By Nick Stamatakis
Before I further discuss the use and abuse of history for current political purposes, let me remind our readers and the friends of Helleniscope that I have visited this subject many times – I have a special place in my heart for this… It was the most essential part of my doctoral research in Cyprus regarding the “Construction of Greek-Cypriot identity” (1989-1990 Ph.D earned in 1994). At that time, I was faced, among many other issues of abuse of history, with a certain “Neocyprian Association” (still existing today – I cannot imagine how) that was trying to convince us that the Greeks and Turks of Cyprus have Phoenician origins – and therefore they can unite as Cypriots and forget the “motherlands”. It took only about a decade and the development of DNA studies to prove that both Greeks and Turks of Cyprus have primarily Greek DNA!!!.
As part of my research, I participated in countless national holiday parades and other memorial events, which in Cyprus were almost a daily occurrence at the time… So, discussing the celebrations for the 80 years of Victory Day against the Nazis in WW II is an all too familiar a subject…
You can imagine my outrage when I heard that in tomorrow’s Victory Day Parade in London the Ukrainian Army will participate (link here for the news by Reuters). Yes, my friends, the descendants of those who fought alongside the Nazi SS, the descendants of those who prosecuted and killed over 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine will parade in London!! I have not seen a bigger abuse of history in my many years of study of the subject!!
Unfortunately, President Trump’s false convictions (He still believes General Patton was the greatest WWII General of WW II, and just a few days ago he opened his mouth to declare that the U.S., with the roughly 1,000,000 casualties, had the most significant contribution in WW II. How does this compare with the 25,000,000 Russian casualties? With a population of 7.5 million in 1940, Greece had over 800,000 casualties during the War…
The only antidote to this despicable behavior is to let the truth come out, unbiased, from the mouths of the protagonists of World War II. And who is a bigger protagonist than Winston Churchill?
Winston Churchill did acknowledge the critical role the Soviet Union played in defeating Nazi Germany during the Second World War. While he was a staunch anti-communist and a sharp critic of Soviet ideology, Churchill was also a realist and understood the USSR’s immense contribution, especially in manpower and battlefield impact.
Some key points to support this:
Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943) and other Eastern Front victories were decisive in breaking the Wehrmacht’s strength. The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the German military machine, with over 25 million Soviet deaths during the war.
Despite post-war tensions that led to the Cold War, Churchill’s wartime alliance with Stalin was pragmatic and driven by the shared goal of defeating Hitler.
Here are several notable quotes by Winston Churchill that acknowledge and honor the Soviet Union’s role in World War II:
1. House of Commons, August 2, 1944:
“It is the Russian army that tore the guts out of the German military machine.”
— Perhaps his most famous and blunt recognition of the Soviet role.
2. Speech at the Mansion House, London, November 10, 1942:
“I have left the obvious, essential fact to this point, namely, that the Russian armies have inflicted upon the Germans losses far greater than those of all the other Allies put together.”
3. Letter to Joseph Stalin, September 27, 1944:
“We are walking with you, my dear Marshal Stalin, on the same road to a common victory over the most bestial tyranny that has ever afflicted mankind.”
4. Speech at Harvard University, September 6, 1943:
“Twice in our lifetime, the long arm of Russia has reached out in time to save the world.”
5. In a private letter during the Tehran Conference, December 1943:
“Without the enormous sacrifice of the Russian people, we should not have been able to win this war.
6. Yalta Conference, 1945):
“The fate of Europe rests largely in your hands, Marshal Stalin. Let it be said that Russia was not only victorious, but wise and just.”
— A diplomatic gesture toward postwar cooperation.Churchill’s public and private statements reflect a complex but clear respect for the Soviet Union’s wartime sacrifice, even though he remained ideologically opposed to communism.
Please allow me to add a couple of quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt:
1. Letter to Stalin (1942):
“The United States recognizes the heroic efforts of the Soviet people and their government in resisting the German aggression.”
2. Tehran Conference (1943):
“I think that history will remember that it was the Russian army that did the main job.
May 4, 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
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Yes, quite true about the Russian impact and the Russian losses.
Notably, Churchill was quite eager to get Greece into the struggle against Germany and so Greece suffered disproportionately as well. And did the British knock off the ailing Metaxas to get a more pliable government in Greece that would get more heavily into the war?
And we must not forget the 1916-1917 British-French starvation blockade on Greece that was designed to force regime change. Churchill had a role in that .
Ο Πουτιν δηλωσε πριν λιγους μηνες οτι τα θυματα της ΕΣΣΔ στον Β ΠΠ ηταν 27 εκατομμυρια.
Οι Αμερικανοι στον Β ΠΠ ειχαν 400000 νεκρους και θα ειχαν ακομη λιγωτερες απωλειες αν ακολουθουσαν την στρατηγικη του στρατηγου Νιμιτς μετα το Μιντγουευ οπου κατεστραφη ο Ισπωνικος συολος και η Ιαπωνια ηταν απροστατευτη να την βομβαρδιζαν συνεχως με τα αεροπλανοφορα μεχρι να παραδοθει!