Hi Everyone!

[Simon]

Thank you, Simon. You raise some important questions and issues that deserve close consideration and serious thought.

My pleasure

Simon, I think I know the film you are referring too, the one where they are all singing, on and off tractors, and eating lots of bread..... had to watch a few like that..... :-) Wish I spoke Russian now! I will bring up these points if thats ok in my presentation, I will make it clear that it is speculation however we are expected to extrapaplate upon limited information and attempt to see what point is being made through the propaganda (like the famous leninist window cartoons etc. etc.).

That's fine.

As well as, as you say the importance of "Old Russian heroes...Strategic operations were named after Tsar's generals Bagration and Rumyantsev. Introduction of orders Suvorov, Kutuzov, Nevsky was a part of the effort to tell Russian people that the land of their ancestors is at stake in this war."

I strongly advise you to take a look at Alexander Werth's book Russia At War which is available at most libraries. The author discusses re-Tsarification of army, resurrection of old Russian heroes, introduction of Motherhood awards and other propaganda efforts.

I will also make note of the usage of falsified awards, Like that of Private Alexandr Matrosov, he reportedly:

“Threw himself in front of an enemy machine gun in an act of extreme sacrifice”.

The latest I read is that AM is a true hero who indeed made the machine gun shut up. The discussion focuses on how he did it. Most likely theory is that he got on top of the bunker and was shooting through ventilation holes. Germans had to stop shooting to deal with him. In that time, his unit advanced forward.

This elaborate series of lies was intended to intensify and strengthened unity throughout the Soviet Union and its peoples. The use of lies like this was used to reinforce the idea of Homo Sovieticus (Soviet Man) and how strong and powerful they were and therefore, in the Soviet mindset, how strong and powerful the whole Soviet Union was.

You can use movies "Povest' o Razvedchike" ("Tale about an Agent") (1947) and "Povest' o Nastoyashchem Cheloveke" ("Tale about a real man") (194?) to support this claim. Characters in these movies can't stop saying how confident they are in their strength because, as each of them says, "I am a Soviet Man!".

Sergei adds an important dimension. Paper money, coins, and even my colleague's postage stamps are more a part of peoples' lives than ODM.

Orders and medals were pictured on stamps, postcards, money, monuments, pins. Orders were even personified in songs. In one song, a young cosmonaut takes "orders of his father killed near the city Berlin" to the space base. When he goes to space, "orders of the father killed near the city Berlin shine with pride".

The re-Tsarification (I invented a phrase there) of the USSR when the war was going badly (new neo-Tsarist awards, changes in the way the old awards were worn, the rejection of old socialist uniform designs for all the new neo-Tsarist styles, etc.) represent an important moment of transition and near-panic (more important than the current rumors of Stalin ordering renewed prayers in St. Basil's). And, as with the present-day Kremlin follies, a return to a distant past is always an easy way to distract people from a complex present; but, then, all states play this game.

Once again Russia At War is a must to take a look at. Look at the chapter where A. Werth comments on Stalin's speech on Nov. 6, 1941 in Moscow subway.

I'll mention the order of Nevsky in passing (the representation of the film actor etc.) and go on to the order of motherhood further

Nevsky was a paramount propaganda figure. Besides, the movie, there was K. Simonov's poem Ice Battle. Even in the 1980's, Soviet school children read it. The poem mostly describes the battle of A. Nevsky and his army against teutonic knights who are German ancestors. Then, the poem goes on to talk about defeat of Germans near Pskov in WW1. In epilogue, there is a message that modern Germans studying Mine Kampf will face the same fate as Teutonic knights and Germans in WW1 if they invade Russia. Also, look at WW2 posters and you will see warriors of A. Nevsky era.

Cheers,

Simon