17 quotes found
"[[War|[W]ar]] shows that Russia is no longer just dictatorial and aggressive; it has become a fascist state."
"The Soviet people are perhaps second to none when it comes to knowing what war means. In World War II we won a victory of world historic significance. But in that war over 20 million Soviet citizens died, 70,000 of our towns and villages were devastated, and one third of our national wealth was destroyed. The war wounds have now been healed. Today the Soviet Union is a mightier and more prosperous country than ever before. But we remember the lessons of the war only too well, and that is why the peoples of the Soviet Union value peace so highly; that is why they strongly approve the peace policy of our Party and Government."
"The aims and ideals of the Soviet revolution inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of millions of people in the 1930s, during World War II, and in the postwar reconstruction period. This explains the Soviet Union's great leap forward, the achievement of a high level of industrial capacity in a very short time, the transformation of the Soviet Union into a major power in terms of science and culture. The historic victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazism, which was a surprise not only for Hitler but also for the Western democracies is also explained by what we have said above. All this is true. But the historical truth is also that the regime and the system abused the faith of the people in these high ideals, turning them to its own advantage. Rule by the people, equality, justice, and the promise of a happy future — all these ideas were utilized for the sake of maintaining and strengthening totalitarianism."
"…[The Soviet army] was an institution defined by systemic hazing, a practice so entrenched that it shaped the country’s entire cultural attitude toward conscription. Hazing—“dedovshchina”— was not a metaphor but a daily reality of psychological degradation, physical beatings, and, in the worst cases, fatalities. Young recruits were routinely subjected to violence by older soldiers who operated with near-total impunity. Stories circulated of conscripts being hospitalized, maimed, or driven to suicide. In many regions, parents viewed military service not as a civic duty but as a genuine threat to life, something to be avoided if one had the means or connections. Those who served were often assumed to be the ones whose families had failed to “get them out” (of the military), a phrase that carried both social judgment and grim resignation. Within this environment, evading service became not only a survival strategy but, for some, a form of ideological refusal: a rejection of becoming, as many described it, a cog in the system. One of the most common methods was to feign mental illness, a tactic so widespread that it had become an unspoken tradition. According to his family, [new spiritual movement leader Konstantin] Rudnev made this choice consciously after witnessing the brutality inside the barracks, including an incident in which a young recruit was beaten and raped before attempting suicide by slitting his wrists. Such events were not aberrations but part of a pattern of institutionalized violence that shaped his decision. By presenting symptoms that would lead to psychiatric hospitalization, he ensured he would not be returned to the army. The family argues that this episode— later used by prosecutors to imply underlying mental illness—was in fact a calculated act of self-preservation, a response to conditions that many Russians of his generation understood all too well. In their view, the psychiatric record reflects not pathology but a deliberate and rational attempt to escape an environment that routinely destroyed young men both physically and psychologically."
"Throughout its history, Russia has been a special case. It arrived late on the European scene—well after France and Great Britain had been consolidated— and none of the traditional principles of European diplomacy seemed to apply to it. Bordering on three different cultural spheres—Europe, Asia, and the Muslim world—Russia contained populations of each, and hence was never a national state in the European sense. Constantly changing shape as its rulers annexed contiguous territories, Russia was an empire out of scale in comparison with any of the European countries. Moreover, with every new conquest, the character of the state changed as it incorporated another brand-new, restive, non-Russian ethnic group. This was one of the reasons Russia felt obliged to maintain huge armies whose size was unrelated to any plausible threat to its external security. Torn between obsessive insecurity and proselytizing zeal, between the requirements of Europe and the temptations of Asia, the Russian Empire always had a role in the European equilibrium but was never emotionally a part of it. The requirements of conquest and of security became merged in the minds of Russian leaders. Since the Congress of Vienna, the Russian Empire has placed its military forces on foreign soil more often than any other major power. Analysts frequently explain Russian expansionism as stemming from a sense of insecurity. But Russian writers have far more often justified Russia’s outward thrust as a messianic vocation. Russia on the march rarely showed a sense of limits; thwarted, it tended to withdraw into sullen resentment. For most of its history, Russia has been a cause looking for opportunity."
