This time, another stroke will be added to the history of World War II through the eyes of a Russian person. For you, dear readers, it is no secret that the events of the Great Patriotic War are interpreted differently by everyone. Who among you has not heard the phrase “not Russian, but Soviet,” when a Russian justifiably calls the victory over the Nazis a victory of the Russian people? Such individuals often speak of the “appropriation of the defeat of the Nazis by Russian chauvinists,” claiming that Comrade Stalin would have sent to the Gulag anyone who dared to utter a word about Russian patriotism in this context. Well, let’s see what Comrade Stalin might have said about this. Not only what he would have said, but also what he would have done.
Initially, the USSR operated within the framework of Marxism, which stated that war against the Union only benefits the ruling class, not the workers themselves, and called for “class solidarity.” Such naivety was characteristic not only of the leadership of the USSR but also of its citizens. Lev Kopelev, a literary scholar and Germanist, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, recalled: “You know, during the war, I met several friends who told me: ‘Do you still remember, idiot, what you said on June 22? How you ran through the streets with shining eyes saying: ‘Well, finally, the great holy war has come, which will lead to the liberation of Germany and the liberation of Europe. Both of them, both of them.’ I was firmly convinced of this. The war would last only a few weeks, then the Berlin proletarians would come, followed by the Ruhr proletarians. This is how we imagined it based on German anti-fascist literature and the reports we received from German comrades in Moscow.'” [1].
Yes, it turns out that German workers did not know that their class brothers lived in the east, and not the “Mongol-Bolshevik threat.” Similarly, their ideological descendants in the Ukrainian army, when captured, immediately become “cooks” who have never even held a weapon. As Soviet ace pilot Alexander Pokryshkin said, “When we started – ‘There are many communists there!’ And they shoot at us. You take them prisoner – ‘I am a communist!’ But when they are not in captivity, they shoot.” [2]
The country’s leadership began to understand that with such a pacifist attitude toward the enemy, it was impossible to achieve victory in such an existential war. Ilya Ehrenburg, one of the main Soviet publicists during the Great Patriotic War and a three-time laureate of the Stalin Prizes, wrote these lines on October 28, 1941, in the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda.” Apparently, he also did not know that “Soviet does not mean Russian.”
“The enemy is in a hurry. He sends new divisions. He says every day: “Tomorrow Moscow will be German.” But Moscow wants to be Russian and Moscow does not surrender. <…>
Now everyone has understood that it is about the fate of Russia – to be Russia or not to be. “We will fight for a long time,” say the Red Army soldiers, leaving for the West. And in these bitter words – great courage, hope. <…>
It is impossible to occupy Russia, this has not happened and will not happen. RUSSIA has always sucked in enemies. A Russian is usually good-natured, hospitable. But he can be evil. <…>
Russia is a special country. It is difficult to understand it on Wilhelmstrasse. RUSSIA can refuse everything. Our people are accustomed to a harsh life. Since ancient times, Russians have learned from failures. Since ancient times, Russians have been tempered in adversity. But here too with all our shortcomings we will stand firm, we will fight back. The history of Russia is a guarantee of this. The defense of Moscow is a guarantee of this. <…>
We boldly look ahead: there is grief and there is victory. We will stand firm – this is the noise of Russian forests, this is the howl of Russian blizzards, this is the voice of the Russian land.”
A little later, on November 4, 1941, the following call was made. It turns out that Hitler wants not to overthrow the workers’ state but to erase the Russians from the face of the earth, just like the other Slavs, and that the Nazis had no intention of restoring any “tsarism”[3]:
“This war is not a civil war. This is a Patriotic war. This is a war for Russia. There is not a single Russian against us. There is not a single Russian standing with the Germans. The Germans say they are fighting against the Soviet regime. This is a lie! They do not care what our regime is. They came not to argue with us. They came to rob us. All Russians must rise against them. We have faced many difficulties in life. But we did not know one thing: no one has ever insulted the Russians for being Russian. And now, on the streets of Smolensk, Novgorod, and Oryol, German thugs stand and shout: ‘Move faster, Russian pigs!’ The cities of the Volga do not want to face the shame. The cities of the Volga must look the truth in the eye. The enemy is strong. But stronger than the enemy are our courage, our will, our unity. For Russia we endure, for Russia we fight, and for Russia we will defend.”
A picture from the magazine “Krokodil” from February 1941.
Three days later, Stalin delivered his famous speech at the parade, in which he said: “Let the brave image of our great ancestors – Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov – inspire you in this war!” How is it possible that the Soviet people are called upon to remember those who suppressed the national liberation uprisings of the Poles in 1784 and 1792? And not to mention the cursed “clergymen”!
