Why is the first world war called that? Why the war was called patriotic, and even great. Russia before the war
Modern young people often do not understand why the war was called Patriotic, and even the Great. And how does the Second World War differ from it?
Maybe these are completely different historical events that do not overlap with each other? And what other patriotic wars were on Russian soil? And why are they called that? There are a lot of questions. To find the answer to them, it is worth looking into the history of Russia.
Patriotic War of 1812
Every patriot should know the history of his homeland. To find the answer to the question of why the war was called Patriotic, you need to understand what this word itself means. In another way, the country in which a person was born and lives is called the Fatherland. And all wars aimed at defending their homeland bear this proud title.
In 1812, Napoleon attacked Russia with the aim of conquering and enslaving the Russian people. But he did not succeed. This war entered the history of Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812. Naturally, things were different for France. Even now they will not understand why the war was called Patriotic, because for them it was conquering.
The Second World War
In September 1939, on the first day, Nazi Germany, together with its henchmen - Italy, Japan and some other states - unleashed a world fire, in which 1.7 billion people took part. This is almost eighty percent of the total population of the planet. And directly in the armies of all countries involved in this horror, almost one hundred and ten million people fought.
In 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. This is how our Motherland was called in those years. And the entire Soviet people rose to defend the Fatherland.
On the part of the fascists, it was a war of conquest. The fascists under the leadership of Adolf Hitler did not understand why the war was called Patriotic. Many are still arguing, proving that this was an action to free the peoples from communist terror. But in fact, there was no question of any liberation. The fascists were simply trying to carry out a new division of the land, to enslave other peoples.
But our people waged a liberation struggle, defended their homeland and other countries. Now it is clear why the war of 1941-1945 was called the Patriotic War? Although it is worthwhile to understand well that the name of the event depends on from whose point of view it is viewed.
The treacherous attack on the Soviet Union in 1941
Although the world war was already raging on the ground, the Soviet people were sure that Hitler would not dare to encroach on our Motherland. Moreover, a non-aggression pact was concluded between the Soviet Union and Germany.
However, Hitler despicably violated it. On the night of June 21-22, a graduation party was celebrated for everyone who graduated from school. No one could even think that it was at dawn after such a wonderful holiday that shots would thunder, bombs would fall from the sky, blood would flow. And yet it happened. On June 22, 1941, at four o'clock in the morning, without warning, Germany launched a treacherous attack on the Soviet Union. Immediately over a vast area, from the Carpathian Mountains to the Baltic Sea, the fascist troops crossed the border of our Motherland.
The Nazis planned to destroy the culture of a huge country, and turn its people into slaves who would work for Germany. The invaders bombed cities and villages, railways and ports, airfields and train stations. A great many people, including children, old people and women, were killed in the most cruel ways: they were burned alive, buried, shot, torn to pieces.
But the people did not want to give up. Even the smallest settlements were heroically defended. Many beautiful songs about the exploits of unknown soldiers were invented by people. “Near an unfamiliar village at a nameless height” the heroes laid their heads, the memory of which will live on for centuries. That is why the war of 1941-1945 was called the Patriotic War. After all, the Soviet people fought for their Fatherland.
War is not a game, it is death and pain ...
The search for an answer to the question of why the Great Patriotic War was called "Patriotic War" makes you travel back to those distant terrible years. Not liberation came to the Soviet Union, but a terrible monster called "fascism", insatiable and cruel. There was nothing sacred to him.
The fascists rampaged in the occupied lands as if they themselves had never been people. A huge part of the population was taken out and imprisoned in concentration camps. There, the atrocities of the invaders were especially sophisticated. Blood was taken from children for transfusion to the wounded, people were vaccinated with terrible diseases and watched over them. They even tried to create a new creature that would be the carrier of the human gene and the animal, using prisoners for their inhuman experiments.
Not only Patriotic, but also Great.
Not only men of military age went to the front. Volunteers simply filled up all the points that were engaged in mobilization. Elderly people, very young boys and girls were walking. There were many respectable elders and snotty children. At first they were immediately chased home, to their mother under the hem. "This war will not be damned for long!" - everyone said.
However, after the first two years, it became obvious that the end of these horrors would not come soon. And they remembered everything about the old people and children who were so eager to fight at the beginning of the war. It was now clear that every pair of hands was valuable. Twelve-year-old boys got up to the machines next to the elderly men and women. Together they worked eighteen hours a day, releasing ammunition and military equipment.
