Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T07:04:59.467Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

“Orange Plague”: World War II and the Symbolic Politics of Pro-state Mobilization in Putin’s Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2019

Matthew Luxmoore*
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: mjluxmoore@gmail.com

Abstract

This article examines the symbolic politics of three pro-state movements that emerged from the “preventive counterrevolution” launched by the Kremlin in response to Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. In 2005, youth movement Nashi played upon war memory at its rallies and branded the opposition “fascist”; in 2012, the Anti-Orange Committee countered opposition protests with mass gatherings at Moscow’s war commemoration sites; in 2015, Antimaidan brought thousands onto Russia’s streets to denounce US-backed regime change and alleged neo-Nazism in Kiev. I show how evocation of the enemy image, through reference to the war experience, played a key role in the symbolism of the preventive counterrevolution. Interviews with activists in these movements discussing their symbolic politics reveal an opposing victim/victor narrative based on an interplay of two World War II myths—the “Great Victory” and the “fascist threat.” Moving beyond approaches that view the Soviet and Russian World War II cult as a triumphalist narrative of the Great Victory over fascism, I conclude that its threat component is an understudied element.

Type
Article
Copyright
© Association for the Study of Nationalities 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aksyonov, Pavel. 2015. “‘Antimaidan’ na ploshchadi Revoliutsii,” BBC, February 21. https://www.bbc.com/russian/russia/2015/02/150221_moscow_antimaidan_rally_impressionsGoogle Scholar
Antimaidan. 2015a. “Obshchestvennye Organizatsii.” https://antimaidan.ru/commandGoogle Scholar
Antimaidan. 2015b. “Manifest.” https://antimaidan.ru/page/9Google Scholar
Antimaidan. 2016. “Vystavka ‘Donbass, opalennyi voinoi.’” June 27. https://antimaidan.ru/action/8185Google Scholar
Antimaidan. 2019. “Volonterskaia rota.” https://antimaidan.ru/tegi/volonterskaya-rota. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Anti-Orange Committee. 2012b. “Antioranzhevyi miting 4 fevralia 13:00 Poklonnaia Gora”. January 31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPzCpstod8Google Scholar
Azar, Il’ia. 2015. “Rasserzhennye Patrioty,” Meduza. February 21. https://meduza.io/feature/2015/02/21/rasserzhennye-patriotyGoogle Scholar
Bernstein, Seth. 2016. “Remembering War, Remaining Soviet: Digital Commemoration of World War II in Putin’s Russia.” Memory Studies 9 (4): 422436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berntsen, Dorte, and Thomsen, Dorte Kirkegaard. 2005. “Personal Memories for Remote Historical Events: Accuracy and Clarity of Flashbulb Memories Relating to World War II,” Journal of Experimental Psychology General 134 (2): 242257CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boycko, Mikhail. 2012. “Opasna li ‘oranzhevaia chuma.’” Nezavisimaia Gazeta, December 13. http://www.ng.ru/columnist/2012-02-13/100_chuma.html.Google Scholar
Brunstedt, Jonathan. 2011. “Building a Pan-Soviet Past: The Soviet War Cult and the Turn Away from Ethnic Particularism.” Soviet and Post-Soviet Review 38 (2): 149171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Channel One. 2015. “Vystavka ‘Litso amerikanskoi demokratii’ otkrylas’ v Moskve.” February 16. https://www.1tv.ru/news/2015-02-16/27279-vystavka_litso_amerikanskoy_demokratii_otkrylas_v_moskveGoogle Scholar
Channel One. 2016a. “V Tule sostoialas’ prem’era fil’ma proekta ‘Privivka ot fashizma.’” http://www.1tvam.ru/index.php/2011-02-20-19-08-07/2015-01-31-19-11-32/2068-v-tule-sostoyalas-premera-filma-proekta-privivka-ot-fashizma. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Channel One. 2016b. “‘Privivka ot fashizma.’ Dobroe utro. Fragment vypuska ot 29.03.2016.” March 29. https://www.1tv.ru/shows/dobroe-utro/pro-pobedu/privivka-ot-fashizma-dobroe-utro-fragment-vypuska-ot-29032016Google Scholar
