The
termTerminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. Not to be confused with "terms" in colloquial usages, the shortened form of technical terms which are defined within a discipline or speciality field...
Great Patriotic War is used in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and some other states of the former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
to describe their portion of the Second World War from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945, against
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
and its
alliesThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
. The term is not generally used outside the former Soviet Union (see
Eastern FrontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
).
There is a difference between this term and
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
or
Second World War, as the Russian term denotes only the war between Germany and its European allies, and the Soviet Union.
The
termTerminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts. Not to be confused with "terms" in colloquial usages, the shortened form of technical terms which are defined within a discipline or speciality field...
Great Patriotic War is used in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and some other states of the former
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
to describe their portion of the Second World War from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945, against
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
and its
alliesThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
. The term is not generally used outside the former Soviet Union (see
Eastern FrontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
).
There is a difference between this term and
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
or
Second World War, as the Russian term denotes only the war between Germany and its European allies, and the Soviet Union. The
war with JapanThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
(including invasion of Manchuria) and the war on the Western front are not referred to by this term.
The term was coined following the
German attackOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 and was intended to motivate the population to defend the Soviet motherland and to expel the invader. Previously, the term
Patriotic War referred to the
French invasion of RussiaThe French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength...
under
NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...
, which is now known as the
Patriotic War of 1812. The term denotes a war for the
patria - the fatherland.
The term
Great Patriotic War appeared in the Soviet newspaper
PravdaPravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
soon after
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
invaded the Soviet Union, in a long article titled “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People” (
Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna sovetskogo naroda).
In the Soviet
historiographyHistoriography is the history of history, the aspect of history and of semiotics that considers how knowledge of the past, either recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted...
, the Patriotic War was usually presented as a struggle between two
ideologiesAn ideology is a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a...
, with the result of the war being the victory of the Soviet
communistCommunism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human...
system over
fascismFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
.
During the conflict, the Soviet Union created the
Order of the Patriotic WarEstablished on 20 May 1942, The Order of the Patriotic War was an Order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisans for heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet term for the European conflicts during World War II...
, awarded for heroic deeds.
See also
- First period of World War II
- Second period of World War II
The Second period of World War II describes the events on the Eastern Front form the Soviet historiographic method of periodisation. The period is formally known as the Second Period of the Great Patriotic War and its duration is determined to be from 19 November 1942 - 31 December 1943.The period...
- Third period of World War II
The Third period of World War II describes the events on the Eastern Front form the Soviet historiographic method of periodisation. The period is formally known as the Third Period of the Great Patriotic War and its duration is determined to be from 1 January 1944 to 11 May 1945 although the 9 May...
- Second Fatherland War
The Second Fatherland War was the term given by contemporary Russians to both the Eastern Front of World War I and the Eastern Front of World War II. Both terms attempted to link the current war with the French invasion of Russia in 1812, which had been termed the "Fatherland War" and later the...
External links