The Soviet History of World War II: Myths, Memories, and Realities

221 Pages·1976·4.79 MB·English

by  Matthew P. Gallagher

THE
SO VIET
HISTORY
OF
W O R LD W AR II
Myths, Memories, and Realities

THE
SOVIET
HISTORY
OF
WORLD WAR II
,
Myths, Memories and Realities
Matthew P. Gallagher
GREENWOOD PRESS, PUBLISHERS
WESTPORT. CONNECTICUT
Library of Congress Cataloging la Publication Data
Gallagher, Matthew P
The Soviet history of World War H.
Reprint of the ed. published by Praeger, New York,
■which was issued as no. 121 of Praeger publications in
Russian history and world communism.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Russia—History—1939-19^*5 • 2. World War, 1939-
19i£~Russia. 3. World War, 1939-19^5 —Historiography.
k. World War, 1939-19l+5 —Public opinion—Russia.
l. Title.
[DK273.G3 1976] 9**7.08V2 75-32^58
ISBN 0-8371-8551-3
© 1963 by Frederick A. Praeger, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Originally published in 1963 by Frederick A. Praeger,
Publisher, New York.
Reprinted with the permission of Praeger Publishers, Inc.
Reprinted in 1976 by Greenwood Press
A division of Congressional Information Service, Inc.
88 Post Road West, Westport, Connecticut 06881
Library of Congress catalog card number 75-32458
ISBN 0-8371-8551-3
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32
To
ROBERTA
MY WIFE

Foreword
This book is aimed at illuminating an aspect of the Soviet past
which has not been systematically examined before. Though it
deals with the Soviet history of World War Ü, its principal subject
is neither historiography nor military history. It is concerned pri­
marily with the psychological and emotional conflicts generated
within Soviet society by the mendacious account of the war given
out in Soviet postwar propaganda. It is concerned secondarily with
the official interpretations themselves, not for what they tell of the
history of Soviet propaganda but for what they tell of the political
and military history of the contemporary Soviet period.
In analyzing the reactions of Soviet people toward the postwar
accounts of the war, this book focuses on three professional groups
whose interests were most directly affected by official attitudes
toward the war and whose views are revealed to the attentive reader
of Soviet publications: the professional military, the historians, and
the writers. A wide range of Soviet sources has been used to
ascertain the currents of opinion entertained within these groups.
Principal among these sources have been: for the military, the
restricted-circulation General Staff publication, Military Thought
(Voyennaya My si’); for the historians, the professional historical
monthly. Questions of History (Voprosy Istorii); and for the
writers, the literary press and certain literary journals. All offer
distinctive advantages for the purposes of this study. Military
Thought provided a forum for military officers to discuss wartime
experience with some freedom from propaganda prescriptions.
vii
viii FOREWORD
Questions of History published some legitimate research as well as
propaganda, and like other journals of its kind afforded some in­
sights into currents of opinion within the professional community
by the accounts of historical meetings that it carried. The literary
journals, because of their relative editorial autonomy, could exer­
cise some latitude in interpreting the limits of official tolerance—
a fact that sometimes permitted fresh and nonpolitical views to be
expressed.
The account of Soviet writings on the war is presented here in
terms of the issues created by the early postwar distortions. The
starting point of this study is the wartime period in which the con­
cerns, tensions, and moments of truth of that experience filtered
through into the contemporary reportage. Its central portion is the
Stalinist postwar period in which the demands of Stalin’s vanity,
and the political goals of the Party, defined the contents of the
official history of the war. Its concluding portion is the period
since Stalin’s death, in which many of the distortions introduced
by Stalin were corrected and the official version of the war brought
closer to the truth. This book does not provide a comprehensive
account of current Soviet historiography on the war.
Although this has been a solitary and—within its modest limits
—a pioneering study, I am thoroughly aware of the debt I owe
to others. I think I owe most to people whom I do not know—to
the scholars who have gone before and charted many of the paths
through the still poorly explored area of Soviet postwar literature.
I owe much also to others to whom I was a stranger when I first ap­
proached them. I wish to mention Miss Vera Alexandrova, in
particular, who offered me leads to material she herself had not
had time to use. Professors Alexander Dallin and Cyril E. Black
responded with equal generosity, the former with detailed biblio­
graphical suggestions, the latter with a critique of my original
plan of research.
I wish to thank also Dr. Sherman Kent, of whom I can say
with literal accuracy that his assistance made this work possible;
FOREWORD ÎX
Mr. Set Mardirosian, whose knowledge and imagination has been
for me a constant source of insights into the Soviet system; Profes­
sor Richard Pipes, who guided me in my doctoral dissertation,
which is the basis of this book; Dr. Raymond L. Garthoff, who
over the past few years has given me generously of his unparalleled
knowledge in this field and who read and commented upon the
draft of an earlier version of this book.
Finally, I wish to record my debt to my family: to my wife, for
her unfailing solicitude and quiet skill, which created the environ­
ment necessary for this work; and to my children, Matthew, Robert,
and Paula, who cheerfully made adjustments in their lives to ac­
commodate my needs.
Acknowledgment
A substantial portion of the last chapter is based on a paper deliv­
ered by the author at a conference on Soviet historiography held in
Geneva on July 16-23, 1961, under the joint auspices of Survey
and the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales.
The author and publisher are indebted to the Editors of Survey for
their kind permission to reprint the material in question.