The Soviet Union at War, 1941–1945

The Soviet Union at War, 1941–1945
Author: David Stone
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2010-11-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783830476

Hitlers invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 precipitated a massive clash of arms that gave rise to destruction and suffering on an unprecedented scale. The outcome of this ruthless struggle on the Eastern Front was decisive for the course of the war in Europe. Yet the campaigns fought there still receive less attention than those fought by the Western Allies, and are less well understood. That is why this new survey of the Soviet Union during the Second World War, edited by David R. Stone, is so timely and significant.Stone has brought together a distinguished group of experts who give a penetrating reassessment of the Soviet war effort and economy. They offer a telling insight into the way in which enormous obstacles were overcome and sacrifices were made in order to achieve an overwhelming victory that changed the shape of Europe. Their wide-ranging analysis seeks to dispel myths and misperceptions that have distorted our understanding of the performance of the Red Army and the Soviet people.Editor David R. Stone is professor of history at Kansas State University. He is a leading authority on the military and political history of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s. As well as writing numerous journal articles, he is the author of two major studies: A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya and Hammer and Rifle: The Militarization of the Soviet Union 1926–1933.

Women in the Stalin Era

Women in the Stalin Era
Author: Melanie Ilic
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2001-10-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0230523420

This book brings together for the first time a collection of essays by western scholars about women in the Stalin era (1928-53). It explores both the realities of women's lived experience in the 1930s and 1940s, and the various forms in which womanhood and femininity were represented and constructed in these decades. Women in the Stalin Era challenges the scholarly neglect women's history has suffered at the hands, and pens, of Russian and western historians of the Stalin period.

The People's War

The People's War
Author: Robert W. Thurston
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2000
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9780252026003

The People's War lifts the Stalinist veil of secrecy to probe an almost untold side of World War II: the experiences of the Soviet people themselves. Going beyond dry and faceless military accounts of the eastern front of the "Great Patriotic War" and the Soviet state's one-dimensional "heroic People," this volume explores how ordinary citizens responded to the war, Stalinist leadership, and Nazi invasion. Drawing on a wealth of archival and recently published material, contributors detail the calculated destruction of a Jewish town by the Germans and present a chilling picture of life in occupied Minsk. They look at the cultural developments of the war as well as the wartime experience of intellectuals, for whom the period was a time of relative freedom. They discuss women's myriad roles in combat and other spheres of activity. They also reassess the behavior and morale of ordinary Red Army troops and offer new conclusions about early crushing defeats at the hands of the Germans--defeats that were officially explained as cowardice on the part of high officers. A frank investigation of civilian life behind the front lines, The People's War provides a detailed, balanced picture of the Stalinist USSR by describing not only the command structure and repressive power of the state but also how people reacted to them, cooperated with or opposed them, and adapted or ignored central policy in their own ways. By putting the Soviet people back in their war, this volume helps restore the range and complexity of human experience to one of history's most savage periods.

A Soldier and a Woman

A Soldier and a Woman
Author: Gerard J.De Groot
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2014-07-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317876431

The question of women's role in the military is extremely topical. A Woman and a Soldier covers the experiences of women in the military from the late mediaeval period to the present day. Written in two volumes this comprehensive guide covers a wide range of wars: The Thirty Years War, the French and Indian Wars in Northern America, the Anglo-Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, the Long March in China, and the Vietnam War. There are also thematic chapters, including studies of terrorism and contemporary military service. Taking a multidisciplinary approach: historical, anthropological, and cultural, the book shows the variety of arguments used to support or deny women's military service and the combat taboo. In the process the book challenges preconceived notions about women's integration in the military and builds a picture of the ideological and practical issues surrounding women soldiers.