Clover, Charles. 2016. Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dubin, Boris. 2004. “‘Krovavaia’ Voina i ‘Velikaia’ Pobeda.” Otechestvennye Zapiski 5 (20). http://www.strana-oz.ru/2004/5/krovavaya-voyna-i-velikaya-pobeda. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Moskvy, Ekho. 2010. “Na forume ‘Seliger-2010’ Liudmilu Alekseevu priravniali k fashistam.” July 27. http://echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/698572-echo/.Google Scholar
Moskvy, Ekho. 2014. “Aktsiia skorbii na Poklonnoi gore.” September 28. https://echo.msk.ru/blog/malec_g/1408182-echo/Google Scholar
Essence of Time. 2011a. “Miting na Vorob’evykh gorakh 24 dekabria 2011 goda.” December 29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZykHP5_0nAGoogle Scholar
Essence of Time. 2011b. “Smysl’ Igry – 3.” December 16. https://eot.su/node/10260Google Scholar
Fedor, Julie, and Fredheim, Rolf. 2017. “‘We Need More Clips about Putin, and Lots of Them’: Russia’s State-Commissioned Online Visual Culture.” Nationalities Papers 45 (2): 161181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenghi, Fabrizio. (2017). “Making Post-Soviet Counterpublics: The Aesthetics of Limonka and the National-Bolshevik Party.” Nationalities Papers 45 (2): 182205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forest, Benjamin, and Johnson, Juliet. 2002. “Unraveling the Threads of History: Soviet-Era Monuments and Post-Soviet National Identity in Moscow.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92 (3): 524547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golaev, Igor, and Golaeva, Irina. 2016. Ukrainskii Sindrom. Saint Petersburg: Radoslovo.Google Scholar
Hippler, Fritz. 1940. Der Ewige Jude. Łódź: Deutsche Film Gesellschaft.Google Scholar
Horvath, Robert. 2011. “Putin’s ‘Preventive Counter-Revolution’: Post-Soviet Authoritarianism and the Spectre of Velvet Revolution.” Europe-Asia Studies 63 (1): 125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horvath, Robert. 2013. Putin’s “Preventive Counter-Revolution”: Post-Soviet Authoritarianism and the Spectre of Velvet Revolution. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Interfax. 2012a. “Putin podderzhal Poklonnuiu.” February 3. http://www.interfax.ru/russia/229171.Google Scholar
Interfax. 2012b. “Edinoross Sidiakin rastoptal beluiu lentu u dumskoi tribuny.” October 26. https://www.interfax.ru/russia/272838Google Scholar
Izborsk Club. 2012. “O Klube.” https://izborsk-club.ru/about. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Izvestiya, . 2005. “Lider ‘Idushchikh vmeste’ sobiraet ‘Nashikh.’ Vse ne ‘nashi’ ob”iavleny fashistami.” March 2.Google Scholar
Izvestiya, . 2006. “‘Nashi’ vernuli prazdnik.” December 18.Google Scholar
Khapaeva, Dina. 2009. “Historical Memory in Post-Soviet Gothic Society.” Social Research 76 (1): 359394.Google Scholar
Kolstø, Pål. 2016. “Symbol of the War—But Which One? The St George Ribbon in Russian Nation-Building.” Slavonic and East European Review 94 (4): 660701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kommersant. 2005. “Obyknovennyi ‘Nashizm.’” February 21.Google Scholar
Korybko, Andrew. 2015. Hybrid Wars: The Indirect Adaptive Approach to Regime Change. Moscow: People’s Friendship University of Russia.Google Scholar
Pavlenko, Petr. 1941. “Ne zabudem, ne prostim!” Krasnaya Zvezda, October 14.Google Scholar
Krokodil. 1968. “Urok.” October 28.Google Scholar
Laruelle, Marlene. 2016. “The Izborsky Club, or the New Conservative Avant‐Garde in Russia.” The Russian Review 75 (4): 626644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebedev-Kumach, Vasily. 1944. “Ne zabudem, ne prostim!”Izvestiya, September 10.Google Scholar
Lenta.ru. 2012a. “Umremte zhe pod Moskvoi.” February 23. https://lenta.ru/articles/2012/02/23/zaputina/Google Scholar
Lenta.ru. 2012b. “Diadia ne moi.” February 24. https://lenta.ru/photo/2012/02/23/kurginian/#5Google Scholar
