Composition of the League of Nations in 1939. USSR and the League of Nations. Consequences of the exclusion of the USSR

Russian history 20 century is rich in various events. Some of them were tragic, some were dramatic, and some were triumphant.

Let us consider one of the episodes of our history as the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations.

Expulsion of the USSR from the League of Nations: how and when did it happen?

This event happened in 1939 year. The formal reason is the war of the USSR against Finland for disputed territories.

Let us recall that the League of Nations was an analogue of the UN, its goal was to restore world order after the bloody world war of the beginning of the century. The Soviet Union was treated with suspicion in this organization, especially this suspicion intensified after the powerful industrialization of the country, which was carried out by Stalin and his team, and also after Soviet army began to grow in numbers and in military-technical development.

IN 1934 year Soviet Union joined the League of Nations at the invitation of France. However, our country was unable to maintain membership in this organization for long.

TO 1939 year in this international organization (that is, the League of Nations) consisted 40 states True, there were no such major players on the world stage as the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy and others. However, the League of Nations had a certain significant authority, so exclusion from it and subsequent sanctions could not but affect the economy and political life of the USSR.

Let us examine in detail the reasons for this exception.

The reason for the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations

The reasons for exclusion vary. There is an official and formal reason - this is the war with Finland, there are also more hidden reasons that can be discussed separately.

Regarding the first cause, action Soviet leadership can be justified by the fact that the borders with the Finnish state are model 1939 year were dangerously close to the border with Leningrad. In the event of an attack by Germany, whose ally was Finland, Leningrad and all its main communications would have been captured within a few days. Stalin and his team could not allow this to happen, so they started this war.

The expulsion of the USSR was also preceded by an active information campaign to denigrate the image of our country, which was launched in the Western media. The fact is that soviet planes They dropped bombs on Finnish military targets, but often the bombs also hit civilian targets. The glow of fires and the death of people were filmed on cameras, videotaped, and then the entire European press began to accuse our country of the exceptional cruelty of waging war.

Thus, mass consciousness residents Western countries and their colonies perceived the USSR solely as an aggressor country that needed to be punished for its actions.

Other reasons for the exclusion of the USSR were competition, which is not uncommon between various states. Governments European countries They feared that a successful war could increase the influence of the Soviet country on Europe, so they wanted to disarm our country by introducing additional sanctions and aggravating relations, which was inevitable after the exclusion procedure.

How did the exclusion of the USSR happen?

At the initiative of Argentina 14 December The twentieth assembly of the League was convened. At it, all speakers protested against the actions of the USSR, supporting their speeches with excerpts from the media. The issue was put to a vote, as a result of which 40 countries 28 voted to exclude our country from this organization.

16 December employees of the Soviet diplomatic consulate disseminated the USSR's response. Representatives of our country noticed that the voting was carried out according to a fraudulent scheme; in addition, it was adopted Active participation representatives of France and Great Britain, who, instead of responding to Hitler to his military invasion of their countries, were engaged in weakening the USSR. Moreover, representatives of Soviet diplomacy noted that if 127 million people who lived in the remaining 39 states that are members of the League of Nations do not want to have anything to do with 183 millions of people living in the USSR, then, strictly speaking, the country of the Soviets has nothing to regret about them.

Consequences of the exclusion of the USSR

For the USSR, the consequences of exclusion affected primarily the fact that during Hitler’s attack on our country it was more difficult to come to an agreement with Western world about creating a coalition against Germany and its leader. Although, perhaps, even if the USSR had not been excluded, the second front would still have been opened precisely at the time when the situation between the USSR and Germany turned in favor of the Soviet troops. This exception also brought some sanctions in the economic sphere, which the USSR endured quite easily.

The League of Nations itself was dissolved shortly after the end of the war.

Thus, the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations was one of the pages of the difficult relations between our country and the Western European world.

