M. Zhilinsky: “Patriotism of the Soviet people is a decisive factor in victory in the Great Patriotic War”

Institute for Socio-Political Research

under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus

INFORMATION COLLECTION

№ 2 (15)

THE ROLE OF MILITARY-PATRIOTIC EDUCATION OF YOUTH AT THE PRESENT STAGE

(DEFENSE OF SOVEREIGNTY AND INDEPENDENCE -

CONDITION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

STRONG AND EFFECTIVE STATE)

(for outreach groups)

Minsk 2005

Introduction..……………………………………………………….……………...
Patriotic education - integral part of ideological work……………….…
The role of the education system and family in military-patriotic education……………...……..
The role of physical culture and sports in the education of pre-conscription and conscript youth......
Culture. National traditions and patriotic education……………………………...
Christian moral values and patriotic education………………………...……
Military-patriotic education and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union…….……….

Introduction

The current stage of the formation of public consciousness places increasingly high demands on educating the country's population in the spirit of citizenship.

Patriotism must be considered not only as the most important spiritual and social value of society, but also as component Belarusian ideology.

For a young man thinking about his future life, it is important to constantly remember that, along with the many professions given to him by society to choose from, there is one that he must master. This is the profession of a defender of the Motherland.

Historically, the Belarusian people for many centuries had to fight against foreign invaders and defend the right to their national existence.

We have the right to be proud of the military valor of the glorious sons and daughters of our Fatherland and strive to ensure that the memory of their great deeds and achievements lives forever.

Over the past decades, the world has changed irreversibly. Fundamentally new threats have emerged national security. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the scale and nature of these changes in order to adequately respond to the new civilizational challenges of the 21st century.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus play a special role in the patriotic education of youth. Military service strengthens people spiritually and physically, teaches them to overcome hardships and adversity, value honor and dignity, friendship and camaraderie.

Military-patriotic education, especially in the army environment, is aimed at developing in young people love for the Motherland, respect for its history and national values, loyalty to duty and military traditions.

Service in the Armed Forces is a school of courage and civic maturity.

In the year of the 60th anniversary Great Victory Soviet people over fascism, military-patriotic work in youth labor and military collectives acquires particular relevance.

Patriotic education -

integral part of ideological work

Today there is no need to prove that success in the socio-economic sphere of life depends not only on the material and financial state of the family and the state as a whole, but also on a verified ideological state policy based on the values ​​of patriotism and love for the big and small Motherland.

And the majority of Belarusian citizens understand this very well. As can be seen from a sociological survey conducted by ISPI in December 2004, the majority of 1,543 respondents answered that love for the place where they spent their childhood is fundamentally important to them (88.9% of responses). Yes, this is how a person is designed that even far from his homeland, in times of difficult trials, he remembers the “blue handkerchief” of his beloved, his parents’ home, his mother at the child’s cradle. It is for the sake of the warmth of his native hearth that he is ready to risk his life defending the Fatherland.

Love for the Motherland is a universal moral value. It includes not only a person’s sensory state, but also his beliefs and views, which are formed by society. The entire system of public and family education is aimed at this. Education is a process of purposeful and systematic influence on a person in order to form in him the necessary vital guidelines, attitudes, stereotypes of thinking and behavior. In this process, the most effective ways and means of pedagogical influence on a person are used. Their arsenal is inexhaustible. Particular attention should be paid to traditions and customs associated with military-patriotic education. A person must first of all be a hard worker, a creator, and if circumstances require it, then a warrior, a defender of the small (father's home) and large (Belarus) Motherland.

The Belarusians never attacked anyone, but they always knew how to defend their native land from foreigners despite all adversity. Because of this, the continuity of traditions, customs, and rituals is firmly held in their mentality (mindset).

Traditions were created over centuries and became the basis of morality and lifestyle of people in specific historical conditions. Today, progressive traditions are of utmost importance. This can be seen in the example of military-patriotic education of younger generations. If a family appreciates the merits of grandfathers and fathers in defending the Fatherland, and cares about the health and well-being of their elders, then this indicates a healthy moral and psychological climate in everyday life.

It is known that children, adolescents, boys and girls tend to unite and group around a target setting that is similar in interests. In this situation, the state system of civic education should come to the rescue, which inevitably provides for positive historical continuity through military-patriotic traditions. Recent history Belarus is a clear confirmation of this.

