Examining The New Emphasis Of Family In Soviet War Propaganda?

Mothers and Motherland: Examining the New Emphasis of Family in Soviet War Propaganda Through the Lens of Lisa A. Kirschenbaum.

Varsha Rajesh Gender and Sexuality in Soviet History 27 September 2024

I shall wait and wish for you desperately to come home as you and our children fight for myself and the motherland. Plastered by such tearful and longing letters between wartorn loved ones, each Soviet newspaper made plain the new central message of the Soviet Union during the Second World War: the emphasis of Soviet familial relationships driving the war effort and its essential nature to the persistence of the motherland. From the Bolshevik Revolution through the 1930s, the people of the Soviet Union were encouraged to shun familial

Comparing Western and Soviet propaganda, although both sporting depictions of female war workers, Soviet images had unprecedented emphasis on motherhood’s role. Through excerpts of letters scattered throughout the article, the prominence of personal war experiences in media is clear, encouraging people to use their connections to spouses, children, and parents as motivation to mobilize. Through personal anecdotes and images, sons’ devotion toward their mothers was used as they were encouraged to show that same devotion to their country, deemed Mother Russia. Similarly, mothers pushed husbands and children to enlist, and children felt filial responsibility as the media reminded them of their fathers’ civil war efforts, as well as parents and children on the frontline. As women stood on frontlines and temporarily filled spots of their brothers, fathers, and husbands, a woman’s resilience was highlighted and used to distinguish the nation state from Nazi prejudice. Masculinity was also defined by involvement in the war. The media altered the “double view of women” by highlighting the capability of women to be politically and economically conscious while simultaneously fulfilling maternal duties. This working mother was the

Acknowledging that many historians assert that the Stalingrad victory of the war led civilians to return to attributing wartime success to the state, Kirschenbaum delves into a nuance at this point: the lens of motherhood in propaganda. She uses the evidence of continued letters in media as well as motherhood being a symbol of the nation to show that through Joseph Stalin’s ruling, familial influence on war remained prominent in propaganda despite other shifts. By doing so, she contributes to historiography by addressing the larger debate of private versus public sectors and their value throughout history. Moreover, Kirschenbaum touches on women’s involvement in the war by showing their active roles in men’s jobs and fighting, as well as their passive duties encouraging children and husbands to fight. She also highlights “the man question” as she explains the interpretation of masculinity to be fighting in the war, as expected by women. Kirschenbaum thus fills in a gap in historiography by exploring the continuous influence of family and gender roles on Soviet propaganda during World War