David Wingeate Pike
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203155
- eISBN:
- 9780191675751
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203155.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This is the epic story of the tens of thousands of communists exiled from Spain after Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War. With their iron discipline and fervent dedication to Stalin’s cause, ...
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This is the epic story of the tens of thousands of communists exiled from Spain after Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War. With their iron discipline and fervent dedication to Stalin’s cause, they did not hesitate, when the moment came in the Second World War, to throw themselves again into the struggle against fascism. This book is the first full scholarly study of their experiences. The author examines the contribution of the Spanish communists to the resistance in France and recounts their sufferings in Mauthausen — the concentration camp in Austria to which most who were captured were consigned. He also traces the experiences of those thousands who were admitted into the Soviet Union, where they fought in the Red Army or languished and perished in the prisons and slave camps of the Gulag. The author’s unparalleled access to the archives, many previously unexplored, and the information derived from his interviews with survivors combine to make this both an important addition to our knowledge of the Second World War and an enthralling, often moving account of the experiences of some of its participants.Less
This is the epic story of the tens of thousands of communists exiled from Spain after Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War. With their iron discipline and fervent dedication to Stalin’s cause, they did not hesitate, when the moment came in the Second World War, to throw themselves again into the struggle against fascism. This book is the first full scholarly study of their experiences. The author examines the contribution of the Spanish communists to the resistance in France and recounts their sufferings in Mauthausen — the concentration camp in Austria to which most who were captured were consigned. He also traces the experiences of those thousands who were admitted into the Soviet Union, where they fought in the Red Army or languished and perished in the prisons and slave camps of the Gulag. The author’s unparalleled access to the archives, many previously unexplored, and the information derived from his interviews with survivors combine to make this both an important addition to our knowledge of the Second World War and an enthralling, often moving account of the experiences of some of its participants.
David Glantz
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823239771
- eISBN:
- 9780823239818
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823239771.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Military History
The Soviet Union had many minority nationalities, and its supra-national ideology meant all should serve in the Red Army. In World War II, this coincided with a desperate need for more manpower. ...
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The Soviet Union had many minority nationalities, and its supra-national ideology meant all should serve in the Red Army. In World War II, this coincided with a desperate need for more manpower. Ethnic/national minorities were conscripted, but so were many other groups, such as political prisoners and women. These groups all fought with reasonable to high efficiency, and the Red Army recognized many units with large ethnic/national minorities as “Guards”.Less
The Soviet Union had many minority nationalities, and its supra-national ideology meant all should serve in the Red Army. In World War II, this coincided with a desperate need for more manpower. Ethnic/national minorities were conscripted, but so were many other groups, such as political prisoners and women. These groups all fought with reasonable to high efficiency, and the Red Army recognized many units with large ethnic/national minorities as “Guards”.
Jörg Baberowski
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300136982
- eISBN:
- 9780300220575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300136982.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
This chapter looks at Stalinism during the Great Patriotic War. It first discusses Joseph Stalin's changing approaches to terror following the end of his policy of exterminatory violence. This shift ...
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This chapter looks at Stalinism during the Great Patriotic War. It first discusses Joseph Stalin's changing approaches to terror following the end of his policy of exterminatory violence. This shift is well illustrated by two incidents, one in September 1939 when Nikita Khrushchev traveled with Marshal Timoshenko to the town of Vynnyky. This episode shows that the Stalinist terror was also an instrument of ethnic cleansing with which the Stalinist regime did its best. The other incident was in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The front-line soldiers of the Red Army were trapped in a cycle of violence from which there was no escape. This chapter considers how the Great Patriotic War allowed Stalinism to develop to its full potential. The Soviet Union had become a world power, and yet it could offer its subjects nothing but misery and slavery. Only the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953 put an end to Stalinism and with it, despotism.Less
This chapter looks at Stalinism during the Great Patriotic War. It first discusses Joseph Stalin's changing approaches to terror following the end of his policy of exterminatory violence. This shift is well illustrated by two incidents, one in September 1939 when Nikita Khrushchev traveled with Marshal Timoshenko to the town of Vynnyky. This episode shows that the Stalinist terror was also an instrument of ethnic cleansing with which the Stalinist regime did its best. The other incident was in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The front-line soldiers of the Red Army were trapped in a cycle of violence from which there was no escape. This chapter considers how the Great Patriotic War allowed Stalinism to develop to its full potential. The Soviet Union had become a world power, and yet it could offer its subjects nothing but misery and slavery. Only the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953 put an end to Stalinism and with it, despotism.
