The Second World War. Day after day

© Lim Word, 2018

ISBN 978-5-4490-7133-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Formation of the Third Reich

The appearance of the Third Reich (empire), which he became for 13 years and 13 days, as some historians believe, is the merit of the only person – Adolf Hitler (Hydler). The surname is identical to the meaning “forester, caretaker”. The only half-sister, Paula, the artist, lived until 1960, Angel’s half sister (by father), a housewife until 1949, her son Leo Hitler, was captured during the Battle of Stalingrad and was offered for exchange for his son Stalin, Yakov. Brother Edmund dies at a minor age.

In 1908, Hitler failed to take exams at the Vienna Academy of Arts, but since 1909, selling his paintings is beginning to bring a solid income. A.G. studies English and French in the amount sufficient to view the films of these countries in the original, is actively interested in arming the armies of the world and politics. He does not want to serve in the Austrian army “for the Czechs and Hungarians”, but in 1914, with the beginning of the Great War, he makes an application with a request to serve in the Bavarian (German) army. In 1918, Hitler was poisoned by the gas of a chemical shell exploding nearby the English. Half lost sight, he leads the blind comrades from the firing zone. It was at this time, according to his testimony, along with the news of the surrender of Germany, that he found a revelation about the revival of the Reich and miraculously healed. According to mythology, possibly having real roots, Hitler (1) receives a suggestion from a doctor, a powerful hypnotist, that he is the Messiah of the German people, and, therefore, must see through. Or, (2) Concludes an agreement with a representative of the dark forces that he will be given power for 13 years and 13 days (January 30, 1933 – April 30, 1945) for the rise of the German nation.

In November 1923, the rate of the German mark is 4.2 trillion for the American dollar. In 1924, parallel to it, the unofficial monetary unit – the so-called. rental mark secured by a pledge of immovable property. The rate to the ordinary mark is one to one trillion. A few months later, a legitimate Reichsmark (RM) appears, equal to it at face value, and both these currencies remain in circulation in order not to undermine public confidence. The cost of one RM – 2.5 grams of pure silver, which at the current rate is about 150 rubles. The appearance of these denominations suspends hyperinflation (5000%, the issuance of wages – twice a day, people are starving).

1. Billion of German marks in 1923

2. Five trillion “paper” brands in 1923.

3. Rental stamp

4. Reichsmark of 1942 issue

5. The emblem of the Italian (primordial) fascism

6. Emblem of the Spanish fascists

7. The emblem of the nationalist “Iron Guard” of Romania

8. Symbol of the Polish Phalanx

9. The symbol of the Croatian “Ustashi”

10. Flag of the National Socialist Party of Hungary “Crossed arrows”

1. Billion of German marks in 1923. Till this time, Germany was called the Weimar Republic. Somehow it turned out that the division of the country could be contained, providing hyperinflation (the Rhineland was preparing to secede). Prices doubled every three days, in circulation was the so-called paper stamp (Papiermark). A beer mug cost four billion. In 1924, inflation was stopped. By the mid-twenties, the republic had achieved certain economic and political successes, but since 1929 a new, though not so strong, recession had followed. In the end, the Germans decided that the way out of the situation was in the new leaders and the Third Reich.

2. Five trillion “paper” brands in 1923.

3. Rental stamp. Provided with industrial potential, real estate, very popular. The rate is one to a trillion of “pipermaroks”.

4. Completely solid in design and execution of the Reichsmark of 1942 issue. A severe aesthetics of the new state order is visible. The salary of a German lieutenant (Obersturmfuhrer) is 220 marks a month. The purchasing power of the brand in the main set of products and services is about the same as that of the modern 7.5 dollars. The course towards the American currency, strangely enough, remained stable, until 1945.

5. The emblem of the Italian (primordial) fascism is a bundle of fascias (Latin fasces- rods), birch or elm rods, rods tied with a red ribbon, with a hatchet in them. This symbolism in Russia is not prohibited, it is used by such state entities as the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Federal Bailiff Service.

6. Emblem of the Spanish fascists, otherwise – of the Franco, Falangist, the party Falange Española. Arrows and yokes are symbols of the unifiers of Spain, the Catholic monarchs Isabella of the First Castilian and Ferdinand of the Second of Aragon. This form of fascism exists even after the end of World War II, until 1975 – the time of the natural death of dictator Franco Franco.

