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The term Great Patriotic War (Russian: Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́, Velíkaya Otéchestvennaya voyná,^[1]) is used in Russia and some other states of the former Soviet Union to describe the portion of World War II from 22 June 1941, to 9 May 1945, against Nazi Germany and its allies in the many fronts of Soviet-German war.

Contents 1 History 2 Usage 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] History

The term was coined following the German attack against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 and was intended to motivate the population to defend the Soviet motherland and to expel the invader. Earlier, the term Patriotic War referred to the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon I, which is now known as the Patriotic War of 1812. The term denotes a war for otechestvo - the fatherland.

The term Great Patriotic War appeared in the Soviet newspaper Pravda soon after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, in a long article titled “The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People” (Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna sovetskogo naroda).

During the conflict, the Soviet Union created the Order of the Patriotic War, awarded for heroic deeds.

[edit] Usage

The term is not generally used outside the former Soviet Union (see Eastern Front). It is a patriotic and symbolic term. During this period 6.8 million Soviet soldiers were killed and 4.4 million died in captivity.^[2] The Soviet Union lost 26.6 million men and women in total, more than any other country in human history.^[3]

There is a difference between this phrase and World War II or the Second World War, as the Russian term denotes only the war between Germany and its European allies, and the Soviet Union. The war with Japan (including the invasion of Manchuria) and the war on the Western front are not referred to by this term. Nor does it cover the Soviet Union's 1939 attacks on Poland and Finland or 1940 invasion of the Baltic states.

[edit] See also

• First period of World War II
• Second period of World War II
• Third period of World War II
• Second Fatherland War
• Pobediteli

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Great Patriotic War

• The Soviet Union Won World War II
• Documentary films and newsreels about the Great Patriotic War
• Poems about the Great Patriotic War
• Bryan Fugate, Operation Barbarossa: Strategy And Tactics On The Eastern Front, 1941

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