by Ryan McRowe
Known to Americans and Western Europe as the Russian theater of the Second World War, the Great Patriotic War was fought from June 22, 1941 with the launching of Operation Barbarossa until May 9, 1945 when Germany officially surrendered. The conflict pitted the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and its allies in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Finland, and Italy. Battles in this theater were by far the largest and bloodiest of the entire war and even of the century, armies numbering sometimes in the millions would clash, often for months, and would leave hundreds of thousands of dead in their wake.
The war did not initially go well for the Soviets, in 1941 and 1942 the Germans pushed within a few miles of Moscow, besieged the second city of Leningrad, and eliminated whole Soviet armies. But with the intervention of Russia’s greatest natural barrier, winter, and a massive aid program from the United States and Britain the Soviets rallied. At the Battle of Moscow, the Germans were thrown back and the capital was saved, but it would be at Stalingrad from August 1942 to February 1943 that the Soviet Union got its first decisive victory, enveloping and destroying the entire 6th Army of 350,000 of German and their allied troops, while costing the Soviets over 1.1 million soldiers and civilians. This would turn the tide of the war and the Germans would always be pushed back towards Europe from this point. Germany would rally in July 1943 for an attempt at a major foray to try and retake the initiative at the Battle of Kursk, in what would become the largest tank battle in history the Soviets, once again through massive causalities and force of will, defeated the Germans in their last offensive against the Soviets of the war.
Nowhere was Soviet resistance to the invasion, of shear resolve and commitment no matter the cost, better encapsulated than in the Siege of Leningrad. In what was one of the longest sieges in history and by far the bloodiest with nearly 3.5 million deaths, the Soviets held on through 900 days of vicious bombardments, starvation, and one of the coldest winters in living memory.
Overall the Great Patriotic War was the most brutal and vicious part of the Second World War, for both sides. The Soviet Union lost somewhere between 22 and 26 million people in the war to 5.5 million for Germany and its allies. What would probably be one of the most shocking aspects of the Soviet number was that, unlike for all the other major powers that fought from Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and America the vast majority of casualties where soldiers who died fighting, for the Soviet Union however possibly up to 60% of the dead were civilians who died from getting caught in the vicious and expansive battles, massacres, sieges, and starvation. Even Japan after an extensive carpet bombing campaign and two atomic bombs from American air forces did not reach the level of civilian casualties as the Soviet Union. The war left a massive imprint into the psyche of the people of the Soviet Union and its current successor states, particularly Russia. With a number like 26 million nearly every family lost at least one member and most people knew someone that was killed, perhaps strangely the loss of these people is remembered not with great bitterness or animosity towards Germany and its allies but as a sacrifice for their motherland, there is plenty of grief and sadness, but at the same time pride at what the loss achieved and bravery of their ancestors.
References:
https://russiapedia.rt.com/russian-history/the-great-patriotic-war/
Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery tour
Victory Day parade St. Petersburg
Before going to Russia, I had known that Russia was hit the hardest by WWII in terms of casualties, but I didn’t realize how dramatic and catastrophic this was until I was actually able to experience Russia for myself. We read stats in books and don’t think much about it, but to have 25 million people wiped out from your population is HUGE. Everyone lost someone and many families were left with nothing. I’d argue many people aren’t even aware of the amount of fighting that happened in Russia. People are mostly focused on France and the western front, but the eastern front was just as brutal, if not more so. Russia’s major cities were utterly devastated, many places wiped completely off the map. This didn’t really hit me until victory day, when I got to see for myself how many people were holding signs of people they had lost. There were those who looked sorrowful, but there were many who were genuinely excited and happy. I felt as if WWII had ended yesterday instead of 75 years ago, people were so pumped up. That experience taught me a lot about patriotism and what war really means.
I think this was my favorite day throughout the whole trip. It was so eyeopening to visually understand the hardships and casualties the Russian people have faced and the resilience they possess. I loved being able to see the parade and how happy most people were, it was like a celebration of life. I had no idea how many people were affected by the war. I think this was very impactful on my understanding of the many difficulties that have faced Russia and how they always seem to never give up.
I found victory day extremely enlightening. I had no idea how much WWII had affected Russia. I found it beautiful that the people still recognize the loss that their country endured. I really like the idea- I don’t really know the word- that the Russians have for remembrance, that I don’t feel we have in the US. As an outsider I felt slightly intrusive at first, and then I realized that no one minded- we were all there for remembering the sacrifice of those lost. This is something I will never forget and something that shaped the way I view Russia greatly.
It was very interesting to see the unity and community of the Russian people during the parade we walked in. Seeing a sea of people holding up a picture of someone that lived and suffered during that time gave a really good first hand account of suffering in the Russian cultural conscience. Your knowledge of history really drove the point home of how much the Russian people suffered during World War II.