Facebook l Gallery l dA Portfolio l Watch Me l Note Me

Great Patriotic War (term)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2005 memorial, Moscow Kremlin

The term Great Patriotic War (Russian: Великая Отечественная война, Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voyna, Ukrainian: Велика Вітчизняна війна, Velyka Vitchyznyana Viyna[1]) is used in Russia and some other states of the former Soviet Union to describe their portion of the Second World War from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945, against Nazi Germany and its allies. The term is not generally used outside the former Soviet Union (see Eastern Front).

There is a difference between this term and World War II or Second World War, as the Russian term denotes only the war between Germany and its European allies, and the Soviet Union. The war with Japan (including invasion of Manchuria) and the war on the Western front are not referred to by this term.

The term was coined following the German attack against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 and was intended to motivate the population to defend the Soviet motherland. Previously, the term Patriotic War referred to the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon, which is now known as the Patriotic War of 1812.

The term Great Patriotic War appeared in the Soviet newspaper Pravda soon after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, in a long article titled “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People” (Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna sovetskogo naroda).

In the Soviet lexicography, the war was usually presented as a struggle between two ideologies, with the result of the war being the victory of Soviet communist system over fascism.[2]

During the conflict, the Soviet Union created the Order of the Patriotic War, awarded for heroic deeds.

CSS made by =BloodPromiser
Texture by `Princess-of-Shadows