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 The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan regio ...

: 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 Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, primarily between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. For some legal purposes, this period may be extended to 11 May 1945 to include the end of the

Prague offensive The Prague offensive (russian: Пражская стратегическая наступательная операция, Prazhskaya strategicheskaya nastupatel'naya operatsiya, lit=Prague strategic offensive) was the last major military ...

.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 The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

under

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, which became known as the ''

Patriotic War of 1812 The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental blo ...

''. 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It was the name of a special war-time appendix to the magazine ''Theater and Life'' () in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, and referred to the Eastern Front of World War I, where Russia fought against the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

newspaper ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

'' on 23 June 1941, just a day after

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 The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

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 Eastern Poland is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. The make-up of the distinct macroregion is based not only of geographical criteria, but also econo ...

(1939), the Baltic states (1940), Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (1940) and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

(1939–1940). The term also does not cover the

Soviet–Japanese War The Soviet–Japanese War (russian: Советско-японская война; ja, ソ連対日参戦, soren tai nichi sansen, Soviet Union entry into war against Japan), known in Mongolia as the Liberation War of 1945 (), was a military ...

(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 Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

is the only nation in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010 ...

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 A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two solar ...

. On 9 April 2015, the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

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.

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

History

Usage

See also

Notes

References

External links