Base Nord

Localisation de la Base Nord avec les frontières politiques actuelles.

La base Nord était un projet de base navale secrète allemande proposée dans la baie de Zapadnaya Litsa, à l'ouest de Mourmansk mis à disposition par l'Union soviétique. La base faisait partie d'un partenariat qui s'était développé entre l'Allemagne et l'Union soviétique à la suite du traité germano-soviétique de non-agression de 1939, et de l’accord économique global de 1940.

En 1939, l'Union soviétique accepta de fournir un emplacement pour une base à l'Allemagne, dans le but de soutenir les sous-marins et les raids contre les navires de commerce^[1]. L'Allemagne envoya des navires de ravitaillement qui étaient ancrés dans la baie, mais aucun bâtiment de combat de la Kriegsmarine ne fut ravitaillé^[2]. L’invasion de la Norvège par l’Allemagne en avril 1940 a, par la suite, rendu la base inutile^[3].

En 2008, la base Nord fut la vedette d’une série importante d'investigation historique de la BBC-PBS, appelé World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West (La Seconde Guerre mondiale derrière les portes fermées: Staline, les nazis et l'Occident), et d’un livre du même nom de Laurence Rees en 2009^[4].

↑ Philbin III 1994, p. xiv
↑ Мельтюхов М.И. Упущенный шанс Сталина. Советский Союз и борьба за Европу: 1939-1941. — М.: Вече, 2000
↑ Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. p. 112-17
↑ (en) Laurence Rees, World War II Behind Closed Doors : Stalin, the Nazis and the West, BBC Books, 2009 (lire en ligne), p. 66-69

« ...this was, for the Soviets, one of the greatest secrets of the war... during the September 1939 meeting with Stalin and Molotov. The German Foreign Minister had asked if the Soviets could provide a base in Murmansk for the repair of U-boats and, in principle, this had been agreed. But from that moment the Soviet authorities were worried that the British - or anyone else - might discover that they were providing military assistance to the Nazis. ...the Soviets offered the nearby bay of Sapadnaja Liza [ Zapadnaya Litsa ] instead... it was henceforth only to be known as 'Basis Nord' (Base North). The German supply ship Sachsenwald entered Base North on 1 December 1939, the first of several vessels to be stationed there. ... In mid-April 1940 the Germans were asked to move their base further along the coast to the even more remote Jokanga Bay [mouth of Iokanga River ]. Molotov told the German naval attaché in Moscow that the move was necessary because of Soviet fears that Allied aircraft... might identify the German ships. ...the German liaison officer, Auerbach, visited the new Base North for the first time on 20 May... Life was grim for the German sailors at Base North. In April 1940 Dr Kampf, doctor on the German supply ship Phoenicia, complained in his diary... The story of Base Nord... is important because its existence shows the schizophrenic attitude of the Soviets towards assisting the Germans. On the one hand, the Soviets undoubtedly provided the Germans with a military supply base; but on the other, ideologically the Nazis remained a possible enemy. So in effect they were allies, and yet they were potential belligerents. »

[philbinxiv-1] Philbin III 1994, p. xiv

[2] Мельтюхов М.И. Упущенный шанс Сталина. Советский Союз и борьба за Европу: 1939-1941. — М.: Вече, 2000

[3] Tobias R. Philbin. The lure of Neptune: German-Soviet naval collaboration and ambitions, 1919-1941. Chapter 5. p. 112-17

[4] (en) Laurence Rees, World War II Behind Closed Doors : Stalin, the Nazis and the West, BBC Books, 2009 (lire en ligne), p. 66-69

« ...this was, for the Soviets, one of the greatest secrets of the war... during the September 1939 meeting with Stalin and Molotov. The German Foreign Minister had asked if the Soviets could provide a base in Murmansk for the repair of U-boats and, in principle, this had been agreed. But from that moment the Soviet authorities were worried that the British - or anyone else - might discover that they were providing military assistance to the Nazis. ...the Soviets offered the nearby bay of Sapadnaja Liza [ Zapadnaya Litsa ] instead... it was henceforth only to be known as 'Basis Nord' (Base North). The German supply ship Sachsenwald entered Base North on 1 December 1939, the first of several vessels to be stationed there. ... In mid-April 1940 the Germans were asked to move their base further along the coast to the even more remote Jokanga Bay [mouth of Iokanga River ]. Molotov told the German naval attaché in Moscow that the move was necessary because of Soviet fears that Allied aircraft... might identify the German ships. ...the German liaison officer, Auerbach, visited the new Base North for the first time on 20 May... Life was grim for the German sailors at Base North. In April 1940 Dr Kampf, doctor on the German supply ship Phoenicia, complained in his diary... The story of Base Nord... is important because its existence shows the schizophrenic attitude of the Soviets towards assisting the Germans. On the one hand, the Soviets undoubtedly provided the Germans with a military supply base; but on the other, ideologically the Nazis remained a possible enemy. So in effect they were allies, and yet they were potential belligerents. »

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