In Belarus, the first step has been taken to revise the nature of the Great Patriotic War: an interview
2012 marks the 200 anniversary of the Patriotic War of the year 1812. In Belarus, the term “World War 1812 of the Year” was withdrawn from official circulation and replaced by “War 1812 of the Year”, “Events of the 1812 of the Year”, etc. Part of the Belarusian intelligentsia was indignant at the overt revisionism of the Belarusian officials and demanded an explanation of what was happening. For a long time, the authorities of Belarus silenced the problem, refused to discuss it and explain the motivation of their actions in removing the term "World War 1812 of the year" from the official circulation. An opinion on the revision of the Belarusian official historiography in an interview with REGNUM was expressed on August 24 by a member of the Writers 'Union of Belarus, a member of the Writers' Union of Russia, the head of the Vitebsk public organization of Russian compatriots "Russian House" Andrei Gerashchenko.
How do you assess the significance of the date of the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 for culture, historical the memory of the Belarusian people?
Science always has both a fundamental and an applied character. And even more so, the story, which in many respects forms our self-consciousness, determines moral and value orientations. Belarusian historiography cannot be a kind of closed club - it is called upon using the scientific methodology to ensure the continuity of the historical values of our people, the foundation on which our present is built. The theme of the Patriotic War of 1812 of the year is quite close to me. I am not a professional historian, however, as a writer and social activist, I am constantly confronted with historical issues. In addition, I am the author of the book “Sons of the Fatherland. The Glorious 1812 Year”, which is being prepared for publication now - therefore, I can probably express my opinion on this issue. My position is as follows: Refusal to recognize the domestic character of the 1812 war of the year is the first inconspicuous stage in the revision of the domestic character of the Great Patriotic War of the 1941-1945 years and the denial of the deed of the Belarusian people.
In the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, universities and ministries there are many who insist on the "progressiveness" of the Napoleonic occupation: allegedly Napoleon was going to abolish serfdom, etc. Perhaps, they are not deprived of the grounds for their assertion that it is not necessary to consider the 1812 war as Patriotic, but Russian-French?
Napoleon Bonaparte was an invader who dreamed of world domination. Napoleon is a bloody usurper and dictator, who buried all the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity in his homeland in France, possessed, like Adolf Hitler, by the maniacal idea of power over the world. And this figure was not so brilliant - the campaign in Russia revealed many of his strategic and tactical blunders. As a result of the Russian campaign, France lost all of its conquests in Europe and lost both on the continent of Russia and on the sea of Great Britain, having lost many of its colonies. How Hitler Germany suffered a complete collapse.
Victories in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Great Patriotic War did not happen on their own, but thanks to the courage and resilience of our people. Our ancestors, the Belarusians, created partisan detachments, burned the estates of the noblemen who had betrayed (the same Radziwills), stood to death during the Battle of Borodino.
Today, the university departments tell a lot about the fact that Napoleon had some plans for the abolition of serfdom and almost the creation of the Belarusian national state. All these rumors and speculation. In fact: Napoleon had every opportunity to do anything in the territory occupied by his troops, but he did what he did and that is why he received resistance from the Belarusian peasantry. The so-called "Napoleonophiles" often wishful thinking, consciously present the betrayal of the local nobility as the choice of the Belarusian people.
In modern Belarusian historiography, the partisan movement in the territory of Belarus during the Patriotic War 1812 is being questioned; the emphasis is on the participation of part of the gentry in the war on the side of Napoleon. Where do these trends come from?
Here it is important to perceive at the mental level - the feeling of "ours" and "not ours." So: for the Belarusians, “ours” are Kutuzov and Bagration, a dashing hussar Denis Davydov, literary images of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov, and “not ours” are the French and other invaders. If, for modern ideological Russophobes, “ours” are all sorts of accomplices of the French who tried to restore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then these are more of a problem of their personal perception of the world. After all, we also had supporters of the Nazis who served in the police — some of them, too, at the suggestion of the collaborators who left for the West themselves, now consider them "fighters against communism."
There is a good joke on this subject. They ask such a "veteran" how he helped ours during the war when he was a child. And he replies: "I brought ammunition to them, and they praised me - Gut! Gut!". But seriously, the Patriotic War 1812 of the year is inseparable from the Belarusian national identity: generations of our people were brought up on the verses of Denis Davydov, "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, later studies, memoirs, novels, films and songs dedicated to this topic. Today, denying the domestic character of the 1812 war of the year is like pardoning the wind. The huge interest shown in the 1812 Patriotic War in Belarus in its 200 anniversary is the best proof of that. Strange, but only at first glance, all these attempts look to try to change the name of the war, and present the case as if it was a stranger to Belarusians. Following this logic, we can say that the Great Patriotic War was not such for residents, for example, to the east of the Urals or Central Asia. I am sure that if we concede to this issue all sorts of figures now and agree with the denial of the national character of the 1812 war of the year, then the next stage of the years through 15-20 (or even earlier) will be the denial of the domestic character of the 1941-1945 war of the year. After all, the Patriotic War of the year 1812 and the Great Patriotic War are connected by common names, meaning and heroics.
I would very much like to be mistaken, but I think that some are already preparing to revise the outcome of the Great Patriotic War and to declare it a war of two invaders - Hitler and Stalin. Byelorussians, by analogy with comments about the 1812 war of the year, will be declared the injured party, and the policemen and other traitors will be declared as one of the parties to the conflict along with the partisans in the “fascist-Soviet” war. Moreover: it is precisely the “Stalinist” partisans who will be responsible for the genocide of the Belarusians, and not the fascists who prepared for this in advance according to the Ost plan.
These are all links of one chain. Why this is still not understood by our leaders in the ideological sphere, I, frankly, is simply incomprehensible. After all, our entire ideology is based on the feat of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War, while we, giving up the theme of the Patriotic War 1812 of the year, are preparing the ground for a strike on the Great Patriotic War.
As REGNUM news agency reported, in the year of the 200 anniversary of the Patriotic War 1812, the authorities of Belarus do not hold large-scale events related to the anniversary date. According to official reports, the authorities of Belarus have scheduled at the end of the year (23-24 in November) several "commemorative events on the occasion of the 200 anniversary of the 1812 war of the year" in Borisov (Minsk region). It is known that for this purpose a certain organizing committee has been created under the leadership of the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers; coordination of events is entrusted to the Ministry of Culture and the Minsk Regional Executive Committee. Little is known about the activities of this organizing committee, and observers have an opinion about deliberately ignoring the jubilee date.
Recall that in early May, the authorities of Belarus suspended the activities of the Minsk Society of Russian Culture "Rus" - the largest organization of Russian compatriots in the post-Soviet republic. From the beginning of 2012, activists of the MORK "Rus" held about a dozen events dedicated to the anniversary of the Patriotic War 1812. According to experts, the authorities of Belarus gradually liquidate a public organization, which also coincides with the interests of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
We also recall that in response to a proposal from the leadership of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus to return the notion “Patriotic War of 1812 of the Year” 26 of July 2012 from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus received a negative response, justified by the distorted interpretation of opinions of Russian historians - members of the International Napoleonic Society. The Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus came to the conclusion that the use of the term “World War 1812 of the Year” seems unfounded in the official Belarusian historiography.
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