Throughout all my undergraduate studies I focused heavily on European History with a strong emphasis toward events post 1500 but also Russian History. Everything about this country, it's many dynasties, religion, governmental styles, leaders, literary works, is all so fascinating and draws me in to learn more. Your also reading this blog from the girl who read Dostoevsky's "The Brother's Karamazov" for fun about four times.. YES... FOUR TIMES!!! It's not an easy read either... It makes Homer's Iliad and Odyssey look like a kindergarten book. Anyway.. Back to this museum..
Here's a little bit of history on the events that led to Hitler and Stalin being on opposites sides of the war. In August 1938, after Hitler had already taken back the Rhineland which Germany lost in WWI, annexed Austria, and obtained the Sudetenland and eventually all of Czechoslovakia, he turned his sights to Poland. Invading Poland came with its own set of consequences, so Hitler did his best to make assurances that he would be left alone when he invaded. Hitler feared a repeat of WWI, fighting a two-front war. He knew the Soviet Army was weak at the time but knew that a German invasion of Poland would not be met without resistance from the Soviet Union. Hitler met with Stalin and came to a "bombshell" of a pact known as the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. What this pact did was ensure that for the next 10 years these two nations would remain peaceful. Hitler viewed this as a necessary evil so the invasion could happen without consequence and Stalin viewed this as a way to keep the peace so he could rebuild his army. The pact also contained a secret agreement that outlined the division of Eastern Europe between the two nations.
This particular piece of information was of great interest to Stalin. Although the Soviet's were on the side of the Allies, let us not forget the horrible truth that is Josef Stalin. His totalitarian regime makes the Soviet Union one of the worst and most evil empires in the world. In reality, Soviet Union overtakes Nazi Germany in terms of the level of evil. Yes, Hitler is an awful human being but what Stalin did to his own people goes a bit too far. Just to put this into perspective about 20 million Russians lost their lives in WWII fighting Nazi Germany (men, women, and children), close to 60 million Russians were killed by Stalin between government forced starvation and famine, executions, gulags and forced resettlement. So obtaining more territory such as parts of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were enticing. More territories and subjects to control.
As expected, Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 thus igniting WWII. Hitler waited two years and in June 1941, Operation Barbarossa was put into place, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler broke his own pact and marched over 3 million Nazi's across the border and the fighting began.
This museum is dedicated to all the lives lost and the devastation that Russia encountered during the war. Russia claims the most casualties in WWII (20 Million). Men, women, and children were killed, and families were destroyed. There is not a single family in all of Russia that can not claim the death of a family member in WWII. A good friend of mine can claim 5. Walking through this museum was extremely moving. So many things on display, paintings, murals, vehicles, everything was so well done. Most of the inscriptions were translated into English which helped, but even looking at the Russian writing, you still knew exactly what you were looking at.
It was such a "dramatic" approach to the Museum. So many statues, honorary plaques, and tributes to fallen troops. Even with the chilly air and rain, it was still so beautiful to see.
The above is a tribute to the fallen from WWI and the bottom is the year Soviet Union entered WWII
Eternal Flame
This guide was obviously speaking Russian but I knew most of the details of the battles he was talking about from my studies so it was ok that I did not understand. These rooms were all hand painted depicting critical battles and scenes across Russia.
This bottom picture is a mixture of wall painting and staged props on the bottom to give a real life picture. Incredible!
Same with these two images. The upper portions are hand painted while the bottom is props. The bridges are both mural and props to give a 3D effect.
Josef Stalin above and a mock of his office on the bottom
Mock settings for the Battle of Moscow
The detail in the props were amazing. One of the most incredible museums I have ever been to.