7. Lattice – a symbol of suffering for freedom, the emblem of the nationalist “Iron Guard” of Romania.

8. Symbol of the Polish Phalanx. The Poles are ardent nationalists, they do not recognize kinship with the Slavs, they are looking for their heroic forerunners in the semi-mythical tribe of the Sarmatians or even the Germanic tribes. Be that as it may, at the beginning of the Second World War, one nationalism almost completely destroys another, and this circumstance undoubtedly helps the Allies to win.

9. The symbol of the Croatian “Ustashi” (Horst “Ustaše” – “TheInsurrection”). The main idea of those who consider themselves descended is a mono-national state, anti-Semitism, serbophobia, nationalism, territorial claims to Serbia. Under the Germans, the Ustash, along with some Bosnian Muslims, form the Waffen SS corps, numbering about 113,000, physically destroying 400,000 Serbs, Jews and Gypsies.

The postwar policy of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito – “Forgetting everything bad” only leads to the fact that in the early 1990s, non-repentant Croatian nationalists go on relapse, and unleash a bloody Civil War.

10. Flag of the National Socialist Party of Hungary “Crossed arrows”. In fact, the “Crossed Arrows” and its sole leader, Ferenc Salashi rule parallel to the government of Miklos Horthy. It is Horthy who initiates the entry of his state into the Second World War. The main goal, at the very beginning of the expansion, is the return of considerable territories, more than half of the country lost by Hungary under the Versailles Treaty. Further, the non-fascist formally Hungary, whether or not, is forced to participate in all military operations of Hitler’s Germany.

In October 1944, the Horthy government announced a truce with the USSR. A detachment of saboteurs Otto Skorzeni kidnaps Horty’s son. Under such pressure, the head of state transfers powers to Ferenc Salashi, and moves away from business.

The “Crossed Arrows” party rules until March 1945.

The way to power was determined after Hitler was sent to the army propaganda courses: his speeches were noticed by influential people. Fourteen years later, A.G. becomes simultaneously Reichspresident and Reichskanzlerom; These long names are shortened to the word “Fuhrer” – “leader.”

The first speeches of Hitler in this post are reduced to defining the world as an unconditional value, however, one way or another, its achievement follows from the return of lands lost by Germany after the Great War.

Landmark of the German Fuhrer – the movement of “blackshirts” in Italy. Since 1919, this southern country is experiencing a “red two-year”. The workers organize election committees on the direct model of the Soviets in Red Russia, seize enterprises, and try to control them more or less efficiently. The example of the USSR that is formed in general, does not bring inspiration to the Italian proletariat: this is a civil war, the physical annihilation of classes, mutual embitterment, power structures that seem to be completely out of control, apparently to no one at all. The red two-year period is replaced by the second anniversary of black. In October 1921 the squadrist, a voluntary national security militia, in the number of about 5,000 people, organize a march to Rome. King of Italy Victor Emmanuel meets with the head of the fascists Benito Mussolini, confirms him as prime minister.

The main idea of the Mussolini duce is a corporate state, the unification of classes on the basis of a common nationality and awareness of the exclusivity of their state. Introduced in particular, the laws on the inadmissibility of mixed marriages of Italians with non-Europoid races. The dialectic of fascism rejects peace, tranquility as some absolute value, recognizes war, and other perturbations are an indispensable means of improving mankind.

In general, Italian fascism is much milder than Hitler’s National Socialism. Whatever it was, the corporate state gives its citizens stability, work, a piece of bread and some enthusiasm. It successfully fights with, it would seem, a national brand, and the disaster of Italy – the mafia. However, the payment for such a way of uniting the masses, albeit with some delay – participation in many bloody battles of the Axis bloc in the South and East.

The ideology of fascism, to a greater or lesser degree, takes possession of many European states: Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Croatia, Portugal, etc. In Japan, since 1938, in fact, the plan of “Great East Asia "– free from European influence, but under the direct control of the Land of the Rising Sun zone; which includes, among many other things, the whole of China. Militarism is not quite fascism, since it is not tied to a single charismatic dictator. This structure implies controlled tension in society, the creation of an image of an insidious external enemy, overstated by the military economy (albeit at the expense of the most important social programs), extensive external expansion.

