imaginary" or "phantom war". A real war, not for life, but for death, began in Europe only on June 22, 1941, when the German-led European (Western) civilization and the Russian (Soviet) civilization clashed. The short-term clashes of the armies of a European country with the Wehrmacht looked more like observing a ritual “custom” than a real battle for their land. Like, you can’t just let the enemy into your country, you must maintain the appearance of resistance. De facto, the Western European elites simply surrendered their countries, as Nazi Germany was to lead a new "crusade" to the East.

It is clear that the power of the Nazis, somewhere relatively soft, and somewhere hard, provoked resistance from various social forces and groups in European countries. Resistance to the Nazi regime also took place in Germany itself, in the most diverse social groups - from the descendants of the Prussian aristocracy, hereditary military to workers and communists. There were several assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. However, this German Resistance was not the resistance of the whole country and the people as a whole. As in most other German-occupied countries. Danes, Norwegians, Dutch, Czechs, Slovaks, Croats, French and other Europeans initially felt good in the "pan-European empire". Moreover, a significant part of the most passionate (active) part of the population supported Hitler, in particular, young people actively joined the SS troops.

For example, the resistance movement of France was completely insignificant, with a significant population. So, according to Boris Urlanis's thorough study of human losses in wars ("Wars and the Population of Europe"), 20 thousand French people (out of 40 million people in France) died in the Resistance movement in five years. Moreover, during the same period, from 40 to 50 thousand French died, that is, 2-2.5 times more, who fought for the Third Reich! At the same time, the actions of the French Resistance are often described in such a way that it seems that it is comparable to the battle for Stalingrad. This myth was maintained even in the Soviet Union. Like, we were supported by the whole of Europe. Although in reality most of Europe, as under Napoleon, opposed Russian civilization!

Real resistance to the "Eternal Reich" led by Germany was only in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece. True, in the same Yugoslavia there was a powerful collaborationist movement, like the Croatian Ustashe. The resistance on the Balkan Peninsula is explained by the still preserved deep patriarchy of this outskirts of Western Europe. The cultural and civilizational code of the Balkan peoples has not yet been fully westernized, suppressed by the Western matrix. Serbs, Greeks and Albanians were alien to the orders that the Third Reich established. These countries and peoples, in their consciousness and way of life, by the middle of the 20th century, in many respects did not belong to European civilization.

Operation to identify partisans among local residents in Yugoslavia

Partisans of the 1st Proletarian Brigade of NOAU, armed with Czech light machine guns ZB vz. 26. The village of Zharkovo near Belgrade

Poland is often ranked among the countries with strong resistance. However, if you carefully consider the situation in Poland, you will have to admit that here, as in France, the reality is greatly embellished. According to the data collected by the Soviet demographer Urlanis, during the Yugoslav Resistance, about 300 thousand people died (out of about 16 million people in the country), during the Albanian Resistance - about 29 thousand people (out of a total of 1 million population of Albania). In the course of the Polish Resistance, 33 thousand people died (out of 35 million of the population of Poland). Thus, the proportion of the population who died in the real fight against the Nazis in Poland is 20 times less than in Yugoslavia, and almost 30 times less than in Albania.

Apparently, the weakness of the Resistance in Poland was due to the fact that the Poles had long become part of European civilization. Catholic Rome has long turned Slavic Poland into a "ram" directed against the Russian people. Therefore, for the Poles, although they hated the Germans, dreaming of a "Great Poland" including at the expense of the lands of Germany, joining the "pan-European empire" is not was unacceptable. Poles have already become part of European civilization. Their consciousness was distorted, suppressed by the Western "matrix". No wonder the Poles were the worst enemies of the Russians for almost a millennium, an instrument in the hands of the Vatican, and then France and Britain (now the USA).

The number of those who died in the real struggle does not include people who were destroyed by the Nazis as "racially inferior". In the same Poland, the Germans exterminated 2.8 million Jews out of 3.3 million who lived before the start of the occupation. These people were simply exterminated. Their resistance was minimal. It was a massacre, not a war. Moreover, in the extermination of “subhumans” (Russians, Serbs, Gypsies and Jews), not only Germans drugged by Nazi propaganda, but also representatives of other peoples - Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, Balts, Ukrainian Nazis, etc. took an active part.

