"The USSR has joined the allies": what the West knows about World War II
Young Spaniard Nuria Mar is a popular video blogger. It is not surprising that there are a lot of Russians among her fans, because the girl is studying Russian and is actively interested in our history and culture.
Despite the noticeable emphasis, her success in learning the language is simply amazing. Yes, she herself sincerely rejoices with him. Once she received a homework assignment in which she was required to shoot a video in Russian.
Nuria chose a very interesting topic for Russians. She decided to briefly retell what is taught to Spanish schoolchildren on the history of Russia.
Features of Spanish Education
Unlike Russian first-graders, in Spain, kids go “first time to first grade” at the age of three. Three-year-olds become schoolchildren there, who graduate at the age of 12. Compared with Russian educational institutions, the Spaniards combined a kindergarten and an elementary school. After school, they go to college. There, children are given an education corresponding to our senior classes. They study at the institute for four years, from 12 to 16 years. After that, those who want to go to universities, which there, as most often with us, are called universities. So, in the last, fourth grade of the institute, they study the history of Russia.
Russian history for Spanish children
It turns out that at the age of 16 young Spaniards get a first impression of Russian history. Of course, they study very fragmentary and truncated material, but in fairness, I note that in the Spanish school you can learn more about Russia than in the Russian school about Spain.
Surprisingly, of the 15 chapters of the Spanish history textbook, three tell about Russia. This is not so little. True, it tells only about the 1905th century. It all starts with the events preceding the XNUMX revolution and ends with the period of the Cold War.
Russian revolution through the eyes of the Spaniards
According to the Spanish textbook, during the reign of Nicholas II, Russia economically lagged significantly behind the leading Western countries. Semi-feudal agriculture, an underdeveloped industry, and an illiterate population are the main characteristics of pre-revolutionary Russia.
One of the main reasons for the fall of the Russian Empire was the First World War, for which the country was not ready. It tells about the February Revolution, about the Bolsheviks, how they raised the proletariat to the struggle, and took power. They mention Lenin and Trotsky as the main leaders of the revolution. In general, they describe the October Revolution and the formation of the USSR in very bright colors.
After the death of Lenin, a power struggle broke out between Trotsky and Stalin. Oddly enough, the sympathies of the Spaniards here entirely belong to Trotsky. As Nuria said, he was a "good dude." The Spaniards consider the coming to power of Stalin a very negative event. After all, Trotsky advocated exporting the revolution to other countries, and Stalin began to build socialism in the USSR without sharing it with others.
Paradoxically, the Spaniards, especially the Catalans, fellow countrymen of Nuria Mar, are very sympathetic to not only Trotsky, but also to his killer, Ramon Mercader. Nuria was very surprised when she found out that not everyone in Russia knows who it is. Perhaps the special attitude to Mercader is explained by the fact that he was a Catalan.
But why Trotsky is so fond of the Spaniards is hard to understand. Perhaps the fact is that during the Spanish Civil War, the Trotskyists played a very active and controversial role. True, for some reason, the textbook is silent about the Soviet Union's active support for the Spanish Republicans in this war. Nothing is also mentioned about how many children were then taken from Spain to the Soviet Union in order to protect them from imminent death. By the way, one of the descendants of these migrants is the great Soviet hockey player Valery Kharlamov.
The Second World War
If you studied well in the Soviet school, you do not need to argue how to speak correctly - World War II or the Great Patriotic War. This is the same as arguing how to spell - Iran or Iraq. The Soviet school taught that the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, with the Nazi attack on Poland, and the Great Patriotic War, on June 22, 1941, with the German invasion of the USSR.
Of course, the view of World War II in Spanish textbooks is somewhat different from the truth, but it could be worse.
They say that the war began with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the partition of Poland between Germany and the USSR. But when the Germans attacked the Soviet Union and reached Moscow, he had to join the Allies. Given the fact that the French were defeated in a month in 1940, and the Anglo-American troops landed in Europe only in 1944, it is difficult to understand which allies we joined in 1941.
True, in the Spanish textbook it is noted that the crucial stage, after which the liberation of the lands captured by the Nazis began, was the Battle of Stalingrad. But there is its own "fly in the ointment." The textbook indicated that the liberation of Europe began with the landing of the Allies in Normandy. In addition, for some reason they modestly remain silent about participation in the war on the side of Hitler, the Spanish volunteer "Blue Division", which was located near Leningrad.
They mention the fact that the USSR suffered the most significant losses from all countries of the world. The book states that of the 50 million dead, the Soviet Union lost half. Although this data is not accurate. Firstly, according to the latest data, 27 million Soviet people died in the war, of which only 10 million are military losses. The remaining 17 million dead are civilians. In addition, China suffered the largest losses in World War II, which, according to some sources, lost about 1931 million people in the war with Japan since 35. True, many researchers dispute this information, calling the figure several times smaller.
When Nuria Mar visited Russia, she was surprised how much the Great Patriotic War still means to Russians. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that in such a vast country, in almost every family, the events of those distant years left a deep and indelible mark.
The last section in the textbook, which spoke about Russia, was devoted to the Cold War. But Nuria did not begin to talk about him, since she did not seem worthy of attention to her. Apparently, this smiling and cheerful girl, with sincere sympathy related to our country, did not want to touch on this topic and repeat all kinds of nonsense for the compilers of the textbook.