You can argue a lot about the hidden springs of a gradually unfolding unthinkable action. One of them, usually not mentioned by historians, as something insignificant, is the massive use of German troops, the population and leadership of the Reich, psychotropic substances. Tobacco smoking is not welcome, although in a combat situation this is perhaps the best way to relieve stress. In the course of “Pills of cheerfulness”, pervitin (methamphetamine), the official component of the combat diet of German soldiers. The narcotic, which generates a sense of omnipotence, impunity, a psychoactive drug, is a part of food products, for example “tank chocolate” and sweets. Massively applied since 1938. The Wehrmacht receives about 12 million tablets a month from Temmler and Knoll, with a recommended dose of 2 tablets per day. According to some reports, by the time of the invasion of France, production has reached 833,000 pills per day. Hitler does not smoke tobacco, but takes pervitin from his personal physician Theodore Morrell since 1936 (actually, the beginning of expansion); since 1943 – several doses per day.

This drug, in addition, mobilizes forces, as if the body received a signal of danger – although, in fact, there can be no threat. But, subsequently, after such energy stimulation leading to numerous injuries, nerve cells die hundreds of thousands per day. It is interesting that the drug is recommended for mass consumption, like a panacea, even, for example, to treat female frigidity, and to facilitate delivery. It can not be said that the German authorities specifically promote the spread of pervitin; but they do not interfere with its spread at all.

…In 1930, Germany produces 200 tons of heroin, deploys also the production of other, cheaper, synthetic drugs. Overseas territories have been lost, according to the Versailles Treaty, however, many Latin American countries are willing to supply raw materials. Initially, aspiring to sole authority over the consciousness of its citizens, the National Socialist Party of Germany (NSDAP) strongly opposes the use of opiates. The concept is introduced: “Your own body belongs, first of all, to the family and the nation”, in contrast, it seems, really decadent thesis of the Weimar Republic: “Your body belongs only to you.” However, synthetic drugs, now called “energy stimulants,” thanks, in addition to everything, to Hitler, just drop out of the list of banned drugs.

In 1929, Nuremberg created the National Socialist Union of German Doctors, which, by the end of 1933, had 11,000 participants (23% of all German medical personnel). They, based on the data of their patients, create “files of heredity archives”. The main idea – the mentally retarded people do not have a right to exist – which, for the sake of humanity and prosperity of the nation, should be broken off in one way or another. Already since 1933, representatives of this union occupy leading positions, informally dispose of a gradual reduction in the standards for supplying food to patients of care and medical institutions – up to a lethal outcome.

Since October 9, 1935, almost legal, the T-4 program starts (from the name of the street Tigartentstrasse, house 4, where the headquarters of this organization was located), designed to reduce the population of Germany by the formula 1000: 10: 5: 1. Out of a thousand people, ten are disabled – five of them should be assisted, one physically eliminated. Planck rises: it now follows “To destroy all those who are unable to work productively, and not only deprived of reason.” In total, before September 1, 1941, 70,273 of its citizens were killed in German hospitals: at least 885 million marks were saved for the Army and Government. At the same time, German doctors working in the program receive monetary allowance more than anywhere else in the Reich. For each “processed dossier”, that is, the death of the patient, a fee of 100 Reichsmarks is paid – plus the use of the food stamps of the deceased remaining in the course of the month before the end of the month, the issuing of bills for his relatives to his relatives, within the specified time, and, gold crowns.

Also terminally sick children are destroyed, later – adolescents under 17 years old, diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, microcephaly, hydrocephalus, all kinds of malformations, paralysis and so on. The value of each child’s life is determined in accordance with economic criteria. Parents are informed of the death of children as a result of pneumonia, or other fictitious causes. The body is cremated anyway.

In addition, about 400,000 people with an arbitrarily diagnosed diagnosis (most often “schizophrenia”), sometimes simply – the political enemies of the Reich, from 1943 to 1945, are subjected to forced sterilization.

Thus, the hospitals of the Third Reich are exempt from former hospital patients. However, some hidden laws of retaliation come into effect, medical institutions are quickly replenished by the wounded, at the front, and as a result of increasing air strikes.

Such a policy of the NSDAP ceases to please even some of its influential functionaries. In the end, a very weighty message of ferment in the minds reaches Hitler’s ears by Hannah Reich, the personal pilot of the Fuhrer. By August 1941, the T-4 program in Germany is partially curtailed, its main structures, trained medical personnel, mobile gas chambers are moving to the East. Here, killing people is done by the introduction of barbiturates, more often by an elementary “lowering” of the diet to zero. In total, on the territory of the Soviet Union (including the Baltic States), as well as in Poland, German doctors kill a million “Ostarbeiters”, and an unknown number of German soldiers with severe injuries…

…In 1934, 97% of Germany’s debts to Great Britain and the United States (total 23.3 billion marks) are written off. This act is prompted by a similar decision and other countries in Europe. Switzerland agrees to sell Reich gold for the Reichsmark; later she does not disdain to accept hundreds of kilograms of gold crowns from the concentration camps.

