Упрощенная HTML-версия
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : A. Sidorov
Associate Professor, Russia's International Relations and Foreign Policy Department, Moscow State In-
stitute (University) of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR of 1941-1945 was
the most disastrous and bloody war in world history.
The very existence of the Russian state and Russian na-
tion had never before been so dramatically challenged.
By winning the Victory in that war, Russia has saved it-
self, Europe and the entire world from the Nazi subju-
gation.
This country celebrated the Victory's 70th anniversary
amid heavy geopolitical, economic and ideological pressure. Attempts to revise the history of
World War II have become an integral component of such a pressure.
Regrettably, the time will inevitably come when the generations of people who have lived through
World War II, and for whom historical wartime memories are a part of their own life experience,
will be gone. For the young generations, the war is often something from a very distant past
which allows re-writing history in order to accommodate geopolitical environment. This makes
society potentially more vulnerable to calculated ideological interventions, the scope of which
has been continuously growing in the past two decades.
It should be underlined in this context that a lot of their deceitful concepts and mythologems
have survived to this day and have been currently used against Russia.
The Soviet leadership early realized the need for an ideological maneuver. During the war, the
Soviet state and people turned to national historic and cultural traditions, which became a key
spiritual factor securing the Victory.
A spiritual upsurge in the USSR during wartime also led to impressive gains in the material field.
Among the decisive Victory factors, special mention should be made of high professional skills
of millions of people, and of their ability to mobilize and organize themselves.
Generally speaking, a compromise is a good thing, but it is only attainable within the framework
of some common values. But there can be no compromise between the white and the black or
between good and evil. That is exactly why there was no talk about any compromises when the
Nazis attacked our country, and only traitors could seriously consider that matter. Just goals for
which our people were fighting became another Victory factor. Our cause was just, and our war
was sacred. A just nature of the war predetermined a subsequent generosity of the winners who
would not take revenge against the prostrate enemy.
The Victory in the Great Patriotic War heralded Russia's spiritual revival. And the lessons of the
war and its moral aspects are of paramount importance to our people in the present-day con-
text.
Spiritual and Moral Implications of Our Victory in the Contempo-
rary Ideological Context