The Stuff of Soldiers : : A History of the Red Army in World War II through Objects / / Brandon M. Schechter.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2019
• VerfasserIn: Schechter, Brandon M.,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2019]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (344 p.) :; 40 b&w halftones

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Prelude: Outgunned and Outmanned -- Acknowledgments -- Archival Sources and Their Abbreviations -- Terms and Abbreviations -- Explanatory Notes -- Introduction: Government Issue -- Part One: Mortal Envelopes -- 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 -- Part Two: Violence -- 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 -- Part Three: Possessions -- 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