Thus, it is worth remembering that the strong exaggeration of the European Resistance, originally had a political and ideological significance. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when all sorts of denigration of the USSR-Russia became the norm and profitable business, the merits of the European Resistance became even more mythologized in order to belittle the role of the Red Empire and the USSR in the Great War.

In fact, almost all of continental Europe by 1941, one way or another, without much shock entered the empire of Hitler. Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia (separated from the Czech Republic), Finland and Croatia (separated from Yugoslavia) - together with Germany entered the war with the USSR, sending their troops to the Eastern Front. True, Denmark and Spain, unlike other countries, did this without a formal declaration of war.

The rest of Europe, although they did not take a direct, open part in the war with the Soviet Union, but one way or another "worked" for the Third Reich. So Sweden and Switzerland economically supported Germany, their industry worked for the Reich, they were a place for "laundering" gold, silver, jewelry and other goods stolen in Europe and the USSR. Under the Nazis, Europe became an economic entity - the "European Union". France gave the Third Reich such oil reserves that they were enough to start a campaign in the USSR-Russia. From France, Germany got large stocks. The collection of occupation expenses from France provided an army of 18 million people. This allowed Germany not to carry out economic mobilization before the attack on the USSR, and to continue building a network of highways. Implementation of Hitler's grandiose plans began to create a new Berlin - the capital of a united Europe, the "Eternal Reich".

When the famous commander (later to become president) of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, entered the war at the head of the Anglo-American troops in North Africa in November 1942, he had to first fight not with the German, but with 200 thousand. French army under the French Minister of Defense Jean Darlan. True, the French command, in view of the clear superiority of the Allied forces, soon ordered the troops to cease resistance. However, in these battles, about 1,200 Americans and British, more than 1,600 French, have already died. Of course, honor and praise to the fighters of de Gaulle, the pilots of the squadron "Normandy - Neman." But in general, France fell under the Germans and did not suffer much from this.

Interesting information about the "pan-European army", which fought with the USSR. The national identity of all those who died on the Eastern Front is difficult or almost impossible to determine. However, the national composition of the servicemen who were captured by the Red Army during the war is known. Of the total number of 3.7 million prisoners, the bulk were Germans (including Austrians) - 2.5 million people, 766 thousand people belonged to the countries participating in the war (Hungarians, Romanians, Finns, etc.), but still 464 thousand people are French, Belgians, Czechs and representatives of other countries that have not officially fought with us.

The power of the Wehrmacht, which invaded the Soviet Union, was provided by millions of highly skilled workers throughout continental Europe. More than 10 million skilled workers from various European countries worked on the territory of the German Empire itself. For comparison: in the USSR-Russia in 1941 there were 49 million men 1890-1926. births (out of 196.7 million people in the population as a whole). Relying on the whole of Europe (more than 300 million people), Berlin was able to mobilize almost a quarter of all Germans for the war. In the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War, 17% of the population was called up (and not all of them were at the front), that is, every sixth, otherwise there would not be qualified men left in the rear necessary to work at industrial enterprises).

More or less noticeable resistance appeared in Western Europe only when it became obvious that the European hordes led by Germany would not break the USSR, and the main forces of the Third Reich were defeated on the Russian front. Then London and Washington swept away the concept: it was impossible to wait any longer, it was necessary to actively intervene in the war in Europe so as not to lose it. The resistance forces began to activate. For example, the Warsaw Uprising, organized by the Home Army, began in the summer of 1944, when the Red Army was already near Warsaw. The Poles, backed by the Anglo-Saxons, wanted to show their strength in order to take decisive positions in the country. And the uprisings of the French underground began, basically, after the landing of the troops of the Allied countries in Normandy on June 6, 1944. And in Paris itself, the uprising began on August 19, only 6 days before the Free French forces under the command of General Leclerc entered the city.

Thus, it is worth remembering that the European Resistance is largely a myth. The Nazis met real resistance only on the lands of civilizations and cultures alien to them - the USSR, Yugoslavia and Greece. The resistance movement in most European countries became an influential factor only towards the end of the war, shortly before the liberation of the rebel areas by the Allied armies.

Soviet demolition partisans mine the railway in Belarus

Young and elderly partisans near a haystack in the Leningrad region

ctrl Enter

Noticed osh s bku Highlight text and click Ctrl+Enter

From the first days of the loss of independence in most European countries, a struggle began against the Nazi occupation regime, which was called the Resistance movement.

