私達日本人があえて独ソ戦を学ぶ意義ー第二次世界大戦の悲惨な歴史を繰り返さないために
今回の記事より独ソ戦についての記事を始めていきます。
ソ連やスターリンを学ぶ上で独ソ戦は避けては通れません。
とは言え、恥ずかしながら私自身スターリンを学ぶまで独ソ戦のことはほとんど知りませんでした。いや、そもそも第二次世界大戦におけるヨーロッパ戦線のことすらほとんどわかっていなかったのです。
When I think of World War II, I unconsciously associate it with the Pacific War. I cannot help but think of all the wars that Japan fought in. The disastrous battles in Asia, the crushing of the enemy in the Pacific, air raids on the mainland, the Battle of Okinawa, the dropping of the atomic bombs, the Soviet invasion...
However, as the name "World War II" suggests, this was a global war. And the main battlefield was Europe. However, this fact is not often brought up in our consciousness. I was surprised to learn about the war as part of my study of Stalin and the history of the Soviet Union. I was surprised to realize that I knew so little about such a huge war, even though I thought I did.
Hitler invaded Poland, followed by the Holocaust, and finally the war ended when Hitler committed suicide after being defeated by the Allied forces.
Middle and high school textbooks do not go into detail about this history. I chose Japanese history in high school, so I do not know how much is written in high school world history textbooks, but at least in Japanese history textbooks, there was almost no description of the European front in World War II.
In other words, people like me who choose Japanese history do not have much opportunity to know the detailed flow of World War II. If you want to know, you have to do your own research. While in college, you may have time to study, but if you want to learn about World War II again after entering the workforce, it is still difficult both in terms of time and physical strength.
We are somewhat familiar with the Pacific War that Japan fought through the media, as various dramas, movies, and documentaries have been made about it.
However, this "somewhat knowing" is tricky, and I think that because of this, people may lose interest in World War II as a whole. If they knew little about the Pacific War that Japan fought in, then they would be more interested in "what was that war all about? And in the process, you will be forced to know about the entire World War II process.
However, because we "know something about it," our learning stops there. We stop at the images of the Pacific War that we have seen in TV dramas, movies, and documentaries.
Japan as a victim. Japan as a victim of the atomic bombings. Japanese people suffering from the war. A life deprived of peace...
We are so emotionally attached to our own Japan. We tend to stand on the Japanese side of things. No matter how careful we are, we cannot remain neutral toward Japan. We cannot escape from our feelings, good or bad.
That is why it is significant to study the German-Soviet war.
The war between Germany and the Soviet Union, which was fought on an unimaginable scale, puts the true nature of war in front of us like nothing else. It is possible to learn about the history of the war from a third-party perspective. Of course, it is impossible to look at the war with a completely neutral eye. But it is possible to learn about the war from a much more detached perspective than Japan, which was a party to the war.
Why did war happen? How does war change people? The Russo-German War provides an amazing insight into why genocide occurs. I myself was very surprised to learn about the Russo-German War and felt fear of war. It is a different kind of fear than I had felt before. It is not the "victim fear" that I have seen in dramas, movies, and documentaries, but the fear of war itself.
How war destroys humanity.
How does a person turn into a perpetrator?
The fear that once people are embedded in the system that drives them to war, they can no longer resist.
Extreme conditions in which the ethics of peacetime completely collapse.
The horrific ravages of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union show us these things clearly.
Of course, we do not mean to downplay the suffering of the people in the Pacific War.
However, by daring to learn about the German-Soviet war away from Japan, we can learn more objectively about the question of what war is all about.
What will emerge from studying the question, "What is the true nature of war?" through the German-Soviet war?
The questions are: "What was the war in Japan?
What was the Pacific War that Japan fought in? Why did the war happen? What did Japan do during the war?
After learning about the war between Germany and the Soviet Union, if you think about Japan's war again, you will probably see something different from what you have seen before.
And I fear that the world is now on the eve of war. Japan is in turmoil right now due to the Corona disaster, but at the level of daily life, it appears to be peaceful and far from war. But is this really so? Even on the eve of World War II, people were leading normal lives. But when war broke out, that all changed. Where is the guarantee that this will not happen now? You have to pay attention to the signs of war.
I do not wish to unnecessarily inflame the crisis. I hope that this anxiety will prove to be unfounded.
But the only way to avoid war is to realize it before a situation is created that will force us into war. Failure to realize this is why Hitler was legitimately elected by the people and went to war with such enthusiastic support. The Soviet system during the war is also very suggestive.
これからしばらくの間独ソ戦やホロコーストについて記事を進めていきます。
私自身の勉強という面もありますが、皆さんにとっても「戦争とは何か」という問いを考えるきっかけとなってくれたならば嬉しく思います。
以上、「私達日本人が今あえて独ソ戦を学ぶ意義ー歴史は形を変えて繰り返す・・・」でした。
※2022年2月24日追加 ソ連史、独ソ戦、冷戦について
現在、緊迫したウクライナ情勢を見ていると以前アップしたこの記事の内容が頭をよぎります。
この記事では１９３０年代にスターリン体制下のソ連によって実際に行われたウクライナへの飢餓政策（ホロドモール）についてお話ししています。この時ソ連は意図的にウクライナ人を餓死させ、少なくとも４００万人以上の方が亡くなったと言われています。（研究によっては１４５０万人という説もありますが、ソ連はこの政策を隠蔽していたので調査が難航してしまいました。）
ソ連ウクライナ問題の根深さには私も絶句するばかりでした・・・
他にもソ連の歴史に関する記事を当ブログでは更新し続けてきました。
これらはソ連の歴史ではあるものの、ソ連だけの問題ではなく「人間そのものの問題」だと思います。悲惨な歴史をくり返さないためにも私たちは歴史を学ばねばならないのではないかと心から感じています。
ぜひ記事を読んで頂けたらなと思います。
私もソ連のことはほとんど何も知りませんでした。ですがいざ学んでみるとあまりに衝撃的な歴史がそこにはありました。きっと皆さんも驚くと思います。
Next Article.