So, rallying against fascism, our Motherland managed to clear its lands of fascist cholera. But the Red Army did not stop there. Soviet tanks reached Berlin itself, liberating other countries from the Nazi yoke along the way. Our country has accomplished a great deed. A huge number of people were saved, of various nationalities and religions. That is why the war is called the Great Patriotic War.
Author:
Was the First World War a world war at all? For many eyewitnesses, it was just a "war." Until now, in England, the First World War is considered the "Great War". And only the experience of the Second World War turned the "Great War" into the "First World War".
But authors who are critical of the Eurocentric picture of the world object: in 1914, the European powers unleashed a war over intra-European conflicts. It then turned into a world war as the leading powers mobilized their colonial empires, whose soldiers shed blood on European battlefields. Therefore, the First World War is Europe's war in the world. You can draw parallels with the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763), which was fought in America, and in Africa, and in Asia.
German historian Oliver Janz wrote the book "The 14th Year - The Great War" (14 - Der große Krieg), which was the final speech against such a position. A professor at the Free University in Berlin writes: "From a military, political and economic point of view, this was not just a global, but a long war, which became an era itself." And this is because the war did not start in 1914 and did not end in 1918. For many years in a row, the war continued to rage on the periphery, in Morocco and Libya, in Russia and in Turkey. The war left deep traces in India, Australia and Japan. According to Janz, the war was world not only from the point of view of world history: it really was.
If the author claims in the introduction that he did not want to write a historical reference book, then he did it because of academic modesty. It is hardly possible to find among the works published in connection with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War, a clearer, more understandable description of many of its main aspects. Janz easily established a connection between large themes and expressive details, between - inherited - national and global perspectives.
The first global war in world history
Against this background, it is difficult to treat with understanding that Janz ignored the theory that has become a priority for historical science, according to which the main responsibility for the outbreak of war is assigned to Berlin. Perhaps the absence in the book of mentioning the relevant debate, which lasted for several months, is due to the decision of the editors to release the book ahead of schedule. In vain is a search in the bibliography of Christopher Clark's book Die Schlafwandler in English, which appeared back in 2012.
However, beyond this old-new controversy, Janz places the emphasis in an amazing way: “The First World War shows how globalized the world and the world system of power were in 1914. It was not only the first total war, in which all social forces and economic resources were involved: it was the first real global war in world history. "
This has nothing to do with the battlefields on which the war was unfolding. On October 20, 1914, when the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary, fronts appeared in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula. Prior to that, Japan joined the war on the side of the Entente (in 1905 it won a victory over the Russian Empire), a major power outside Europe. It was followed by other non-European states: Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, San Diego, Siam, Liberia, China, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Haiti, as well as the United States, the most important player. who played a decisive role in the war. So, in 1918, three quarters of the world's population was at war.
1.2 million from the dominion take part in the war
Most of all the battlefields were in Europe. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, European dominance reflected the world order. This includes the colonial empires - primarily England, France and Russia. In the British dominion alone - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada - 1.2 million people were involved in the fighting. Of these, nine hundred thousand people fought in Europe. India made a similar contribution to the war. From the French colonies, five hundred and fifty thousand people were called up, of whom four hundred and forty thousand were sent to the theater of operations. One hundred thousand were in reserve.
It was the same during the Spanish Civil War and the Seven Years War. On November 7, 1914, the Japanese besieged the German port of Qingdao, ending the German colonies. In contrast, the colonial forces, led by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, lasted until the end of the war and opposed strong British and Belgian unions. Janz gives figures that help to see the scale of the war: on the German and British sides, approximately twelve thousand soldiers, especially Africans, were killed. In addition, another hundred thousand people died from the British side. In German East Africa alone, famine and epidemics claimed the lives of six hundred and fifty thousand people - one tenth of the population.
Very soon the Royal Navy succeeded in sinking the few German cruisers on the other side of the ocean. Since 1915, German submarines have turned the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean into a battlefield with fatal consequences. Unlimited submarine war pushed the United States into the war. However, this did not help to break the trade blockade of the Entente countries. By depriving their opponents of strategic cargoes, the Allies set an example of a successful economic war over industrial raw materials, which decisively led to the defeat of the central powers.
Yants rightfully "sends" his colleagues to the East. Until now, the picture of statistical trench wars personifies the war on the Western Front. A completely different situation developed on the Eastern Front, where it was often about extensive troop movements and breakthroughs.