Brandon M. Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501739798
- eISBN:
- 9781501739804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501739798.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter provides an ethnography of soldiers' clothing and explores the meaning of the uniform's iconography. In the summer and fall of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers and ...
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This chapter provides an ethnography of soldiers' clothing and explores the meaning of the uniform's iconography. In the summer and fall of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers and commanders surrendered to the enemy or abandoned their uniforms while fleeing the battlefield. The army was on the verge of disintegrating, but many soldiers continued to believe in their duty to fight on. For those soldiers, the uniform was like a personal banner. This rhetoric was closely associated with a major change in style in 1943, when the army abandoned the uniform that so many soldiers had themselves cast-off or worn into German captivity, introducing a “new-old” uniform that reproduced late tsarist styles. Pogony (shoulder boards), a key old regime symbol, were recast as a point of pride. Along with pogony, a variety of decorations, many of which referenced old regime heroes, formed a rich text that was readable by both soldiers and civilians. The chapter then shows how soldiers' biographies and the state's self-presentation changed via medals and uniforms.Less
This chapter provides an ethnography of soldiers' clothing and explores the meaning of the uniform's iconography. In the summer and fall of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers and commanders surrendered to the enemy or abandoned their uniforms while fleeing the battlefield. The army was on the verge of disintegrating, but many soldiers continued to believe in their duty to fight on. For those soldiers, the uniform was like a personal banner. This rhetoric was closely associated with a major change in style in 1943, when the army abandoned the uniform that so many soldiers had themselves cast-off or worn into German captivity, introducing a “new-old” uniform that reproduced late tsarist styles. Pogony (shoulder boards), a key old regime symbol, were recast as a point of pride. Along with pogony, a variety of decorations, many of which referenced old regime heroes, formed a rich text that was readable by both soldiers and civilians. The chapter then shows how soldiers' biographies and the state's self-presentation changed via medals and uniforms.
Brandon M. Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501739798
- eISBN:
- 9781501739804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501739798.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter focuses on all manner of trophies, from German prisoners of war to objects looted from houses in the Third Reich. Between 1941 and 1945, soldiers of the Red Army were confronted with an ...
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This chapter focuses on all manner of trophies, from German prisoners of war to objects looted from houses in the Third Reich. Between 1941 and 1945, soldiers of the Red Army were confronted with an enemy who was often better dressed, wealthier, and initially much more effective. First on Soviet territory and then abroad, Red Army soldiers confronted an alien culture. For average citizens, this trip abroad was a unique chance to go beyond Soviet borders, one that came at great personal risk and with a clear objective—to destroy Fascism and the Third Reich. What soldiers saw along the way was puzzling. They not only reckoned with material objects and institutions that the Soviet Union had purged but were also left to wonder why people who lived materially so much better than they did had waged a genocidal war against them, marked by systematic rape, pillaging, and wanton destruction. The chapter then shows how a Soviet understanding of jurisprudence and a particular perception of the bourgeois world combined with a desire for vengeance to both justify looting and frame Soviet understandings of the Third Reich.Less
This chapter focuses on all manner of trophies, from German prisoners of war to objects looted from houses in the Third Reich. Between 1941 and 1945, soldiers of the Red Army were confronted with an enemy who was often better dressed, wealthier, and initially much more effective. First on Soviet territory and then abroad, Red Army soldiers confronted an alien culture. For average citizens, this trip abroad was a unique chance to go beyond Soviet borders, one that came at great personal risk and with a clear objective—to destroy Fascism and the Third Reich. What soldiers saw along the way was puzzling. They not only reckoned with material objects and institutions that the Soviet Union had purged but were also left to wonder why people who lived materially so much better than they did had waged a genocidal war against them, marked by systematic rape, pillaging, and wanton destruction. The chapter then shows how a Soviet understanding of jurisprudence and a particular perception of the bourgeois world combined with a desire for vengeance to both justify looting and frame Soviet understandings of the Third Reich.
