Unlike Poland, other Eastern European countries - Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria, the post-war process of establishing the people's democratic (communist) regime, have a fairly peacefully, without the long and bloody wars. Naturally, the anti-communist speeches were in those countries, but in scope, they are incomparable with the Polish. In Yugoslavia in the middle of 1945 there were 11 thousand anti-Communist guerrillas: the former Chetniks, Ustashi, members of the Blue Guard, etc. One of the major speeches in this period happened in Kosovo. Here, during the suppression of anti-communist uprising killed 650 military and state security personnel and 1,500 guerrillas and 12 people were executed [1]. ... Read the whole article

Russia and Poland has always claimed to be the leading powers in the Slavic world. The conflict between Moscow and Warsaw began in the late X century because of border towns in what is now western Ukraine. At the beginning of the next century, the Polish troops had directly invaded the territory of Kievan Rus, intervening in the war between the Prince Yaroslav the Wise and Svyatopolk Damned on the side of the latter. The next major military conflict between the two countries took place in the late XVI - early XVII century (the period of "Time of Troubles"). The coming to power in 1613 the Romanov dynasty, which ruled the country over 300 years, only for a time to alleviate conflict. In the future, almost all of Russia's rulers had to deal with the settlement of relations with Warsaw. ... Read the whole article

During the Great Patriotic War and in the first years after its completion in the Baltic States has increased dramatically the number of armed gangs. You can argue long and hard about the political motives of the "Forest Brothers", their quest for independence of their homeland, but the methods used by these people - murder and robbery - were no different from ordinary activities of gangs of criminals, which was quite a lot in the early postwar years. Yes, and forms of struggle for independence, which the rebels have been using the uniquely interpreted by the current while the Criminal Code, as banditry. Suffice it to quote the article 59-3 of the Criminal Code of 1926: "bandits, ie organization of the armed gangs and participate in them and they organize attacks on Soviet and private institutions or individuals, stop trains and the destruction of railways and other means of transportation and communication. " This rule existed, without any modification, until a new law on criminal responsibility for crimes against the state in 1958. ... Read the whole article

After the death in 1938 the leader of Ukrainian nationalists Colonel Evgena Konovalca led them to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) split. August 27, 1939 "old" proclaimed the new leader of the OUN closest ally and friend Konovalca Colonel Andrew Miller. But with that decision, strongly disagreed so-called "young", a new generation of nationalists, rushing into the power [1]. Their leader was Stepan Bandera A., released in September 1939 the Germans from the Polish prison, where he sat for an attempt on the Polish Minister of Internal Affairs B. Peratskogo. As a result, in 1940 the "young" staged a revolt - in February Bandera gathered in Krakow conference at which he was created chief revolutionary tribunal which sentenced to death many supporters of Melnik. Began many years of bloody fighting, during which, according to conservative estimates, about 400 were destroyed melnikovtsev and more than 200 Bandera. The final demarcation took place in April 1941, when Bandera gathered in Krakow "a great collection, after which the OUN split into the OUN-M (melnikovtsy) and OUN-B (Bandera). However, internal ... Read the whole article

Silhouettes of 15 tanks, 15-art machines barely visible in the pre-dawn twilight. Behind was a night march, and in front ... ahead - line of defense of the fascists. What's waiting there a Soviet tank company? For her 26 kilometers of forced marches were a trifle, but as the infantry, not whether people are played out? Do not fall behind if they are from the tanks? As to whether the attention of intelligence? Unknown whether the Nazis seized in turn equip weapon emplacements? A few hours later everything will become clear. It's time. Engines roared. Tanks Captain Armand rushed forward. Paul Matissovich Arman was not a Frenchman. He comes from Latvia, but the teenager spent several years in France, and the first identity card was there, hence the unusual name. Before the war he commanded a tank battalion near Bobruisk. Anti-tank weapons from the Nazis was not only the armor peas poured machine gun fire. "Machine gun - bitterest enemy infantry" - as written in the instruction, and tank crews combed noticed the firing points of fire and caterpillars. Infantry still lagging. Not be delayed, zasekut and ... Read the whole article