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Editor Toomas Toomsalu gives an overview of what the Russian notion of a sacred war means and where the term originated.
Is Russia engaged in a sacred war or not? The answer depends on the perspective. According to a Western interpretation, it is not, but Russia's understanding of the concept is different.
To understand the death and destruction caused by Russian forces in Ukraine, one must go back to the Old Testament and the religious wars fought by the Israelites. Joshua's armies reduced cities of different faiths to rubble, remnants of which persist today, and destroyed all souls within those cities. In Jericho, Joshua's forces spared only the family of the prostitute Rahab, much like today's Russian propagandists offer survival only to Ukrainians who willingly adopt Russian identity.
The difference with Russia is that the Israelites fought a holy war genuinely in the name of their god, whereas in Russia, the term "sacred war" does not mean a religious war in the sense understood by the West. Some wars with Turkey were justified by the empire's propaganda as freeing their fellow Christians from Muslim rule, but such claims were unconvincing even back then. Russia's interpretation of a sacred war has little to do with Christianity, especially since it was born during a time of militant atheism in the country.
In the Russian version, a sacred war means a ruthless fight against an enemy that threatens the state, power, or both. This understanding was defined more than 80 years ago by the poet Vasily Lebedev-Kumach. The Stalin Prize-winning poet was equally successful in producing both texts and songs loyal to the authorities. Together with composer Isaak Dunayevsky, Lebedev-Kumach formed a songwriting duo in the Soviet Union comparable in popularity to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Lebedev-Kumach's most famous poem is titled "The Sacred War."
In the Russian version, a sacred war means a ruthless fight against an enemy that threatens the state, power, or both.
First, let us step back in time. In December 1938, Sergei Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky" premiered in the Soviet Union. The film's titular character was Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century figure who was a thrice prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kiev, and, since 1547, an Orthodox saint – the pious Orthodox prince of Neva, Alexander. At first glance, this choice might seem odd: how does a noble saint fit as the hero of a film made in a state of anti-religious workers and peasants?
The reason was propagandist. In the 1930s, Soviet propaganda began to highlight some historical figures positively, in addition to rebellion leaders. Among these were Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, and several victorious military leaders. This offered the populace opportunities to associate historical figures with the Great Leader. Additionally, Soviet propaganda was sharply critical of Germany during those years, and cinema, "the most important of all arts," could not remain aside. Alexander Nevsky, with his victories in the Battle of the Neva and the Battle on the Ice, fit perfectly as the hero of an anti-German propaganda film.
Eisenstein's portrayal was of a people's war: when the Novgorod elite could not mount serious resistance against the German invaders, Prince Nevsky called the people to war. The background to the scene where ordinary Novgorodians respond to the prince's call and rush to the army features a choir singing the text by poet Vladimir Lugovskoy: "Вставайте, люди русские, на славный бой, на смертный бой! Вставайте люди вольные, за нашу землю честную!" (Arise, Russian people, on a glorious battle, to the death battle! Arise, free people, for our honest land!)
Alexander Nevsky, with his victories in the Battle of the Neva and the Battle on the Ice, fit perfectly as the hero of an anti-German propaganda film.
The film was explicitly anti-German and anti-clerical. In order to clearly link the 13th century with the 20th century, the infantry of the Teutonic Order's army were given helmets resembling the Stahlhelm, and the bishop's miter was embroidered with swastika-like symbols. The film also features a phrase that quickly entered common parlance and was eagerly used by official propaganda. Ironically, the words attributed to Alexander Nevsky, "Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish," were a paraphrase of a saying by none other than Jesus himself. ("Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword!" Matthew 26:52)
Eisenstein's film was very popular but did not enjoy this popularity for long. After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the state's political course changed – Germany became a friend, and all anti-German propaganda was quickly shelved. It remained there until June 22, 1941. With the outbreak of war, the film was immediately returned to the screens to boost fighting spirit and ignite hatred against the invaders.
Just two days after the start of Operation Barbarossa, Lebedev-Kumach's poem "Священная война" (Sacred War) was published in the newspapers Krasnaya Zvezda and Izvestiya. Composer Alexander Alexandrov quickly set it to music, and the song was first performed on June 26 at the Moscow Belorussky railway station.
