The Stuff of Soldiers

A History of the Red Army in World War II through Objects

Brandon M. Schechter (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

344 Seiten

2023
Cornell University Press (Verlag)
978-1-5017-6825-5 (ISBN)

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The Stuff of Soldiers uses everyday objects to tell the story of the Great Patriotic War as never before. Brandon M. Schechter attends to a diverse array of things—from spoons to tanks—to show how a wide array of citizens became soldiers, and how the provisioning of material goods separated soldiers from civilians.

Through a fascinating examination of leaflets, proclamations, newspapers, manuals, letters to and from the front, diaries, and interviews, The Stuff of Soldiers reveals how the use of everyday items made it possible to wage war. The dazzling range of documents showcases ethnic diversity, women's particular problems at the front, and vivid descriptions of violence and looting.

Each chapter features a series of related objects: weapons, uniforms, rations, and even the knick-knacks in a soldier's rucksack. These objects narrate the experience of people at war, illuminating the changes taking place in Soviet society over the course of the most destructive conflict in recorded history. Schechter argues that spoons, shovels, belts, and watches held as much meaning to the waging of war as guns and tanks. In The Stuff of Soldiers, he describes the transformative potential of material things to create a modern culture, citizen, and soldier during World War II.

Brandon M. Schechter has taught at Columbia, New York University, NYU Shanghai, Brown, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his PhD. He is a contributor to Objects of War, edited by Leora Auslander and Tara Zahra.

Prelude: Outgunned and Outmanned

Acknowledgments

List of Archival Sources and Their Abbreviations

Terms and Abbreviations

Explanatory Notes

Introduction: Government Issue

1. The Soldier's Body: A Little Cog in a Giant War Machine

2. A Personal Banner: Life in Red Army Uniform

3. The State's Pot and the Soldier's Spoon: Rations in the Red Army

4. Cities of Earth, Cities of Rubble: The Spade and Red Army Landscaping

5. "A Weapon Is Your Honor and Conscience": Killing in the Red Army

6. The Thing-Bag: A Public-Private Place

7. Trophies of War: Red Army Soldiers Confront an Alien World of Goods

Conclusion: Subjects and Objects

Notes

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	10.01.2023
Reihe/Serie	Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History
Zusatzinfo	40 Halftones, black and white
Verlagsort	Ithaca
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	907 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
ISBN-10	1-5017-6825-5 / 1501768255
ISBN-13	978-1-5017-6825-5 / 9781501768255
Zustand	Neuware