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This is a subject of particular interest to me which I wish to explore deeper, share with others, and discuss.
Russia's situation in WW2 was very interesting. The American military historian Dr. Victor Davis Hanson has some very interesting lectures on WW2 history that helped me understand from perspectives I never had before. I'll briefly try to summarise the setting of Russia during WW2, and post one of Dr. Hanson's lectures for others to see, and then I'll get into some documentaries and fictional films of particular interest.
In the time leading up to WW2 I'm still a little hazy, but there was a civil war in Russia, the rise of Communism, and the Winter War when Russia invaded Finland. As I understand it Russia and Germany were collaborating before WW2, and even what we call WW2 is in hindsight and a little arbitrary. People often think of Russia as one of the good guys because they were one of the "Allies," but they also attacked Poland and the Soviet Union were very cruel to their own people. Immediately after WW2 they started propaganda that demonised the U.S. It was England who declared war on Germany because of their aggressive territorial expansion and the genocide that was going on as they tried to exterminate what they considered "inferior races." Countries like Russia and the United States only declared war on Germany because they were attacked. Prior to Germany invading Russia, the Russians were fighting the Japanese, and since Japan and Germany were allies there was resentment over how Germany was allowing Russia to focus its efforts on fighting Japan by signing a non-aggression pact so Germany could focus it's efforts on their Western front. Then when Germany invaded Russia, the Japanese spitefully did the same thing to Germany by signing a non-aggression pact and focusing their efforts on the U.S. and allowing Russia to focus on fighting Germany.
I shouldn't mix up Russia and the Soviet Union too much. A lot of the movies I want to talk about and explore are Russian, but not exclusively, and same goes for the women. I was originally going to title the thread "Movies About Russian Female Heroes of WWII," but retitled it to 'Soviet' because Russia was merely the largest country, not the only one these stories of heroic women came from.
Things for the Soviet Union got really intense when Germany invaded them, and I think that has to do with Hitler's resentment towards them as a race despite their previous admiration for one another's ideology. I heard that Hitler hated German communists because they were loyal to Moscow instead of to their country foremost. Hitler modelled his concentration camps after the gulags, so I think he admired that. And I seem to remember hearing that Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were admirers of each other.
During WW2 the Soviet Union produced many heroic tales, and they were very unique in their use of female soldiers. Most countries considered military work unsuitable for women, however many countries did allow women to serve in some capacity. Nurses, engineers, and other non-combat roles were common for women in a lot of countries. Russia's situation was a little different because they were being invaded so severely and they were desperate for soldiers, but also because of Communism's ideology that women and men were equal. However, in practice it was far from the idea that they were equal, even though women were allowed in combat roles they were often kept in the rear lines or used more for propaganda and publicity stunts. The Russians also fought very different when defending their homeland from invasion than they did in Finland and Poland. However, I don't know how much this point extends to the other Soviet countries. Still, it is much more inspiring for any people to join the army and fight to protect their land and their people from invasion than it is for people to invade and conquer other nations. Many Soviets valiantly joined the war and this nature of invasion I think was a huge factor in producing so many heroes, on top of that the state of the Soviet Union at the time was unique in particularly producing female heroes.
Dr. Hanson has many great lectures on WW2, and I've watched half a dozen or so myself. I'll just post one for anyone who's interested, and you can search up more on your own if you like.
Other countries did produce female heroes, but not nearly so many. Perhaps one I should mention was the Indian Princess nicknamed, "The Princess Spy." I watched a documentary about her a couple of years ago. Noor Inayat Khan was from India and was staying in England. She worked as a spy for the British, trained, and was deployed in France with a life expectancy of six months. She was the last operating spy after all of the others were caught. Eventually however she was caught too. She was very brave, but met a terrible end being raped and then executed. Some historians managed to track down the log books of the concentration camp where she died, shot in the head after the guards had their way with her. It makes me shudder just thinking about the horror she must have endured at the end, very sad and tragic. People described her as a really wonderful, kind, and brave person. But because she was also young and pretty they used her like a prostitute until they were done with her. War, I think, is the most brutal and real horror in life. But anyway, I just thought she was worthy of particular mention even though it's off topic.
Alright, now finally on to the Soviet women.
Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was an engineer and tank driver. Prior to becoming a tank driver she was married to an officer and had an interest in military affairs. She had come from a poor family and was one of ten children. When the war began she was evacuated to a part of the country far from the dangers of the invasion. Upon hearing of her husband's death she became angered, sold all of her possessions, and donated a tank to the war effort. She also requested permission to name the tank, "Fighting Girlfriend," and to pilot it herself. Her request was granted, she trained for five months and joined the war piloting her own tank. At first the other troops laughed at her thinking it was a publicity stunt. However, all of that changed when she distinguished herself in battle. She fought fiercely and when her tank was damaged she jumped out and repaired it amidst heavy enemy fire. This distinguished her and earned her a promotion to Sergeant. In her second battle a similar scenario occurred, and once again she jumped out and repaired her tank while her crew fought off enemy troops with the turret machine gun and small arms. In her third battle her tank's track was damaged, and while trying to repair it she was hit in the head by shrapnel. She was evacuated to hospital where she remained in a coma and eventually died. She was declared a Hero posthumously.
I found Oktyabrskaya particularly fascinating because there were very few female tank drivers. Most of the Soviet female heroes were Snipers or Pilots.
Alright, that's all I have time for now. I'll post more later. So far I haven't delved into any films yet, but I certainly will.
