Essential problems of history of World War II from perspective of Russian and foreign neoliberals

Abstract

The paper considers trending matters of the history of World War II based on views of contemporary Russian and foreign representatives of neoliberalism. The present topic is relevant since neoliberalism supporters attempt to reconsider the key events of World War II, which is especially noticeable just before the 75th anniversary of its end. Instead of serious historical research, numerous works of neoliberal authors contain highly ideologically charged representation of the events considered, which usually has anti-Russian trends. The present paper investigates neoliberal judgments and views of Russian and foreign authors on the reasons of World War II, its beginning, the Eastern Front (which in Russia is called the Great Patriotic War) and on the image of the Soviet army. These particular aspects are usually payed special attention and considered from the perspective of the new neoliberal reading. The aim of this paper is to perform the analysis of neoliberal views on some key aspects of World War II. The authors consider the rationale proposed by neoliberals and try to identify the grounds for reconsideration of a number of events of World War II. The key method of analysis performed was the dialectical method. Such specific methods as those of analysis, synthesis, comparative-historical and problematic-chronological methods, methods of actualization, of specific and logical analysis and some other ones were applied as well. As the result of the research conducted, the authors ascertained that in both Russia and foreign countries neoliberal views on important matters of World War II stem from ideology and political interests. In fact, there is the aim pursued to substantiate the responsibility and blame of the Soviet Union for starting the war, inhumanity of soviet regime and barbarity of the Soviet army. To attain this, in the context of informational war that is currently taking place all means are used from distortion of facts to fabrications and outright lies. Such methods are obviously unscientific and have nothing to do with historical research. The political objective of the ideological campaign run is to show Russia, which is the legal successor state of the Soviet Union, as the aggressive country that treats the free liberal world. The proceedings of the present paper may be relevant for historians, political analysts and theorists as well as for those who are engaged in World War II and particularly its Eastern Front.