Wings, Women, and War

Wings, Women, and War
Author: Reina Pennington
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2002-01-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0700615547

The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. During World War II the Red Air Force formed three all-female units-grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber, and night bomber regiments-while also recruiting other women to fly with mostly male units. Their amazing story, fully recounted for the first time by Reina Pennington, honors a group of fearless and determined women whose exploits have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Pennington chronicles the creation, organization, and leadership of these regiments, as well as the experiences of the pilots, navigators, bomb loaders, mechanics, and others who made up their ranks, all within the context of the Soviet air war on the Eastern Front. These regiments flew a combined total of more than 30,000 combat sorties, produced at least thirty Heroes of the Soviet Union, and included at least two fighter aces. Among their ranks were women like Marina Raskova ("the Soviet Amelia Earhart"), a renowned aviator who persuaded Stalin in 1941 to establish the all-women regiments; the daredevil "night witches" who flew ramshackle biplanes on nocturnal bombing missions over German frontlines; and fighter aces like Liliia Litviak, whose twelve "kills" are largely unknown in the West. She also tells the story of Alexander Gridnev, a fighter pilot twice arrested by the Soviet secret police before he was chosen to command the women's fighter regiment. Pennington draws upon personal interviews and the Soviet archives to detail the recruitment, training, and combat lives of these women. Deftly mixing anecdote with analysis, her work should find a wide readership among scholars and buffs interested in the history of aviation, World War II, or the Russian military, as well as anyone concerned with the contentious debates surrounding military and combat service for women.

Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia

Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia
Author: Mary Zirin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 2898
Release: 2015-03-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317451961

This is the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and multilingual bibliography on "Women and Gender in East Central Europe and the Balkans (Vol. 1)" and "The Lands of the Former Soviet Union (Vol. 2)" over the past millennium. The coverage encompasses the relevant territories of the Russian, Hapsburg, and Ottoman empires, Germany and Greece, and the Jewish and Roma diasporas. Topics range from legal status and marital customs to economic participation and gender roles, plus unparalleled documentation of women writers and artists, and autobiographical works of all kinds. The volumes include approximately 30,000 bibliographic entries on works published through the end of 2000, as well as web sites and unpublished dissertations. Many of the individual entries are annotated with brief descriptions of major works and the tables of contents for collections and anthologies. The entries are cross-referenced and each volume includes indexes.

Soviet Schooling in the Second World War

Soviet Schooling in the Second World War
Author: J. Dunstan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1997-02-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0230373135

This is the first western book on the subject of wartime Soviet schooling. Its theme is set against the background of Soviet educational history and the events preceding and characterising the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. It considers how the war affected the already problematic organisation of schools and their formal curriculum content, and examines their enhanced role as socialising agents. It will appeal to historians, educationists and all interested in the impact of war on civilian populations.

The White Rose of Stalingrad

The White Rose of Stalingrad
Author: Bill Yenne
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2013-02-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782009132

Bill Yenne brings to life the untold story of Lidiya Vladimirovna, Russia's World War II flying ace, who lit up the skies over Germany and Russia while flying 66 combat missions Of all the major air forces that were engaged in the war, only the Red Air Force had units comprised specifically of women. Initially the Red Air Force maintained an all-male policy among its combat pilots. However, as the apparently invincible German juggernaut sliced through Soviet defenses, the Red Air Force began to rethink its ban on women. By October 1941, authorization was forthcoming for three ground attack regiments of women pilots. Among these women, Lidiya Vladimirovna “Lilya” Litvyak soon emerged as a rising star. She shot down five German aircraft over the Stalingrad Front, and thus become history's first female ace. She scored 12 documented victories over German aircraft between September 1942 and July 1943. She also had many victories shared with other pilots, bringing her possible total to around 20. The fact that she was a 21-year-old woman ace was not lost on the hero-hungry Soviet media, and soon this colourful character, whom the Germans dubbed “The White Rose of Stalingrad,” became both folk heroine and martyr.

Stalin's Last Generation

Stalin's Last Generation
Author: Juliane Fürst
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2010-09-30
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0199575061

An in-depth study of late Stalinist youth and youth culture, illuminating the complex relationship between the Soviet state and its youth and providing a new framework for understanding late Stalinism and its impact on the future development of the Soviet system.