Oleg Budnitskii
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804759038
- eISBN:
- 9780804773331
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804759038.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter offers a new and intriguing context for reading Babel's Red Cavalry and his civil war Diary: the history of the Red Army's attitudes toward the Jews, with a special focus on Semyon ...
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This chapter offers a new and intriguing context for reading Babel's Red Cavalry and his civil war Diary: the history of the Red Army's attitudes toward the Jews, with a special focus on Semyon Budenny's First Cavalry Army for which Babel served as a reporter, propagandist, and staff officer in the Polish campaign in 1920.Less
This chapter offers a new and intriguing context for reading Babel's Red Cavalry and his civil war Diary: the history of the Red Army's attitudes toward the Jews, with a special focus on Semyon Budenny's First Cavalry Army for which Babel served as a reporter, propagandist, and staff officer in the Polish campaign in 1920.
Jonathan D. Smele
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190233044
- eISBN:
- 9780190618551
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190233044.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines the escalation of violence across the former Russian Empire as the First World War drew to a close, analysing the origins and early operations of the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer ...
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This chapter examines the escalation of violence across the former Russian Empire as the First World War drew to a close, analysing the origins and early operations of the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army (and that force's relations with the Don and Kuban Cossacks), the victory of Rightist forces in the Finnish Civil War, the emergence of the Baltic States, and the impact of Austro-German (and Ottoman) intervention in Ukraine and Transcaucasia. The chapter then shifts its focus to the opposition to Soviet rule that was raised by non-Bolshevik socialists in eastern Russia and elsewhere (the Democratic Counter-Revolution) in alliance with a peculiar outlier of the Allied intervention in Russia — the Czechoslovak Legion. It concludes with an account of the origins of the Red Army, noting the impact upon that process of events on the Volga Front in 1918 and the innovative solutions that the Red command introduced — especially the deployment of voenspetsy (former tsarist officers) and the ire this practise raised among Leftist elements of the Bolshevik party (and, during the so-called “Tsaritsyn Affair”, J.V. Stalin), as well as Trotsky's efforts to overcome problems of the recruitment and desertion of Red troops and officers.Less
This chapter examines the escalation of violence across the former Russian Empire as the First World War drew to a close, analysing the origins and early operations of the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army (and that force's relations with the Don and Kuban Cossacks), the victory of Rightist forces in the Finnish Civil War, the emergence of the Baltic States, and the impact of Austro-German (and Ottoman) intervention in Ukraine and Transcaucasia. The chapter then shifts its focus to the opposition to Soviet rule that was raised by non-Bolshevik socialists in eastern Russia and elsewhere (the Democratic Counter-Revolution) in alliance with a peculiar outlier of the Allied intervention in Russia — the Czechoslovak Legion. It concludes with an account of the origins of the Red Army, noting the impact upon that process of events on the Volga Front in 1918 and the innovative solutions that the Red command introduced — especially the deployment of voenspetsy (former tsarist officers) and the ire this practise raised among Leftist elements of the Bolshevik party (and, during the so-called “Tsaritsyn Affair”, J.V. Stalin), as well as Trotsky's efforts to overcome problems of the recruitment and desertion of Red troops and officers.
Jasen J. Castillo
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804789103
- eISBN:
- 9780804790727
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804789103.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
Chapter five examines the performance of the Soviet Armed Forces while defending its homeland against the German onslaught in 1941. Cohesion theory explains how and why Stalin's authoritarian army ...
