Young people’ attitude to the Great Patriotic War: a view from Russian regions

This paper analyzes the results of a questionnaire survey among university students and schoolchildren which was a part of the sociological research conducted between December 2019 and January 2020. The article presents a comparative analysis of the perception of the Great Patriotic War events and results by young people in Russian regions. It is taken into account that in our country the popular consciousness sees the results and consequences of the 1941-1945 military actions as one of the most important integrating values that supports the system of the state and contributes to national unity. With regard to the historical memory of the war, in order to identify the existing trends in the political consciousness of young people the paper studies the issues of education and upbringing associated with shaping individual attitude to the events of that time among citizens aged 18-30 years. The perception of such values as patriotism and national identity by young people is analyzed. The research also takes into account whether the studied group is sufficiently informed about the objectivity of the events that took place and the results of the war, as well as the factors affecting the mental imagery of modern youth. The study addresses the nationwide trends regarding knowledge about the Great Patriotic War that manifest themselves in the population’s mass consciousness and how they are reflected in the youth environment. The authors consider individual cases in the ten subjects of Russia’s five federal districts noting existing socio-economic and political problems in the regions. The comparative analysis leads to the conclusion about the transformation of the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War in the political consciousness of modern youth and identifies a number of dangerous trends connected with the revision of historical facts in the youth environment of the Russian Federation.