The story of the large Patriotic War as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine. Part 1 — Historical context

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On June 22, 1941, it was a turning date in russian history. The large Patriotic War has begun. The German operation “Barbarossa” was to change both the course of planet War II and the world's history. This happened, although vice versa, than Adolf Hitler wanted, and the top historical story of the russian Union grew out of the ashes of the war. Overestimated Its epic and immense legend of the October Revolution and the civilian War in Russia. The story of the large Patriotic War to this day is the foundation of the historical memory of the Russians and the justification of the Kremlin's powerful policy.

The brutality of the east Front, the magnitude of the demolition and the hecatomb of the USSR's population as a consequence of the war became the origin of a immense trauma that is inactive profoundly rooted in Russian consciousness. It became a feeding ground for the Kremlian propaganda, utilized to control social sentiments and, above all, antipathy towards another nations. The designation of another country as "fascist" immediately evokes certain sentiments in the Russian population, generating hostility. specified reactions can be observed from the beginning of the war with Ukraine, and their highest is at the beginning of a full-scale invasion.

However, the story of the large Patriotic War began to be built from the beginning of the war with the German Reich. This article, which is part of the first series of analysis of Russia's historical policy in planet War II, will focus on this very aspect. We will examine how narratives were built around this subject during the conflict, after the war and in the 1990s before Vladimir Putin came to power.

World War II

The east front of planet War II was a giant battlefield of 2 powers. Over thousands of miles, millions of soldiers have fought all day. No another theatre of war (in terms of land war) could compare with what was happening there. Epic clashes, which have been recorded in history, specified as the conflict of Stalingrad, the operation in the Kursk Arch or the capture of Berlin, were highly crucial points of russian propaganda. They were successive bricks added to the story of the large Stalin, the powerful USSR and the invincible Red Army, which yet built the imagination of the large Patriotic War in the eyes of the russian Union nations.

Battle of Jelina

Former allies — German Reich and USSR — returned against each another on 22 June 1941, erstwhile the Wehrmacht stormed into the territory of the Second Republic occupied by the Red Army. This clash, which has been in the air for respective months, has become a long conflict of 2 powers. First months of Operation Barbarossa brought The terrible defeats of the Red Army, which, despite hard resistance, suffered tremendous losses. Nevertheless, the German war device rapidly submissive misregulation.

The Army Group "Medium", after a abrupt attack on the Smolensk direction, began to have problems with the supply of fuel and ammunition as early as mid-July. dense fighting continued. However, it was here in September 1941 that the Red Army referenced his first, though above all, propaganda success. She forced the Wehrmacht to retreat from the town of Jennia. It was a victory. achieved tens of meaningless storms and a immense amount of damage, but USSR soldiers first recovered a part of their territory from 22 June 1941. russian propaganda decided take advantage of this chance and build the winning story around this battle, even though German soldiers left the city on order alternatively than as a consequence of a direct clash.

It became the first component of the story of the large Patriotic War and grew to be a large symbol and the first triumph over Nazi Germany. Even if the success was comparatively tiny and Wehrmacht as part of Operation Typhoon a fewer weeks later after a short conflict He scored The deer again and went to Moscow.

The Red Army's success alone has become The basis for the creation of the defender Division, which received this title for outstanding combat achievements. They were treated as elite russian units. Their existence and combat way were an excellent feed for Stalin's propaganda. It is worth noting that defender units be in Russia until present (e.g. the 4th Guards of the Kantemir Panzer Division).

Battle of Moscow

The defence of the russian capital grew to be a large symbol of planet War II. Bleeding and tired of a fewer months of campaigning 2 armies They struggled in the suburbs of Moscow. It is clear that russian propaganda needed full mobilisation of society, manufacture and the army. For this, action was needed to keep the spirit of combat. The perfect tool for this was people who could be utilized as heroes. It was here, in late autumn, in the suburbs of Moscow that the legend of the panphalists arose.

