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“As the importance of Victory Day in Central Asia decreases, it is needed even more in Moscow to promote and validate the war in Ukraine.”
The Victory Monument in Bishkek, created in 1985.
Credit: Vicky Davis
On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany formally surrendered, ending World War II in Europe. It was already May 9 in Moscow. Victory Day, as the holiday came to be called across the former Soviet Union, received increasing attention under Russian President Vladimir Putin who tapped into, and twisted at times, history to suit his contemporary needs.
Around 10 percent of the Soviet Red Army came from Central Asia, and memory of the war is evidenced by monuments across the region and, often, parades to mark May 9.
Over the years, the observance of May 9 has ebbed and flowed with the forces of geopolitical and domestic concerns alike. Even as parades are canceled or shifted in Central Asia, Moscow’s May 9 parade grandstand is watched closely each year for who will appear alongside Putin. Although all five Central Asian presidents skipped the celebration in 2022, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they showed up in 2023 and 2024. All five are expected to appear for the 80th anniversary event this year, along with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the following interview, The Diplomat’s Managing Editor Catherin Putz talks with Vicky Davis, the author of “Central Asia in World War Two: The Impact and Legacy of Fighting for the Soviet Union” (Bloomsbury, 2024) and “Myth Making in the Soviet Union and Modern Russia: Remembering World War II in Brezhnev’s Hero City” (Bloomsbury, 2017), about Victory Day and the power of historical memory.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, celebrated on May 9 across the former Soviet Union as Victory Day. For readers who may be less familiar, can you outline the participation of Central Asians in World War II?
The five republics of Central Asia, colonized by tsarist Russia in the 19th century, became incorporated into the Soviet Union in the 20th century. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, men were called up from across the nation to boost the ranks of the Red Army. At first, volunteers of mainly Slavic nationality living in Central Asia were accepted, but as the situation become more urgent toward the end of 1941, conscription began in earnest. Over the course of the war, just over 10 percent of the Soviet Red Army hailed from Central Asia, fighting alongside the Allies on what we in the West call the Eastern Front.
These ethnic minorities were at first deployed to rebuff the invader at the Battle of Moscow, despite often suffering racial prejudice. The pace of conscription accelerated toward the end of 1942 as the Battle of Stalingrad was in full swing, Soviet losses were high and the outcome was in the balance. Later in the war, men from Central Asia were moved north to help raise the Siege of Leningrad and liberate the Baltic States. Following the capitulation of Berlin, many men, particularly those newly conscripted from Central Asia, were rapidly deployed to the far east to concentrate on the final stages of the war with Japan in Manchuria.