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Chapter five examines the performance of the Soviet Armed Forces while defending its homeland against the German onslaught in 1941. Cohesion theory explains how and why Stalin's authoritarian army recovered from the shock of Germany's initial blow to launch a counterattack. A strong state composed of hard-core supporters kept the armed forces intact and fighting. Ideology, commitment to the defense of the Russian homeland, and a highly coercive state prevented organized opposition in the armed forces and at home. These factors explain why the Tsarist Russia's army collapsed in 1917 but why the Red Army did not under more dire circumstances. The chapter concludes by evaluating cohesion theory and comparing the Red Army's cohesion with Germany and France during the Second World War.Less
Chapter five examines the performance of the Soviet Armed Forces while defending its homeland against the German onslaught in 1941. Cohesion theory explains how and why Stalin's authoritarian army recovered from the shock of Germany's initial blow to launch a counterattack. A strong state composed of hard-core supporters kept the armed forces intact and fighting. Ideology, commitment to the defense of the Russian homeland, and a highly coercive state prevented organized opposition in the armed forces and at home. These factors explain why the Tsarist Russia's army collapsed in 1917 but why the Red Army did not under more dire circumstances. The chapter concludes by evaluating cohesion theory and comparing the Red Army's cohesion with Germany and France during the Second World War.
Brandon M. Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501739798
- eISBN:
- 9781501739804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501739798.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines soldiers' bodies to look at the diversity of cadres entering the Red Army. In the course of the war, the Red Army had to transform millions of Soviet citizens into usable ...
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This chapter examines soldiers' bodies to look at the diversity of cadres entering the Red Army. In the course of the war, the Red Army had to transform millions of Soviet citizens into usable components of its war machine. The immense scale of the war would bring people into the army who would otherwise never have served. The government laid claim to the bodies of these men and women, handing them over to the commanders who were deputized to use these human resources to wage war. Commanders were tasked with training, tracking, and properly exploiting their soldiers and given almost total control over their subordinates' bodies. With this power came great responsibility: a good commander was supposed to be able to turn anyone into a soldier. Both the government and its deputies were forced to reckon not only with the physical bodies of soldiers but also with the souls that animated them. This was made all the more difficult by the demographic diversity of those serving: men aged seventeen to fifty-five, women, former criminals, and almost all of the ethnic groups of the heterogeneous USSR. The chapter then provides a brief “life cycle” of soldiers in service, from induction through training to the front and eventual wounding into the system of hospitals and back again.Less
This chapter examines soldiers' bodies to look at the diversity of cadres entering the Red Army. In the course of the war, the Red Army had to transform millions of Soviet citizens into usable components of its war machine. The immense scale of the war would bring people into the army who would otherwise never have served. The government laid claim to the bodies of these men and women, handing them over to the commanders who were deputized to use these human resources to wage war. Commanders were tasked with training, tracking, and properly exploiting their soldiers and given almost total control over their subordinates' bodies. With this power came great responsibility: a good commander was supposed to be able to turn anyone into a soldier. Both the government and its deputies were forced to reckon not only with the physical bodies of soldiers but also with the souls that animated them. This was made all the more difficult by the demographic diversity of those serving: men aged seventeen to fifty-five, women, former criminals, and almost all of the ethnic groups of the heterogeneous USSR. The chapter then provides a brief “life cycle” of soldiers in service, from induction through training to the front and eventual wounding into the system of hospitals and back again.
Brandon M. Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501739798
- eISBN:
- 9781501739804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501739798.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter looks at how Red Army soldiers learned to kill. The Red Army was forced to take undertrained soldiers and turn them into efficient killers, often instructing them directly at the front. ...
