Great Patriotic War (term)

The term Great Patriotic War was first popularized in the Soviet Union and continue to be used in some post‐Soviet countries (including and mainly Russia) to describe the Eastern Front of the Second World War between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and its allies from 1941 to 1945.

The term is less used outside of post-Soviet states. This term demonstrates high patriotism. The Eastern Front was the largest front in human history beginning with Operation Barbarossa. There were eight to 12,8 million troops from both sides, 5,700 to 20 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 84,000 to 163 thousand artillery pieces and mortars and 6,500 to 18,800 aircrafts were used by both sides.^[1] For four years, the Eastern Front had attracted lots of Nazi forces. Around 190 to 270 fascist divisions, which were over ¾ of total troops, had fought in this front.

In this front, German and its Axis forces had been eliminated with 607 divisions and 75 percent of weapons and military equipments gone. Total German losses in World War II were 13,4 million of which 10 million deaths occured in the Eastern Front.^[2] For the Soviets, 8,6 million soldiers are dead, including three million died in Nazi concentration camps.^[3] If including civilians, which had 18 million deaths, the Soviet Union took 26,6 million deaths, becoming the most suffering nation in terms of losing people in the entire war.^[3]

• Russian: Великая Отечественная война, romanized: Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna
• Azerbaijani: Böyük Vətən müharibəsi
• Belarusian: Вялікая Айчынная вайна, romanized: Vyalikaya Aychynnaya vayna
• Estonian: Suur Isamaasõda
• Armenian: Հայրենական Մեծ պատերազմ, romanized: Hayrenakan Mec paterazm
• Georgian: დიდი სამამულო ომი/Didi samamulo omi
• Kazakh: Ulı Otan soğısı
• Kyrgyz: Улуу Ата Мекендик согуш, romanized: Uluu Ata Mekendik soğuş
• Lithuanian: Didysis Tėvynės karas
• Latvian: Lielais Tēvijas karš
• Romanian: Marele Război pentru apărarea Patriei (Moldovan Cyrillic: Мареле Рэзбой пентру апэраря Патрией)
• Tajik: Ҷанги Бузурги Ватанӣ, romanized: Jangi Buzurgi Vataní
• Turkmen: Beýik Watançylyk urşy/Beyik Watançılıq urşı
• Tatar: Бөек Ватан сугышы, romanized: Böyek Watan suğışı
• Ukrainian: Велика Вітчизняна війна, romanized: Velyka Vitchyznyana viyna
• Uzbek: Улуғ Ватан уруши, romanized: Uluğ Vatan uruşi

The reason why the term Great Patriotic War is different from popular and every-day use names like World War II/2 and the Second World War is that the term only focuses on the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany and its European allies (Axis Powers) which means it does not include the Pacific War (including the Soviet–Japanese War) and the Western Front. It also does not include the Soviet invasions of Poland and Finland.

The term appeared after the June 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) and served as Soviet propagandaencouraging citizens to fight to protect the Soviet Union against Nazi invaders. Before that, the Patriotic War was used to describe the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon Bonaparte, nowadays that war is called the Patriotic War of 1812.

The term Great Patriotic War was first used by Soviet newspaper Pravda (Truth) after the Nazi invasion, in an article named "The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet People" (Velikaya Otechestvennaya voyna sovetskogo naroda). In the war, the Soviet Union created the Order of the Patriotic War to award heroic actions.

• Victory Day (9 May)
• French invasion of Russia