"Vlasov Phenomenon" In The Soviet War

Vlasov Phenomenon is an important question of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. It is an episode that many Russians do not want to mention. On June22,1941, the Soviet-German war broke out. In the early period of the war, the Soviet army retreated and large tracts of the land were occupied by their enemies. Faced with this situation, most of the Soviet army and Soviet people united together to fight against their common foreign enemies. But there is also a considerable part of the Soviet people who chose to cooperate with the Germans. Even many officers and soldiers of the Red Army defected in front of the war.Andrei Andreevich Vlasov was a young and promising general in the Soviet army. He performed outstandingly before the war. And in the early days of war, Vlasov performed very well. But later, in the Lyuban-Chudovo Offensive Operation, Vlasov was defeated and captured by the Germans. Later, Vlasov chose to cooperate with Germans and took an active part in the propaganda for Germans. He even called on the whole army and people in the Soviet to join him to fight against Stalin’s dictatorship. He hoped that German authorities could support him to establish a provisional government and armed forces which represented the whole Russian’s nations. But Hitler had never accepted his request. It was not until the end of the year1944that he finally set up a provisional government and formed an armed force in support of the German authorities in Prague. But it was too late, in that the Germans were doomed to defeat. In order to escape the doom, Vlasov’s army attempted to avoid war with the Soviet army and had been contacting with the Western world in hope of getting shelter from them. But based on the promise to Stalin, western countries repatriated a large number of Soviets who had ever cooperated with German armies back to their country. After repatriation, Vlasov and his followers were committed for trial and finally sentenced to death.This thesis consists of six parts. Every part is one chapter.The first part introduces Vlasov’s experiences and performances before he was captured, including his performances before and in the early period of the war. At the end of this part, it introduces and makes a brief evaluation on the Lyuban-Chudovo Offensive Operation in which Vlasov was captured by German armies.The second part introduces Vlasov’s performances after he was captured. It is divided into three sections. The first talks about Vlasov’s change, describing his devotion to the propaganda for Germans. The second describes that Germans authorities were indifferent toward Vlasov. It reflects Nazi German attempted to conquer Soviet. Finally, this section describes the Soviet authorities’s determination of Vlasove.The third part introduces Vlasov built his strength preliminarily. Hitler refuses to support Vlasov. Owing to the reversal of the war situation and the promotion of Vlasov’s prestige, Vlasov’s requirement gets more and more people’s support. Hitler totally changes his idea at the end of1944. Vlasov finally established Committee for the liberation of the Peoples of Russia and Russian Liberation Army with the support of Germany. Vlasov’s status has been greatly improved. Unfortunately, all the efforts are too late.The fourth part introduces the Vlasov took last action in the final phase of war. It tells Oder River’s counterattack participated by the first division of Russian Liberation Army. It also introduces the Prague uprising and tells Vlasov’s secret contact with the western world. Finally, it illustrates that Vlasov and many Soviet citizens cooperated with Germany surrendered to Allies. But they were forced repatriated to Soviet and executed by Soviet authority.The fifth part analyses Vlasov phenomenon. Through the detailed analysis behavior of Vlasov, Vlasov’s cadres and the Vlasovist, this paper carries on the comparison and analysis of different point of view. It reveals that Vlasov’s capriciousness and duplicity. While the mono-assessment for the complex formation of Vlasov’s followers and the Vlasovist is not realistic and not scientific.The sixth part is conclusion. I briefly review Vlasov’s behavior before and after the outbreak of the war. I make a comment on Vlasov’s phenomenon and enumerate current three points about the evaluation of Vlasov’s movement. It points out that under the influence of cold war mentality, many Vlasov’s supporter and the western scholars’ evaluation is too idealistic. The traditional class struggle viewpoint within Soviet’s valuation is too simplified. Because of the requirement for political reality, many contemporary Russians evaluation is unfair. I hold the points that we should be in line with the principle of seeking truth from facts for the research of history. We should objectively and fairly decode history on the basis of fully restore history. Otherwise, it will harm to the understanding of history.