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This chapter looks at how Red Army soldiers learned to kill. The Red Army was forced to take undertrained soldiers and turn them into efficient killers, often instructing them directly at the front. Indeed, killing was a duty in the Red Army: the inability to kill was scorned, and soldiers were encouraged to keep competitive tallies of their kills. As such, soldiers needed to learn to use, trust, and love their weapons. In significant ways, the Soviet project was a dialogue between humans and machinery. The call to master tractors, lathes, and other industrial means of production articulated during the First Five-Year Plan were echoed in regards to weapons during the war. The chapter then explores the arsenal of the Red Army, treating weapons as tools for specific tasks and highlighting the soldiers' symbiotic relationship with weaponry. It also discusses social differentiation among different branches of service and examines changing tactics as the army became a professional fighting force.Less
This chapter looks at how Red Army soldiers learned to kill. The Red Army was forced to take undertrained soldiers and turn them into efficient killers, often instructing them directly at the front. Indeed, killing was a duty in the Red Army: the inability to kill was scorned, and soldiers were encouraged to keep competitive tallies of their kills. As such, soldiers needed to learn to use, trust, and love their weapons. In significant ways, the Soviet project was a dialogue between humans and machinery. The call to master tractors, lathes, and other industrial means of production articulated during the First Five-Year Plan were echoed in regards to weapons during the war. The chapter then explores the arsenal of the Red Army, treating weapons as tools for specific tasks and highlighting the soldiers' symbiotic relationship with weaponry. It also discusses social differentiation among different branches of service and examines changing tactics as the army became a professional fighting force.
Matthew Rendle
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199236251
- eISBN:
- 9780191717154
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236251.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines how the Bolsheviks' October Revolution of 1917 heralded a sustained attack on elites, with the abolition of the nobility, landownership, and officer ranks. The Bolsheviks' fear ...
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This chapter examines how the Bolsheviks' October Revolution of 1917 heralded a sustained attack on elites, with the abolition of the nobility, landownership, and officer ranks. The Bolsheviks' fear of class enemies and counter‐revolution led to revolutionary tribunals and the secret police. Nonetheless, the Bolsheviks were aware that they could not build a soviet state and Red Army without the experience and skills of former elites as ‘bourgeois specialists'. In the end, as many elites served the new state as actively opposed it. Most elites wanted a strong government to restore stability and the Bolsheviks promised to offer this, whilst it seemed pointless to fight the mass movement. Elites in the White armies that opposed the Bolsheviks during the civil war (1917–‐21) harboured no such doubts, but these divisions prevented them from forging a unified programme, contributing to their defeat.Less
This chapter examines how the Bolsheviks' October Revolution of 1917 heralded a sustained attack on elites, with the abolition of the nobility, landownership, and officer ranks. The Bolsheviks' fear of class enemies and counter‐revolution led to revolutionary tribunals and the secret police. Nonetheless, the Bolsheviks were aware that they could not build a soviet state and Red Army without the experience and skills of former elites as ‘bourgeois specialists'. In the end, as many elites served the new state as actively opposed it. Most elites wanted a strong government to restore stability and the Bolsheviks promised to offer this, whilst it seemed pointless to fight the mass movement. Elites in the White armies that opposed the Bolsheviks during the civil war (1917–‐21) harboured no such doubts, but these divisions prevented them from forging a unified programme, contributing to their defeat.
Olga Kucherenko
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199585557
- eISBN:
- 9780191725043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199585557.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Military History
An analysis of educational techniques, including the material presented in the mass media and school curricula, shows that the regime vigorously promoted the idea of children participating in an ...
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An analysis of educational techniques, including the material presented in the mass media and school curricula, shows that the regime vigorously promoted the idea of children participating in an inevitable future conflict. This chapter emphasizes the rigid militancy of Soviet society on the eve of the war, and argues that martial and self-sacrificial motifs of popular culture were assimilated into the child's mentality, and became a powerful driving force when the war started. Pre-conscription military training and war games, which involved children of both sexes, taught military basics. The aim of such education was not to train soldiers for immediate frontline duty, but to encourage children's military readiness in the context of the permanent threat posed by enemies.Less
An analysis of educational techniques, including the material presented in the mass media and school curricula, shows that the regime vigorously promoted the idea of children participating in an inevitable future conflict. This chapter emphasizes the rigid militancy of Soviet society on the eve of the war, and argues that martial and self-sacrificial motifs of popular culture were assimilated into the child's mentality, and became a powerful driving force when the war started. Pre-conscription military training and war games, which involved children of both sexes, taught military basics. The aim of such education was not to train soldiers for immediate frontline duty, but to encourage children's military readiness in the context of the permanent threat posed by enemies.
Brandon Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501720079
- eISBN:
- 9781501720086
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501720079.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter shows how objects constitute the story of Red Army soldiers' dramatic movement and participation in violence during the Great Patriotic War and hints at how these experiences impacted ...
