The victory over fascism was a great historical event of the 20^th century with resounding feats of arms by peace, freedom and democracy forces and humankind, in which the Soviet people and army played a decisive role. However, several Western forces recently distorted the major role and decisive contributions by the former Soviet Union in defeating German Nazism. They sought to praise the military strength of the US and Britain during World War II.

The fact is that in 1944, the Soviet-German front alone was four times bigger than the combined fronts of the British and US allies. On this front, Germany deployed 4.5 million soldiers to fight against about 6.5 million Soviet soldiers, and as a result, it lost 70 percent of its servicemen and 75 percent of the total military hardware mobilised for the war. Meanwhile, the number of US and British servicemen on the Western front only totalled 1.5 million against 650,000 German soldiers.

With the victory of the Soviet-German front, the Soviet people and army weakened the military strength of the fascists and changed the war situation, leading to a complete victory in the end. The victory not only helped defend the fruits of the October Revolution but also saved the entire world from the brutal rule of a Hitler regime.

To secure that victory, the Soviet people and army had to endure heavy human and property losses: 27 million people died, 30 million were wounded, thousands of cities and towns were devastated and tens of thousands of villages were destroyed.

Although several forces did not deny the victory or the great contributions by the former Soviet Union, they put it down to Hitler’s wrong war plans and the supply of effective weapons and ammunitions by the US and Britain to the Soviet people. This move was aimed at distorting the important role of the former Soviet Union and other peace-loving and democratic forces in smashing German Nazism.

As part of his plan, after taking over almost all of Europe, Hitler wanted to annex the Soviet Union in an attempt to rule the whole world. But with the great national defence war, the Communist Party, government, army and people of the Soviet Union were determined to carry out their sacred mission of defending the nation and saving humankind from the rule of fascists. The strong determination and close unity among ethnic groups, the correct leadership and prominent military talents of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were decisive factors behind the victory over fascism.

As allied countries, Britain and the US provided weapons and ammunitions to the Soviet army, which were valuable for the country at the time. However, the donation, which made up only four percent of the Soviet military hardware needed for the war, was too small to compare to the Soviet Union which had to bear the brunt of the war to reduce losses on the part of allied countries. Notably, the Soviet Red Army received the donation before it had stopped attacks by German fascists. It was not by chance that in a letter to Joseph Stalin, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill affirmed that it was the Soviet army that destroyed the German war machine.

Recently, several countries which once belonged to the former Soviet Union publicly criticised the former Soviet regime, saying the victory over German fascists was nothing sort of liberating the country, but merely replaced a ruling regime. How could they forget the inevitable that without the victory, all European people, including themselves, would have been killed by the brutal German Nazis. Historians of Western countries even claimed that the former Soviet Union saved not only itself but all of Europe from the Nazis tragedy of extermination. US President George W. Bush told his Russian counterpart at a recent ceremony to mark 60 years of the Normandy event that without Russia, humankind would never have had the chance to enjoy freedom and prosperity as today.

Celebrating the victory over fascism is an occasion, not for participating sides to take account of their contributions, but, more important, to honour the prominent people of all nations around the world, including Vietnam, who laid down their lives to defend humankind from fascism. It is also to honour the great sacrifices of people in different countries, including the former Soviet Union, who bravely struggled to defend peace for humankind. It is also an occasion for progressive people to respect historical truths and be vigilant against the appearance of neo-fascism in different forms.