More killed in the East and Asia
The scorched earth tactics used by the Russian Empire in its withdrawal in 1915 alone left three million people homeless. Hundreds of thousands died. Also, in the periphery of Europe, from eight hundred thousand to one and a half million people died due to the deportation of Armenians and the Turkish "famine policy". Perhaps Janz's thesis is correct: on the Eastern Front, between the Balkans and the Caucasus, the Tigris River and the Red Sea, more military and civilians died than on the Western Front.
This thesis seems convincing when you analyze the wars that were a consequence of the First World War and for a long time raged around the world. The Revolution in Russia alone, the aftermath of the Civil War, and famine claimed the lives of at least ten million people, primarily civilians. In 1922, the Greek invasion of Anatolia ended in disaster. Hundreds of thousands have died, nearly two million people have been evicted.
The division of the territories of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, which, contrary to the agreements reached earlier, came under the control of England and France, marked the beginning of the modern conflict in the Middle East. Japan's activities in China in 1931 were supposed to be a prelude to World War II in the Pacific. Mahatma Gandhi began the struggle against colonial rule, pointing to the contribution of India to the victory of England. But even stronger was the "anti-colonial political push" in the French colonies. Already in 1921, the Rif War began in Morocco.
After the war, the victors were able to secure the right to own numerous territories. Thus, the British Empire reached its maximum size. However, personnel and economic losses prevented the consolidation of these rights, and this also turned the war into a truly global event. But at the same time, the war marked the beginning of the end of European domination in the world.
Germany: strove to achieve dominance in world politics and expand its possessions in Europe, Africa, China.
Austro-hungary: tried to postpone the collapse of its multinational state and had territorial claims to Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Russia.
France: wanted to return, lost as a result of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Alsace and Lorraine, as well as capture the Ruhr and the Saar coal basin.
Great Britain: she wanted to crush the power of the German Empire, as the main rival in trade at sea and in the colonies, as well as take away from Turkey the oil-rich lands of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula.
USA: tried to increase political influence in Europe, subjugate the entire American continent and increase penetration into China.
Russia: hoped to stop the impending revolution and wanted to include Constantinople, the Dardanelles straits and the western coast of the Sea of Marmara into the empire.
In this way: the main reasons for the First World War can be attributed to:
Struggle for spheres of influence between the leading powers of the world;
Striving for a new territorial redistribution of the colonies;
Formation of two opposing military-political alliances (Entente and Quadruple - Triple Alliance).
When and why did the first world war become known as the world war?
The name World War I was established in historiography only after the outbreak of World War II. in 1939... Before that she was called - Great War .
In Russia- The Great War, the Second Patriotic War, the Great Patriotic War, informally - the German war, the "imperialist war."
World- took part 38 countries(of 59 sovereign at that time states) from all continents and parts of the world.
World War I - one of the most widespread conflicts in the history of mankind.
Countries participating in the First World War.
Entente: Russia (entered the war on 01.08.1914); France (08/03/1914); England (08/04/1914); Italy (05/23/1915 g); USA (06.04.1915 g). Friendly countries- Belgium (08/04/1914 g); Serbia (July 28, 1914); Japan (08/23/1917). Total - 34 countries.
Quadruple Union: Austria-Hungary (07/28/1914); Germany (08/01/1914); Turkey (10/29/1914); Bulgaria (10/29/1914). Total - 4 countries.
What new types of weapons and means of warfare appeared during the First World War?
In the course of the war, the development and improvement of methods of preparation and conduct of battle took place. Military action began to unfold in a large space, increased role of artillery, railway transport (the transfer of troops, equipment, equipment, ammunition), the role of cavalry has decreased.
Appeared new military equipment:
Aircraft,
Automatic weapons (machine gun),
Chemical weapons (gases).
New types of communication have appeared:
Long distance telephone communication,
Letterpress telephone equipment,
Communication machines.
The role of the engineering troops has increased:
Fortifications,
Barriers,
Structures.
In the fleet:
Depth charges,
Hydroacoustic devices,
Torpedoes,
Mines, the first submarines
Naval aviation.
5. The main military operations of the First World War.
1914 year
East Prussian operation.
A task- smash the 8th German army, capture East Prussia, divert large German forces on the western front and help France. The operation began with a successful offensive by the 1st and 2nd Russian armies (commanded by General Rannenkampf and Samsonov), defeated the Germans at Gumbinnip, but in the end the Germans won a complete victory in East Prussia. The complete defeat of the Russians (General Samsonov shot himself), Konigsberg was not taken.