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This chapter shows how objects constitute the story of Red Army soldiers' dramatic movement and participation in violence during the Great Patriotic War and hints at how these experiences impacted what it meant to be Soviet, detailing how one soldier from the hinterland attained status through successful mastery of violence. It focuses on Bato Damcheev, a sniper and later scout who killed nearly ninety German soldiers, took ten more as prisoners captured for interrogation, and destroyed three tanks and several enemy bunkers. The chapter examines several things that Damcheev would have used or acquired during the war in order to show how a particular violent subjectivity was made possible by key material objects such as identity booklets and weapons, and embodied in the form of others such as medals and trophies.Less
This chapter shows how objects constitute the story of Red Army soldiers' dramatic movement and participation in violence during the Great Patriotic War and hints at how these experiences impacted what it meant to be Soviet, detailing how one soldier from the hinterland attained status through successful mastery of violence. It focuses on Bato Damcheev, a sniper and later scout who killed nearly ninety German soldiers, took ten more as prisoners captured for interrogation, and destroyed three tanks and several enemy bunkers. The chapter examines several things that Damcheev would have used or acquired during the war in order to show how a particular violent subjectivity was made possible by key material objects such as identity booklets and weapons, and embodied in the form of others such as medals and trophies.
Elizabeth J. Perry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780520271890
- eISBN:
- 9780520954038
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520271890.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter explores a critical moment in the Chinese Communist Revolution, as it turned from an urban to a rural movement and began to build a peasant army.
This chapter explores a critical moment in the Chinese Communist Revolution, as it turned from an urban to a rural movement and began to build a peasant army.
Brandon M. Schechter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501739798
- eISBN:
- 9781501739804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501739798.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter focuses on provisioning in the Red Army, tracing how soldiers ate, the ways the government positioned itself as provider, and the logic of who deserved more or less food under conditions ...
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This chapter focuses on provisioning in the Red Army, tracing how soldiers ate, the ways the government positioned itself as provider, and the logic of who deserved more or less food under conditions of extreme shortage. In the first years of the war, the Soviet Union lost its bread basket, making hunger inevitable. Under these conditions, the government's dedication to provide was reaffirmed to soldiers, who were promised ample provisions in return for their service. Ultimately, it was difficult to imagine such a key resource as food outside of the horizontal bonds between citizens and the vertical relationship to the state. The very term used for rations, paëk, implied mutual obligations. Paëk could be seen as the physical embodiment of the socialist adage “to each according to his work,” as its etymological root implied an earned share in a common cause. The chapter then considers how rations were assembled by the government and later received and used by soldiers at the front—how paëk functioned, was experienced, and occasionally transformed by soldiers.Less
This chapter focuses on provisioning in the Red Army, tracing how soldiers ate, the ways the government positioned itself as provider, and the logic of who deserved more or less food under conditions of extreme shortage. In the first years of the war, the Soviet Union lost its bread basket, making hunger inevitable. Under these conditions, the government's dedication to provide was reaffirmed to soldiers, who were promised ample provisions in return for their service. Ultimately, it was difficult to imagine such a key resource as food outside of the horizontal bonds between citizens and the vertical relationship to the state. The very term used for rations, paëk, implied mutual obligations. Paëk could be seen as the physical embodiment of the socialist adage “to each according to his work,” as its etymological root implied an earned share in a common cause. The chapter then considers how rations were assembled by the government and later received and used by soldiers at the front—how paëk functioned, was experienced, and occasionally transformed by soldiers.
Erika Fischer‐Lichte
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199559213
- eISBN:
- 9780191594403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199559213.003.0019
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Three different productions of Antigone are investigated with regard to the way in which the aesthetic of each performance was related to its political context: (1) the Tieck/ Mendelssohn production ...