The League of Nations was founded in 1919-1920 to avoid a repeat of the devastating war. The Versailles Agreement created by this organization included 58 states. The goals of the League were to maintain universal peace within the framework of fundamental principles Pact adopted by its members: to develop cooperation between peoples and guarantee them peace and security.

During the first years of the League of Nations, great successes were noted. In accordance with the provisions of the Pact, several international disputes - between Sweden and Finland, as well as between Greece and Bulgaria - were resolved peacefully. The agreement signed at Locarno in October 1925, which marked the beginning of Franco-German reconciliation, was assigned to the League.

Who was not included in the League of Nations

Countries that are not included in the League: USA, Saudi Arabia. Later, due to non-compliance with the Treaty of Versailles, countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan withdrew, and the USSR was also excluded from the League of Nations.

At the beginning of the formation of the League, the USSR was not part of the countries, although it supported this organization in every possible way, taking an active part in summits and negotiations. In September 1934, the USSR joined the League as a permanent member. The reason for the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations lay in the armed attack on Finland.

Political events in Moscow leading to hostilities

Stalin was worried that the border with Finland was very close to Leningrad, which, in his opinion, threatened national security. The Soviet leader at first did not want to start a military campaign and negotiated for peace and military assistance. Stalin was ready to cede a significant part of Karelia to the Finns; in return, they were required to move the border from Leningrad deep into their territory and provide the USSR with several islands on Finnish territory for military bases.

How the USSR was excluded from the League of Nations

Moscow's proposal caused a split in the Finnish leadership, and those who did not want any compromises with the Bolsheviks took over. On November 26, 1939, at about 16:00, shelling was allegedly launched on the territory of the Soviet border post in the area of ​​the Korean village of Mainila from Finnish territory; according to official sources, 4 people were killed and 8 were wounded.

Finnish border guards claimed that the shells came from the Soviet rear. An hour later, a commission consisting of the ICIA was held in Maynila, which quickly determined the guilt of the Finnish side. Such shelling gave Moscow a formal reason to attack Finnish territory, under the guise of defending its land. That is why the USSR was excluded from the League of Nations (1939).

On November 28, Moscow withdraws from the non-aggression treaty, the next day followed by a statement about November 30, 1939, the troops of the Soviet Union crossed Finnish border with a large superiority of manpower and equipment. This confrontation went down in history under the name “War with the White Finns.” Its beginning was not announced, and even the obvious shelling of Finnish territory by Soviet troops was denied by Moscow leaders.

The League of Nations has run out of patience

Moscow created information propaganda that the Finnish government is the enemy of its population. The Union declared itself not an aggressor, but a liberator. But few people believed Moscow. On December 14, the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations was supported by 7 members of the Council out of 15. Despite the minority of supporters, the decision came into force. At the meeting, the main lever of influence against the aggressor was ignored - the use economic sanctions. Delegates from countries such as Greece, China and Yugoslavia abstained from voting, and representatives of Iran and Peru were not present at the meeting where the USSR was expelled from the League of Nations.

World War II was approaching

This was the largest bloody conflict in the history of mankind using nuclear weapons, which involved 62 states in fighting, which is 80% globe. World War II began shortly after everyone observed the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations. Do not forget the bloody war in Finland, where the city of Helsinki was completely wiped off the face of the country.

After the outbreak of World War II, the insolvency of the League became obvious, and the last thing that could be considered was the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations. The date of this event was December 14, 1939, and by January 1940 the League had stopped all activities regarding the settlement of political issues.

What failures has the organization suffered?

Despite a good start, the League of Nations failed to prevent either the invasion of Manchuria by Japan or the annexation of Ethiopia by Italy in 1936, and Hitler's capture of Austria in 1938 left the League of Nations powerless to prevent further world conflict. The League of Nations ceased to operate in 1940.

Such failures only prove the inconsistency of agreements between political forces. Peace agreements are adhered to as long as it is beneficial to both countries or until there is no possibility of conducting military conflicts. Therefore, the participating countries observed the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations (1939).

