Debunking Some Russian Myths About the Great Patriotic War

Correcting Their World War II Revisionism

There is an old Soviet joke that says, “the future is certain; it is only the past that is unpredictable.” This has never been truer than regarding the ongoing revisionism about Russia’s role in World War II, spearheaded most recently by that master of revisionist history, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Let me say at the outset that by debunking these myths I do not mean in any way to diminish the crucial role Russia played in defeating Hitler and Nazi Germany. Their efforts on the battlefield and the efforts of their people during the conflict cannot be overstated. They held down a huge portion of Hitler’s army for two years before finally turning the tide and driving the Germans back to Berlin. Roughly 80% of the combat in the European theater took place on the Eastern Front, and 75% of German losses occurred there. Combined military and civilian deaths on the Russian side totaled more than 26 million.

To in any way minimize Russia’s significance in the defeat of the Nazi scourge is a disservice to the tens of millions who sacrificed everything in the struggle. However, Russia (and Putin in particular) is not satisfied with simply accepting credit for the real part they played in what was a global alliance to defeat Germany. They have instead reframed their own history, in ways large and small, to both minimize the role of their allies (especially the United States and Great Britain) and to inflate their national pride about the war to a mythic level. Let’s look at a few of the myths that have resulted.

If you read any Russian history textbook today, the first thing that jumps out at you is the time period they say the war covered. Most history books date the war from the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 to the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945, though to be fair the Chinese would date the start on September 19, 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Russia, by contrast, dates the war from the start of Operation Barbarossa (Germany’s invasion of Russia) on June 22, 1941 to the German surrender on May 9, 1945. This dating would be akin to US textbooks saying the war began on December 7, 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, ignoring the fact…

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