Military-patriotic education cannot be carried out on a campaign basis, from case to case. This is the daily systematic work of all subjects of youth education. Local executive and administrative authorities should take part not only in the implementation of a set of measures for material and financial support for pre-conscription training of young men, development of the material and technical base in museums and local history, club work, military sports games, but also events of an ideological nature. This is the personal participation of leaders of all ranks in meetings with students, working and military youth; awarding valuable gifts, medals and certificates to war and labor veterans; lessons in citizenship, patriotism and courage; support for the experience of summarizing the historical path of generations, the best traditions in the region; production of pennants, booklets, stars for attaching to the houses of war veterans; publication of thematic journalistic materials, leaflets, essays; organizing traveling exhibitions dedicated to historical events and famous people; participation in television programs, veterans’ marches; laying wreaths at obelisks and graves; creation in separate schools, secondary special educational institutions, military camps, support centers and points of patriotic education of youth.

Support for the activities of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, pioneer organizations, and charitable associations in this direction is also important. Principle: “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten!” – must be implemented in practice. Sometimes repairing a roof, collecting firewood, cleaning a well and other practical everyday issues solved by local authorities with the help of young people bring much greater educational fruits than beautiful words.

The responsibility of representatives of the ideological vertical includes ensuring people’s needs for state symbols, as well as an explanation of the semantic content of the anthem, flag, coat of arms of Belarus, the essence of which boils down to the expression of the mentality of the Belarusian people: their peacefulness, hard work, goodwill.

In patriotic education, analogies between the exploits of older generations and the exploits of their contemporaries are very important.

A monument to Sergei Ivanovich Gritsevets, a legendary pilot, a native of the Novogrudok district of the Grodno region, and the son of a peasant, has been erected in Minsk. Having perfectly mastered his flying skills, Sergei Gritsevets distinguished himself in the 30s of the last century in the skies of Spain, then in the battles of Khasan and Khalkhin Gol. When Major Zabaluev's plane was shot down near the latter, the brave pilot unexpectedly landed on enemy territory. Before the Japanese samurai understood the essence of what was happening and opened fire on him, Sergei and his friend took off into the clouds in his plane. There were other amazing feats of Gritsevets, who was twice awarded the title of Hero in 1939 Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, other pilots took over the baton from the glorious son of Belarus, including Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin, who were three times awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Followers healthy image life have at their disposal the most modern sports complexes.

At the opening ceremony of the unique Republican ski center of the European level “Silichi”, A. Lukashenko noted that “this is already the third large sports facility in the Logoischyna... The construction of “Silichi” is an example of the implementation of the state’s social policy. The development of mass physical culture, sports and tourism is an important area of ​​effective educational work among young people, a factor in the international authority of the country. Only through a healthy lifestyle, active physical education and sports can Belarusians become a strong and beautiful nation. Belarus has been and will be a sports power!”

Head of State emphasized that it is physical culture and sports that contribute to the development of a harmonious personality, especially children. Involving the younger generation in sports, physical activity, and promoting a healthy lifestyle are the priorities of the state leadership. Most importantly, noted President, to physical culture children were introduced to sports. Good nutrition, a healthy lifestyle and exercise are the recipe for health and beauty.

Culture.

National traditions

and patriotic education

National culture – essential component modern social life, a strategic spiritual resource of the nation. The cultural level of citizens largely determines the ideological, educational, spiritual and moral situation in civil society, main directions of development of the state.

The achievements of national culture elevate people, contribute to the growth of patriotic consciousness, and strengthen the image of the Republic of Belarus among the world community.

Best Features national character and everyday life - hard work and tolerance, peacefulness and humanism, hospitality and respect for other peoples - were formed through centuries cultural heritage Belarusian ethnic group.

Today, when the former hero-scientist, advanced machine operator, worker, milkmaid, collective farmer, cosmonaut, officer, warrior-patriot, have been practically replaced from the TV screen and from the print media, national culture designed to protect us from what represents the advanced level of market “democracy”: the imposition legal nihilism, permissiveness, the cult of violence and moral disadaptation, propaganda of deviant forms of sexuality (essentially moral ugliness).

Whether we like it or not, we are forced to turn to such a philosophical category as “patriotism” by the realities of modern life.

The law defines the legal basis for the creation and activities of religious organizations based on: the right of everyone to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, as well as to equality before the law, regardless of attitude to religion; equality of religions before the law; recognition of the decisive role of the Orthodox Church in the historical formation and development of the spiritual, cultural and state traditions of the Belarusian people; the spiritual, cultural and historical role of the Catholic Church on the territory of Belarus; inseparability from general history the people of Belarus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Judaism and Islam; the need to promote mutual understanding, tolerance and respect for the religious feelings of citizens in matters of freedom of conscience and religion.