Lebedev-Kumach's text in the first verse and chorus uses the same keywords as Eisenstein and Lugovskoy. «Вставай, страна огромная, вставай на смертный бой c фашистской силой темною, c проклятою ордой! Пусть ярость благородная скипает, как волна, идет война народная, священная война!» (Arise, vast country, arise for a fight to the death, against the dark fascist force, against the cursed horde! Let noble wrath boil over like a wave! This is the people's war, a sacred war!) In both cases, the people are called to rise and resist the invaders (since the 20th-century Soviet Union was immensely larger and ethnically more diverse than the 13th-century Novgorod Republic, Lebedev-Kumach called for the whole country to rise, not just one ethnicity). Lebedev-Kumach also compared the Germans to the Teutonic Order.
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The song "Sacred War" has been sung in Estonian with various lyrics. For example, in the "Red Army Songbook" published in Moscow in 1944, the first verse goes: "Nüüd virgu, piirideta maa, ja söösta heitlusse, fašiste jõugud tumedad sa väära põrmusse. Me viha püha, õiglane kee lainena sa nüüd; eks kostnud kogu rahvale ju sõjasarve hüüd." (Now awaken, boundless land, and plunge into the fray, crush the dark fascist gangs into the dust. Let our holy, righteous wrath boil like a wave; the war trumpet has sounded to the whole nation.) Interestingly, in this version, the phrase "püha sõda" (sacred war) appears only in the title. The first verse has also been sung in Estonian with the words "Nüüd võitle vapralt, võimas maa, sul kindlad olgu käed. Ja suures sõjas võitma saad fašismi ühendväe." (Now fight bravely, mighty land, with firm hands. And in this great war, you will defeat the united fascist force.)
Despite having been topical, "Sacred War" was not widely performed in the first months of the war. A song calling for a war of the people and speaking of mortal combat clashed with the message the party had been drumming into the heads of Soviet citizens for years: if war were to break out, it would be fought on enemy territory, the Red Army would strike the enemy "accurately but strongly," and a brilliant victory would come with little bloodshed. It was only in October, when the Wehrmacht had captured Tver and reached less than 200 kilometers from the Moscow Kremlin, that authorities stopped restricting the song's spread. From then on, it spread like wildfire. "Sacred War" became a symbol of Soviet resistance, the anthem of the war. It is likely one of the most violent songs to have risen to anthem status in modern times.
Officially, Russia is not engaged in a sacred war. The Kremlin clings tightly to the term "special military operation," reflecting the pre-"Sacred War" mentality: the war is being fought on foreign soil and with little bloodshed.
While Lugovskoy's "Arise" was heroic and noble, Lebedev-Kumach's text alternates heroism with calls for brutal violence, insults, and threats. It should not be forgotten that the Soviet Union and Germany had until recently been great friends, together dividing Europe and holding victory parades for the partition of Poland. Soon after, Lebedev-Kumach called these recent allies torturers, rapists, stiflers of bright ideas, the dregs of humanity, and rotting fascist scum, who should be shot in the forehead and placed in thick coffins. (Compared to the Russian original, the Estonian texts are relatively restrained.) Lebedev-Kumach's text is also the source of the rhetoric used by today's Kremlin propagandists, such as Dmitry Kiselyov, Vladimir Solovyov, Margarita Simonyan, and others.
Officially, Russia is not engaged in a sacred war. The Kremlin clings tightly to the term "special military operation," reflecting the pre-"Sacred War" mentality: the war is being fought on foreign soil and with little bloodshed. This notion failed the day they were unable to reach Kyiv in three days. Mentally, however, the country and society have long been engaged in a sacred war.
The Kremlin has for years fueled the widespread cult of the Great Patriotic War, for which the ironically coined term "победобесие" or "victory frenzy" has been created. This year-long cycle culminates with the May 9 parade on Red Square and Lebedev-Kumach's "Sacred War." Children dressed in World War II uniforms, marching or lounging in strollers designed to look like tanks, might seem absurdly comical to Westerners, but this is how sacred warriors are raised. If Kremlin propaganda has successfully implanted the belief that Nazis are in power in Kyiv, then people who have been steeped in Lebedev-Kumach's message from a young age already know what to do with the members of this cursed order.
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