Russia's situation in WW2 was very interesting. The American military historian Dr. Victor Davis Hanson has some very interesting lectures on WW2 history that helped me understand from perspectives I never had before. I'll briefly try to summarise the setting of Russia during WW2, and post one of Dr. Hanson's lectures for others to see, and then I'll get into some documentaries and fictional films of particular interest.
In the time leading up to WW2 I'm still a little hazy, but there was a civil war in Russia, the rise of Communism, and the Winter War when Russia invaded Finland. As I understand it Russia and Germany were collaborating before WW2, and even what we call WW2 is in hindsight and a little arbitrary. People often think of Russia as one of the good guys because they were one of the "Allies," but they also attacked Poland and the Soviet Union were very cruel to their own people. Immediately after WW2 they started propaganda that demonised the U.S. It was England who declared war on Germany because of their aggressive territorial expansion and the genocide that was going on as they tried to exterminate what they considered "inferior races." Countries like Russia and the United States only declared war on Germany because they were attacked. Prior to Germany invading Russia, the Russians were fighting the Japanese, and since Japan and Germany were allies there was resentment over how Germany was allowing Russia to focus its efforts on fighting Japan by signing a non-aggression pact so Germany could focus it's efforts on their Western front. Then when Germany invaded Russia, the Japanese spitefully did the same thing to Germany by signing a non-aggression pact and focusing their efforts on the U.S. and allowing Russia to focus on fighting Germany.
I shouldn't mix up Russia and the Soviet Union too much. A lot of the movies I want to talk about and explore are Russian, but not exclusively, and same goes for the women. I was originally going to title the thread "Movies About Russian Female Heroes of WWII," but retitled it to 'Soviet' because Russia was merely the largest country, not the only one these stories of heroic women came from.
Things for the Soviet Union got really intense when Germany invaded them, and I think that has to do with Hitler's resentment towards them as a race despite their previous admiration for one another's ideology. I heard that Hitler hated German communists because they were loyal to Moscow instead of to their country foremost. Hitler modelled his concentration camps after the gulags, so I think he admired that. And I seem to remember hearing that Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were admirers of each other.
During WW2 the Soviet Union produced many heroic tales, and they were very unique in their use of female soldiers. Most countries considered military work unsuitable for women, however many countries did allow women to serve in some capacity. Nurses, engineers, and other non-combat roles were common for women in a lot of countries. Russia's situation was a little different because they were being invaded so severely and they were desperate for soldiers, but also because of Communism's ideology that women and men were equal. However, in practice it was far from the idea that they were equal, even though women were allowed in combat roles they were often kept in the rear lines or used more for propaganda and publicity stunts. The Russians also fought very different when defending their homeland from invasion than they did in Finland and Poland. However, I don't know how much this point extends to the other Soviet countries. Still, it is much more inspiring for any people to join the army and fight to protect their land and their people from invasion than it is for people to invade and conquer other nations. Many Soviets valiantly joined the war and this nature of invasion I think was a huge factor in producing so many heroes, on top of that the state of the Soviet Union at the time was unique in particularly producing female heroes.
Dr. Hanson has many great lectures on WW2, and I've watched half a dozen or so myself. I'll just post one for anyone who's interested, and you can search up more on your own if you like.
Other countries did produce female heroes, but not nearly so many. Perhaps one I should mention was the Indian Princess nicknamed, "The Princess Spy." I watched a documentary about her a couple of years ago. Noor Inayat Khan was from India and was staying in England. She worked as a spy for the British, trained, and was deployed in France with a life expectancy of six months. She was the last operating spy after all of the others were caught. Eventually however she was caught too. She was very brave, but met a terrible end being raped and then executed. Some historians managed to track down the log books of the concentration camp where she died, shot in the head after the guards had their way with her. It makes me shudder just thinking about the horror she must have endured at the end, very sad and tragic. People described her as a really wonderful, kind, and brave person. But because she was also young and pretty they used her like a prostitute until they were done with her. War, I think, is the most brutal and real horror in life. But anyway, I just thought she was worthy of particular mention even though it's off topic.
Alright, now finally on to the Soviet women.
Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was an engineer and tank driver. Prior to becoming a tank driver she was married to an officer and had an interest in military affairs. She had come from a poor family and was one of ten children. When the war began she was evacuated to a part of the country far from the dangers of the invasion. Upon hearing of her husband's death she became angered, sold all of her possessions, and donated a tank to the war effort. She also requested permission to name the tank, "Fighting Girlfriend," and to pilot it herself. Her request was granted, she trained for five months and joined the war piloting her own tank. At first the other troops laughed at her thinking it was a publicity stunt. However, all of that changed when she distinguished herself in battle. She fought fiercely and when her tank was damaged she jumped out and repaired it amidst heavy enemy fire. This distinguished her and earned her a promotion to Sergeant. In her second battle a similar scenario occurred, and once again she jumped out and repaired her tank while her crew fought off enemy troops with the turret machine gun and small arms. In her third battle her tank's track was damaged, and while trying to repair it she was hit in the head by shrapnel. She was evacuated to hospital where she remained in a coma and eventually died. She was declared a Hero posthumously.
I found Oktyabrskaya particularly fascinating because there were very few female tank drivers. Most of the Soviet female heroes were Snipers or Pilots.
Alright, that's all I have time for now. I'll post more later. So far I haven't delved into any films yet, but I certainly will.