Already in the autumn of 1939, centers of anti-fascist resistance began to appear in Poland. Polish resistance was supported by the government of Poland, who was in exile in the UK, headed by V. Sikorsky. The Craiova Army played an important role in resisting the Nazi invaders.

An anti-fascist movement began in France as well. At the end of June 1940, the patriotic organization "Free France" was created in London, headed by Charles de Gaulle. In early July 1941, the forces of the French resistance movement united to form the National Front. In May 1943, the National Council of Resistance was formed, bringing together all the anti-fascist forces in France. In the spring of 1944, numerous organizations of French patriots united in the army of the French internal forces, the number of which reached 500 thousand people.

Anti-fascist resistance acquired the widest scope in Yugoslavia. Already in the autumn of 1941, there were about 70 thousand people in the detachments of the Yugoslav partisans. They liberated entire regions of the country from the enemy. In November 1942, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia was formed.

The resistance movement also unfolded in those countries where pro-German governments operated. Thus, partisan Garibaldian brigades operated in the north and in the center of Italy.

4. Preparing Germany for war with the USSR

The occupation of the countries of Western Europe allowed Germany to significantly strengthen its military and economic potential. At its disposal were the manufacturing enterprises of France, which before the war smelted 97% of iron and 94% of steel, mined 79% of coal and 100% of the country's iron ore. The Reichswerke Hermann Goering concern included in its system the metallurgical plants of Alsace-Lorraine and Luxembourg. The capture of the industry of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and also Poland increased the capacity of the metallurgical industry of the Reich by 13-15 million tons. For example, Belgium delivered 2.3 million tons of steel by 1941. The number of foreign workers and prisoners of war employed in German industry exceeded 1 million people compared to 0.5 million in the autumn of 1939. By the beginning of the war with the Soviet Union, Germany had accumulated significant reserves of non-ferrous metals: copper, zinc, lead, aluminum, etc. The extraction of oil was of great importance for the preparation of the war against the USSR. In addition to its own oil resources, Germany used oil from Romania, Austria, Hungary, Poland and France. The production of synthetic fuel has increased in the country. In 1941, Germany had 8 million tons of oil products. In addition, she seized 8.8 million tons of fuel from France, Belgium and Holland.

In August 1940, a new arms and ammunition production program was adopted. It provided for the acceleration of the production of medium tanks, anti-tank guns and other weapons. The main focus was on achieving superiority over the USSR in terms of the quality and effectiveness of weapons.

Having information about the Soviet advantage in tanks, the German command took care of providing its troops with anti-tank weapons.

The national-patriotic forces of the countries occupied by the German-Italian troops played an important role in the fight against fascism. The Free French movement, led by General de Gaulle, was the most important resistance force that participated in the liberation of the country together with the Anglo-American troops. In Yugoslavia, the liberation movement, led by IB Tito, independently defeated the occupying garrisons in the country as the Allied troops approached. In Greece, an attempt by the British to disarm the local resistance units led to a civil war. The USSR was rather cool towards non-communist factions of the resistance movement in Poland. Their attempt to liberate Warsaw, not coordinated with the Soviet command, was suppressed by German troops, which subsequently gave rise to serious mutual reproaches.

