Teachers,
Businessmen and Students of the Moscow expat community! You are about
to embark on the Great Crusade, through which we must endure once per
year.
Yes, my friends, Victory Day is upon us.
Each
year, Russians dedicate an entire weekend to celebrating their victory
in the Second World War. And each year, it is one of the best weekends
in Moscow. Nuclear missiles are paraded through the streets, fireworks
shrapnel rains down on the embankments, and the bars are packed.
But
Victory Day weekend is also one of the most perilous in Moscow. Russian
patriotism reaches feverish heights, making it difficult to avoid
talking about World War Two. Or, as your Russian interlocutors will no
doubt insist on calling it, the Great Patriotic War against fascism.
This can lead to undesirable outcomes, such as lost friends, breakups, and/or bar fights.
Luckily
for you, foreigner, most conversations you have with Russians on WWII
will be highly predictable. This puts you at a distinct advantage, as
you can prepare in advance to hold the line at clubs, parks, and craft
beer bars across town this weekend.
But
why ruin the holiday, frantically running Google searches with a beer
in your hand? We’ve done the work for you. Just keep this handy guide
accessible on your phone, and consult as needed. You can thank us later.
Who Won The War?
Most
conversations with Russians on the topic of World War II will begin
with the question of who actually won the war. Chances are that the
average Russian will be infinitely more concerned with naming a single
winner than you are. If you are an American, they will justify bringing
this up by claiming Americans don’t respect Russia’s sacrifices in the
war.
The
easiest way to deal with this is simply to insist that Americans are
taught the war was won through the combined effort, and sacrifice, of
the Allied Powers, which included the U.S., the UK, France and the
Soviet Union.
What you are really talking about here is not so much who won the
war, but who paid the highest price. Almost every Russian family was
affected by the war, and the experience has left deep historical scars.
At
least 20 million Soviet citizens died during the war, so you cannot win
this argument. Respecting the scale of Russia’s casualties during the
war is key to maneuvering through these encounters. If you had a family
member who served on any side, it helps to mention that. If you are
lucky, you can end the WWII discussion with a toast to the Allies and
the fallen.
Lend-Lease
No
battle plan survives first contact with the opponent; you must be
prepared to be challenged on a few additional points. Odds are, the
second round of the debate will be sparked by a Russian accusation that
the United States didn’t do enough to help the Soviets battle the Nazis,
or that Washington somehow delayed its arrival in Europe to weaken
Moscow in the long-run.
Take
a deep breath, and approach this methodically. Russian historical
education and state propaganda has for decades downplayed the
contribution of the United States to the war in Europe. That the Soviets
alone saved the world from fascism is a narrative that has become
Russia’s national idea. The government exploits this masterfully to
generate domestic support.
The
first thing to do is mention the famous Lend-Lease Act of 1941. The
United States and its allies began shipping critical warfighting
materials to the Soviet Union, reeling from a surprise Nazi invasion.
Western
tanks, airplanes and guns were important — though historians generally
agree they didn’t help much until around 1943 — but the real benefit of
Lend-Lease came in the form of critical food supplies, boots and
clothing for soldiers, and communications equipment. In short,
Lend-Lease improved Red Army supply logistics significantly — a key to
winning wars.
War, All Over the World
The
Lend-Lease discussion, while important, can be an endless exercise. You
will need more than that to get through a WWII discussion with
Russians. There are three additional points you need to make: The war
with Japan, the Battle of the Atlantic, and a massive strategic bombing
campaign over Europe.
You
may be accused of not knowing enough about the Eastern Front in WWII.
This is the ideal time to remind Russians that the primary enemy of the
United States in the beginning of the war was Japan. America suffered a
surprise attack in December 1941 — one that decimated the Pacific Fleet.
Time and resources were needed to rebuild what was lost, so the U.S.
could engage Japan’s navy on the high seas.
It
was not until September 1943 that American troops landed on the
European continent. This was less a conspiracy against the Soviet Union,
and more of a logistical problem. The U.S. needed time to transport a
million men across the Atlantic, as well as the tanks and other military
hardware required for the invasion of occupied Europe.
Transport
was complicated by German U-boats operating in the Atlantic. In what
was the longest single campaign of WWII, the Allied navies battled the
German Kriegsmarine for control of the seas. Supply transports were sunk
by the hundreds before the Allies finally broke the German navy,
clearing the way to Europe (and allowing more convoys to travel to
Russia).
Meanwhile,
the United States and the UK were engaged in the largest aerial
campaign of all time: the strategic bombing of Europe. This was an
economic exercise, with fleets of high-altitude bombers putting constant
pressure on key German industrial targets. Nazi tank manufacturing and
fuel production suffered deeply, giving the Allies superiority later in
the war.
Final Battle: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
It
is difficult to predict how your defense of America’s contribution to
the war effort will play out. If you’ve done it right, you have engaged
in a cultural bonding exercise and both parties leave with greater
understanding of the other. This is the happy ending. But not everyone
will reach a happy ending.
If
you are extremely unlucky, there is one, final controversy you may
encounter. I am, of course, talking about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
For
those who don’t know their history, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact is one
of the Second World War’s greatest controversies. This German-Soviet
non-aggression pact was signed in 1939, and at face value could be
justified. After all, other nations had signed non-aggression pacts with
the Nazis. In a secret provision of the deal, however, Germany and the
USSR agreed to divide Poland in two.
Russians
will insist that the pact has been mischaracterized, and insisting
otherwise will be fruitless. Unless you are Polish and have an axe to
grind, you should avoid conversations about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
at all costs. It is simply a no-win scenario.
And
with that, we wish you good luck over the holiday weekend. This guide
represents some of the main arguments you may encounter, but there are
naturally other possibilities. And if you decide to go on the attack,
consider quizzing your Russian friends on U.S. war trivia: Who was
Chester Nimitz? What happened at the Battle of Midway? Why save Private
Ryan?
While
these games can be fun, it is important to understand that Russians
crave respect more than anything else. Show respect, listen to what they
have to say about the war, and try to teach them something about your
country’s perspective, too. Do this, and you will make it through
Victory Day.
The Moscow Times May 6, 2017
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