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No nation is a stranger to war, but for Russians war is a central
part of who they are. Their "motherland" has been the battlefield
where some of the largest armies have clashed, the most savage
battles have been fought, the highest death tolls paid. Having
prevailed over Mongol hordes and vanquished Napoleon and Hitler,
many Russians believe no other nation has sacrificed so much for
the world. In Russia: The Story of War Gregory Carleton explores
how this belief has produced a myth of exceptionalism that pervades
Russian culture and politics and has helped forge a national
identity rooted in war. While outsiders view Russia as an
aggressor, Russians themselves see a country surrounded by enemies,
poised in a permanent defensive crouch as it fights one invader
after another. Time and again, history has called upon Russia to
play the savior-of Europe, of Christianity, of civilization
itself-and its victories, especially over the Nazis in World War
II, have come at immense cost. In this telling, even defeats lose
their sting. Isolation becomes a virtuous destiny and the whole of
its bloody history a point of pride. War is the unifying thread of
Russia's national epic, one that transcends its wrenching
ideological transformations from the archconservative empire to the
radical-totalitarian Soviet Union to the resurgent nationalism of
the country today. As Putin's Russia asserts itself in ever bolder
ways, knowing how the story of its war-torn past shapes the present
is essential to understanding its self-image and worldview.
This collection brings together scholars from a wide range of
disciplines to offer perspectives on national identity formation in
various European contexts between 1600 and 1815. Contributors
challenge the dichotomy between modernists and traditionalists in
nationalism studies through an emphasis on continuity rather than
ruptures in the shaping of European nations in the period, while
also offering an overview of current debates in the field and case
studies on a number of topics, including literature,
historiography, and cartography.
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