Successes of the Treaty of Versailles

The failure of the collective security of the League of Nations does not lose sight of the successes of what was achieved from the very beginning. Under its auspices, a significant number of summits and intergovernmental expert meetings were held in Geneva in such areas as financial issues, health care, social affairs, transport and communications, etc. This fruitful work was confirmed by the ratification of more than a hundred conventions by member states. The unprecedented work in the interests of refugees carried out by the Norwegian figure F. Nansen since 1920 should also be emphasized.

Almost 100 years ago, the USSR was excluded from the League of Nations; the date of this event, as mentioned above, fell on December 14, 1939. Today, the successor to the League is the UN.

The Soviet Union's presentation of an ultimatum to Finland and the declaration of war on a small country against the will of the “world community” in 1939 led to the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations.

The Soviet Union's presentation of an ultimatum to Finland and the declaration of war on a small country against the will of the “world community” in 1939 led to the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations. Disappeared, as I.V. put it. Stalin, the last “bump on the road to at least somewhat complicating the cause of war and to some extent facilitating the cause of peace.” The leader was right: the Second World War (1939–1945) soon engulfed the planet. This is a very common idea of ​​events. It is fundamentally incorrect.

League of Nations, predecessor modern UN, was created by the victors of the First World War at the Paris Conference of 1919–1920. on the initiative of US President Wilson. He dreamed of uniting different countries so much as to exclude the possibility new war. However, the League was organized with such obvious dictates from England and France that the United States itself refused to join it. The 33 Entente countries that founded the League of Nations and the 13 states that were the first to be invited to join it saw in this organization a way to formalize the redivision of the world by issuing mandates for colonies to the new owners and to consolidate the Versailles system of oppression defeated countries. The 26-point Charter of the League of Nations was included in all treaties concluded after the war. The League guaranteed "eternal" peace based on the inviolability of borders and protectorates arbitrarily established by the victors.

The mistake of the organizers of the League was that they saw the world as unipolar, entirely owned by the victors with a corresponding subordination among them. However, it was difficult only by reparations and sending expeditionary forces to consolidate a system in which 7 out of 10 inhabitants of the Earth were actually turned into slaves, and borders arbitrarily drawn through nation states, made almost 17 million people national minorities. Entente interventionists broke their teeth on Russia. With the support of Russia, Turkey, already condemned to death, rebelled under the leadership of the Young Turks and expelled the occupiers. The world was engulfed in riots.

Particular dissonance was created by those who were defeated or excluded from the ranks of the victors when dividing the spoils the developed countries. England and France included Japan, dissatisfied with its acquisitions, Italy, deprived of new lands and colonies, as well as Germany, cut off on all sides, which lost 8% of the German population and 75% of its ore reserves, as permanent members of the League Council. Japan was resolutely preparing for conquest; in Italy, the fascists came to power under the slogan of redividing the world. The Germans, plunged into poverty by the war, were robbed and humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles so cruelly that, as soon as the new generation grew up, they almost unanimously followed those who promised to take revenge on the victors and wash away the shame with blood.

In the West, they seriously believed that Hitler, who came to power in 1933, would rush at the USSR like an obedient shepherd dog, without returning to Germany the German lands seized by the Treaty of Versailles. However, in the same 1933, Germany and Japan withdrew from the League of Nations, promising their peoples to divide the world fairly. In 1935, Italy was offended: in violation of secret agreements, England and France passed a decision in the League of Nations on its economic blockade for aggression against Ethiopia (a member of this organization since 1923). The USSR, which joined the League in September 1933, supported the blockade. And the United States passed the “neutrality law,” which allowed everyone to trade with anyone they considered necessary to support. For example, the rebels in Spain, whose legitimate republic was strangled by the blockade of the League of Nations.