Lenta.ru. 2014. “V Moskve nachalsia ‘Marsh Mira.’” March 15. https://lenta.ru/news/2014/03/15/peace/Google Scholar
Lenta.ru. 2015. “V Moskve zavershilsia miting ‘Antimaidana.’” February 21. https://lenta.ru/news/2015/02/21/antimaydan2/Google Scholar
Levshits, Nikolai. 2015. ““Konkurs ob obespechenii gospodderzhkoi NKO. Itogi.” Ekho Moskvy, July 2. https://echo.msk.ru/blog/nlevshits/1577560-echo/Google Scholar
Malover’ian, Iuriy. 2014. “‘Marsh Mira’ v Moskve sobral desiatki tysiach uchastnikov.” BBC, March 15. https://www.bbc.com/russian/international/2014/03/140315_ukraine_moscow_ralliesGoogle Scholar
Monday Production. 2012. Potselui Putina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TppyUHmD_Jw. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Mosgid, . 2010. “Pamiatnik Tragediia narodov na Poklonnoi gore.” November 28. http://www.mosgid.ru/architecture/monument/pamyatnik-tragediya-narodov-na-poklonnoy-gore.htmlGoogle Scholar
Komsomolets, Moskovskii. 2016. “Pravda o georgievskoi lentochke: kto vvel na nee modu.” May 5.Google Scholar
Nashi, . 2005. “Manifest molodezhnogo dvizheniia Nashi.” April 18. https://web.archive.org/web/20050417235355/http://www.nashi.su/pravda/83974709.Google Scholar
Nashi, . 2007. “NASHI. Vozvrashchennyi prazdnik.” October 18. https://rutube.ru/video/cce3874f505c227e72c60a4c42f109a1/Google Scholar
National Association of Parents. 2014. September 25. https://vk.com/wall-59164055_41Google Scholar
Newscaster.tv. 2015. “Marsh i miting ‘Antimaidana’ v Moskve.” February 21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BcT7-4llZYGoogle Scholar
Nezavisimaia Gazeta. 2004. “Moskovskie degustatory ukrainskogo sala.” December 7.Google Scholar
Nezavisimaia Gazeta. 2012. “Apostoly konservativnogo patriotizma.” September 10.Google Scholar
Night Wolves. 2015. “‘Antimaidan’ v Sevastopole 21 Fevralia 2015.” February 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=318&v=Y7B60CAvPBsGoogle Scholar
Novaia Gazeta. 2015. “Sobirateli zemel ot Podmoskov’ia do Kryma.” January 27.Google Scholar
NTV. 2014. “Donbass v uzhase: v bratskoi mogile zhertv natsgvardii nashli beremennuiu.” September 23. https://www.ntv.ru/novosti/1220116/Google Scholar
Orsk.ru. 2015. “‘Putin – edinstvennyi natsionalnyi lider’, a ‘diadia Sem – mne ne diadia.’” March 1. http://orsk.ru/news/54020Google Scholar
OSCE. 2014. “Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time).” September 23. https://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/124216Google Scholar
Palmer, Scott. 2009. “How Memory was Made: The Construction of the Memorial to the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad.” The Russian Review 68 (3): 373–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pravda, . 2012. “Miting v podderzhku Putina v Luzhnikakh. Reportazh.” February 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXxDdOZM4FgGoogle Scholar
Putin, Vladimir. 2005. “Vstrecha, posviashchennaia 250-letnemu iubileiu Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni M.V.Lomonosova.” Kremlin.ru. January 25. http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/22796.Google Scholar
Putin, Vladimir. 2014. “Vstrecha s chlenami Soveta palaty Soveta Federatsii.” March 27. http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/20645Google Scholar
RBC. 2015. “Granty ot Putina dadut za propagandu Russkogo mira i bor’bu s pedofilami.” December 8.Google Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012a. “Mesto provedeniia mitinga na Poklonnoi gore v Moskve,” February 3. https://ria.ru/infografika/20120203/555526805.html.Google Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012b. “Miting na Poklonnoi otkrylsia prizyvom borot’sya s oranzhevym dvizheniem.” February 4. https://ria.ru/politics/20120204/556506887.html.Google Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012c. “Plakaty i lozungi aktsii storonnikov Vladimira Putina.” February 23. https://ria.ru/20120223/572949894.html#ss572949894=p%3D572916226.Google Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012d. “Transliatsii aktsii v Moskve posmotreli v seti ne menee 100 tysiach chelovek.” February 23. https://ria.ru/20120223/573057253.htmlGoogle Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012e. “Shestvie i miting ‘Zashchitim stranu!’ v Luzhnikakh.” February 23. https://ria.ru/20120223/572313572.htmlGoogle Scholar
