Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
⭐️ #OTD in 1921, legendary Soviet fighter pilot Lidiya Litvyak was born. She went down in history under the call sign «White Lily». According to legend, this flower was painted on her aircraft.
Since childhood, Lidiya had dreamed of conquering the sky. Already at the age of 14, she enrolled in an aeroclub, and at 15, she made her first solo flight. After graduating from the aviation school, the 19-year-old herself prepared cadets for flights.
⚔️ After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Litvyak enrolled in the women’s 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where she piloted the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter.
In September, Lidiya participated in the fierce battles over Stalingrad. Due to her successes in the sky, Litvyak was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, the «regiment of aces». After the successful counter-offensive at Stalingrad in 1943, Lydiya Litvyak was sent to fight in the skies over Donbass.
🕯 On August 1, 1943, during the defence of Donbass, Litvyak engaged in an air battle with several Messerschmitts, which were superior to the Yak-1 in speed and manoeuvrability. The radio operators intercepted alarming reports from the pilots in the sky: «Lily has been shot down!». The crash site of the Litvyak fighter could not be found for decades. At the time of her last combat mission, she was only 21 years old.
The «White Lily» carried out 168 combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft (12 solo and four shared victories). She became the most effective female pilot of World War II.
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#FacesOfVictory
Since childhood, Lidiya had dreamed of conquering the sky. Already at the age of 14, she enrolled in an aeroclub, and at 15, she made her first solo flight. After graduating from the aviation school, the 19-year-old herself prepared cadets for flights.
⚔️ After the start of the Great Patriotic War, Litvyak enrolled in the women’s 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where she piloted the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter.
In September, Lidiya participated in the fierce battles over Stalingrad. Due to her successes in the sky, Litvyak was transferred to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, the «regiment of aces». After the successful counter-offensive at Stalingrad in 1943, Lydiya Litvyak was sent to fight in the skies over Donbass.
🕯 On August 1, 1943, during the defence of Donbass, Litvyak engaged in an air battle with several Messerschmitts, which were superior to the Yak-1 in speed and manoeuvrability. The radio operators intercepted alarming reports from the pilots in the sky: «Lily has been shot down!». The crash site of the Litvyak fighter could not be found for decades. At the time of her last combat mission, she was only 21 years old.
The «White Lily» carried out 168 combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft (12 solo and four shared victories). She became the most effective female pilot of World War II.
Read in full
#FacesOfVictory
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
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✍️ #OTD 84 years ago, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nonaggression Pact in Moscow.
Signing the pact was a forced step for the USSR. The Soviet leadership made this difficult decision after taking account of the extremely unfavourable geopolitical situation that had emerged in Europe by August 1939.
👉 First, it was evident to everyone at that time that a large-scale conflict was inevitable. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 and embarked on a policy designed to militarise the country and expand the German Lebensraum (living space) by occupying Eastern Europe.
👉Second, the Western countries were openly condoning Hitler’s predatory plans because it was a pet idea of theirs to channel the Third Reich’s aggression to the East. Their appeasement policy enabled Germany to carry out the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and to partition Czechoslovakia in a most cruel and cynical manner later in September.
The Soviet leadership did its utmost to create an anti-Hitler coalition.
However, its attempt to form a tripartite military alliance against Hitler with Britain and France failed to gain traction. Moreover, Poland refused to allow the Red Army to cross its territory in the event of German aggression.
👉 Moscow had to take the Japanese factor into consideration as well, with Japan launching hostilities in the Khalkhin Gol area in May 1938 and the persisting tensions in the relations between the USSR and Japan. A war on two fronts – in the East and the West – was out of the question for the USSR.
The Soviet Union was the last major European power to sign a nonaggression pact with Germany. This document made it possible for the Soviet Union to delay the outbreak of the war for two more years, enabling it to make better preparations for a clash with the world’s most powerful army.
❗️The dramatic events of 1938 and 1939 are graphic evidence of the fact that no one can ensure their security at the expense of the security of others.
