1. Nation and Memory in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine
Lecture 14
War Remembrance: Fallen for the Fatherland
Week 5, Spring Term

2. Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
Outline
Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
The Great War and the political cult of the dead
The Unknown Soldier
4. Conclusion 2

3. Graves of January Uprising veterans at Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery
A Vilnius chapel commemorating the suppression of the uprising of 1863, inter-war period

4. Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
Outline
Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
The Great War and the political cult of the dead
The Unknown Soldier
4. Conclusion 4

5. Daily Express, 7 November 1919
In quiet graves beyond the seas sleep a million British men who paid the price of victory… It is our duty to see that they did not die in vain, and for the accomplishment of that duty all classes must combine as they did to win the war, unselfishly and harmoniously. There must be a truce in domestic quarrels, and end to industrial strife. We must all pull together lest the rewards of victory be thrown away.
Daily Express, 7 November 1919

6. Political Cult of the Dead
Russia: efforts to glorify soldiers only during war, after October Revolution, cult of dead focused on fallen revolutionaries, Red Army Soldiers in Civil War and after 1924 Lenin
Poland: WWI soldiers marginalised (exception Polish legions), focus on insurgents and soldiers of new Polish Army in nation building wars after 1918
Ukraine: in Soviet Ukraine as in Soviet Russia, in Western Ukraine (Eastern Poland) political cult of dead of fighters for independence and soldiers of Ukrainian Galician Army

7. Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
Outline
Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
The Great War and the political cult of the dead
The Unknown Soldier
4. Conclusion 7

8. Naming the soldiers

11. Photograph: The British Unknown
Warrior’s cortege passing the
Cenotaph, November 11, 1920

12. London, Westminister Abbey

13. Postcard of the Tomb of the French Unknown Soldier, Nov. 11, 1920

14. "BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY OF A BRITISH WARRIOR UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY 11 NOV: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V HIS MINISTERS OF STATE THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR OF GAVE THE MOST THAT MAN CAN GIVE LIFE ITSELF FOR GOD FOR KING AND COUNTRY FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE "

15. Hungary, Budapest, Monument
of National Heroes, Heroes’ Square
Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic,
Prague, Monument of Jan Zizka
Portugal, Batalha Monastery
Greece, Athens, Syntagma Square

16. Yugoslavia, Belgrade, Mount Avala
Austria, Vienna, Heldenplatz
Bulgaria, Sofia,
Basilica St. Sofia
Italy, Rome, Altare
Della Patria (Vittorio
Emanuel Monument)

17. Italy, Rome, Altare
Della Patria (Vittorio
Emanuel Monument)

18. Postcard of the Tomb of the
French Unknown Soldier who fell in the defence of Belgian independence, Belgium, Brussels-Laeken,
inaugurated on July 17, 1927
Postcard of the Tomb of
the Belgian Unknown Soldier,
Brussels, 1923

19. Postcard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier WW I, USA, Arlington, inaugurated 1921
In front of the sarcophagus: the tombs
of the Unknown Soldiers of
World War II, the Korean War and the
Vietnam War

20. Neue Wache in Berlin

21. Nationaldenkmal and Reichsehrenmal

23. Hindenburg‘s funeral, August

24. Lviv, 29/10/1925

26. Der Sächsische Palast in Warschau. In den zentralen Arkaden das
Grab des Unbekannten Soldaten, 1925

27. The Cult of the Unknown Soldier in Poland
Appealed to Roman Catholic Poles
(Self-)exclusion of Ukrainians
(Self-)exclusion of part of Jewish community
Progressive Jewish community:, all-human interpretation of Unknown soldier made participation in cult possible
Ukrainians developed their own cult of the fallen soldiers - different heroes - anti-Polish
Exclusion from dominant memorial culture - reflects discrimination of Ukrainians and anti- Semitic sentiments
Integrative effect limited, cult only partly successul

28. The Ukrainian (Lviv) newspaper Dilo, 1/11/1924
“The Earth, bathed in the breath of memories that conjure up the laurel wreaths of the dying heroes, brings forth the life-nourishing grain, just as the burial of life gave birth to the driving force of the nation.”
The Ukrainian (Lviv) newspaper Dilo, 1/11/1924

29. Ruins of the Polish tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw 1945

30. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, 2001

31. The Ukrainian Unknown Soldier, Kiev, Park of Eternal Glory
The Soviet Unknown Soldier
Kremlin Walls

32. The American Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War

33. Canada

34. Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
Outline
Fallen soldiers – forgotten soldiers
The Great War and the political cult of the dead
The Unknown Soldier
4. Aftermath and conclusion 34

35. Functions of the Political Cult of the Dead
Justifying the war
Giving meaning to death in war
Promoting national unity
Strengthening the existing order
Honouring the soldiers
Educating of young generation
Comforting the bereaved