In the camp of the victors, the division of the world caused a hidden struggle. France secretly supported Turkey against England, and she secretly supported Syria against France. England and Italy tried to undermine French dominance in Central and Southern Europe. The United States made every effort to restore Germany's military-industrial potential, and President Roosevelt was happy to learn about the outbreak of World War II, in which Europe was to suffer terrible damage, surrendering its markets to the depressed States. However, both England and France reacted “with understanding” to the fascist regimes that emerged one after another, believing that their revanchist aspirations could be satisfied at the expense of the USSR.

Following Ethiopia and Spain surrendered to the Nazis, the League of Nations gave Austria and Czechoslovakia to the Nazis, and almost all of China to the Japanese. Aggression was creeping towards the borders of the USSR. But Chamberlain could not agree with Hitler on the division of Eastern Europe, USSR and China. Soon, on August 23, 1939, Molotov and Ribbentrop signed a Non-Aggression Pact with a secret protocol on the delimitation of the interests of Germany and the USSR along the line of their collision “all along the length from Black to Baltic seas" On September 1, Hitler attacked Poland, on the 3rd - Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, on September 17 Soviet troops they went to occupy the part of Poland allotted to them, that is, they joined an act that the League of Nations finally recognized as aggression.

But the “expulsion” of the USSR from the League of Nations after the attack on Finland on November 30, 1939 is associated with the outbreak of world war only in the minds of the West. Having declared, but not started, war, England and France tried to frighten Hitler with the prospect of a fight with the entire clan of victors, hastening to point out a “weaker” enemy that was no longer covered by the auspices of the League. After all, Hitler, together with England, France, the USA and others, selflessly armed Finland and prepared it for a coalition war against the USSR. And the “Western democracies”, under the pretext of a “strange war,” abandoned Finland just like the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, which they pledged to defend. Not anticipating the Allies' violation of agreements on military assistance and arms supplies, the Finns did not bow to Stalin. For the USSR and Finland, the war turned into a senseless murder.

However, military-political pressure on Hitler and pointing out to him a new “rogue country” had reverse effect. The Fuhrer no less willingly “surrendered” Finland to Stalin and was pleased that he got stuck in it. At the time of the USSR's expulsion from the League of Nations, Hitler already had a plan to strike the most dangerous enemy in his opinion, and week after week he postponed it until spring solely because weather conditions. The Blitzkrieg brought an end to the League of Nations. On its basis, the completely defeated “masters of Europe” could not even try to attract into the coalition the only powerful anti-fascist force remaining on the continent - the USSR. However, the apparatus of the League of Nations existed comfortably in Geneva until the formal dissolution of the League in 1946.

The United Nations, created as a result of the Second World War, also pursued the goal of “forever” securing the division of the world. But the new rulers belonged to different socio-political systems; moreover, at the instigation of the USSR, the then weak France and China were introduced into the permanent membership of the Security Council. The UN performed peacekeeping functions in a bipolar system international relations, thanks to which the old colonial empires crumbled and many small countries imagined themselves protected by international law. It was supported only by nuclear confrontation and collapsed along with the USSR. Now NATO troops on the continent are being vigorously replaced by the army of United Europe. And the USA has a chance to win the third world war, as the Romans loved - “solely by intimidation.”

It is believed that the Soviet bomb attack on Helsinki on September 30, 1939 sparked a worldwide protest. political elite and led to the exclusion of the USSR from the League of Nations. Meanwhile, in Russian archives There are documents indicating that the commander of the DB-3 bomber squadron, Nikolai Tokarev, did not receive an order to drop bombs on the streets of Helsinki.

November 30, 1939 is the date of the beginning of the USSR military invasion of Finland. 2 days earlier, the Finnish envoy to the Soviet Union, Irie-Koskinen, was handed a government note, which stated the denunciation of the non-aggression pact previously concluded between Finland and the USSR. The note stated that the Soviet Union did not intend to continue to leave unanswered the aggressive actions of the Finnish side, which was systematically conducting artillery shelling of Soviet territory.
On the first day of the war, a squadron of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force dropped on Helsinki in total 10.5 tons of bombs. However, according to documents from the Russian State Archive of the Navy, her combat mission was not the bombing of the Finnish capital - Soviet pilots were ordered to scout out the location of the coastal defense battleships of the Finnish Navy - "Väinämöinen" and "Ilmarinen" - and destroy them.