In modern Belarus, where confessions are experiencing their Renaissance, Christian traditions are called upon to perform in society the functions of a harmonizing and stabilizing factor that contributes to the preservation of the existing social order.

The Christian ideological potential of humanistic asceticism stimulates not so much a departure from the world in the name of one’s own salvation, but an appeal to the highest examples of moral selflessness and service to the Motherland. The history of Christianity has revealed to society the ideals of mercy and devotion in the images of Belarusian martyred saints, educators, church leaders (in the Belarusian Orthodox Church- for example, Rev. Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Cyril, Bishop of Turov, holy Vilna martyrs, etc.; in the Belarusian Church - St. Casimir, St. Andrei Bobolya, etc.), which Belarusian Christians are guided by in their relations to man and society.

Religion acquires a special psychological role during war, when the need for self-sacrifice in the name of protecting family and friends, one’s Fatherland is combined with the inherent human fear of death.

The Christian tradition contains a number of provisions that mobilize a warrior for a feat of arms in the name of the Motherland. This is overcoming the fear of death in battle by faith in the immortality of the soul, in God's providence and in a just cause; understanding that resistance to evil by force and weapons is not a sin wherever it is objectively necessary, or where it turns out to be the only or least unrighteous outcome. Defense of the Fatherland has always been considered a sacred duty for our Christian ancestors. In this regard, the biblical commandment “Thou shalt not kill” was interpreted as follows: “By the sixth commandment God forbids: taking people’s lives by violence or cunning and in any way violating the safety and tranquility of one’s neighbor, and therefore this commandment also prohibits quarrels, anger, hatred, envy, cruelty. But the one who kills the enemy in war does not sin against the sixth commandment, because through war we defend the Faith, the Sovereign and our Fatherland. God himself blesses a just war, which is why he is called the Lord of Armies. Military service is the direct fulfillment of the Lord’s commandment: there is no greater love than “to lay down your life for your friends” (from the “Short Prayer Book for Orthodox Soldiers.” M., 1915).

The patriotic tradition of Belarusians, based on Christian norms, has developed the potential that helped our people consolidate, survive and defeat the enemy during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Considering the highest mobilizing role of religion, during the Great Patriotic War the relations of the Soviet state, which chose atheism as state ideology, to religious organizations have significantly transformed. State-church relations were legalized. In 1943–1944 The Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults were created, the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church resumed its activities, previously repressed bishops began to be released, and the magazine of the Moscow Patriarchate began to be published.

Today it can be argued that in the Republic of Belarus there has been a complete restoration of the historically established confessional structure, where the largest part in terms of the number of believers are Orthodox Christians. Christian traditions have a great influence on many aspects of life in Belarusian society. Although this influence is most pronounced in the spiritual sphere, social and family life, it also significantly affects many aspects of material culture, traditional economic activities, political orientation, and has a significant impact on the formation of patriotic consciousness.

With the creation of the independent state of the Republic of Belarus, a fundamentally new confessional entity took shape, corresponding to the status of this state - the Belarusian Orthodox Church. The processes of formation of the Belarusian Catholic Church are also actively underway. There is a revival of spiritual traditions, including military-patriotic traditions. This is confirmed by a number of agreements concluded by the Belarusian state with the Belarusian Orthodox Church, including an agreement between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus and the Belarusian Orthodox Church, aimed at the military-patriotic and spiritual-moral education of military personnel and the socio-psychological work of the Church in the army.

According to modern Orthodox authors, political meaning The existence of an army based on Christian principles is to fight for a just cause, to prevent wars, to be able to self-defense, to establish lasting peace, and to counter violence. The army is called upon to stop evil, effectively deter any potential aggressors (external and internal), convincingly demonstrate in practice the effectiveness of the famous biblical saying “He who lifts up the sword will perish by the sword” and thereby contribute to the sustainable development of a strong and effective state.

Of course, representatives of not only the Orthodox faith serve in the Belarusian army. Thus, while defending the borders of our country, only in 2004, dozens of border guards of the Catholic faith showed the best Christian qualities - valor, bravery and courage. Representatives of other faiths honestly perform their duties in the service of the Motherland. The Belarusian state is open and ready to cooperate in the matter of patriotic education with all historically widespread faiths in our country.

The balanced position of the state, the search for compromises on the path to creating a harmonious society contribute to the fact that in the present period the state ideology also includes common Christian values. Belarusian culture contains unique opportunities for attracting the potential of Christian denominations to cooperate in the education of patriotism. First of all, this is the cult of miraculous icons that has developed in the Belarusian lands, equally revered by both Orthodox and Catholics. Images Mother of God Zhirovichi, Belynichi, Vilna, Częstochowa and others have inspired generations of our ancestors to feat for centuries. Usage Christian values It is important today not only for the perception of the traditions of our ancestors, but also for the spiritual consolidation of society, strengthening patriotic feelings among younger generations.

