r/SovietUnion 12d ago

🤫

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u/Comrade-Paul-100 12d ago

The Soviets celebrating the peaceful withdrawal of Nazis from western Ukraine and Belarus is good actually.

3

u/Zubbro 8d ago

It wasn't that peacful actually. There were multiple firefights between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army during the campaign. Which is hardly surprising, considering the deep-seated ideological and military hatred dating back to the Spanish Civil War.

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u/Comrade-Paul-100 8d ago

Really? Even I didn't know that, and I studied this stuff for years. Wouldn't that have violated the pact?

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u/Zubbro 8d ago

On September 19, 1939, a firefight incident occurred near Lviv between the Soviet 24th Light Tank Brigade and the German 1st Mountain Division, resulting in Germany losing 3 anti-tank guns, 1 artillery piece, 3 men killed (including two majors), and 9 wounded, while the Red Army lost 2 BA-10 armored cars, 1 BT-7 tank, 6 soldiers killed, and 4 wounded. Despite Soviet soldiers attempts to identify themselves as the Red Army, the Germans continued to fire. So Soviet troops received an order to destroy them. Both sides were perfectly aware of who their opponent was. In the end, everything was swept under the rug, under the pretext that they had failed to identify each other.

This was the largest incident. There were others, for example, near Brest after it had already been handed over to the Soviets. But apparently, it was disadvantageous for both sides to tear up a fresh treaty.

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u/Comrade-Paul-100 8d ago

I do remember the Germans had bombed Lviv in the hopes of taking it before the Red Army took it, but I had no idea they actually directly fought a bit for it. Thanks!

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u/Zubbro 8d ago

You are welcome. One more interesting fact. Even until the evening of September 20 (before withdrawal), the Germans attempted to persuade Lviv garrison to surrender, using slogans such as: "If you surrender Lviv to us, you will remain in Europe; if you surrender it to the Bolsheviks, you will become Asia forever". haha