Russia's Hero Cities: From Postwar Ruins to the Soviet Heroarchy
By Ivo Mijnssen
()
About this ebook
World War II, known as the Great Patriotic War to Russians, ravaged the Soviet Union and traumatized those who survived. After the war, memory of this anguish was often publicly repressed under Stalin. But that all changed by the 1960s. Under Brezhnev, the idea of the Great Patriotic War was transformed into one of victory and celebration.
In Russia's Hero Cities, Ivo Mijnssen reveals how contradictory national recollections were revised into an idealized past that both served official needs and offered a narrative of heroism. This triumphant narrative was most evident in the creation of 13 Hero Cities, now located across Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. These cities, which were host to some of the fiercest and most famous battles, were named champions. Brezhnev's government officially recognized these cities with awards, financial contributions, and ritualized festivities. Their citizens also encountered the altered history at every corner—on manicured battlefields, in war memorials, and through stories at the kitchen table. Using a rich tapestry of archival material, oral history interviews, and newspaper articles, Mijnssen provides a thorough exploration of two cities in particular, Tula and Novorossiysk.
By exploring the significance of Hero Cities in Soviet identity and the enduring but conflicted importance they hold for Russians today, Russia's Hero Cities exposes how the Great Patriotic War no longer has the power to mask the deep rifts still present in Russian society.
Related to Russia's Hero Cities
Related ebooks
Saving Stalin's Imperial City: Historic Preservation in Leningrad, 1930–1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo the Tashkent Station: Evacuation and Survival in the Soviet Union at War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Have Personality Disorder, Will Rule Russia: A Pocket Guide to Russian History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoscow Calling: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsettled Heritage: Living next to Poland's Material Jewish Traces after the Holocaust Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBitter Choices: Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soviet Soft Power in Poland: Culture and the Making of Stalin's New Empire, 1943-1957 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomecomings: Returning POWs and the Legacies of Defeat in Postwar Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEyewitness to the Russian Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes of a Plenipotentiary: Russian Diplomacy and War in the Balkans, 1914–1917 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Revolutionary Days: Recollections of Romanoffs and Bolsheviki 1914-1917 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tsar’S Guard: Trust and Honour Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar Through Children's Eyes: The Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Deportations, 1939–1941 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRussia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Empire of the Tsars and the Russians: Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mongols in Russia Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5To Serve the Russian Empire: The Autobiography of Boris Héroys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Chicago: The Danube Swabians and the American Aid Societies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTranscripts from the Soviet Archives, Secret Reviews 1922 -1924 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThreads of Empire: Loyalty and Tsarist Authority in Bashkiria, 1552–1917 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHousing the New Russia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Revolt of 1916 in Russian Central Asia Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Russian Turmoil Memoirs: Military, Social, and Political Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTatar Empire: Kazan's Muslims and the Making of Imperial Russia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Decline of Imperial Russia, 1855-1914 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lenin's Legacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Role of the Soviet Union in the Second World War: A Re-examination Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Asian History For You
The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voices from Chernobyl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism: A Ghost Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Love and Be Loved: A Personal Portrait of Mother Teresa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Red Hotel: Moscow 1941, the Metropol Hotel, and the Untold Story of Stalin's Propaganda War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Yakuza: life and death in the Japanese underworld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnit 731: The Forgotten Asian Auschwitz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 3]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mao Tse-Tung On Guerrilla Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmbrace Yoga's Roots Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Caste (Oprah's Book Club): by Isabel Wilkerson - The Origins of Our Discontents - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCountdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Russia's Hero Cities
0 ratings0 reviews