Military-patriotic education and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union

One of the main activities of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union is promoting a healthy lifestyle, education from younger generation active citizenship, military-patriotic education of youth.

Regional organizations of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union are actively implementing the “Olympia” program to promote a healthy lifestyle, health improvement and tourism for young people, within the framework of which the first republican healthy lifestyle festival “Olympia” was organized in July 2004, which brought together about 1000 people and was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus .

Under the patronage of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, 101 patriotic, sports and tourism clubs have been created. Work is underway to introduce young people to Belarusian culture and national traditions.

In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders and the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War The Belarusian Republican Youth Union and the Republican Council of the Belarusian Public Association of Veterans have adopted a joint plan for the preparation, participation and holding of ceremonial events.

Employees of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union take part in the work of the Belarusian Public Association of Veterans, and joint appearances are organized in the media. Together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Defense, and the Belarusian Republican Association of Veterans, a meeting was held between students and veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

Some work is being done to develop youth, socially oriented tourism. In 2004, trips were organized for schoolchildren to places of military glory (the memorial complex “Brest Fortress - Hero”, memorial complexes “Khatyn”, “Mound of Glory”, etc.).

The Belarusian Republican Youth Union is implementing a number of projects aimed at the heroic, patriotic, spiritual and moral education of youth. Activists of the organization conduct and take part in Memory Watch events, charity events “Youth for Veterans”, thematic meetings with war and labor veterans, the “Happy Service, Soldier” campaign, hikes to places of military glory, local history work, competitions and quizzes, the military-patriotic game “Zarnitsa”, patriotic song festivals.

The Belarusian Republican Youth Union actively participates in the improvement of monuments, burials of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War, improvement, landscaping of cities and villages under the slogans “We keep the memory of the fallen in our hearts”, “Share the warmth of your soul”. In total, BRSM organizations have 3,101 memorials and monuments of military glory assigned to them.

Implemented long-term plan bilateral cooperation between the Ministry of Defense and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union. As of January 5, 2005, 152 primary organizations have been created in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, which number 4,565 people.

As part of bilateral cooperation plans, a draft Regulation on Memory Watches to perpetuate defenders of the Fatherland and victims of war has been developed. Throughout the republic, employees of the organizational structures of the NGO "Belarusian Republican Youth Union" participate in the ceremonial dispatch of conscripts to the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.

The Belarusian Republican Youth Union actively cooperates with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with which a long-term plan for bilateral cooperation has been developed. As of January 5, 2005, 236 primary organizations have been created in internal affairs bodies and divisions, which number 4,920 people. We are actively working with the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As of January 5, 2005, 48 primary organizations were created in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which numbered 1,476 people.

The Belarusian Republican Youth Union publishes information and methodological newsletters, collections on sports, health and tourism, and patriotic education of youth. The activities of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union in organizing and conducting sports, recreational, tourist, and patriotic events are constantly covered by means mass media.

Freedom in the broadest sense is the possibility of a subject exercising -

individual social group or a community of active activity in accordance with his intentions, desires and interests, during which he achieves his goals. Love of freedom is an attitude towards freedom as a social value in all aspects of its manifestation.

Patriotism (from the Greek - homeland, fatherland) is a moral and political principle, a social feeling, the content of which is love for one’s fatherland, devotion to it, pride in its past and present, the desire to protect the interests of the homeland. Like freedom, patriotism is the most important social value, one of the most significant factors in ensuring the life of a community of people.

Love of freedom and patriotism are mutually presupposing and complementary feelings. At all times, they inspired people to feats, to self-sacrifice, which are glorified in best works world artistic culture.

Love of freedom belongs to the most intimate national feelings of Belarusians, the roots of which go deep into their history. Being descendants of the ancient or, in other words, chronicle Slavs, Belarusians, as well as other Slavic communities, inherited from their ancestors those features that initially distinguished the Slavs from other ethnic communities. Among these traits, of course, is their love of freedom. It was this property of the Slavs that caught the eye of representatives of those peoples with whom the Slavs somehow interacted. Let us provide evidence on this score from the Greek historian Mauritius Strategus (late 6th century): “The tribes of the Slavs and Antes,” writes Mauritius, “are similar in their way of life, in their morals, in their love of freedom; they cannot in any way be induced into slavery or submission; they are brave, mainly in their own land, and hardy, they can easily endure heat, cold, rain, nakedness, lack of food... they do not keep those in captivity in slavery, like other tribes, for an unlimited time.”

