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The Soviet Union after the Second World War can serve as a prime example of how victory 'locks in' a political system. In a mirror image of Wolfgang Schivelbusch's argument of how 'cultures of defeat' encourage social and political innovation, the Soviet 'culture of victory' reaffirmed a dictatorial system of government and a command economy based on collectivized agriculture and centrally planned industry. At the same time, however, the war also engendered changes, which played themselves out somewhat subterraneously at first. They include a complex system of veterans' privileges, a growing welfare state, a more routinized administration, and an economy where individual and family farming played a major role in the provisioning not only of the rural, but also of the urban population. Moreover, counter-narratives and counter-memories of this war could never be completely silenced by the bombastic war cult and would break forth at the end of the Soviet century. Finally, the economic and human costs of this victory were such that they formed a constant dark underbelly to the celebration of the 'Great Victory'. This article surveys these contradictory legacies of the war and the ways in which they helped shape late Soviet society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the implications of Russia's victory during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945, including the quasi-liberal paradigm equating the Soviet rule and the Nazi regime. Topics discussed include evidence supporting Russian's heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War, the normalization of state-church relations during the Second World War and the Western world's efforts to rewrite Russia's victory as a defeat.

The article discusses the Soviet Union's operations at the Battle of Berlin, Germany, focusing particularly on the psychological attitudes of Soviet soldiers involved in the campaign of 1945. Anecdotes about combat conditions, German teenagers as soldiers, and Soviet efforts to aid German civilians in Berlin are related. The author reports that after the fall of Berlin on May 2, 1945, Russian troops and officers celebrated their victory by sleeping. Some of the war experiences considered include thsoe of war correspondent Orest Vereisky, reconnaissance officer Sofia Avericheva, and full cavalier of the Order of Glory Konstantin Mamedov.