The Civil War in Spain

After the fall of 1931, the monarchy, the new Republican government of Spain abolished aristocratic titles, greatly reduced the armed forces, and selected surplus land from the landlords (over 200 hectares). Already not popular with the majority of the population, an overly politicized and biased church, is separated from the state.

All these reforms are carried out inadequately and cause strong opposition from a significant part of society. The rebellion begins on July 17, 1936 in Spanish Morocco. July 18, he throws himself in, in fact, Spain. On the side of the putschists – 80% of the highest officers, mostly ground forces. Since July 27, the rebels are beginning to receive military and technical assistance from Germany and Spain – the bombers SM-81, Yu-52, the CV3 / 33 tanket, as well as numerous volunteers. Only on October 16 the Republicans announce the establishment of their own, regular People’s Army, which includes Soviet military specialists and international brigades of anti-fascists. In mid-October, the first shipment of I-15 fighters, ANT-40 bombers and (300) T-26 tanks (with Soviet crews) arrives in Spain. Part of the military cargo goes by sea, at risk of being captured or destroyed (at the bottom there are three ships), part – by railroad through France. On the streets bombed by the Legion of the Air Force “Condor” in Madrid, two weeks are fierce battles, after the rebel-francists retreat. However, the government of Franco is recognized by Germany, Italy, Portugal, a number of Latin American states. In February 1937, there was a second battle for Madrid. The Francoists (Spaniards and Italians) are on the approaches to the capital, they are stopped by scattered parts of the Republicans and the Soviet armored brigade T-26 of General Dmitry (Pablo) Pavlov.

1. I-15

2. I-16

3. Bf. (Me) – 109, Series B (Bruno)

4. Heinkel 51

1. I-15 (Chato – “Pug-nosed”), a half-plane (the lower wing has a much smaller area) Polikarpova, four 7, 62 mm. machine gun, the speed of 370 km. h, the flight range is 750 km. On its basis, I-153 was created, a deep modernization of the I-15, “Seagull. Introduced retractable landing gear, appeared armored bump, the steel forms are more streamlined. Armament: four 7.62 mm. machine gun, 8 unguided missiles with 82 mm. shells, up to 200 kg. bombs. The speed is 410—430 km. h. The range of flight is 740 km. Put into operation by 1939 (after the war in Spain), quite successfully participated in the conflict at Halkin Gol. In the Finnish war proved to be mediocre. In the hot summer of 1941 it became finally clear that the development of the idea of biplanes, in addition to the short fuselage, of the wobbling “fatties” – Polikarpov’s big mistake. From 1939 to 1941, 3,427 aircraft were produced.

2. I-16 (nickname in the USSR – Ishak, Yastrebok, Spanish army, Franco – Rata – agile rapacious “Rat”, Republicans “Mosca” – “Fly”, in China – “Yanzi” – “The Swallow”). The first fighter is a low-grade aircraft in the USSR. Armament – four 7.62 mm. the ShKAS machine gun (the Shpitalniy and Komaritsky system, for the first time in the world, the rate of fire is 1,800 rounds per minute) or two 20 mm. guns and two 7.62 mm. machine gun. The speed at altitude is 450 km. h. The range of flight is 520 km. This is the maximum performance of an airplane with a single-row, star-shaped engine. The lantern of the cockpit can be closed completely, however, due to frequent seizures, the pilots keep it open (as can be seen in almost all the photographs). By 1942 inclusive (83 aircraft in the last year) produced 10 300 copies (not counting a few dozen, manufactured in Spain and China). Together with the “Seagull” brutal I-16 was the backbone of Soviet fighter aviation to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Led by an experienced pilot, he was not an easy prey, he tried to avoid maneuvering with him the aces of the Luftwaffe, saying that, they say; “You should not drive a rat into a corner.” However, the time I-16 passed.