Patriotism as one of the deepest national feelings of Belarusians has also been formed over many centuries of their history. With the formation of the Old Russian State Eastern Slavs began to recognize its spaces as the land of their fathers, as their native land, which the generations living on it must cherish, protect and increase. Let us recall once again how deeply we worried about the fate of our homeland - Rus' - such our compatriots as Euphrosyne of Polotsk and Kirill of Turov. In this regard, we can also mention unknown author“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” which talks a lot about the Polotsk land and its princes. Apparently, on this basis, the Belarusian-Polish poet and local historian V. Syrokomlya (1823-1862) considered “The Lay” to be an ancient Belarusian song. The assessment of this work as a call to the Russian princes to stop strife and to unite in the face of the terrible external danger hanging over the Russian land is well known. The “Word” is a passionate and excited speech of a patriot, a speech that is sometimes angry, sometimes sad and mournful, sometimes always full of faith in the homeland, full of pride in it and confidence in its future.

Throughout all subsequent stages of his historical development Belarusians have invariably demonstrated these feelings - love of freedom and patriotism. A range of other feelings are also associated with them - courage, perseverance, courage, heroism, readiness for self-sacrifice for the sake of freedom, which are integral to the national character. Belarusians become especially courageous and decisive during periods of war, when they are forced to defend their fatherland. This suggests that dangerous situations in the lives of Belarusians awaken the abilities hidden in their sociogenetic “code” for struggle, perseverance, resistance, and the manifestation of others. best qualities their ancestors.

The form of manifestation of not only democracy, but also the love of freedom of the closest ancestors of the Belarusians was the Polotsk veche system. In this regard, an interesting fragment from the “Chronicle of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Zhemoit” with a characteristic title: “On Polotsk freedom, or Venice.” The essence of “Polotsk freedom,” according to the chronicler, is in the representative system of government, the control of the city council over the princely power. The chronicler notes that “at that hour the Russian land was held by the Polotsk burghers themselves,” who “sought about their rights and the needs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and their powers for the sake of their powers.” Moreover, he believes, Polotsk “freedom,” or the practice of resolving common affairs in a democratic way, comes from “those glorious rights of the Greek Athenaeans and Lacedems.” In the same chronicle, Polotsk is compared with Venice, a rich medieval trading city-republic.

Here it should be added that another example of the love of freedom of our ancestors, already at the individual level of manifestation, is associated with Polotsk. We are referring to the tragic fate of the Polotsk princess, the beautiful Rogneda, who of her own free will chose her husband, a prince, but was taken away by force and taken as a wife by another prince. She could not forget hers, as they would say now, small homeland and could not forgive her husband, the Kyiv prince Vladimir, who committed violence against her princely family. The image of a proud and freedom-loving Polotsk woman has passed through the centuries and shone with a new, unfading light in poetry, artistic canvases and musical works.

We have already noted the importance of the creativity of domestic thinkers in the formation of the humanistic and democratic ideals of the Belarusian people. Their intellectual activity constituted a necessary moral and psychological prerequisite for the manifestation of the love of freedom and patriotism of Belarusians in practical life, for the development of high civic qualities among the subjects of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

It can be stated with certainty that Francis (George) Skorina was the founder of the national-patriotic tradition in the history of Russian culture, which was truly an innovative phenomenon for that time. If most European medieval thinkers were guided by universal, human values, then for Skaryna the interests of his fatherland, responsibility to the homeland, its people, or, as he himself writes, to “the brothers of Russia, the people of the commonwealth”, were of priority importance. The patriotic principle in his worldview is most expressively formulated in the following words: “Even from birth, animals that walk in the desert know their pits; birds flying through the air know their nests; fish swimming in the sea and in rivers smell their own scent; bees and the like harrow their hives, and so do people, where they were born and nurtured by God, and have a great affection for that place.” In all his works, he called on his compatriots, including government officials, not to spare “all labor and treasures for the good of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and for their fatherland.”

The efforts of the intellectual elite of society could not fail to bring the desired results. An orientation toward freedom and a sense of patriotism became elements of the culture of various strata of the people; these values ​​were decisively affirmed in the social, political, legal, economic, religious, and cultural areas of life. Even during a period when the idea of ​​freedom was subject to decisive pressure from the papacy (Conreformation), the king and Grand Duke Władysław IV, given life values Belarusians and addressing one of the nobles of the Novogorod povet, he wrote: “All residents of our state cannot imagine greater happiness than freedom, for which they are ready not only to give up their property, but also to risk their lives.”

