2007/05/31 by Roger R. Reese · 10 citations
Social Sciences · #Criminology #Economic history #European history and politics #German #History #Law #Military service #Oppression #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Sociology #Soviet and Russian History #Soviet union #State (computer science) #Variety (cybernetics) #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #World War II
paper · doi:10.1080/13518040701378287
published in The Journal of Slavic Military Studies 20(2), 263-282 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 2007/05/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article argues that the willingness of the average Soviet citizen to serve in the armed forces in the Second World War, which enabled the Red Army and the Soviet Union to survive the calamities of 1941 and then defeat the German invasion, was based on the socialist ideals of the Stalinist state, a patriotic love for the historic Russian motherland that transcended politics, and a variety of other social and personal reasons, as well as fear of the consequences of draft evasion and desertion. Service, however, was not an endorsement of the oppression of the Stalinist state.