May 9 – Of Falsified History & Kremlin Propaganda
OP-ED
May 9 is the day when in Georgia and in some other post-Soviet countries, the day of victory over fascism is commemorated. Defeating one of the great evils in Mankind’s history is a remarkable feat, but when this event is exploited by equally evil forces for their own propaganda and malign influence, things tend to get a bit less straightforward. To address this, the Georgian Institute for Security Policy (GISP) felt obliged to once again tell the uncomfortable truth, which despite being common knowledge, is diligently ignored by the Kremlin.
In Putin’s Russia, May 9 has become one of the integral cornerstones of state propaganda. Today, the day is almost entirely devoid of its original meaning and has little to do with historical veracity.
In Russia, they call it the Great Patriotic War, instead of World War II. The reason for that being the convenience that the Russian version offers: while the Second World war started on 1939 with Nazi Germany invading Poland and ended on 2nd September 1945 with Japan’s defeat, the Russian timescale ranges from 22.06.1941 to May 9, 1945. The reason for the different start is simple: Russia starts with the date Germany invaded Soviet soil, because back in 1939, the USSR was an ally of the same Germany that invaded Poland and Moscow, having given a green light to the operation. According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the two powers agreed on spheres of influence, which was followed by an invasion of Germany within a week.
That the attack on Poland was a coordinated affair is further proven by yet another detail: a month after signing the agreement, there was a joint Soviet & German military parade in the city of Brest, where both sides celebrated putting Poland down.
Obviously, it’s not a pleasant reminder for the Kremlin propaganda machine, which would rather portray itself as the great force of good that defeated the greatest evil known to Man. An equally unpleasant reminder is that while Germany was invading Poland and France, the Soviet Union kept itself busy subjugating Finland and the Baltic countries. But aside from the Soviet contribution to the starting of World War II, there are several other facts the Kremlin would rather you didn’t know, or if you do, to forget.
Russian propaganda wants to portray the Soviet Union as the main force that put an end to the Second World War. In truth, the Soviet omnipotence is yet another, carefully concocted, myth. This is why you won’t hear Russians mentioning the Lend-Lease Bill, that made possible the instrumental US logistical and humanitarian aid. At today’s rates, the economic aid given by the US to the Soviets would make around $194 mln, an astounding amount at that time. Disregarding the importance of humanitarian aid, the Kremlin usually also downplays the importance of the military allied forces, pointing to the fact that the Soviet Union gave the biggest number of human lives to the common cause. While that is undoubtedly so, the absolutely majority of contemporary historians maintain that the astounding losses the USSR suffered is partially down to the mismanagement of the military staff and their disregard for human lives. Stalin didn’t care about numbers.
As for the end of the war, the Kremlin didn’t deem it important that after the capitulation of Germany, the war would go on for another four months and conclude with Japan’s surrender. This wouldn’t play into Kremlin hands, because the Oceania front was manned by American forces and it would be a tad difficult to represent it as the Soviets singlehandedly achieved milestone victory. This, of course, didn’t discourage Moscow from seizing the Kuril Islands from the defeated Japanese, which remains a subject of dispute between the two countries to this day.
As Putin’s Russia doesn’t have much to offer what it considers to be the Russian sphere of influence, the Kremlin has to resort to the false narratives of May 9 to entice the nations of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that it was the Soviet army that freed Central & Eastern Europe from Nazi occupation, as the Soviet people fought shoulder to shoulder to defeat the great evil. Understandably, these very nations also quite vividly remember the time of Soviet occupation and how the Kremlin rule was always at hand to change their lives “for the better”. Just to name a few, the Hungarians in 1958 and the Czechs in 1968, in Budapest and Prague respectively, harbor clear memories of the atrocities the Soviet army committed on their soil.
Russia is adamant that it’s the only country that gives due honors to the veterans of the Second World War. To prove this, May 9 each year is marked by a massive military parade on Red Square. Interestingly enough, it appears that the numbers of WW2 veterans in Russia remains practically the same, despite the passing of time. Russian war veterans appear to be in possession of the elixir of youth, because simple math dictates that if the youngest Soviet soldiers at the time of the Second world war were at least 16, now they would be at 91, while on Red Square each year, you might stumble upon people that in no way resemble octogenarians. This, however, won’t be the case this year, because due to the pandemic threat, Russia had to postpone the parade. And one more note on veterans: unlike other countries that welcomed the returning Prisoners of War with open hands, the Soviet Union branded them traitors and sent them to the Gulag. Which is obviously an act that screams utmost care and appreciation towards war veterans.
Putin’s Russia suffers painful spasms each time a sovereign country tries to break free from Kremlin-brewed false narratives. The 2007 cyber war against Estonia, after the latter took down a statue of a Soviet soldier, is but one example. Apart from trying to break down the Estonian government sites, Russia resorted to propagating anti-Estonian sentiments among the country’s Russian-speaking population.
Merely a week ago, even the pandemic media-storm couldn’t cover the purported murder plot, wherein a Russian spy was detained in Prague, possessing a diplomatic passport and carrying poison seemingly destined for the Prague Mayor, who had been brave enough to remove the statue of General Ivan Konev from the city center. Obviously, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the news report as fake.
The Kremlin actively uses public organizations, politicians, and influence agents in different countries. A clear example of this is the organization "Immortal Regiment", which was registered in Georgia on October 10, 2019, but before registration, on May 9, managed to hold one provocative demonstration.
The Kremlin will continue to manipulate the May 9 issue in the future. Obviously, Georgia will be the target of this propaganda. However, we need to think; can we have a common future with those who can offer nothing but a falsified past?
By David Bragvadze