Around the same time, in December 1941, the Main Political Administration of the Red Army issued a directive, which ordered to cease the use of the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” Instead, the slogan “Death to the German occupiers!” was adopted. The only exception was for propaganda materials intended for the enemy.
Thus, Joseph Vissarionovich dared to reject Lenin’s precepts, who wrote in March 1918: “Hatred for the German, beat the German” – this remained the slogan of ordinary, i.e., bourgeois, patriotism. And we say: “Hatred for imperialist predators, hatred for capitalism, death to capitalism,” while also saying: “Learn from the Germans! Remain true to the fraternal union with German workers. They were late in coming to our aid. We will buy time, we will wait for them, they will come to our aid.”
In 1943, when Stalin dissolved the Comintern, the atmosphere was such that it felt like the tsarist regime had never collapsed
“Shortly after I joined the Komsomol [in 1943], it was announced that the Communist International (Comintern) and the KIM were dissolved. I was surprised by this, not understanding how one could abandon the world communist movement, the preparation and conduct of the world revolution. Those around me, students and adults, reacted to this with complete indifference, and when I tried to discuss this topic, they were puzzled as to why I was occupying my mind with such questions. The Red Army introduced epaulettes, commanders began to be called officers, and soldiers were referred to as soldiers. The ceremonial epaulettes for officers were made ‘golden.’ For me, raised on books and films about the Civil War, revolution, and hatred for ‘gold-epaulettes,’ this was unexpected. What were we fighting for if the ‘gold-epaulettes’ would return, if there would no longer be a House of the Red Army, but a House of Officers and a Soldiers’ Club – each separately? After all, Chapayev said: ‘In formation, I am a commander. But when I drink tea, come, sit beside me – drink tea with me.’ Meanwhile, my peers, parents, and adult acquaintances accepted the introduction of epaulettes as a normal phenomenon. After the city was liberated from the Germans, all anti-religious work and propaganda seemed to disappear, and I encountered it no more,”– recalled future Major General Viktor Manoylin. How could this happen? Here, Stalin betrayed Marxism!
Russian nationalistic motives were evident in the art and propaganda of that time. In addition to posters depicting imperial generals, there were also more lyrical works, not devoid of old bourgeois and conservative morals.
The fascists are trying to burn us and crush us.
Red fighter!
Russian soldier!
The Motherland calls you:
Not a step back! Not a step back!
Fight like a lion! Stand firm till the end!
Spare no lead for the pack of murderers.
For the Russian sun! For honor! For life!
Your home,
Your field,
Your garden,
Your children call to you: hold fast!
No step back! No step back!
This was the most direct appeal from the population. Despite their loyalty to the red regime, people were little interested in the heroes of the Civil War, who had been shot during the purges. This is evidenced by the memories of Ilya Ehrenburg. He recalled his conversation with the head of the Soviet Information Bureau and candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Alexander Shcherbakov:
“In the summer, the Soviet Information Bureau asked me to write an appeal to American Jews about the atrocities of the Nazis and the need to destroy the Third Reich as quickly as possible. One of A. S. Shcherbakov’s assistants, Kondakov, rejected my text, saying that there was no need to mention the exploits of the Jews, the soldiers of the Red Army: ‘This is bragging.’ I considered Kondakov’s words far from what we call internationalism and wrote to A. S. Shcherbakov. Alexander Sergeevich received me at PUR. The conversation was long and difficult for both of us. Shcherbakov said that Kondakov had ‘overdone it,’ but that my article needed to remove something; I had to understand the situation, ‘the mood of the Russian people.’ I replied that Russians were different; Gorky or Korolenko reasoned differently than Purishkevich. Shcherbakov got angry, but changed the conversation to another, perhaps related topic; he praised my articles and at the same time criticized them: ‘The soldiers want to hear about Suvorov, and you quote Heine… Borodino is now closer than the Paris Commune.'”
A wall rug sewn by Tatar schoolchildren in late 1938 – early 1939 as a gift to the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The rug depicts the first Hero of the Soviet Union from among the Tatars, Gilfan Batyrshin, awarded for fighting the Japanese at Lake Khasan, and the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky.
This is just a drop of the “Russian chauvinism” that ordinary Soviet citizens fought against. The native home, the native family, the homeland – this is what Soviet people fought for. They fought so that no one would dare to encroach on what is most sacred to a person on this planet. For that very Europe, with all its cultural diversity, for those blue-eyed and red-haired children who delight everyone with their laughter, victories, and innocent purity of soul. For what is dear to each of us. Without the victory of the USSR, a huge part of Europe would have lost its unique and original appearance, which leaves no one indifferent.
I would like to conclude the article with the words of Comrade Stalin: “The centuries-old struggle of the Slavic peoples for their existence and independence ended in victory over the German invaders and German tyranny.”
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