The first link of naval aviation reconnaissance lost 2 aircraft shot down by Finnish anti-aircraft gunners. Only the second link managed to detect the battleships in the first hour of the day. They stood north of the island of Ruissalo (Hanko base). The DB-3 bombs were dropped, but they did not hit the targets. When Nikolai Tokarev’s squadron arrived at the site 2 hours later to bomb again, “Väinämöinen” and “Ilmarinen” were no longer there. There was no way to search for the armadillos again - the weather was getting worse and evening was approaching.

The directive of the Baltic Fleet Air Force Directorate dated November 18, 1939 clearly prescribed backup targets for bombers in such a situation: ships and defensive structures naval base. The flag navigator of Tokarev's squadron, Pyotr Khokhlov, subsequently wrote in his memoirs that “no reserve targets were established for them [then],” and the commander ordered to go “to the most important target.” The operational report of the Baltic Fleet Air Force headquarters dated November 30 says that the reserve target for Tokarev’s squadron was the port of Helsinki, which was bombed from a height of one and a half thousand meters. According to official data, as a result, 2 warships, as well as 4- and 5-story port buildings, caught fire.

- a resolution of the Assembly and a resolution of the Council of the League of Nations on the exclusion of the Soviet Union from this international organization with condemnation of “the actions of the USSR directed against the Finnish state,” namely for starting a war with Finland. It took place on December 14, 1939 at the Palais des Nations, the headquarters of the League in Geneva (Switzerland).

Mr. Secretary General,
The USSR, with which Finland had maintained good neighborly relations since the signing of the peace treaty in Tartu in 1920 and signed a non-aggression pact, which expired only in 1945, suddenly attacked on the morning of November 30 of this year not only the border positions, but also and upon the open Finnish cities, spreading death and desolation among civilian population, especially air attacks.

Finland has never done anything against its powerful neighbor. She never ceased to make the greatest efforts to live in peace with him. However, citing Finland's alleged refusal to agree to the so-called border incidents and blaming Finland's alleged refusal to agree to strengthening the security of Leningrad, the USSR first denounces the above-mentioned non-aggression pact and then refuses the Finnish government's offer to resort to the mediation of any neutral power .

On the instructions of my Government, I have the honor to bring the above to your attention with a request that you deign to convene immediately, in accordance with Articles 11 and 15 of the Covenant, the Council and the Assembly and ask them to accept all necessary measures to stop aggression. I will not fail to give you a full account of the reasons and circumstances which led my Government to request the intervention of the League of Nations in the conflict which has brought two of its members into conflict.

REFERENCE

1.The League of nations— international organization, founded as a result of the Versailles-Washington system of the Versailles Agreement in 1919 - 1920. During the period from September 28, 1934 to February 23, 1935, the League of Nations included 58 member states.

2. September 15, 1934, on the initiative of France30 member countries approached the USSR with a proposal to join the League. September 18In 1934, the Soviet Union accepted this proposal and took the place of a permanent member of its Council.

3. The goals of the League of Nations included: disarmament, prevention of hostilities, ensuring collective security, resolving disputes between countries through diplomatic negotiations, and improving the quality of life on the planet.

4. The basic principles of a peaceful community of nations were formulated in 1795Immanuel Kant, who in his political and philosophical treatise “Towards Eternal Peace”described the cultural and philosophical foundations of the future unification of peoples and thereby expressed the idea of ​​a League of Nations, which could exercise control over conflict situations and make efforts to preserve and strengthen peace between states.

5. The League of Nations was abolished on April 20, 1946, when its assets and liabilities were transferred to UN.