28 soldiers from 316. The firearm Division, commanded by Ivan Panfilov, became heroes of the russian Union. 16 November the full group She died. In combat, bravely defending his episode, killing dozens of Germans and destroying 18 tanks. Their past described Vasily Koroteyev, correspondent of the paper “Krasnaja Zwiedza”. It became very popular, and all heroes received the award Hero of the russian Union, the highest award in the USSR. To the legend past Also, the words of Vasily Kłoczkov, a political officer in charge of the panphalists: “Russia is great, but to go back there is no place — Moscow is behind us!”

The fact About Panphials

In fact, however, Korotieev He made it up. A full communicative based on a heard rumor. The fact is, the 316th firearm Division fought at Moscow close Dubosikov and suffered dense losses. Many russian soldiers may besides have shown courage, but the details of the event itself were not true. Already in May 1942 foundThat 1 of the soldiers who was on the list of 28 dead panphiles is actually inactive alive. The case was classified, and the name on the list was changed under the cover of "mistakes". In 1947, Ivan Dobrobabin, who was besides on the list of panphiles, was detained on suspicion of collaboration with Germany. The situation led to the initiation of an authoritative investigation, which clearly showed that the communicative of 28 heroes had small to do with the truth. Korotieyev admitted that he had fabricated the details of the full incident, and the investigation determined that six panphiles survived the war.

However, the russian leadership decided to conceal the truth. The authoritative version was inactive the same — 28 heroes fell in defence of their homeland, inflicting immense losses on the enemy. After the war many monuments were erected to them, and despite revealing the fact in the late 1980s and 1990s, part of Russian society to this day refuses accepting the actual version of the events. An excellent example is the 2016 movie "Panfilov soldiers", whose director, erstwhile asked about the inaccuracy of his story, answered“We made a movie about feats, about heroes. There's a solution to this not-so-good argument in our film. 316. The division was truly there, the battles were there — and why question this feat at a time erstwhile the country peculiarly needs heroes.”

Great Patriotic War — unifying password

These stories are only insignificant examples of the mythology of circumstantial events during the large Patriotic War. many myths be around the conflict of Stalingrad, the conflict of the Kursk Bow or the Berlin operation. They besides concern the building of the legend of the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division and its fighting at Lenino, which are surrounded by false ideas in general consciousness. They were created together by the propaganda of the USSR and communist authorities in Poland.

Also crucial is the general message created around the large Patriotic War, which during the course of the conflict was to mobilise society to exert itself. Propaganda, especially at the beginning of the war with the German Reich, not used besides much image of Joseph Stalin not to be associated with the failures on the front. Attention was directed (against communist ideals) towards patriotic rhetoric. The word large Patriotic War was created by russian propaganda on the basis of the word utilized for Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 (the Patriotic War). Where did this choice of words come from, Dr. Grzegorz Berendt, associate prof. at the University of Gdańsk and erstwhile manager of the Museum of the Second planet War in Gdańsk during his interview for the magazine Straight:

"Beyond Russia, it is widely assumed in historiography that planet War II began in September 1939, with German attack on Poland. This word is not a convenient period in the Russian historical narrative, as the Soviets joined the attack on Poland on 17 September. Thus, the 3rd Reich's aggressive action against the russian Union started on 22 June 1941. The word large Patriotic War was coined by russian propaganda to guarantee that this oppressed nation — or, more specifically, a multinational society — would effort to unite under 1 banner, i.e. the slogan of "homeland". The love of the homeland was intended to cover the memory of the crimes committed by the Bolsheviks on their own society from the fall of 1917 until the summertime of 1941 and at the same time to cover up national conflicts."

Nationalist propaganda

Nationalist and patriotic rhetoric was besides intended to cover the fact that in many cities and villages of Western republics of the USSR Welcome Germans as liberators from Stalin's terror. So it had to be Present aggressors as an existential threat to russian citizens. At the same time, the repression organization was launched and any action recognised by the authorities as striking a war effort was severely punished. The hard situation and the request for full mobilisation of society were besides highlighted. Against any expectations Germany rapidly introduced His methods of terror, treating the population of conquered lands as subhumans. This clearly supported Stalinic propaganda's efforts to represent the enemy as bloodthirsty beasts.

