The Russian propaganda machinery was a key weapon employed in the struggle with Nazi Germany that has become known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Operation Barbarossa, the codename for the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in mid-1941, caught the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin unprepared. However, it did not take long for the Soviet propaganda machine to roll into action. It was soon churning out anti-Nazi speeches, films and posters compelling citizens to resist the fascist invaders. Such fervent propagandising left its mark on Russian literature as well, with books and poems that romanticised and celebrated the strength, will and determination of the Russian character. Examples of such partisan literature include ‘Volga-Stalingrad’ by Vassilii Grossman and ‘A Man’s Life Story’ by Mikhail Sholokov, both published in 1942.
