Vlasov and the Russian liberation movement : Soviet reality and émigré theories

this Book Deals With The Attempt By Soviet Citizens To Create An Anti-soviet Liberation Movement During The Second World War. The Movement's Ultimate Importance Lies In Its Expression Of Grass-roots Opposition To The Soviet Regime, The First Substantial Such Efflorescence Since 1922. The Motivation Of Its Titular Leader, Vlasov, Is Examined In Detail, As Is Its Fundamental Ideology, Analyzed Within The Context Not Merely Of Wartime But Of Prewar Soviet And Russian Emigré Society. Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement deals with the attempt by Soviet citizens to create a Russian anti-Stalinist liberation movement during the Second World War. These Soviet citizens were mainly prisoners-of-war, forced labourers or part of the population of the occupied territories of the USSR. The Liberation Movement was encouraged by German officers who disagreed with Nazi policy towards the USSR, as their experience showed that treating the population as 'subhumans' (Untermensch) merely increased resistance to Nazi occupation. Throughout the development of the Liberation Movement there existed a divergence of aims between the Russian members who wished to form an army and a political movement which would effect change within the USSR, and its German supporters who merely wished to alter the type of propaganda directed towards the population of the USSR. Catherine Andreyev provides an account of the evolution of the Russian Liberation Movement and examines the motivation of the titular leader of the movement, Lieutenant-General Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov. The main focus of the book is the ideology of the Liberation Movement, the importance of which lies in the fact that it represented the first grass-roots opposition movement within the Soviet Union since the end of the Civil War in 1922. The programme of the Movement reflects issues which would have been raised by citizens in the 1930s had they been free to do so. Catherine Andreyev examines influences on the programme, and the ideas expressed are placed within the context of the pre-war Soviet and Russian émigré society This book deals with the attempt by Soviet citizens to create an anti-Soviet Liberation Movement during the Second World War. The Movement's ultimate importance lies in its expression of grass-roots opposition to the Soviet regime, the first substantial such efflorescence since 1922. The motivation of its titular leader, Vlasov, is examined in detail, as is its fundamental ideology, analyzed within the context not merely of wartime but of prewar Soviet and Russian émigré society.--Publisher description

This book deals with the attempt by Soviet citizens to create an anti-Soviet Liberation Movement during the Second World War. The Movement's ultimate importance lies in its expression of grass-roots opposition to the Soviet regime, the first substantial such efflorescence since 1922. The motivation of its titular leader, Vlasov, is examined in detail, as is its fundamental ideology, analyzed within the context not merely of wartime but of prewar Soviet and Russian emigré society.

List of figures Preface List of abbreviations Introduction Foundations Red Army Commander Ostpolitik Decision to lead KONR and the final stages Ideals High Hopes Reality The Russian idea At Home From foreign shores Splicing old and new Conclusion Appendices The Smolensk declaration Vlasov's Open Letter The Prague Manifesto Select bibliography Index Almost at once after the outbreak of war between the USSR and the Third Reich on 22 June 1941, Soviet citizens in German hands, particularly prisoners-of-war and those civilians employed as forced labour by the Nazis, made clear their active opposition to Stalin and his regime. A text that deals with the attempt by Soviet citizens to create an anti-Soviet Liberation Movement during World War II. Comprised mainly of prisoners-of-war, forced labourers and the inhabitants of Soviet-occupied territories, the Movement was encouraged by Nazi orthodoxy.