Stuff of Soldiers

M. Schechter Brandon

Description

The Stuff of Soldiers uses everyday objects to tell the story of the Great Patriotic War as never before. Brandon M. Schechter attends to a diverse array of things-from spoons to tanks-to show how a wide array of citizens became soldiers, and how the provisioning of material goods separated soldiers from civilians.Through a fascinating examination of leaflets, proclamations, newspapers, manuals, letters to and from the front, diaries, and interviews, The Stuff of Soldiers reveals how the use of everyday items made it possible to wage war. The dazzling range of documents showcases ethnic diversity, women's particular problems at the front, and vivid descriptions of violence and looting.Each chapter features a series of related objects: weapons, uniforms, rations, and even the knick-knacks in a soldier's rucksack. These objects narrate the experience of people at war, illuminating the changes taking place in Soviet society over the course of the most destructive conflict in recorded history. Schechter argues that spoons, shovels, belts, and watches held as much meaning to the waging of war as guns and tanks. In The Stuff of Soldiers, he describes the transformative potential of material things to create a modern culture, citizen, and soldier during World War II.

Sujets

• Former Soviet Union
• Histoire
• Post-Soviet states
• Material culture
• Military engineer
• World War II
• History of Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501739804
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

THE STUFF OF SOLDIERS

Avolumeintheseries

Battlegrounds:CornellStudiesinMilitaryHistory GeneralEditor:DavidJ.Silbey

EditorialBoard:PetraGoedde,WayneE.Lee,BrianMcAllisterLinn,and LienHang T. Nguyen

A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

THESTUFF OF SOLDIERS

A HI STORY OF T HE RE D ARMY I N WORL D WAR I I T HROUGH OBJ ECTS

B r a n d o n M . S c h e c h te r

CORNELLUNIVERSITYPRESS Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2019 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu. First published 2019 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: Schechter, Brandon M., author. Title: The stuff of soldiers : a history of the Red Army in World War II through objects / Brandon M. Schechter. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2019. | Series: Battlegrounds : Cornell studies in military history | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018053748 (print) | LCCN 2018054969 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501739804 (pdf ) | ISBN 9781501739811 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501739798 | ISBN 9781501739798 (cloth: alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Soviet Union. RabocheKrestanska ′ a Krasnai ′ a Armi ′ a—Military life. | Soviet Union. RabocheKresti ′ anska ′ a Krasna ′ a Armi ′ a—Equipment. | Soviet Union. RabocheKresti ′ anska ′ a Krasna ′ a Armi ′ a—History—World War, 1939–1945. | World War, 1939–1945—Soviet Union—Equipment and supplies. | Soldiers—Soviet Union—Social conditions. | Military paraphernalia—Soviet Union. | Material culture—Soviet Union. | Personal belongings—Soviet Union. Classification: LCC UA772 (ebook) | LCC UA772 .S276 2019 (print) | DDC 940.54/1247—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018053748 Cover photograph: Red Army soldier entrenching before battle, Central Front, 1943. Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv kinofotodokumentov (RGAKFD) in Krasnogorsk, 0312319.

МɢɥяɭшɟɢБɭɥɚɬɭ,ɛɟɡɜɚɫ—ɧɢɤɭɞɚ

Contents

Prelude: Outgunned and Outmannedix Acknowledgmentsxv List of Archival Sources and Their Abbreviationsxix Terms and Abbreviationsxxi Explanatory Notesxxiii

Introduction:GovernmentIssue

Pa r t O n e : M o rta l E n ve lo p e s 1. The Soldier’s Body: A Little Cog in a Giant War Machine 2. A Personal Banner: Life in Red Army Uniform 3. The State’s Pot and the Soldier’s Spoon: Rations in the Red Army Pa r t Tw o : Vi o l e n c e 4. Cities of Earth, Cities of Rubble: The Spade and Red Army Landscaping 5. “A Weapon Is Your Honor and Conscience”: Killing in the Red Army Pa rt Th r e e : Po s s e s s i o n s 6. The ThingBag: A PublicPrivate Place 7. Trophies of War: Red Army Soldiers Confront an Alien World of Goods  Conclusion: Subjects and Objects

Notes249 Index307

1

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79

107

147

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212 243

P r e lu d e : O u tg u n n e d a n d O u t m a n n e d

TheSovietUnionliterallyhadascriptfor World War II—a popular film showed how the next global conflict would unfold. The film,IComes Tomorrowf War (Esli zavtra voina, Mosfilm, 1938, dir. Efim Dzigan), seen by millions, shows an unclear enemy—their uniform combined French, British, and German elements, their symbol resembled a triangular swastika, and they spoke German—launching a sneak attack on the Soviet Union. This dastardly assault is crushed in short order by the overwhelming might of the Soviet military and Revolution in Europe. The enemy seems too silly to be truly threatening, often represented by gray ing, bespectacled men well past their prime. The film opens and closes with images of virile Red Army soldiers and Red Navy sailors standing in line and features long shots of innumerable Soviet planes, tanks, artillery pieces, and wellequipped soldiers, making sure to highlight the variety of weapons and equipment available to Soviet troops. Using footage of real Red Army maneuvers, the film reassured Soviet citizens that the government provided everything necessary for the upcoming war, which it promised would be swift, with few losses and on enemy territory. The next war would bring the promised worldwide Socialist Revolution within reach. Millions of Red Army soldiers confronted a different reality when the war actually came. It resembledIf War Comes Tomorrowin that it started with a sneak attack on the Soviet Union and one side enjoying seemingly endless resources of planes and tanks. Unfortunately, it was the enemy, now clearly German, who had vast armadas of planes and tanks and marched with such confidence deep into Soviet territory. They were not silly but terrifying and would visit brutality far beyond the imagination of Communist Party pro pagandists or the Soviet peoples, looting, destroying, raping, and murdering at will. It would take years for the Red Army to bring the conflict to enemy soil, by which time most of the equipment and many of the men shown in the 1938 film had been destroyed. The war, which was supposed to finish the work of the Revolution with a brief, glorious battle, had come to resemble an apocalypse in which Fascism would emerge victorious.

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