Galician operation(Galicia - modern western Ukraine - Lviv).
A task: defeat the Austro-Hungarian troops and withdraw AB from the war. In heavy battles, Russian troops won a victory. Losses:А-В - 400 thousand, Russia - 230 thousand. Germany's plans - to keep the Eastern Front by forces А-В - collapse.
In addition, there were two more major operations in 1914: Lodz (draw) and Warsaw-Ivangorod (the Germans failed to take Warsaw, but the troops were retreating).
Results of 1914:
The collapse of the German "blitzkrieg" in the east and west,
The Russians lost western Poland, but occupied Galicia and Bukovina (present-day Western Ukraine and part of southern Romania).
1915 year
The Year of the Great Retreat of the Russian Army... In the spring and summer, as a result of a breakthrough near Gorlitsa (Poland) and the retreat of Austrian troops in Galicia, and the German offensive near Vilno and Kovno (Lithuania), the Russian army left Galicia, Bukovina and Poland, part of the Baltic States and Belarus. However, Germany failed to get Russia out of the war. Although they were defeated, they retreated, but in general the Russian troops retained their combat effectiveness.
1916 year
"Brusilov Breakthrough" (May - August 1916). Complete defeat of the air forces on the Southwestern Front. Russian troops again occupied Galicia, Bukovina and part of Belarus. А-В are on the verge of military defeat. On the Caucasian front Russian troops advanced deep into Turkey and occupied large cities: Erzurum, Trebizond, Erzincan, Bitlis.
Outcome: A radical change in favor of the Entente.
1917 year
In February 1917 - in Russia - bourgeois dem. The revolution... Provisional governments for the war to the bitter end. But the army began to decay under the influence of the revolution and rapidly lose its combat effectiveness.
Nevertheless, in June - an offensive on the Southwestern Front. Russian troops were defeated due to their unwillingness to fight. In general, the Russian army completely withdrew from the war, which ended in November 1918.
How did the First World War end for Russia?
Russia's participation in the First World War ended with the signing of March 1918 Brest Peaceful Separate ( separate from the allies ) contract(between Germany and Soviet Russia).
Prior to that, in the period 1916 - early 1917, there was a struggle in the political circles of Russia between supporters of a separate peace with Germany and supporters of Russia's participation in the war on the side of the Entente. After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government declared its loyalty to Russia to its obligations to the Entente countries and in July 1917 launched an offensive at the front, which turned out to be unsuccessful.
After VOSR on March 3, 1918, the humiliating Treaty of Brest was signed. Russia has lost Ukraine (almost all of it), Belarus, the Baltic States, Finland. Turkey was given - Kars, Ardahan, Batum.
Why did Russia support Serbia in the conflict between AB and Serbia?
Russia and Serbia have always had a special, fraternal relationship, because Serbia was a Slavic and Orthodox state. The USSR also stood up for Serbia in World War II. If Russia would not have supported Serbia after the ultimatum on July 28, 1914 AB (assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist Gabriel Princip), then it would be possible to put an end to all Russian policy in the Balkans. Serbia was the last Russian mainstay in this region, since after the 2nd Balkan War Bulgaria and Romania began to support Germany. Therefore, there was no way to lose Serbia.
Orthodox countries: Russia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Cyprus.
What assistance did the Russian Orthodox Church provide to the army during the First World War?
The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the First World War - huge. The Russian army for the most part was Orthodox and, therefore, the presence of church ministers in it was a necessity. The institute of military clergy appeared during the PetreI , inXviii century.
In 1914, there was a priest in every regiment across the state. The motto of the army is "For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland!"
Was published Instruction, in which the duties of each priest were strictly stipulated. Regimental Priest had to be at the dressing station, where there were many wounded and dying.
Battle priest- was obliged to help doctors, was in charge of the removal of the wounded from the battlefield, take care of cemeteries, notify relatives of the dead.
Hospital priest- to conduct divine services for the wounded, walk around the wards every day, console the wounded, read letters.
Military and naval- ruled by the protopresbyter. With him was the Spiritual Administration. The church played a large role in maintaining the morale of the army. From the beginning of the war, public services began to take place.
Many priests for their exploits in the war were awarded:
O. John (Terletsky)
O. Alexander (Vishnyakov) (led soldiers into battle, award St. George Cross)
Hieromonk Felix and many others.