RIA Novosti. 2012f. “Sravnienie shestvii oppositsii po Yakimanke 4 fevralia i 6 maia. Uskorennaia versiia.” May 6. https://ria.ru/20120506/642919167.htmlGoogle Scholar
Rodina. 2014. “Deklaratsiia o sozdanii Russkogo internatsionala.” February 19. https://rodina.ru/novosti/slovo-i-delo/Deklaraciya-o-sozdanii-Russkogo-internacionalaGoogle Scholar
Rossiia 1. 2015. “Varshavskii dogovor. Rassekrechennye stranitsy.” May 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKGHMbwVaQGoogle Scholar
Rossiia 1. 2016. “Vesti Nedeli s Dmitriem Kiselevym.” October 23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDTlqkidHD0Google Scholar
RT. 2014. “V Moskve proshla aktsiia skorbi po ubitym zhiteliam Donbassa.” September 27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXyxMwQEneIGoogle Scholar
RT. 2015. “Aktsiia dvizheniia ‘Antimaidan’ v Moskve.” February 21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDu8pJs0wFIGoogle Scholar
Rutraveller. 2018. „Pamiatnik ‘Tragediia narodov’ na Poklonnoi Gore.” https://www.rutraveller.ru/place/58785 (last accessed April 27 2019)Google Scholar
Saakov, Rafael. 2015. “Sozdateli ‘Antimaidana’ – protiv sborov na Manezhnoi,” BBC. January 15. https://www.bbc.com/russian/russia/2015/01/150115_moscow_antimaidain_movementGoogle Scholar
Smith, Hedrick. 1976. The Russians. New York: Quadrangle.Google Scholar
Smith, Kathleen. 2002. Mythmaking in the New Russia: Politics and Memory during the Yeltsin Era. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Sperling, Valerie. 2009. “Making the Public Patriotic: Militarism and Anti-Militarism in Russia.” In Russian Nationalism and the National Reassertion of Russia, edited by Laruelle, Marlene, 218271. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Patriota, Spravochnik. 2018. “Belaia lenta.” https://ruxpert.ru/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0. (Accessed April 27, 2019.)Google Scholar
Starikov, Nikolai. 2015. “Interv’iu liberalnoi zhurnalistke Sibiri.” June 26. https://nstarikov.ru/blog/52688Google Scholar
Starikov, Nikolai. 2016. “Kultura i revoliutsiia. – vzgliad Antimaidana.” June 19. https://nstarikov.ru/blog/67217Google Scholar
Surkov, Vladislav. 2005. “Sekretnyi doklad Vladislava Surkova.” Radio Svoboda, July 11. http://www.svoboda.org/a/127679.htmlGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Paul, and Bornat, Joanna. 2017The Voice of the Past: Oral History. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tumarkin, Nina. 1994. The Living and the Dead: The Rise and Fall of the Cult of World War II in Russia. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Tumarkin, Nina. 2003. “The Great Patriotic War as Myth and Memory.” European Review 11 (4): 595611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Umland, Andreas. 2002. “Toward an Uncivil Society? Contextualizing the Recent Decline of Extremely Right-Wing Parties in Russia.” Demokratizatsia 10 (3): 362391.Google Scholar
Varlamov, Il’ia. 2010. “31 maia – ne zabudem, ne prostim!” Varlamov.ru, June 16. https://varlamov.ru/260082.htmlGoogle Scholar
Weiner, Amir. 1996. “The Making of a Dominant Myth: The Second World War and the Construction of Political Identities within the Soviet Polity.” The Russian Review 55 (4): 638660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Andrew. 2005. Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, Elizabeth. 2011. “Performing Memory: Vladimir Putin and the Celebration of World War II in Russia.”  Soviet and Post-Soviet Review 38 (2): 172200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zavtra, . 2014. “Spasti Ukrainu!” February 13. http://zavtra.ru/blogs/spasti-ukrainu-2.Google Scholar