The occupied countries of Europe and Asia suffered significant territorial changes. New states appeared on the world map: Slovakia (1939), Croatia (1941), Burma (1944), Indonesia (1945). But the independence of these states was discredited by cooperation with the aggressors. States such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Greece were liquidated. Pro-fascist (collaborationist) governments came to power in Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and France. The allied states of Germany, Italy, and Japan received significant territorial acquisitions. So, Hungary received Carpathian Ukraine, Transylvania, part of Slovakia and Yugoslavia, Romania - Transnistria, Bulgaria - part of Dobruja, Macedonia, Thrace, Finland returned the territories lost in 1940. The occupation policy in the territory of the occupied Eastern Europe and the USSR was carried out according to the plan "Ost". The occupied Soviet territories were divided into three parts. The rear areas of the German army groups were transferred to the control of the military command, while others were subordinated to the "Eastern Ministry" headed by Rosenberg and divided into two Reichskommissariat - "Ostland" (the Baltic states and most of Belarus) and "Ukraine". Western Ukrainian lands were annexed to the Polish "governor-general". The Nazis sought to create "living space for the German nation" in the territories they had conquered. The local population must be transformed into essentially slaves, the intelligentsia must be eliminated. It was planned to resettle about 10 million Germans in the occupied territories. The local population was supposed to leave about 14 million people. All others were to be destroyed. One of the first colonies of German settlers was created in the Vinnitsa region. The main means that the fascists used in asserting their dominance were inciting some nations against others and physical destruction. Such peoples as Gypsies, Jews, were subject to complete annihilation. From the occupied territories, food and raw materials and other material values ​​were exported to Germany. The population in the occupied territories at first received nothing at all for their work, then they began to receive meager rations for working for the occupiers. 5.5 million Soviet prisoners of war were in terrible conditions, 3.5 million of them died. In order to use cheap labor in Germany, deportations of the able-bodied population were carried out. About 4 million inhabitants of the occupied regions found themselves in a foreign land in difficult conditions. In total, 10 million Soviet people became victims of the occupation. The economy of the occupied countries became an appendage of the German war machine. There were about 30 concentration camps in Europe. The largest of them are Dachau, Buchenwald, Majdanek, Auschwitz. The resistance movement was led by socialist, communist, radical and nationalist parties. As a result of the victories on the fronts of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition, the resistance movement against the invaders in the countries of Europe is significantly strengthened. Many of them created partisan detachments, underground organizations. But there were also those who went to cooperate with the invaders, becoming collaborators. In France, the fascist occupation and the collaborationist government of Marshal Pétain were fought by partisan detachments and underground groups led by communists and socialists. The "Free France" organization created by de Gaulle in 1942-1943 established control over the African colonies of France. In November 1942, the French underground concluded an agreement with de Gaulle on joint ventures. In May of the following year, the National Council of the Resistance was created, uniting all the forces that fought against the invaders. In June, the French Committee of National Liberation was formed, declaring itself a government headed by de Gaulle. The people's liberation movement in Yugoslavia gained considerable scope. Since 1941, there have been active military operations against the Nazis. In 1943, the government of the new Yugoslavia was created - the Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia, headed by Tito. Partisan armies were formed in Greece and Bulgaria. The communists played a significant role in this process. Anti-fascist sentiments also intensified in Germany. A group of officers and government officials carried out an attempted coup d'état in order to destroy the fascist regime and end the war. On July 20, 1944, Colonel Stauffenberg left a briefcase with a time bomb in the room where Hitler was. The bomb exploded, but Hitler survived. The performance of the rebels was brutally suppressed. In 1944, anti-fascist uprisings took place in a number of European countries. The uprising raised on August 1 in Warsaw by the Home Army ended in defeat. On August 29, the Slovak National Uprising began with the participation of partisans and the Slovak army. At the cost of great efforts, the Nazis managed to suppress it. In the USSR, the struggle of the people's avengers reached a particularly large scale. It was headed by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement. Belarus was the main partisan base. Here were the most formations and large partisan areas. In Ukraine, the center of the partisan movement was in the northern regions. Detachments of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army also fought against the Nazis. The partisan struggle had not only military, but also political significance. Large-scale sabotage operations of partisans, fighter raids made a significant contribution to the victory over the Nazis. Significant operations were carried out by partisan formations of Kovpak, Fedorov, Saburov, Naumov and others. In total, over 6 thousand partisan detachments operated on the territory of the USSR, which destroyed about 1 million Nazis. The most large-scale sabotage was carried out in the summer of 1943 during the Battle of Kursk under the name "Rail War" and in September 1943 under the name "Concert". The Nazis were forced to keep significant forces in their rear to protect their communications from the partisans. The armed struggle against the invaders usually went through several stages. At first, these were the actions of separate combat groups and detachments, which gradually became more numerous and powerful. In some countries, the development of the partisan movement led to the creation of people's armies. In Yugoslavia, already in the summer of 1941, under the leadership of the Communist Party, an open armed struggle began against the fascist invaders. From the very beginning, it assumed a massive character; at the end of 1941, a special brigade and up to 50 partisan detachments were formed. Subsequently, divisions and corps appeared, and the armed forces became known as the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOAJ).

In Czechoslovakia, the struggle against the fascist invaders acquired a particularly wide scope in the spring and summer of 1944. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the proletariat became the leader of all the liberation forces united in the National Front. Partisan detachments were active in the country. In August 1944, the Slovak National Uprising took place, and later the May Uprising of the Czech people in 1945. In Poland, small partisan detachments, the core of which were workers, first entered the fight against the Nazi invaders. Later, the Guards of Ludow (GL), created on the initiative of the Polish Workers' Party, joined the armed struggle against the invaders, later transformed into the Army of Ludow (AL).

