In “Who Makes Local Memories?: The Case of Sevastopol after World War II”, Qualls argues that the historical city of Sevastopol has been defined and shaped by its identification with Russian\u00a0culture and history. Sevastopol’s residents and outsiders consider it to be a Russian city, and this tradition was evident as far back as 1845 when Leo Tolstoy wrote that it was “impossible to shake the spirit of the Russian people” (Qualls 3) during their defense of the city during the Seize of Sevastopol. During WWII, in creating its own wartime narrative, Sevastopol introduced their own heroes among Soviet heroes such as Zoya\u00a0Kosmodemianskaia. In Soviet press, Sevastopol’s role in WWII was linked to the Crimean War and so the fight against the Nazis was coined as the “Second Great Defense.” Thus, in the creation a wartime narrative, Sevastopol’s heroes were linked and compared to pre-Soviet Russian heroes, such as\u00a0Aleksandr Nevskii, Aleksandr Suvorov, and Mikhail Kutuzov. Thus, qualities such as self-sacrifice, resistance and heroism that were exhibited by these Russian heroes\u00a0became “synonymous with Sevastopol” (Qualls 7). The city’s military history as the city of Catherine the Great’s fleet and its ancient Greek and Turkish origins contributed to the narrative of Sevastopol as a Russian, as opposed to Soviet city.<\/p>\n
This replacement of Russian history over Soviet history is interesting, especially in the light of 2 decades before where Stalin called for a brotherhood of nations where the Soviet Union was national in structure but Soviet in form. Did this change in perspective happen in response to the war? If so, what about Russian history was more powerful than the Soviet narrative? Although Soviet values were not replaced completely replaced, why was history so important to Sevastopol narrative? It seems like the fact that a military history had already been such a staple of Sevastopol’s understanding of itself, from both its Soviet leaders and its population that harnessing this history would be more beneficial for the war effort than repeating Soviet propaganda.<\/p>\n
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In “Who Makes Local Memories?: The Case of Sevastopol after World War II”, Qualls argues that the historical city of Sevastopol has been defined and shaped by its identification with Russian\u00a0culture and history. Sevastopol’s residents and outsiders consider it to … Continue reading