Signing the pact was a forced step for the USSR. The Soviet leadership made this difficult decision after taking account of the extremely unfavourable geopolitical situation that had emerged in Europe by August 1939.
👉 First, it was evident to everyone at that time that a large-scale conflict was inevitable. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 and embarked on a policy designed to militarise the country and expand the German Lebensraum (living space) by occupying Eastern Europe.
👉Second, the Western countries were openly condoning Hitler’s predatory plans because it was a pet idea of theirs to channel the Third Reich’s aggression to the East. Their appeasement policy enabled Germany to carry out the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and to partition Czechoslovakia in a most cruel and cynical manner later in September.
The Soviet leadership did its utmost to create an anti-Hitler coalition.
However, its attempt to form a tripartite military alliance against Hitler with Britain and France failed to gain traction. Moreover, Poland refused to allow the Red Army to cross its territory in the event of German aggression.
👉 Moscow had to take the Japanese factor into consideration as well, with Japan launching hostilities in the Khalkhin Gol area in May 1938 and the persisting tensions in the relations between the USSR and Japan. A war on two fronts – in the East and the West – was out of the question for the USSR.
The Soviet Union was the last major European power to sign a nonaggression pact with Germany. This document made it possible for the Soviet Union to delay the outbreak of the war for two more years, enabling it to make better preparations for a clash with the world’s most powerful army.
❗️The dramatic events of 1938 and 1939 are graphic evidence of the fact that no one can ensure their security at the expense of the security of others.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#HistoryOfDiplomacy
📆 #OTD in 1845, Fyodor Martens, a Russian diplomat and famous expert on the history and theory of international law, was born. In Russia he is known above all as the author of Contemporary International Law of Civilised Peoples, a fundamental work that became the first Russian manual on international law.
The future international lawyer was born in Pärnu, Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Having lost his parents when he was a child, he ended up in a St Petersburg orphanage. When he grew up, he was accepted to the law faculty of St Petersburg University thanks to his brilliant academic success.
Later he taught at his alma mater, as well as a number of other leading educational institutions of the Russian Empire. In 1869, he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in 1881 became a permanent member of the Ministry Board. He participated in the Brussels Conference on the Codification of Laws and Customs of War on Land and represented Russia at international conferences of the Red Cross, the Brussels Conference on African Affairs, and many other important international venues.
Holding the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 at Russia’s initiative was among Martens’ most important achievements. At the first conference, the Russian expert developed the principles for peaceful resolution of international disputes, and at the second, he led a commission on maritime law, which made a significant contribution to the development of this area of international law.
A provision formulated by Martens was first recorded in the preamble to the Hague Convention of 1899, under which the parties to an armed conflict must first of all be guided by the principles of humanity and the requirements of public conscience (the so-called Martens clause). The theoretical innovations of the Russian diplomat also laid the foundation of the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.
📆 #OTD in 1845, Fyodor Martens, a Russian diplomat and famous expert on the history and theory of international law, was born. In Russia he is known above all as the author of Contemporary International Law of Civilised Peoples, a fundamental work that became the first Russian manual on international law.
The future international lawyer was born in Pärnu, Livonia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Having lost his parents when he was a child, he ended up in a St Petersburg orphanage. When he grew up, he was accepted to the law faculty of St Petersburg University thanks to his brilliant academic success.
Later he taught at his alma mater, as well as a number of other leading educational institutions of the Russian Empire. In 1869, he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in 1881 became a permanent member of the Ministry Board. He participated in the Brussels Conference on the Codification of Laws and Customs of War on Land and represented Russia at international conferences of the Red Cross, the Brussels Conference on African Affairs, and many other important international venues.
Holding the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 at Russia’s initiative was among Martens’ most important achievements. At the first conference, the Russian expert developed the principles for peaceful resolution of international disputes, and at the second, he led a commission on maritime law, which made a significant contribution to the development of this area of international law.
A provision formulated by Martens was first recorded in the preamble to the Hague Convention of 1899, under which the parties to an armed conflict must first of all be guided by the principles of humanity and the requirements of public conscience (the so-called Martens clause). The theoretical innovations of the Russian diplomat also laid the foundation of the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land.