Great Patriotic War (term)

The Great Patriotic War (russian: Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́, translit=Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna); be, Вялікая Айчынная вайна, Vialikaja Ajčynnaja vajna; et, Suur Isamaasõda; hy, Հայրենական Մեծ պատերազմ, translit=Hajrenakan Mec paterazm; ka, დიდი სამამულო ომი, translit=Didi Samamulo Omi; kk, Ұлы Отан соғысы, translit=Uly Otan soǵysy; ky, Улуу Ата Мекендик согуш, translit=Uluu Ata Mekendik soghush; lt, Didysis Tėvynės karas; lv, Lielais Tēvijas karš; ro, Marele Război pentru apărarea Patriei ( Moldovan Cyrillic: Мареле Рэзбой пентру апэраря Патрией); tg, Ҷанги Бузурги Ватанӣ, translit=Changi Buzurgi Vatanī; tk, Бейик Ватанчылык уршы, translit=Beýik Watançylyk urşy; tt-Cyrl, Бөек Ватан сугышы, translit=Böyek Watan suğışı; uk, Велика Вітчизняна війна, translit=Velyka Vitchyzniana viyna; uz, Улуғ Ватан уруши, translit=Ulug‘ Vatan urushi. is a term used in Russia and some other former republics of the Soviet Union to describe the conflict fought during the period from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945 along the many fronts of the Eastern Front of World War II, primarily between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. For some legal purposes, this period may be extended to 11 May 1945 to include the end of the Prague offensive.Федеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995, "О ветеранах"

The end of the Great Patriotic War is commemorated on 9 May.

History

The term "Patriotic War" refers to the Russian resistance to the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon I, which became known as the ''Patriotic War of 1812''. In Russian, the term originally referred to a war on one's own territory ( means "the fatherland"), as opposed to a campaign abroad (), and later was reinterpreted as a war the fatherland, i.e. a defensive war for one's homeland. Sometimes the Patriotic War of 1812 was also referred to as the ''Great Patriotic War'' (); the phrase first appeared in 1844 and became popular on the eve of the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812.

After 1914, the phrase was applied to World War I. It was the name of a special war-time appendix to the magazine ''Theater and Life'' () in Saint Petersburg, and referred to the Eastern Front of World War I, where Russia fought against the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The phrases ''Second Patriotic War'' () and ''Great World Patriotic War'' () were also used during World War I in Russia.

The term ''Great Patriotic War'' re-appeared in the Soviet newspaper ''Pravda'' on 23 June 1941, just a day after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. It was found in the title of "The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People" (), a long article by Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, a member of Pravda editors' collegium.The dictionary of modern citations and catch phrases
by Konstantin Dushenko, 2006. The phrase was intended to motivate the population to defend the Soviet fatherland and to expel the invader, and a reference to the Patriotic War of 1812 was seen as a great morale booster.

The term (Patriotic War or Fatherland War) was officially recognized by establishment of the Order of the Patriotic War on 20 May 1942, awarded for heroic deeds.

Usage

The term is not generally used outside the former Soviet Union, and the closest term is the Eastern Front of World War II (1941–1945). Neither term covers the initial phase of World War II in Eastern Europe, during which the USSR, then still in a non-aggression pact with Germany, invaded eastern Poland (1939), the Baltic states (1940), Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (1940) and Finland (1939–1940). The term also does not cover the Soviet–Japanese War (1945).

In Russia and some other post-Soviet countries, the term is given great significance; it is accepted as a representation of the most important part of WWII. Uzbekistan is the only nation in the Commonwealth of Independent States that does not recognize the term, referring to it as World War Two as well as the Victory Day holiday as the Day of Remembrance and Honour.

On 9 April 2015, the Ukrainian parliament replaced the term "Great Patriotic War" (''Velyka vitchyzniana viina'') in the country's law with "Second World War" (''Druha svitova viina''), as part of a set of decommunization laws. Also in 2015, Ukraine's "Victory Day over Nazism in World War II" was established as a national holiday in accordance with the law "On Perpetuation of Victory over Nazism in World War II 1939-1945" instead of Victory Day adopted by parliament on April 9, 2015 within the package of laws on decommunization.

See also

* Operation Barbarossa
* '' Pobediteli''
* '' Pobedobesie''
* Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II
* Russo-Ukrainian War (2022, ongoing coflict), sometimes called the name "Great Patriotic War of Ukraine" or "Great Patriotic War of the Ukrainian people" ( uk, Велика вітчизняна війна України, Велика Вітчизняна війна українського народу).Ми нічого не віддамо і будемо боротися за кожен метр нашої землі і кожної людини – Зеленський
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Notes

References

External links

*
Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. A General Outline
', English-language book published in the Soviet Union in 1974.

Documentary films and newsreels about the Great Patriotic War


Poems about the Great Patriotic War

{{Moscow Victory Parade, state=expanded

*

Russian words and phrases
Propaganda in the Soviet Union