"As Gregory Carleton observes in his superb 2017 study Russia: The Story of War, war is an indispensable part of how Russians see the world and their place in it. The extent to which World War II and all previous wars extending back a thousand years define Russian national identity is truly astonishing."
"But the real point is that Britain and America did not invade France until 1944. As a consequence, the land war in Europe was decided largely on the Eastern Front. Between June 1941 and June 1944 (from Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union up to D-Day), 93 percent of Germany’s combat losses were inflicted by the Red Army. In cold figures that meant 4.2 million German dead, wounded or missing on the Eastern Front, against 329,000 in North Africa and Italy. Once the Soviets turned the tide at Stalingrad in January 1943 and then began the rollback at Kursk the following July, it was almost inevitable that they would end up deep in Eastern Europe. Stalin’s influence at Teheran, indeed his readiness to leave his lair and meet Roosevelt and Churchill, reflected these new geopolitical realities."
"On behalf of the people of the United States, I want to express to the Red Army, on its twenty-fifth anniversary, our profound admiration for its magnificent achievements, unsurpassed in all history. For many months, in spite of tremendous losses in men, supplies, transportation, and territory, the Red Army denied victory to a most powerful enemy. It checked him at Leningrad, at Moscow, at Voronezh, in the Caucasus, and finally, at the immortal battle of Stalingrad, the Red Army not only defeated the enemy but launched the great offensive which is still moving forward along the whole front from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The enforced retreat of the enemy is costing him heavily in men, supplies, territory, and especially in morale. Such achievements can only be accomplished by an Army that has skillful leadership, sound organization, adequate training, and above all, the determination to defeat the enemy, no matter what the cost in self-sacrifice."
"Comrades, it is in strenous circumstances that we are today celebrating the twenty-fourth anniversary of the October Revolution. The perfidious attack of the German brigands and the war which has been forced upon us have placed our country in jeopardy. We have temporarily lost a number of regions, the enemy has appeared at the gates of Leningrad and Moscow. The enemy reckoned that after the very first blow our army would be dispersed, and our country would be forced to its knees. But the enemy sadly miscalculated. In spite of the temporary reverses our army and navy are heroically repulsing the enemy's attacks along the whole front and inflicting heavy losses upon him, while our country - our entire country - has formed itself into one fighting camp in order, together with our Army and our Navy, to encompass the defeat of the German invaders. There were times when our country was in even more difficult straits than today. Recall the year 1918, when we celebrated the first anniversary of the October Revolution. Three-quarters of our country was at that time in the hands of foreign invaders. The Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East were temporarily lost to us. We had no allies, we had no Red Army - we had only just begun to form it; there was a shortage of food, of armaments, of clothing for the army. Fouteen states were pressing on our country. But we did not despond, we did not lose heart. In the fire of war we forged the Red Army and converted our country into a military camp. The spirit of the great Lenin animated us in the war against the invaders. And what happened? We routed the invaders, recovered all our lost territory, and achieved victory."
"Today the position of our country is far better than it was twenty-three years ago. Our country is now much richer than it was twenty-three years ago as regards industry, food and raw materials. We now have allies who together with us are maintaining a united front against against the German robbers. We enjoy the sympathy and support of all the nations of Europe who have fallen under Hitler's tyranny. We now have a splendid army and a plendid navy, who are staunchly defending the liberty and independence of our country. We experience no serious shortage of food, or of armaments or of army clothing. Our entire country, all the peoples of our country, support our Army and our Navy, helping them to smash the invading hordes of German fascists. Our reserves of manpower are inexhaustibe. The spirit of the great Lenin and his victorious banner now animate us in this patriotic war just as they did twenty-three years ago."
"Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political instructirs, men and women guerillas, the whole world is looking towards you as a force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German robbers. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen beneath the yoke of the German robbers look towards you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of that mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the heroic images of our great forefathers - Aleksandr Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Aleksandr Suvarov and Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your lodestar!"
"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre."
"As far as it engendered excitement the finest run in Leicestershire could hardly bear comparison."
"Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."
"“Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."
"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered; ... Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell, Rode the six hundred."
"When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!"