3. Bf. (Me) – 109, Series B (Bruno), a fighter, was supplied to the Francoists in the second half of the Civil War. At that time had three 7.92 mm. machine gun. By the beginning of the Second World War Me-109 got four machine guns, or, in the other series, two machine guns plus 30 mm. a cannon with 60 shells. As an attack aircraft, he carried one 250 kg. the bomb. Speed – before modernization, during the war in Spain only 470 km. h, but by 1939, after replacing the engine (which became an unpleasant surprise, primarily for the British Air Force) – 570 km. h. In the mid-forties, its speed reached 620 km. h. The range of the flight is 480 km. In total, from 1937 to 1945, 34,000 Messerschmitts were produced.

4. Heinkel 51, the fighter of the Frankish first half of the war. Virtually had no chance against I-15. Armament – two machine guns 7,92 mm., Speed 310 km. h, flight range 550 km.

The rebels are changing the direction of the main attack and are crashing to the north of Spain – the Basque Country. April 26 German pilots destroy the city of Guernica. Strengthens his dictatorship Franco – his party “Spanish Phalanx” gets rid of internal opposition. At this time, the official Spanish government, which wants to achieve stability, completely purposely replaces a number of ministers. A single strong leader does not appear. The Republican army exhausts forces in fruitless frontal attacks of insignificant objects.

Organized according to the Stalinist patterns of the security service of the Republic, is being dealt with by prominent figures of the Marxist Party of Spain (Spanish POUM), is developing mass blind terror. Many Spanish Communists, as well as arrivals from all over the world interbrigadovtsy begin to get disappointed in their work, their morale is rapidly falling. The last successes Republicans achieve at the beginning of the offensive at the city of Brunet; (just west of the center of Spain), then they become entangled in contradictory orders, lose 25 thousand people against 10 thousand from the enemy, and together with them the original unity. On August 18, the republican units leave the front. 60,000 people are captured.

Italian submarines arrange a hunt for ships that supply goods still fighting in other theaters of military operations, Republicans. In early September, there is a sea battle; The Frankish flagship gets seriously damaged and departs from the convoy. Encouraged by this, insignificant in essence, success, the Republicans decide to hold a decisive offensive on land (Zaragoza, northeast of Spain). And again, their 80,000-strong group drains itself in unsuccessful attacks of secondary settlements, and then produces personnel personnel permutations that are also unnecessary to anyone. In early October, a new attempt is made to take Zaragoza. The main hope now is for 50 Soviet high-speed BT-5 tanks. Nationalists open floodgates of irrigation canals. Tanks bypass the appeared lakes, get bogged down in the mud, or far away from the accompanying infantry. The battle ends on October 17. Republicans lose 30,000 people killed and wounded, more than 30 tanks, francists – 20,000 people.

1. BT-5

2. Waddress CV3 / 33 (Carro veloce CV-33 “Ansaldo”)

3. T-26

4. ANT-25

1. Wheel-caterpillar BT-5. Armament: 45 mm. gun, 115 shells, paired with a cannon 7.62 machine gun. Booking: the forehead, the side of the body 13 mm., The forehead, the side of the tower 13 mm. The speed along the highway is 52 km. h on caterpillars, 72 km. h on wheels. Crew of 3 people. Weight 11 tons. Power reserve on the highway on tracks 150 km, wheels – 200 km.; while the rubber rim wears out after 150 km. mileage. The specific power is 35 hp. (higher than that of modern tanks). Ground pressure 0, 65 kg. see with clad caterpillars, 5.65 kg. see on wheels. The number of vehicles produced from 1933 to 1934 – 1880. Most of the tanks lost in the first months of the war. Since 1942, the machines have basically been transferred to the rear, as training, a certain number of BT-5 has survived until 1945, participating, among other things, in defeating the Kwantung Army.

2. Waddress CV3 / 33 (Carro veloce CV-33), otherwise, by the name of the company – “Ansaldo”. Armament: two 6.5 mm. machine gun. Booking: the forehead of the case is 15 mm., The board is 9 mm, the forehead of the felling is 15 mm, the board is felling 9 mm. Crew 2 people. Weight 3,5 tons. The speed along the highway is 42 km. h. The power reserve is 150 km. Specific power 12 hp There are 1400 copies produced.

