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

April 9, 2005 3:27 PM

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").
posted by gimonca (19 comments total)

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.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:10 PM on April 9, 2005

Yes, thanks, gimonca. Hitler (like others before him) lost in Russia. It's good to be reminded.
posted by carter at 4:17 PM on April 9, 2005

And: Stalingrad.
posted by carter at 4:43 PM on April 9, 2005

??? ??????? - ??????? [this is excellent - thanks]!
posted by languagehat at 5:40 PM on April 9, 2005

Fuck [fuck]!
posted by languagehat at 5:40 PM on April 9, 2005

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.
posted by Sangermaine at 6:07 PM on April 9, 2005

What Sangermaine said.
posted by rolypolyman at 6:19 PM on April 9, 2005

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.
posted by kickingtheground at 6:42 PM on April 9, 2005

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.
posted by carter at 7:36 PM on April 9, 2005

My grandfather was in the Soviet Navy during WWII, before immigrating to Israel. He has some utterly incredible stories.
posted by ori at 7:41 PM on April 9, 2005

This is absolutely excellent.
The photographs (see "On the Frontline" especially) are frequently stunning.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:44 PM on April 9, 2005

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.)
posted by Finder at 8:33 AM on April 10, 2005

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!
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 9:26 AM on April 10, 2005

(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...
posted by languagehat at 2:48 PM on April 10, 2005

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.
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 6:38 PM on April 10, 2005

"And if we're going to talk counterfactuals ... Questions, questions..."

Hmm - I smell stories.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:06 PM on April 10, 2005

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.
posted by acid freaking on the kitty at 11:46 AM on April 11, 2005

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.
posted by languagehat at 2:56 PM on April 11, 2005

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.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:26 PM on April 12, 2005