Motivation of Volunteers during Great Patriotic War (Case Study of Rostov Region)
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-3-365-383
Abstract
This article explores the motivations behind citizens joining volunteer formations during the Great Patriotic War. The study relies on archival and published sources on the history of volunteer movements in the Rostov region. The research is based on a military-anthropological approach, aiming to understand the worldview of volunteers and the qualitative and quantitative parameters of volunteer movements in the Don region. The relevance of the study lies in the necessity of attracting more attention from researchers to understand what drove individuals to act during wartime. A detailed analysis of the archives at the Center for Documentation of Recent History of Rostov Region revealed characteristic models of voluntarism. The author concludes that the mechanism of agitation and propaganda intertwines with deeply personal motives of resistance against the enemy. A classification of tools influencing participants’ motives is proposed, including visual imagery, state symbolism, the work of agitators and propagandists, and oath-taking. The novelty of the research lies in the author’s exploration of the mechanism influencing public consciousness in a specific region with limited time to prepare the population for resistance against the adversary.
Supporting agencies: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number 24-28-01265, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01265/
About the Author
O. A. Eldinov
Don State Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Oleg A. Eldinov, PhD in History, associate professor, Department of Document Studies and Language Communication
Rostov-on-Don
References
1. Bole, E. N. (2006). The movement of volunteers during the Great Patriotic War: motivation for joining the active army of the country’s rear population. In: Military historical anthropology. The yearbook. 2005/2006. Actual problems of studying. Moscow: ROSSPEN. 232—246. (In Russ.).
2. Born twice: Essays on the history of the plant. (1982). Rostov-on-Don; Publishing house. 144 p. (In Russ.).
3. Dictionary of basic historical concepts: selected articles: in 2 volumes, 1. (2014). Moscow: New Literary Review. 736 p. ISBN 978-5-4448-0502-2. (In Russ.).
4. Kirsano, N. A., Drobyazko, S. I. (2001). The Great Patriotic War of 1941—1945: national and volunteer formations on different sides of the front. Russian history, 6: 60—75. (In Russ.).
5. Kolesnik, A. D. (1988). Militia formations of the Russian Federation during the Great Patriotic War. Moscow: Nauka. 286 p. (In Russ.).
6. Korobitsyna, L. V. (2019). Modern Russian historiography of the Great Patriotic War: trajectories and development trends. West, East and Russia: Issues of universal history, 22: Society and Memory. 126—130. DOI: 10.26170/vvi19-02-09. (In Russ.).
7. Krinko, E. F. (2023). New approaches and problems in the study of the Nazi occupation of Soviet territories during the Great Patriotic War. In: Fundamental research, innovative technologies and advanced developments in the interests of long-term development of the South of Russia: materials of the International Scientific Forum dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the UNC RAS, Rostov-on-Don, 08—10 February 2023. Rostov-on-Don: Federal State Budgetary Institution of Science “Federal Research Center Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences”. 349—352. (In Russ.).
8. Krinko, E. F. (2020). The Great Patriotic War in historical and anthropological studies. Russian Antiquity, 11 (1): 4—13. DOI: 10.13187/rs.2020.1.4. (In Russ.).
9. Lessons of the Zmievskaya beam: a collection of methodological recommendations based on the results of the International scientific and practical Forum “Zmievskaya Beam: the history of genocide” (Rostov-on-Don, September 12—14, 2022). (2022). Moscow: MPSU. 174 p. (In Russ.).
10. Litvinova, O. N. (2016). The evolution of partisan ethics during the Great Patriotic War (based on the materials of the Bryansk region). Yaroslavl Pedagogical Bulletin, 1: 297—302. (In Russ.).
11. Medvedev, T. D. (2022). Soviet volunteer formations in the Great Patriotic War: historiography of the issue. Russian History, 3: 146—153. DOI: 10.31857/S0869568722030116. (In Russ.).
12. Pilishvili, G. D. (2018). Propaganda work of the authorities and its effectiveness in attracting the population to the ranks of the people’s militia in the Voronezh, Kursk and Tambov regions in the summer of 1941. In: Personality, society, power: past and present: Materials of the Twelfth regional Scientific conference, Voronezh, February 02, 2018. Voronezh: Voronezh State University. 171—177. (In Russ.).
13. Romanov, P. (2009). “The Soviet eye man”: rules (podo)Visual anthropology: modes of visibility under socialism. In: Visual anthropology: modes of visibility under socialism. Moscow: ANO CSPGS. 448 p. ISBN 978-5-903360-25-3. (In Russ.).
14. Rostselmash: history. In 3 tt., 1. (2004). Rostov-on-Don: [b. i.]. 576 p. (In Russ.).
15. Savitsky, I. M. (2017). The movement of volunteers from Western Siberia to the active Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. Bulletin of the Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic scientific journal, 3 (23): 189—196. (In Russ.).
16. Senyavskaya, E. S. (1995). 1941—1945: The frontline generation: A historical and psychological study. Moscow: IRI. 218 p. (In Russ.).
17. Senyavskaya, E. S. (1999). Psychology of war in the twentieth century: the historical experience of Russia. Moscow: “Russian Political Encyclopedia” (ROSSPEN). 383 p. (In Russ.).
18. Serebryannikov, V. V. (1998). Sociology of war. Moscow: Os-89. 317 p. (In Russ.).
19. Sinitsyn, A. D. (1973). From the history of the creation of volunteer units and formations of the Soviet Army. Military Historical Journal, 1: 11—18. (In Russ.).
20. Trut, V. P. (2023). The volunteer movement in the Rostov region during the Great Patriotic War. Scientific almanac of the Black Sea countries, 9 (4): 38—43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23947/2414-1143-2023-9-4-38-43. (In Russ.).
21. Trut, V. P. (2021). Wars in the history of mankind. Bulletin of the Volgograd State University. Episode 4: The Story. Regional studies. International relations, 26 (1): 10—12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2021.1.1. (In Russ.).
22. Vasiltsov, K. M. (2020). The formation of the Don volunteer cavalry divisions in 1941—1942 according to the memoirs of S. I. Gorshkov. Izvestia of higher educational institutions. The North Caucasus region. Social sciences, 4 (208): 54—58. (In Russ.).
23. Voloshinov, F. F., Morozov, G. S. (1969). Chronicle of Rostov Presnya. Rostov-on-Don: Book Publishing House. 283 p. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Eldinov O.A. Motivation of Volunteers during Great Patriotic War (Case Study of Rostov Region). Nauchnyi dialog. 2024;13(3):365-383. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-3-365-383
Views:
358
Email this article 