The perfect of a russian citizen has become A man willing to sacrifice everything for his country. Of course, the dedication to life as a soldier was involved, but besides the work in the factory, which was almost as propagandaally treated with the fight on the front. all citizen of the USSR was to act for the common good — to defend his homeland against the fascist threat. mark was one: survival. After massive blows from the beginning of the German invasion, the russian Union trembled in jobs. specified gigantic losses as he suffered would most likely have disproved any another country. However, the USSR survived and was to fight for the final victory, regardless of the failure and suffering of its own population. all citizen had to sacrifice something, it was not the life and prosperity of the individual that mattered. The state, organization and nation were the highest values worth dying for. At least that's how she built her communicative of russian propaganda. The consequence of planet War II, however, showed that effectively. Despite a immense blood donation, Red Army soldiers fought until the red flag hung over the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

After the war

After the war the primary task of propaganda was Making sense the tremendous losses and large suffering suffered by the people of the russian Union. The reality in which russian society worked perfectly described at the work of N. Petrov and O. Edelman:

"The russian nation lived simultaneously in 2 realities: empirical and constructed by communist propaganda. And the latter, virtual, reality was so versatile that erstwhile it entered the first one, it frequently tamed it: people believed more in russian story than what they saw with their own eyes.”

USSR as a Savior of Nations

World War II Hecatomb bond with large trauma to russian society. On the basis of the story built during it, the post-war identity of the Radzicki Union was based, so that the citizens of the USSR had a sense of intent and sense of terrible experiences. fast started present the russian Union as the liberator and savior of Europe, emphasizing its moral position. He's a large picturer. Message Stalin dated 9 May 1945 (date of signing the surrender by Germany to the USSR):

"Three years ago, Hitler publically declared that 1 of his tasks was to dismember the russian Union and separate the Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic countries and another districts from it. He said, “We will destruct Russia so that it will never emergence again”. It was 3 years ago. But Hitler’s crazy ideas were not to be realized — the course of the war shattered them to dust. The reality turned out to be completely different from what the Nazis dreamed of. The Germans are completely destroyed. German troops surrender. The russian Union has a holy victory, although it has no intention of dismembering or destroying Germany."

Stalinic Times

Soviet Union through propaganda was created as a promoter of peace and liberation for the suffering nations of Europe. At the same time, it was stressed that the USSR played a major function in overthrowing Fascism, and the efforts of another countries were importantly reduced. Shortly thereafter, the word “fascism” replaced "imperialism", suggesting at the same time that the Western Allies deliberately delayed the beginning of the second front in Europe and tried to deal with Hitler. The closer the Red Army was to victory, the more highlighted Stalin's function as leader and superb strategist, as opposed to the first months of the German invasion. After the war, this trend continued, and the dictator became an almost divine figure bringing salvation to those oppressed by fascism. The continuity of the cult of the individual was highly crucial in maintaining the unity of the russian Union and the east Bloc in the first years after the war. Thus the function and contribution of russian marshals, specified as Zhukov or Koniew, was reduced in propaganda. This first propaganda position was restored after Stalin's death.

World War II trauma was so large that in 1947 resigned from the State triumph Day celebrations. Veterans in the association were besides banned. These decisions caused the russian soldiers to be incapable to number on appropriate commemoration for a long time. The full communicative focused on Joseph Stalin and his imagination of the large Patriotic War.

After Stalin’s death, Khrushchev’s rule

Stalin's death in 1953 was an crucial date not only for the russian Union, but besides for historical politics. The changes did not happen immediately, but during the 20th reunion of KPZR in 1956 Khrushchev presented His secret paper, in which he spoke, among others, of Stalinist terror. He stated that during planet War II 20 million citizens of the russian Union were killed. This figure until the fall of the USSR was official. In later years, he conducted a alleged destalination policy. Historical policy in Khrushchev's time was partial reflected the Stalinist period in terms of terminology and rhetoric. However, it was decided to give her a different character.

First of all, it was emphasized that the descriptions of the war to date were very "dry". Therefore, it was decided to have more colour and life, so that the reader was more interested. Efforts have been made to make a "living historical narrative". Its basis was to describe the heroic acts of individual individuals in order to humanize the war effort more. They wanted to get it through coupling to work on historical books of various literary personalities. They were designed to modify the “dry” speech of the works to make them easier for the average reader.