The love of freedom of the Belarusians during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania reached its greatest manifestation in the socio-economic and political life of cities, especially large ones such as Polotsk, Vilna, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Minsk, Brest, Grodno, etc. Let us recall once again that the tradition of urban self-government arose in the era Kievan Rus. During the ON period social life cities rises to a new level, with the provision of the so-called Magdeburg law, it receives its legal consolidation.

Magdeburg law

Feudal city law. It developed in the German city of Magdeburg in the 12th-17th centuries. It was a legal confirmation of the results of the struggle of townspeople against the feudal lords for their rights and freedoms, for the right of self-government. It had a universal character, i.e. interpreted various types legal relations: the activities of the city government, the court, its competence and legal procedure, issues of land ownership “within the city”, violation of possession, seizure of real estate, established penalties for various types of offenses. A special place was occupied by the rules that regulated trade and handicrafts, the activities of workshops and merchant guilds, and taxation procedures. Adopted by many cities in East Germany, East Prussia, Silesia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. About 60 cities and towns in Belarus had Magdeburg Law.

From ancient times, over the centuries, the Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian peoples arose, preserved and celebrated the holy patriotic feelings of protecting their hearth, native land, and Fatherland. Therefore, the wars that were called “Patriotic” were based on deepest meaning- the unity of the entire people, all spheres of society, regardless of their class affiliation and civic position in a single impulse, as one whole, to shield and protect their homeland from external enemies.

