The Great Patriotic War: The Soviet Experience of World War II

The Eastern Front of World War II, fought largely on the territory of the Soviet Union and referred to there as the “Great Patriotic War,” represents one of the most lethal military conflicts in history. The war revealed and highlighted both the weaknesses and the strengths of the Soviet Union, stretching it to the breaking point before leading it to the postwar status of a superpower. This course will consider the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union to the defeat of Nazi Germany through the frameworks of political, social, cultural, economic, and gender history. Voices “from below” balance the incredible scale of this conflict with humanizing perspective help us to confront a central paradox—how the Soviet Union helped to end a genocide and liberated much of Europe while committing horrific atrocities of its own.