It was besides stressed at all turn that the USSR nations bore a large blood donation to defeat Fascism. The presence of the russian army in east and Central Europe was so full justified. At the same time, the subject of the first months of the war and the defeats that were then suffered were avoided. The aim was to avoid questions about why russian citizens had to endure specified casualties. Instead, they emphasized how they bore them.

Brezhnev Policy

In 1964, Leonid Brezhnev took over the management of the state after the palace overturn. He stopped most of Khrushchev's reforms. In 1965, triumph Day has become free from work. Regular parades were besides restored on that day. The large event was besides opening The Grave of the Unknown Soldier in 1967. Buried body belonged to a Red Armyman who fought and died in December 1941 close Moscow. It was another brick to build the story of immortal heroes of the large Patriotic War.

The organization headed by Brezhnev besides tried build A fresh postwar society. Young people were to live in “asham” towards erstwhile generations, who suffered tremendous sacrifices to keep the russian Union alive. The idealized imagination of war was part of the control of society and of forcing obedience to the party. russian youth was powerfully indoctrinated by propaganda. There were many meetings of students with veterans. Alone soldiersThey believed in the story of the large Patriotic War and told about their experiences and large heroism.

At the same time, the discounting what happened in the first months of the war. The basic communicative was that the Red Army was inactive certain of the victory, and since the first days of Barbarossa it was known that it would end its march in Berlin. Even defeat was actually a win due to the fact that it brought the USSR closer to overthrowing Fascism.

The '90s.

The collapse of communism in east and Central European countries has led to many changes. However, many planet War II veterans I felt betrayed by the russian leadership policy, which allowed to leave the block of east European countries. In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev announced that, in fact, the number of casualties incurred during planet War II was not 20 million, as the communicative had said, but 27 million. Many books besides appeared, which represented even higher numbers, up to 50 million. At the same time there were many narratives accusing the russian apparatus of power, headed by Joseph Stalin, of specified advanced war losses in the USSR.

Boris Yeltsyn, First president of the Russian Federation, He cut himself off. from the Stalinist past. Among another things, he abandoned organizing military parades. many books and articles were besides produced that undermined the legend of the large Patriotic War. At the same time, Yeltsin did not separate from the story of planet War II. In his 1995 speech stressedthat 9 May is the date of the post-Soviet bloc, or Commonwealth of Independent States. This doesn't change the fact that the 1990s were a certain thaw in the perception of the large Patriotic War. However, this was shortly to change, as for the fresh Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the story of planet War II was to become a central point of historical politics. We will discuss this in the next part of this study.

Sources

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== sync, corrected by elderman ==

“The large Patriotic War as story and memory”, Nina Tumarkin: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/abs/great-patriotic-war-as-myth-and-memory/D56CA8AC45DFE35C8C30CD18CD225E26#access-block

“Формирование образа в начальный Великой Отечественной переосмысление переосмысление стереотипов советской пропаганды пропаганды довоенного довоенного периода, O. S. Makarska: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/44227/1/04_makarova_3.pdf

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Photos:

“For the russian Country, TASS No. 0534” by Aleksandr Andreevich Prokof’ev, Public domain, via Chicago-Kent College of Law

“File:German trolls crossing the russian border.jpg” by Johannes Hähle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“File:Soviet Guards Order.png” by Andrey S. Polyakov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

“File:RIAN archive 669616 Wartime city life – Moscow in October – December 1941.jpg” by RIA Novosti archive, image #669616 / Anatoly Garanin / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

“File:Мемориал Героям-Панфиловцам.jpg” by Valentina Martikhin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

“File:Парад ” by Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

“File:Stalin 1945.jpg” by US Army Signal Corps, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-B0628-0015-035 / Heinz Junge / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons

“File: Леонид Брежнев вечного огня.jpg” by Mos.ru, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

“File:RIAN archive 807984 Boris Yetsin on Red Square on the triumph Day.jpg” by RIA Novosti archive, image #807984 / Vladimir Rodionov / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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