Despite the noticeable emphasis, her success in learning the language is simply amazing. Yes, she herself sincerely rejoices with him. Once she received a homework assignment in which she was required to shoot a video in Russian.
Nuria chose a very interesting topic for Russians. She decided to briefly retell what is taught to Spanish schoolchildren on the history of Russia.
Features of Spanish Education
Unlike Russian first-graders, in Spain, kids go “first time to first grade” at the age of three. Three-year-olds become schoolchildren there, who graduate at the age of 12. Compared with Russian educational institutions, the Spaniards combined a kindergarten and an elementary school. After school, they go to college. There, children are given an education corresponding to our senior classes. They study at the institute for four years, from 12 to 16 years. After that, those who want to go to universities, which there, as most often with us, are called universities. So, in the last, fourth grade of the institute, they study the history of Russia.
Russian history for Spanish children
It turns out that at the age of 16 young Spaniards get a first impression of Russian history. Of course, they study very fragmentary and truncated material, but in fairness, I note that in the Spanish school you can learn more about Russia than in the Russian school about Spain.
Surprisingly, of the 15 chapters of the Spanish history textbook, three tell about Russia. This is not so little. True, it tells only about the 1905th century. It all starts with the events preceding the XNUMX revolution and ends with the period of the Cold War.
Russian revolution through the eyes of the Spaniards
According to the Spanish textbook, during the reign of Nicholas II, Russia economically lagged significantly behind the leading Western countries. Semi-feudal agriculture, an underdeveloped industry, and an illiterate population are the main characteristics of pre-revolutionary Russia.
One of the main reasons for the fall of the Russian Empire was the First World War, for which the country was not ready. It tells about the February Revolution, about the Bolsheviks, how they raised the proletariat to the struggle, and took power. They mention Lenin and Trotsky as the main leaders of the revolution. In general, they describe the October Revolution and the formation of the USSR in very bright colors.
After the death of Lenin, a power struggle broke out between Trotsky and Stalin. Oddly enough, the sympathies of the Spaniards here entirely belong to Trotsky. As Nuria said, he was a "good dude." The Spaniards consider the coming to power of Stalin a very negative event. After all, Trotsky advocated exporting the revolution to other countries, and Stalin began to build socialism in the USSR without sharing it with others.
Paradoxically, the Spaniards, especially the Catalans, fellow countrymen of Nuria Mar, are very sympathetic to not only Trotsky, but also to his killer, Ramon Mercader. Nuria was very surprised when she found out that not everyone in Russia knows who it is. Perhaps the special attitude to Mercader is explained by the fact that he was a Catalan.
But why Trotsky is so fond of the Spaniards is hard to understand. Perhaps the fact is that during the Spanish Civil War, the Trotskyists played a very active and controversial role. True, for some reason, the textbook is silent about the Soviet Union's active support for the Spanish Republicans in this war. Nothing is also mentioned about how many children were then taken from Spain to the Soviet Union in order to protect them from imminent death. By the way, one of the descendants of these migrants is the great Soviet hockey player Valery Kharlamov.
The Second World War
If you studied well in the Soviet school, you do not need to argue how to speak correctly - World War II or the Great Patriotic War. This is the same as arguing how to spell - Iran or Iraq. The Soviet school taught that the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, with the Nazi attack on Poland, and the Great Patriotic War, on June 22, 1941, with the German invasion of the USSR.
Of course, the view of World War II in Spanish textbooks is somewhat different from the truth, but it could be worse.
They say that the war began with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the partition of Poland between Germany and the USSR. But when the Germans attacked the Soviet Union and reached Moscow, he had to join the Allies. Given the fact that the French were defeated in a month in 1940, and the Anglo-American troops landed in Europe only in 1944, it is difficult to understand which allies we joined in 1941.
True, in the Spanish textbook it is noted that the crucial stage, after which the liberation of the lands captured by the Nazis began, was the Battle of Stalingrad. But there is its own "fly in the ointment." The textbook indicated that the liberation of Europe began with the landing of the Allies in Normandy. In addition, for some reason they modestly remain silent about participation in the war on the side of Hitler, the Spanish volunteer "Blue Division", which was located near Leningrad.
They mention the fact that the USSR suffered the most significant losses from all countries of the world. The book states that of the 50 million dead, the Soviet Union lost half. Although this data is not accurate. Firstly, according to the latest data, 27 million Soviet people died in the war, of which only 10 million are military losses. The remaining 17 million dead are civilians. In addition, China suffered the largest losses in World War II, which, according to some sources, lost about 1931 million people in the war with Japan since 35. True, many researchers dispute this information, calling the figure several times smaller.
When Nuria Mar visited Russia, she was surprised how much the Great Patriotic War still means to Russians. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that in such a vast country, in almost every family, the events of those distant years left a deep and indelible mark.
The last section in the textbook, which spoke about Russia, was devoted to the Cold War. But Nuria did not begin to talk about him, since she did not seem worthy of attention to her. Apparently, this smiling and cheerful girl, with sincere sympathy related to our country, did not want to touch on this topic and repeat all kinds of nonsense for the compilers of the textbook.
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