Huge work in the rear: church hospitals, collected money, food for the families of those killed, repaired houses, helped sow and clean up, orphanages.
In total, there were about 3,700 clergymen in the war. Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolaevich said: "We must bow down to the feet of the Russian Church for its great work"
As you might guess, the name began to be used only after the Second World War began on September 1, 1939. Prior to that, the West used the name "Great War" more often, less often - just "World War". In Russia before the October Revolution of 1917, in addition to the name "Great War", such official names as "Second Patriotic War" and "Great Patriotic War" and such unofficial names as "Great War", "Great European War" and " German War ".
The latter name emphasized that this was the first war against the German state after the Seven Years' War of 1756-1763, as well as the fact that in the First World War the German Empire was the main enemy of the Russian Empire. After the revolution, the First World War in the USSR until the beginning of the Second World War was called the "imperialist war", and the name "World War I" was written with a lowercase, not a capital letter. During the war, the propaganda of the tsarist government sought to liken it to the Patriotic War of 1812, which came to be called the "First Patriotic War." This was facilitated by the fact that shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, in 1912, the 100th anniversary of the 1812 Goal War was celebrated on a large scale.
Following the model of the struggle against Napoleon's "Great Army", they tried to create mounted guerrilla detachments from regular and Cossack cavalry, which turned out to be almost useless in the conditions of trench warfare and, at best, could only carry out reconnaissance searches. Most importantly, the Russian army has changed a lot over the past hundred years, and has changed far from for the better. In 1812, the Russian army was a professional army, consisting of sagtat recruits and nobles, the overwhelming majority of whom had sufficient combat experience by the beginning of the war. This army numbered about half a million people and could practically fight on an equal footing with the French army - at that moment the best army in the world.
The general social and economic backwardness of Russia from Western Europe at that time did not yet affect the army, since the large population and resources of the Russian Empire made it possible to maintain a strong army, not inferior to the best Western European armies. Then there were enough manufactories to equip the troops and supply it with cannons and rifles with a sufficient supply of cannonballs and bullets. In the war of 1914-1918, the bare situation was completely different. By 1917, the Russian army numbered about 10 million people, and the regular army was almost completely knocked out in the first three months of the war. In 1917, the army consisted mainly of recruits who did not have much combat experience and had little understanding of the goals of the war, since most of them were illiterate or semi-literate. The officers were also, to a large extent, warrant lieutenants and second lieutenants, who did not have much authority with their subordinates.
In the war of 1812, at least the officers were fully aware of the goals of the war - serving the emperor and preserving the greatness of Russia, for which it was required to crush the enemy's army, and were able to inspire this to their subordinates. In the First World War, wartime officers, as a rule, were not hereditary nobles, had a very vague idea of the goals of the war and did not have much respect for the last Russian monarch, or for the monarchy as a whole. And for millions of soldiers, the goals of the war in the form of the conquest of Constantinople and the Straits or the help of “fraternal Serbia” were frankly alien, if only because few knew who the Serbs were. And, unlike the war with Napoleon, Russia in the First World War could not field millions of sufficiently combat-ready soldiers and hundreds of thousands of sufficiently trained.
And the Russian industry, in terms of the volume and quality of its products several times inferior to the USA, Germany, England and France, and in terms of production per capita - also of Belgium, Italy and Austria-Hungary, was not able to provide the army with the necessary number of rifles, machine guns and guns. , as well as ammunition for them, not to mention such modern weapons as aircraft. Russia was not able to maintain at the proper level and transport, which played a fatal role before the February Revolution. Finally, in 1812, Napoleon invaded the Russian provinces and reached Moscow, which caused a surge of patriotic feelings to defend his native land and the development of a partisan movement, to which the aggressor's army, especially after the burning of Moscow, was very vulnerable. A century later, the Germans reached the Russian provinces proper only in February 1918, when the resistance of the Russian army actually ceased. The development of the partisan movement was also out of the question. The patriotism associated with the declaration of war had dried up by the end of 1914. As a result, the Russian army was able to fight on equal terms only with the Austro-Hungarian army, torn apart by interethnic contradictions, traditionally defeating the Turks, but completely losing to the German army. But the war led to the occupation by the enemy of Russian Poland, Lithuania, large parts of Belarus and Latvia, and ultimately to the revolution that ended the Romanov monarchy and brought the Bolsheviks to power, which determined the fate of Russia throughout almost the entire 20th century.
