Rhythms of the past: the first anniversaries of the Great Patriotic War in Soviet memory politics (1945-1965)

Abstract

The article describes the first anniversaries of the events of the Great Patriotic War (first of all, Victory Day) from the point of view of the Soviet policy of memory, which is interpreted by the authors as part of a symbolic policy representing the production and maintenance of certain social ideas about the past in order to achieve the stability of the ruling political regime. Special emphasis is placed on the comparative analysis of official programs of events related to the Victory Day in 1945-1965, the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1961), the first "round" anniversaries of the Battle of Moscow, the Stalingrad and Kursk battles, taking into account ideological, mobilization, status, geopolitical, organizational factors. Based on a significant number of archival and published sources, it is shown how, as we move away from military events for 10-20 years, the instrumental role of anniversaries of key events of the Great Patriotic War has increased, aimed at solving not only domestic political, but also foreign policy tasks. By the mid-1960s, such anniversaries were finally fixed in the memorial calendar and served to consolidate and mobilize Soviet society, contributed to the concentration of symbolic resources at the central and in some cases regional authorities (for example, the case of Stalingrad/Volgograd), and were also used to strengthen the positive image of the USSR abroad.