3. T-26. Photo of the consequences of the late (1941) tank battle for Dubno-Lutsk-Brody. The first serial classic Soviet tank, which took part in many battles, was put into operation after many problems with non-working engines and assembly of hulls (including unarmored steel). Difficulties were removed after manufacturers were allowed to introduce changes into the original scheme related to the peculiarity of domestic technology, changes. Armament: the first series – 37-mm gun, 7, 62 mm. a machine gun in two towers, then, in a single-tower version of 45 mm. gun, two 7, 62 machine guns. Booking bulletproof: the forehead, the side of the body 15 mm., The forehead, the side of the tower 15 mm. The crew is three people. Weight 8 tons. Speed along the highway is 30 km. h, the power reserve is 120 km. I received the approving comments of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War – “for our time a good tank, without it we would have to be very difficult.” Prototype – English (two towers) six-ton “Vickers”. Despite some difference in the reservation, he could hit his opponent, the German T-3 is almost as confident as he is his. But, the practical training of a Soviet tankman on a tank-boat is 6.5 hours (sometimes 300 meters, straight, and back to the hangar), German – 50—120 hours (practically, the armored car resource is burnt).

From 1931 to 1941, 11218 T-26 (half of the Soviet tank fleet at the beginning of the war) were assembled.

4. ANT-25. The aircraft, created in the USSR specifically for the establishment of world records (1933). The maximum flight duration is 75 hours, the range is 12 411 km., The speed is 240 km. h. Crew of three people. The military version is DB-1 (ANT-36), the cruising speed is 200 km. h, bomb load 1000 kg., combat radius of 2000 km. In this form, 24 cars were built, the air was rarely raised, and finally they were used as targets at the airfield.

June 18, 1937 ANT-25 with a crew from V. Chkalov, G. Baidukov, A. Belyakov takes off from the airfield Shchelkov (30 km from the capital) and makes a flight on the route Moscow-North Pole-United States of America. The landing takes place at Pearson Airfield, Vancouver, Washington (north-west of the USA), with a huge crowd of people. Later, the aircraft in disassembled form, on the ship gets back to the USSR, by our time finds shelter in the museum of Nizhny Novgorod. His double, who also flew to America, already under the control of the crew of M. Gromov, now resides in the museum of Chkalovsk (Schelkovo).

Due to his charisma V. Chkalov establishes a warm, trusting relationship with the Americans.

Returned back, became a world-class pilot, on the ship “Normandy”, by coincidence, with the legend of the screen Marlene Dietrich, a German and American actress. Chkalov gives her bouquets of flowers, provides signs of attention, etc., up to the point where a steady rumor of a novel arises.

One thing is clear: such things as “soft power”, records simply for the sake of records are often much more important for the security of the country than piles of expensive weapons and loud statements that “we will all beat you,” or: “Our friends – only the Army and Navy”. The ANT-25 voyage contributed a lot to the creation of a favorable atmosphere for solving the issue of large-scale Lend-Lease deliveries in the critical year 1941 – without which, perhaps, the USSR would have lost the war.

After this, the Nationalists deploy an offensive in the North of Spain (the province of Asturias). Francists – 40 000 people, 100 units of armored vehicles, 250 aircraft, 250 guns, Republicans – 40 000 fighters, several self-made tanks, 20 aircraft, 80 guns. Nationalists apply their technique and human resources skillfully, without unnecessary losses, and achieve success. Their losses – 10 000 killed, against 30 000 irrevocable human losses of the enemy. But most importantly – the Republicans do not work the economy. The Communist leveling is negatively perceived by both farmers and highly skilled workers, not to mention the nominal owners of enterprises. Peasants do not care who levies from them an increased rent for land – landlords or bearers of bright ideals. Working committees eat government loans, hold rallies on any occasion, do not produce weapons for the army, preferring to him any useful, quickly sold goods. The salary of a militia fighter is 10 pesetas (plus food). In 1937, food prices rose sharply, albeit unevenly in different regions of the country. Kilogram of beef in Madrid costs 5, 75 pesetas, a dozen eggs 3.75, but also for these prices set by the republican government, it is almost impossible to “get it”.

To top it off, the disappointed USSR and France recall their best military specialists. In the ranks of Republicans reign defeatism.

In the spring of 1938, a major offensive of the Francoists in the north-east of the country takes place. Italian air squadrons bomb Barcelona, the provisional capital of the Republic, capture part of the autonomous Catalonia, then turn to the south and cut the territory of the Republicans in half. In June, the nationalists are trying to develop success in the south, in Valencia, but run into a well-prepared line of defense, and bear significant losses.

At the end of November, Franco agrees that German companies will own 75% of the extractive industry capital in Spain and 100% in the colonies; after which Germany resumes large-scale military supplies. The republic also purchases equipment in the USSR on preferential terms, but France, after the Munich agreement, no longer wants to enter into a conflict with the Nazis, and stops military cargo on its border.