Russia suffered a general defeat, and the glorious victories of the Russian army over the Austrians and Turks served only as weak consolation. For all of the above reasons, the overwhelming majority of the population, with the possible exception of a rather narrow stratum of caloric officers, did not perceive World War I as a domestic war. Therefore, the term "Great Patriotic War" or "Second Patriotic War" in relation to the First World War was used only in official publications, but practically did not become widespread among the general population, in diaries, private correspondence, etc.
One hundred great secrets of the First World War / B.V. Sokolov. - M .: Veche, 2014.-416 p. - (100 great).
THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
Dear guys, you were born and live in peacetime and do not know what war is. But not everyone can experience such happiness. In many places on our Earth, military conflicts take place, in which people die, houses, industrial buildings, etc. are destroyed. But this cannot be compared to what the Second World War was like.
The Second World War- the largest war in the history of mankind. It was unleashed by Germany, Italy and Japan. 61 states were involved in this war (14 states on the side of Nazi Germany, 47 on the side of Russia).
In total, 1.7 billion people participated in the war, or 80% of the total population of the Earth, i.e. 8 out of every 10 people participated in the war. Therefore, such a war is called world war. 110 million people participated in the armies of all countries. World War II lasted 6 years - from September 1, 1939 to May 9, 1945
Germany's attack on the Soviet Union was unexpected. A blow of an unknown force was struck. Hitler attacked the Soviet Union (this is how our Fatherland was called earlier) at once over a large area - from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains (almost along our entire Western border). His troops crossed our border. Thousands and thousands of guns opened fire on peacefully sleeping villages and cities, enemy aircraft began to bomb railways, stations, airfields. Germany prepared a huge army for the war with Russia. Hitler wanted to turn the population of our homeland into slaves and make them work for Germany, he wanted to destroy science, culture, art, and prohibit education in Russia.
The bloody war continued for many years, but the enemy was defeated.
The great Victory that our grandfathers and grandmothers won in World War II over Nazi Germany has no analogues in history.
May 9, 1945 has become a great date for Russia forever. For the sake of this happy day, millions of people died, fighting for the freedom of Russia and the whole world. We will never forget those who burned in tanks, who threw themselves out of the trenches under a hurricane of fire, who lay down on the embrasure, who did not spare their lives and overcame everything. Not for the sake of awards, but so that you and I, guys, can live, study, work and be happy!
The names of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War are forever preserved in the memory of the people.
This 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory in World War II. It is called "A great victory" because this is the victory of sane people in the most terrible world war in the history of mankind, which fascism imposed on him.
Why is the war called the Great Patriotic War?
THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR - the largest war in the history of mankind. The word "great" means very big, huge, huge. Indeed, the war captured a huge part of the territory of our country, tens of millions of people took part in it, it lasted four long years, and the victory in it demanded from our people tremendous exertion of all physical and spiritual forces.
It is called the Patriotic War because it is a just war aimed at defending one's Fatherland. Our whole huge country has risen to fight the enemy! Men and women, the elderly, even children forged victory in the rear and on the front lines.
Now you know that one of the most brutal and bloody wars in the history of Russia was called Great Patriotic War... The victory of the Red Army in this war is the main event in the history of Russia in the 20th century!
Germany's attack on the Soviet Union was unexpected. In these June days, tenth graders graduated from school, graduation balls were held in schools. Boys and girls in bright elegant clothes danced, sang, greeted the dawn. They made plans for the future, dreamed of happiness and love. But the war brutally ruined these plans!
On June 22 at 12 noon, Minister of Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov spoke on the radio and reported on the attack on our country by Nazi Germany. Young people took off their school uniforms, put on overcoats and went to war right from school, became fighters of the Red Army. The fighters who served in the Red Army were called the Red Army.
Every day, echelons took the fighters to the front. All the peoples of the Soviet Union rose to fight the enemy!
But in 1941 the people wanted with all their might to help their country in trouble! Both young and old people were eager to go to the front and enrolled in the Red Army. For the first time alone, about a million people signed up during the war! Queues gathered at the recruiting offices - people tried to defend their Fatherland!
In terms of the scale of human sacrifice and destruction, this war surpassed all the wars that have been on our planet. A huge number of people were destroyed. More than 20 million soldiers were killed on the fronts in combat operations. During the Second World War, about 55 million people died, of which almost half were citizens of our country.
The horror and losses of the Second World War united people in the struggle against fascism, and therefore the great joy of victory swept in 1945 not only Europe, but the whole world.
