Comments on: Our Victory, Day by Day - a project of RIA Novosti

Our Victory, Day by Day - a project of RIA Novosti

gimonca — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 15:27:14 -0800

Our Victory, Day by Day. Russian news agency RIA Novosti counts down to the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, with songs, posters, photos, and stories. Be sure not to miss the first-person accounts in English (under "Frontline Album").

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 16:10:06 -0800

Fascinating link, gimonca. One of the unfortunate side effects of the cold war was, I think, that many of us in the West never learned to appreciate the sacrifices made by the people and soldiers of the Soviet Union in World War Two. It's just staggering.

By: carter

carter — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 16:17:57 -0800

Yes, thanks, gimonca. Hitler (like others before him) lost in Russia. It's good to be reminded.

By: carter

carter — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 16:43:35 -0800

And: Stalingrad.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 17:40:15 -0800

??? ??????? - ??????? [this is excellent - thanks]!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 17:40:28 -0800

Fuck [fuck]!

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 18:07:20 -0800

mr_roboto, That's true, but the war would have gone much better for the Russians if Stalin hadn't gutted their military with his purges. The Russians had a great military with very capable leaders, until Stalin killed them all for political reasons.

By: rolypolyman

rolypolyman — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 18:19:25 -0800

What Sangermaine said.

By: kickingtheground

kickingtheground — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 18:42:38 -0800

That's true, but the war would have gone much better for the Russians if Stalin hadn't gutted their military with his purges.

Maybe. Or, perhaps, not.

By: carter

carter — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 19:36:17 -0800

It's interesting to think that if Stalin had not purged the military, and the Russians had kicked Hitler and moved west even faster, the European map might have looked very different from the one we have today.

By: ori

ori — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 19:41:41 -0800

My grandfather was in the Soviet Navy during WWII, before immigrating to Israel. He has some utterly incredible stories.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 19:44:54 -0800

This is absolutely excellent. The photographs (see "On the Frontline" especially) are frequently stunning.

By: Finder

Finder — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:33:01 -0800

That's true, but the war would have gone much better for the Russians if Stalin hadn't gutted their military with his purges.
The consequences of which had been exposed quite dramatically in in this war first. Arguably that's what prepared the Red Army to take on the Wehrmacht. (Probably the most underappreciated episode of the entire WWII.)

By: gesamtkunstwerk

gesamtkunstwerk — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:26:41 -0800

I don't have much to add, but I hate to see such an excellent FPP with so few comments. I particularly liked listening to the popular songs. I've heard almost all of them around campfires, but it was great to hear the originals. A definite bookmark. Thanks!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:48:17 -0800

(Probably the most underappreciated episode of the entire WWII.) No, this is the most underappreciated episode of the war, and in a sense its beginning (as far as Russia was concerned). It was also the start of Marshal Zhukov's successful career. And if we're going to talk counterfactuals, what if Lenin hadn't made it to the Finland Station and the Provisional Government had somehow muddled through WWI and democracy had had a chance to develop in Russia? Would the military have been strong enough that Germany wouldn't have dared to attack it? Would Hitler have come to power with no Communist threat to act as a bogeyman? Questions, questions...

By: Jumpin Jack Flash

Jumpin Jack Flash — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:38:45 -0800

Thanks for the post. I enjoyed reading the first hand accounts, a must read is the story "boots". As to the "what if's", to try and guess an alternative history would be just that, a guess.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:06:26 -0800

"And if we're going to talk counterfactuals ... Questions, questions..." Hmm - I smell stories.

By: acid freaking on the kitty

acid freaking on the kitty — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:46:16 -0800

I wanted to make an FPP out of this flash presentation that walks through the entire war and illustrates how the front moved and how the major battles happened, but it's completely in russian and so may not be as useful to most mefites. but it definitely belongs in this thread.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:56:49 -0800

It sure does -- I've been watching it, mesmerized, for what seems like an hour, and I've only gotten up to the end of September 1941 (I kept stopping to listen to the reminiscences of the veterans). I was afraid if I stopped it I'd have to start from the beginning, but then I found the contents page. Many thanks for that, acid freaking. But why do they only have a brief excerpt from the middle of Stalin's famous address to the nation ("Brothers, sisters...")? It's like starting Roosevelt's address to Congress after "Yesterday, Sunday December 7, a day which will live in infamy..." Ah well.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 21:26:01 -0800

acid freaking on the kitty "if you find something amazing and/or enlightening, please post it." - from the guidelines. You have a moral obligation to post that extraordinary piece of flash to the front page - I can't read Russian at all and it made me want to learn. I want more stuff like this.