M-Day: When Did World War II Begin?

Viktor Suvorov

Sofia: Fakel Express, 1996; Pages: 300

This is the second part of "The Icebreaker" trilogy, which advances Suvorov's thesis that the Soviet Union was preparing an attack on Germany in the late summer of 1941. This book describes the gigantic preparations for the invasion in the post Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact period (1939-1941). Grounding his conclusions on the twin pillars of Soviet military theory and evidence from historic practice, the author convincingly builds his case.

In sum, Shaposhnikov's claim that mobilization means war is traced to its logical end. Because mobilization takes time during which the enemy can prepare its own forces for defense, the Soviet generals devised a plan where the process is divided into two periods: secret and open mobilization. The first period takes place one or two years before the war begins and includes the preparation of army skeletons ready to take in the soldiers drafted during the second phase. It also includes the transition of all industries to military production and the education and training of women to replace the drafted men. The gigantic production of armies, supplies, and armaments, cannot be prolonged forever---either start the war of impoverish the country. Suvorov's calculations show that Stalin could not have planned to start the war after the fall of 1941 because the armies and the economy did not prepare for the winter.

The second phase begins with the declaration of war and involves the completion of the armies with fresh draftees. For this plan to work, the generals need to know the exact day the war will begin... and what better way to ensure that than to start it themselves? Thus, even though "M" day was known to be the day of mobilization, it was the beginning of the second, open, phase, not the first secret one. Suvorov also details how the armies and their supplies were transported in full secrecy to the Soviet-German border and describes the plausible military plans inferred from their dislocations. The size and might of the preparations is breath-taking. Once Hitler realized that Stalin was about to "liberate" all Europe, he gave the orders to begin the desperate but doomed "Barbarossa." If Stalin could beat the Germans with 15% of the industrial capacity of the country, would he have stopped at Berlin if his attack at 100% had succeeded? Troubling.

October 19, 2000. BLS

@BOOK{suvorov-96:m,
    TITLE     = {Denyat `M': koga zapochna Vtorata Svetovna Voina?},
    AUTHOR    = {Viktor Suvorov},
    YEAR      = {1996},
    PUBLISHER = {Fakel Express},
    ADDRESS   = {Sofia},
    ISBN      = {954-90106-2-7},
    NOTE      = {Pp. 300}
}