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Three different productions of Antigone are investigated with regard to the way in which the aesthetic of each performance was related to its political context: (1) the Tieck/ Mendelssohn production in Potsdam in 1841, one year after Friedrich Wilhelm IV ascended to the throne and ushered in a new era in Prussia; (2) Karlheinz Stroux's production in Berlin in 1940, the second year of World War II, and (3) Christoph Nel's production in Frankfurt upon Main in 1978, taking place at the time of the trial against the terrorist Red Army Faction in Stuttgart‐Stammheim, the suicide of the defendants in prison, and their funeral. It is argued that in all three cases it was the special relationship between stage and auditorium that brought about the politicization of the performances in their distinctive contexts, not so much because of a specific reading of the tragedy they conveyed, but primarily due to their particular aesthetic.Less
Three different productions of Antigone are investigated with regard to the way in which the aesthetic of each performance was related to its political context: (1) the Tieck/ Mendelssohn production in Potsdam in 1841, one year after Friedrich Wilhelm IV ascended to the throne and ushered in a new era in Prussia; (2) Karlheinz Stroux's production in Berlin in 1940, the second year of World War II, and (3) Christoph Nel's production in Frankfurt upon Main in 1978, taking place at the time of the trial against the terrorist Red Army Faction in Stuttgart‐Stammheim, the suicide of the defendants in prison, and their funeral. It is argued that in all three cases it was the special relationship between stage and auditorium that brought about the politicization of the performances in their distinctive contexts, not so much because of a specific reading of the tragedy they conveyed, but primarily due to their particular aesthetic.
Anthony James Joes
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813124377
- eISBN:
- 9780813134833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813124377.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Military History
The Warsaw Rising of 1944 during World War II has been called the “archetypal model of urban guerrilla warfare”. After the Nazis quashed the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1941, many of the surviving ...
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The Warsaw Rising of 1944 during World War II has been called the “archetypal model of urban guerrilla warfare”. After the Nazis quashed the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1941, many of the surviving members of the Jewish Fighting Organization and several dissident groups decided to join the Home Army when it attacked a retreating German army in Warsaw in August 1944. Despite being totally unprepared and woefully ill-equipped, the Home Army managed to hold out for several weeks, with help from Warsaw residents, including women and children, who performed such tasks as carrying ammunition, preparing meals and caring for the wounded. In October 1944, under orders from General Bor, about 15,400 AK members surrendered, but not before much of the city have been destroyed by heavy artillery. Meanwhile, Russia's Red Army, which was just east of Warsaw during the uprising, stood idly by, providing the impetus for the Cold War. Shortly after, Josef Stalin replaced the Polish government in exile in London with the “Lublin government”, which later agreed to Soviet annexations of prewar Polish territories.Less
The Warsaw Rising of 1944 during World War II has been called the “archetypal model of urban guerrilla warfare”. After the Nazis quashed the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1941, many of the surviving members of the Jewish Fighting Organization and several dissident groups decided to join the Home Army when it attacked a retreating German army in Warsaw in August 1944. Despite being totally unprepared and woefully ill-equipped, the Home Army managed to hold out for several weeks, with help from Warsaw residents, including women and children, who performed such tasks as carrying ammunition, preparing meals and caring for the wounded. In October 1944, under orders from General Bor, about 15,400 AK members surrendered, but not before much of the city have been destroyed by heavy artillery. Meanwhile, Russia's Red Army, which was just east of Warsaw during the uprising, stood idly by, providing the impetus for the Cold War. Shortly after, Josef Stalin replaced the Polish government in exile in London with the “Lublin government”, which later agreed to Soviet annexations of prewar Polish territories.
Catherine Epstein
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546411
- eISBN:
- 9780191701429
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546411.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter looks at Greiser as man and ruler in the heyday of his power. It then turns to his actions in the last fifteen months of rule, when the Warthegau faced extraordinary pressures brought on ...
