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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Only one fifth of Russians cite 1939 as start of World War 2
German soldiers during the invasion of the Soviet Union
Photo: Wikipedia
Most Russians do not know the precise date of the beginning of World War 2, according to findings from the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM), quoted in the Kyiv Post.
Siberians (71 per cent), respondents older than 60 (63 per cent) and people with basic education (67 per cent) said as a rule that the conflict started in 1941.
Forty-seven per cent said that the German wish to revenge its defeat in World War 1 was the main cause of World War 2. Thirty per cent blamed the wish of international imperialists to re-distribute colonies and markets.
Eighteen per cent said that Western countries were unwilling to create a collective security system together with the USSR, 17 per cent blamed the world economic crisis - the Great Depression, 13 per cent - the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and 10 per cent the British and French attempts to pacify "the German aggressor". Seven per cent said the USSR wished to spread communism in Europe, and six per cent blamed Poland for refusing to meet Germany's territorial claims.
As a rule, the respondents gave correct answers to the question about Soviet allies in World War 2. Sixty-two per cent named the United States, 53 per cent the UK and 30 per cent France. Meanwhile, five per cent named Poland, two per cent China, one per cent Italy and one per cent Czechoslovakia. Twenty-four percent found it difficult to answer the question.
Siberians (71 per cent), respondents older than 60 (63 per cent) and people with basic education (67 per cent) said as a rule that the conflict started in 1941.
Forty-seven per cent said that the German wish to revenge its defeat in World War 1 was the main cause of World War 2. Thirty per cent blamed the wish of international imperialists to re-distribute colonies and markets.
Eighteen per cent said that Western countries were unwilling to create a collective security system together with the USSR, 17 per cent blamed the world economic crisis - the Great Depression, 13 per cent - the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and 10 per cent the British and French attempts to pacify "the German aggressor". Seven per cent said the USSR wished to spread communism in Europe, and six per cent blamed Poland for refusing to meet Germany's territorial claims.
As a rule, the respondents gave correct answers to the question about Soviet allies in World War 2. Sixty-two per cent named the United States, 53 per cent the UK and 30 per cent France. Meanwhile, five per cent named Poland, two per cent China, one per cent Italy and one per cent Czechoslovakia. Twenty-four percent found it difficult to answer the question.
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MA,
if you analyze the map, there's something else interesting:
The ratio of military killed.
In Europe is 1 to 2-3 in favor of the Germans.
There is no difference between the Allied kill ratio and the Russian's.
In Asia is the opposite. The Japanese did most of the dying when confronted with European (and I do consider USA of 1940's European) power.
The Americans lost about 100,000 in order to kill 700,000 Japanese, and the Russians lost about 12,000 to kill 400,000 Japanese soldiers, admittedly most of [...]
Read the full comment whom died in captivity, after the fact.. (the map does NOT reflect Khalkin-Gol, but only the Aug. 1945 offensive in Manchuria, and subsequent Soviet invasion of Mainland Japan - territory Russia still possesses - the actual reason for the atomic bomb.)
The only difference is that the 400,000 casualties were inflicted by the Russians in a 10 day battle, contrasted with the 4 years of American time table.
Russia won WWII and I think this is something most folks in the West were misinformed about, by their schools, which are the same propaganda machines, as the ones we were subjected to during Communism....
P.S.
In that little known Khalkin-Gol war in the few weeks of the summer of '39. the Russians killed more Japanese soldiers, that the Americans lost in the entire Vietnam conflict...
Sorry, my bad. I read map wrongly...
"This below is a wonderful illustration of where WWII was fought, judging by the casualties.... "
From this map you get the impression that Finland was not part of World War II at all. Not even during years 41-44.. or isn't it considered as a part of WW II either.
You know, I normally avoid substantive exchanges with Americans, because few of them are naturally equipped for it, but I feel generous today.
The reason Sep. 1939 is considered the start of WWII is because the European powers at the time, were in control of much of the world.
Australia and Canada declared war on Germany - both, instantly, with their mother country - Britain, as they were part of the British crown commonwealth.
Now correct me if I am wrong, but Canada happens to be both on the Atlantic and Pacific... [...]
Read the full comment
Not to mention much of Asia and Africa, which were client states of UK and France.