In Greece, in October 1941, the military center of the Resistance was established, which was then transformed into the Central Committee of the People's Liberation Army (ELAS). In Albania, with the leading role of the Communists, the partisan couples were transformed in the summer of 1943 into the National Liberation Army (NOAA).

The resistance movement in the countries of the Nazi coalition had its own characteristics compared with the occupied states. The anti-fascist struggle was waged here in the most difficult conditions of mass repressions and executions, and the cruel persecution of all democrats. Moreover, the regime of terror and political lack of rights in the countries of the Nazi coalition was combined with especially sophisticated nationalist and militaristic demagogy, which made the anti-fascist struggle extremely difficult. Relying on an extensive system of ideological and political brainwashing of the masses, the Nazis sought to eradicate democratic ideas from the minds of the working people.

An important role in the consolidation of anti-fascist forces was played by the All-Slavic Committee, the National Committee "Free Germany", the Union of Polish Patriots and other organizations created in the USSR. In Italy, in October 1941, under the leadership of the Communist Party, an Action Committee was created to unite patriotic forces at home and abroad. Opposition to the terrorist fascist regime intensified in Germany and other states. In the countries that joined the fascist bloc, the Bulgarian people were the first to rise in a mass armed struggle against the reactionary regime. At the end of June 1941, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Bulgaria, partisan groups were organized, the number of which subsequently grew rapidly. In the spring of 1943, the People's Liberation Insurgent Army was formed and a plan of armed action was developed on a national scale. At the beginning of September 1944, the partisan forces numbered over 30 thousand armed fighters and acted with the support of more than 200 thousand partisan assistants.

The transfer of the actions of the Soviet Army to the territory of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe and the successful implementation of its liberation mission inspired the patriots even more, instilled in them faith in the final defeat of the fascist regimes. More and more new participants were included in the resistance movement. Thus, the entry of the Soviet Army into the territory of Bulgaria created favorable conditions for the development of mass revolutionary actions. People's government was established in the areas controlled by the People's Liberation Army. On September 9, 1944, as a result of a nationwide, anti-fascist armed uprising, the monarcho-fascist regime was overthrown in the country and the government of the Fatherland Front was formed.

In Romania, in the process of preparing for an armed uprising led by the Communist Party, a large number of militant patriotic groups were created. In the summer of 1944, the National Democratic Bloc was formed, which included the Communist, Social Democratic, National Liberal and National Tsaranist parties. He advocated the immediate overthrow of the fascist government and an end to the aggressive war. The successes of the Soviet Army, above all its outstanding victory in the Iasi-Kishinev operation, hastened the development of the anti-fascist struggle in the country. On August 23, an armed uprising took place in Bucharest, which led to the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship.

Despite the most severe terror, preparations were made for an armed uprising in Hungary, which in March 1944 was occupied by Nazi troops. In May of the same year, at the call of the communists, the anti-fascist Hungarian Front was created, uniting almost all parties and trade union organizations. As the country was liberated by the Soviet Army, local committees were transformed into organs of people's power, which played an important role in democratic and socialist transformations.

Under the influence of the successes of the Soviet Armed Forces, as well as the actions of the American-British troops that landed in the autumn of 1943 in southern Italy, the first partisan formations arose in northern Italy. On the initiative of the Communist Party, they managed to be united in June 1944 into the people's army - the Corps of Freedom Volunteers, which at first numbered 82 thousand, and by April 1945 - already 150 thousand people. A mass resistance movement unfolded in Italy under the leadership of the working class. The action of the armed forces of the Resistance in the second half of April 1945, supported by a general strike at the call of the Communists, led to the fact that in many industrial centers and cities of Northern Italy almost all the Nazi troops and Blackshirts laid down their arms even before the arrival of the Anglo-American troops.

Resistance to fascism also existed in Hitler's concentration camps, camps for prisoners of war and foreign workers, where the Nazis used them as slave labor. The prisoners, despite the inhuman conditions of existence, committed sabotage and sabotage at military enterprises, conducted anti-fascist propaganda, and organized mutual assistance. An active role in this struggle was played by Soviet officers and soldiers, who led many underground organizations and groups.

The resistance movement was an integral part of the liberation struggle of the peoples. This struggle was associated with great sacrifices.