Today in the Republic of Belarus, patriotism is rightfully classified as the most important spiritual and moral value, which forms among broad sections of young people the readiness to fulfill civic duty in all spheres of public and state activity. Therefore, one of the priority areas in working with the younger generation is patriotic education. In this area, heroic examples of the past have enormous educational potential, a bright page among which is the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders.
There are about 8.5 thousand memorial sites, mass graves, obelisks and monuments on Belarusian soil. Of these, more than 6.6 thousand are military graves, of which almost 6 thousand date back to the period of the Great Patriotic War. Under them, the sons of the Fatherland rested in eternal sleep - warriors, partisans, underground fighters, civilians, shot and tortured by the German invaders during the Great Patriotic War. At the foot of many of them is burning Eternal Flame, and grateful people lay flowers.
The Great Patriotic War is great not only in name, but also in its nature and content. Such wars, when multimillion-dollar armies would clash on the battlefield, when the entire people would rise to fight the invaders, when the patriotism of those who fought the enemy at the front and in the rear reached such an intensity, before which everything that came before faded away, world military history has not yet known.
The war entered every home, every family. It consumed millions of people in its flames and brought colossal destruction, suffering and bitterness to the Soviet people, which to this day acutely and sadly trouble the people's memory. But at the same time, she also left a deep sense of national pride in her Motherland, for its power and indestructibility.
The Great Patriotic War is a special period in history. It resolved an issue of world-historical significance. It was about the fate of world civilization. By mid-1941, the German Wehrmacht occupied Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. With the German attack on the USSR, the scale of the war already going on in Europe changed. It truly became global, and its main events moved to the Soviet-German front, which became the main arena of armed struggle. It was here that the main forces and means of the enemy were directed; here was the barrier against which the invaders, who were planning to conquer the world, crashed. This is the most important merit of the Soviet people and their army, that together they stopped the enemy and blocked his path to further spread aggression to other countries and to other continents.
Before the attack on the USSR, the “invincible” German army did not meet on its way a force capable of resisting its aggressive aspirations. Several European countries fell one after another under the blows of the Wehrmacht, and it seemed that there was no force in the world capable of stopping the movement of the fascist hordes.
On the Soviet-German front, already in the first, most difficult period of the war, the doctrine of “blitzkrieg” - lightning war - collapsed. The military events of 1941, especially the failure of Operation Typhoon, the main goal of which was to defeat the Red Army troops in the Moscow direction and capture Moscow, dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the Nazi Wehrmacht. Hitler’s strategists did not count on such a sharp turn of events; they did not imagine that they would have to abandon the lightning war in the east and, during the struggle, adapt to a protracted war. And this fact was of decisive importance. It led to a sharp change in the further course of events, had a serious impact on other theaters of military operations, contributed to the rise of the liberation struggle in European countries and the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The Soviet Armed Forces in the grandiose battles of Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge, on the Dnieper and in Belarus achieved a radical turning point not only during the Great Patriotic War, but also throughout the Second World War. Achieving a radical turning point in the armed struggle is an important event that required exceptionally great efforts of the Soviet people and its Armed Forces, and the high military art of the Soviet command. Its importance also lies in the fact that military events began to quickly move to the west, and this strengthened confidence in the inevitability of the defeat of the Nazi invaders, in the complete liberation of Soviet territory from the occupiers.
The Red Army not only liberated the territory of its state, but with its heroic struggle helped the peoples of other European countries in getting rid of the hated occupation. Together with the patriotic forces of foreign countries, it completely or partially liberated the territory of eleven countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe and two countries of Asia.
Today, in our time, when the world is as politically unstable as it was 70 years ago, influential circles in the West are seeking to falsify the history of our Victory over fascism in order to hide, first of all, from the younger generation the responsibility of the international community for the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Youth of Western countries receives a distorted idea of ​​military history, including the Second World War and its main core - the Great Patriotic War. The concept of the decisive battles of World War II is popular in the West. According to which its outcome was decided by 11 main battles. This is the battle in Poland in 1939, the Battle of Britain, landings on the island of Crete, Corregiodor, Stalingrad, Tarawa, landings in Sicily and Normandy, the naval battle in Leyte Gulf, the Bulge and Okinawa. Such great battles as the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Kursk, the Belarusian offensive operation Bagration, the Berlin operation and others are not even mentioned and are not significant.
Moreover, some Western historians (A. Terney, L. Cooper), reducing their arguments to the memoirs of German generals (G. Guderian and Tippelskirch), believe that the source of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War was not self-sacrificing patriotism, but natural and climatic factors - “terrible frosts” and “huge spaces.” Let us only note that the Red Army was in the same climatic conditions as the German Wehrmacht.
Western, especially American historians, consider the supply of goods, food and weapons under Lend-Lease to the USSR to be an important factor in the victory over the Hitlerite coalition. “Without Lend-Lease, the Soviet Union would not have been able to withstand the Nazi invasion,” says the American historian G. Ingfield. Today it is reliably known that the supplies of the USSR allies were minimal compared to their capabilities and amounted to only 4% of Soviet industrial production. In addition, there is an opinion that the allies made supplies free of charge, on an interest-free loan. Let's just make a reservation - in exchange for Soviet gold and raw materials.
The national feat of Soviet citizens during the Great Patriotic War and its decisive contribution to the Victory over the aggressors is indisputable. It was he, the Soviet people, who bore the brunt of the trials on his shoulders and bore in this terrible war greatest victims. British Prime Minister William Churchill was forced to admit this. On September 27, 1944, in his message to I. Stalin, he wrote: “I will take this opportunity to repeat in the House of Commons what I said earlier, that it was the Russian army (Red Army) that gutted the German war machine and present moment holds back an incomparably greater part of the enemy’s forces on its front.” These words of the English Prime Minister are confirmed by the famous English journalist A. Werth, who was in the USSR during the war years as a war correspondent. In 1964, he wrote the book “Russia in the War of 1941–1945,” in which he concludes that “... it was the Russian (Soviet) people, their courage and the sacrifices they made that saved the lives of millions of Americans and British.”