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This chapter looks at Greiser as man and ruler in the heyday of his power. It then turns to his actions in the last fifteen months of rule, when the Warthegau faced extraordinary pressures brought on by total war and an advancing Red Army. It also reports on Greiser's decision-making in his last days of rule, including his flight from the Gau. In January 1945, Greiser was trapped between ambition and reality. By trying to uphold his reputation as a strong, decisive Gauleiter, to avoid seeming ‘defeatist’, he created a situation that led to enormous human misery. By delaying evacuation orders, Greiser forced Germans to flee under terrifying conditions. By insisting on following Hitler's orders to leave Posen, Greiser also came off as a coward, especially given the experiences of Germans leaving just a few hours later.Less
This chapter looks at Greiser as man and ruler in the heyday of his power. It then turns to his actions in the last fifteen months of rule, when the Warthegau faced extraordinary pressures brought on by total war and an advancing Red Army. It also reports on Greiser's decision-making in his last days of rule, including his flight from the Gau. In January 1945, Greiser was trapped between ambition and reality. By trying to uphold his reputation as a strong, decisive Gauleiter, to avoid seeming ‘defeatist’, he created a situation that led to enormous human misery. By delaying evacuation orders, Greiser forced Germans to flee under terrifying conditions. By insisting on following Hitler's orders to leave Posen, Greiser also came off as a coward, especially given the experiences of Germans leaving just a few hours later.
Jonathan Smele
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190233044
- eISBN:
- 9780190618551
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190233044.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This volume offers a comprehensive and original analysis and reconceptualization of the compendium of struggles that wracked the collapsing tsarist empire and the emergent USSR over a decade and that ...
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This volume offers a comprehensive and original analysis and reconceptualization of the compendium of struggles that wracked the collapsing tsarist empire and the emergent USSR over a decade and that was to have a profound impact upon the history of the twentieth century. Indeed, the reverberations of those wars echo to the present day — not despite, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which has re-opened many old wounds (from the Baltic to Transcaucasia). Contemporary memorializing (and “de-memorializing”) of these wars, therefore, form part of the work's focus, but at its heart are the struggles between various Russian political and military forces (including the Whites) who sought to inherit and preserve (or even expand) the territory of the tsars, overlain with examinations of the attempts of many non-Russian national and religious groupings to divide the former empire. The reasons why some of the latter were successful in their contests with L.D. Trotsky's Red Army (Poland and Finland, for example), while others (Ukraine, Georgia and the Muslim Basmachi) were not, are as much the author's concern as are explanations as to why the chief victors of the “Russian” Civil Wars were the Bolsheviks. Tellingly, the work begins and ends with battles in Central Asia — a theatre of the “Russian” Civil Wars that was closer to Mumbai than it was to Moscow.Less
This volume offers a comprehensive and original analysis and reconceptualization of the compendium of struggles that wracked the collapsing tsarist empire and the emergent USSR over a decade and that was to have a profound impact upon the history of the twentieth century. Indeed, the reverberations of those wars echo to the present day — not despite, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which has re-opened many old wounds (from the Baltic to Transcaucasia). Contemporary memorializing (and “de-memorializing”) of these wars, therefore, form part of the work's focus, but at its heart are the struggles between various Russian political and military forces (including the Whites) who sought to inherit and preserve (or even expand) the territory of the tsars, overlain with examinations of the attempts of many non-Russian national and religious groupings to divide the former empire. The reasons why some of the latter were successful in their contests with L.D. Trotsky's Red Army (Poland and Finland, for example), while others (Ukraine, Georgia and the Muslim Basmachi) were not, are as much the author's concern as are explanations as to why the chief victors of the “Russian” Civil Wars were the Bolsheviks. Tellingly, the work begins and ends with battles in Central Asia — a theatre of the “Russian” Civil Wars that was closer to Mumbai than it was to Moscow.
Jessica Reinisch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199660797
- eISBN:
- 9780191748295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199660797.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter identifies crucial differences in the Soviet zone's conduct of health work which distinguishes it from the other zones. The fact that German doctors and health workers were drawn from ...
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This chapter identifies crucial differences in the Soviet zone's conduct of health work which distinguishes it from the other zones. The fact that German doctors and health workers were drawn from politically reliable groups of German émigrés had lasting consequences.Less
This chapter identifies crucial differences in the Soviet zone's conduct of health work which distinguishes it from the other zones. The fact that German doctors and health workers were drawn from politically reliable groups of German émigrés had lasting consequences.