A Look at the History of the Great Patriotic War through the Prism of Microhistory

Gallyamova A.G.

30–42 p.


doi.org: 10.22378/he.2021-6-1.30-42


In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War beginning, the experience of modern reading of one of the bloodiest events in the history of the country is of current interest. From the author’s point of view, at present there is a tendency towards pathos patriotism and romanticization of the feat in the use of military issues for educational purposes. This, like any deviation, can lead to dangerous consequences, in this particular case, to militarization of consciousness. The article uses the example of one of the largest villages in the Almetyevsk district of the Republic of Tatarstan to demostrate a wide range of different aspects of the history of the war, which show not only the greatness of the victory and the heroes who won it. Considerable attention is given to the coverage of war as the most severe inhumane form of manifesting social relations that require people to make excessive efforts to survive and preserve human dignity. The article includes recollections of the villagers about the first day of the war, about the front-line everyday life, severe hardships, and tragic details of the military battles in which the Novonadyrovtsy participated. The article depicts domestic disorder, extreme stress, psychological overload, constant physical fatigue on the verge of human capabilities. It also tells about remarkable encounters in the war and close front-line friendship. The paper also highlights the extreme conditions in which peasants survived in the rear, women's labor to the point of exhaustion, the unity of people in the harsh realities of the war years, and at the same time ambiguous manifestation of patriotism. The uneasy fates of the soldiers who were in German captivity are also depicted.


Keywords: The Great Patriotic War, A. Sh. Kabirova, Tatar ASSR, “oral history”, collective farm peasantry, local history, military everyday life

For citation: Gallyamova A.G. Vzglyad na istoriyu Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny cherez prizmu mikroistorii [A Look at the History of the Great Patriotic War through the Prism of Microhistory]. Istoricheskaya etnologiya, 2021, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 30–42. https://doi.org/10.22378/he.2021-6-1.30-42


REFERENCES

Gallyamova A.G. Istorik Aysylu Kabirova: luchshiy predstavitel’ svoey epokhi [Historian Aisylu Kabirova: The Best Representative of Own Time]. Istoricheskaya etnologiya. 2020, vol. 5, no 3, pp. 511–518. (In Russian)
Dyuryagin G.M. Skvoz’ plamya voyny [Through the Flames of War]. Kazan: Tatar Book Publ., 1982. (In Russian)

About the author: Alfiya G. Gallyamova, Doctor Sc. (History), Leading Researcher, Department of Contemporary History, Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7A Baturin St., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); alfiya1955@gmail.com


Received February 24, 2021   Accepted for publication March 22, 2021

Published Online April 21, 2021