So I guess if it didn't happen in the US, did it even happen?
P.S.
Shocking!
I had no idea the Japanese "invaded" Perl Harbor.... the things one can learn on the internet....
US citizen,
thank you for kindly illustrating the famous American ignorance for us!
WWII started in 1939. Officially.
MA:
"We finns have always considered Winter War part of WWII and why not? It was just a start to longer war later."
Not surprising. If Finland is your world, then of course, you were in a "World War". There was another war in 1939 that most of the West is ignorant of - the Khalkin-Gol (Mongolia) war. It happen in August - 3 weeks before Germany invaded Russia, where Russia crashed Japan in a massive tank battle. The Japanese attacked under Lt. General Michitaro Komatsubra, but alas, had the misfortune to [...]
Read the full comment be facing Georgi Zukov... It was a decisive victory for the Russians, one that helped persuade the Japanese that the US is the weaker opponent.
Much like the Winter war gave Hitler the impression that Russia is a walk... Neither of those wars are considered part of the WWII for the simple reason that the so-called "Major Powers" weren't at war.
This below is a wonderful illustration of where WWII was fought, judging by the casualties....
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/ww2-loss.htm
Terence,
I take it you keyboard was stuck on the caps lock, and you are not really trying to shout at us here. FYI, exclusive use of capitals is considered shouting on the internet, and this is not a football match, nor am I a Bulgarian bartender you can feel free to abuse.
Well, nations use two elements to manufacture patriotism,: one is past military glory, designed to inspire pride, and the other is past suffering, which of course is aimed at creating moral righteousness...
You've apparently succumbed to both... I am sure that the "Great" Churchill would be shocked to find out that Britain was invaded, and that London was flattened... but alas простотията ходи по хората...
The war began in 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland. It wasn't until the invaasion of Pearl Harbor that it became a "world wide" war, having spread across the Atlantic from eastern and western Europe.
Valeri:
We finns have always considered Winter War part of WWII and why not? It was just a start to longer war later.
THE GERMANS NEVER INVADED ENGLAND THEN WHO FLATENED LONDON AND COVENTRY WHERE THOUSANDS DIED.
Epami,
if there one thing I don't quite get about British view of WWII is the notion that they repulsed the Germans in the air war, or the "blitz" as they like to call it.
The idea that they diminished the Luftwaffe so much that they decides to turn around and invade the largest country, with the biggest military, USSR, right after it, doesn't seem plausible.
I suspect that this is largely Brutish propaganda, turned into solid myth by Hollywood in later years.
The reality is that Hitler never intended [...]
Read the full comment to invade the UK. He never even assembled any crafts he would've needed, so quite frankly, all the Brits had to do, is take the punishment and try to inflict some.
The technology of the times was so primitive that a German fighter pilot had only minutes of dog fight worth of fuel, before he had to head home.
In both Gulf wars Iraq couldn't be beaten from the air along, and we are talking much better technology with little fuel limitations. In fact Serbia (1999) is the only country in modern history, to give up from bombing alone.
So the glory of "the few by the many", as Churchill puts it, simply escapes me...
Britain was never really invaded, so "holding on", or "facing the NAZI onslaught" alone, seem to me as little more than figurative expressions... thoughts?
MA,
the Winter War isn't normally considered WWII, nor is the Spanish war, along with the North African Italian adventure (Abysinnia and Eritea).
Aries is right.
In fact there is a line in the blockbuster Perl Harbor when Ben Affleck says: "I think WWII has just started"!
Mind you this is at the and of 1941 - the world has been at war for 2 years....
Epaminondas
if the question was asked in the USA the answer would have since the attack on Pearl Harbor.
alas!!! but true and sad too.
Alas, it fits all too well. For Russians, the "Great Patriotic War" started in 1941 with the German assault. Nobody over there remembers Poland in 1939 (or Dunkirk in 1940 for the UK).
However, as a student in Poland in the 1960s I found that Poles - even under Communism - and British nationals like me, shared a collective recollection of World War Two that did not diverge whether one was Polish or British. So at least two wartime allies agreed on what had happened !
Strange how they forget the existence of Winter War in 1939...
classic staged photograph from the WW2 era german propaganda magazine Signal.
those 'brave' jerries are actually at a range, and the photo is staged. cheers