Many foreign historians note the massive heroism of Soviet citizens in the partisan movement and underground struggle, which diverted significant enemy forces. Considering that the territory of the Soviet Union, where 45% of the population of the USSR lived in pre-war times, was under the control of the occupation authorities, industry produced 33%, and agriculture 54% of gross output. However, the scope of the partisan movement and underground during the Second World War exceeded all previous experience of guerrilla warfare.
Our youth should know that the salvation of world civilization took place precisely on the Soviet-German front line. Here the Wehrmacht lost over 70% of its personnel, up to 70% of tanks, guns, aircraft and other military equipment and military materials. As a result of the fierceness of the battles on the Soviet-German front during the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army destroyed, disbanded and captured 607 enemy divisions. The coalition allies destroyed and captured 176 enemy divisions.
Not only military units, but also home front workers took an active part in the fight against the German invaders. They provided the front with everything necessary: ​​weapons, military equipment, ammunition, fuel, food, etc. Despite the difficulties, the Soviet people were able to create a powerful economic base, which ensured Victory. The workers of the Soviet rear felt like participants in a great battle for the independence of the Fatherland. For the majority of workers and employees, the law of life has become the cry “Everything for the front, everything for Victory over the enemy!”
Soviet culture made an important contribution to the Victory. In 1941–1945 The theme of courage, patriotism, and the struggle for the freedom of the Motherland took the main place in Soviet literature, music, theater, cinema, and fine arts.
The Orthodox Church occupied a prominent place in the spiritual culture of wartime. In the hour of mortal danger, she cast aside her resentment against the Soviet regime and was with her people. The message of Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna “To the shepherds and flocks of Christ’s Orthodox Church” dated June 22, 1941 said: “... fascist robbers attacked our Motherland... Our ancestors did not lose heart even in worse situations, because they did not remember personal dangers and benefits, but about their sacred duty to the Motherland and faith and emerged victorious... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat...”
The Church has done a lot to strengthen the morale of people - instilling patriotism in them using the examples of the heroic past of Russia. Orthodox clergy fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, participated in the partisan and underground movement, giving their lives for the sake of the common Victory.
The nationwide idea of ​​saving the Motherland united everyone. Not only millions of workers who considered Soviet power theirs rose to its defense, but also those who were once offended by it, from whom it took everything - White emigrants, former landowners, kulaks, clergy, etc. Most of them considered it their duty in times of mortal danger, to be not on the side of Nazi Germany, but together with your people.
The heroism and self-sacrifice of Soviet soldiers and officers at the fronts, the unparalleled courage of partisans and underground fighters who fought in territory captured by the enemy, the immense love for their Motherland of those who forged Victory in the rear, predetermined the fate of the aggressor.
More than 450 times (including 16 natives of Belarus) during the Great Patriotic War, the feat of the nineteen-year-old Russian boy Alexander Matveevich Matrosov was repeated, who, in the battle for the village of Chernushki, Pskov Region, closed with his body the embrasure of an enemy machine-gun bunker, which was impeding the advance of the unit.
The feat of pilot Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello, who sent his downed plane into a concentration of enemy vehicles and tanks, was repeated over 470 times.
The exploits of the Belarusian Susanins - Tikhon Baran, Mikhail Pasmanov, Stefan Petkun, Joseph Filidovich, brothers Ivan and Mikhail Tsubov and many others - will remain immortal in the people's memory.
The names of the heroes of the Brest Fortress and Sevastopol, the defenders of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad, the Panfilov heroes and paratrooper heroes are inscribed in history in golden letters. 174 soldiers of the Red Army are forever included in the lists of their units for their unparalleled exploits.
In our country, much is being done to study and popularize heroic deeds, to perpetuate the sacred memory of the fearless defenders of the Motherland. Books, memoirs, memories of participants in the Great Patriotic War, films, plays, television programs, works of art, charity events - all this gives millions of people, including young people, the opportunity to come into contact with true history past.
Let us recall that more than 1.3 million Belarusians and natives of Belarus fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, of which 446 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Four of them - pilot Pavel Yakovlevich Golovachev, tankers Joseph Iraklievich Gusakovsky, Stepan Fedorovich Shutov and Ivan Ignatievich Yakubovsky - were awarded this title twice, 67 - became holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees. About 400 thousand Belarusian soldiers were awarded military orders and
medals.
The peoples of the Soviet Union paid an exorbitant price for the Victory over the aggressor. To today numbers dead citizens The USSR changed during the Great Patriotic War. In the 50s the figure given was 7 million people in the 60s. the figure was named 20 million in the late 80s. it is said - more than 27 million. But no one has ever counted how many were not born in those terrible years great writers and poets, brilliant designers and engineers, talented doctors and teachers, as well as simply loving and beloved fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters.
The material damage to the Soviet Union is also difficult to calculate. The total military expenditures of the USSR and losses from destruction and occupation of Soviet territories are estimated at about 2,600 billion rubles in prices of that time. The Nazis destroyed 1,710 Soviet cities and towns and more than 70 thousand villages, 32 thousand industrial enterprises, 98 thousand collective farms, 1876 state farms, and blew up 65 thousand km. railways etc.
Belarus also suffered enormous casualties: over 4 million people were killed and maimed, 209 cities and 9,200 villages were destroyed - of which 628 villages were burned along with their inhabitants, more than 8 thousand schools, 10 thousand industrial enterprises, etc. were destroyed. The invaders caused material damage to Belarus in the incredible amount of 75 billion rubles, which is equal to 35 state budgets of the BSSR for 1941.
Despite such terrible human and material losses, nationwide grief The Soviet people not only survived, they rebuilt and raised their country from the ruins, which once again demonstrated the patriotism of the Soviet people. The people are the winner! The people - the creator! (emphasis added by me M.Zh.).
Of course, the main source of Victory in the Great Patriotic War was, undoubtedly, the self-sacrificing patriotism of the Soviet people, the labor and combat heroism of the masses. The Soviet people considered this war to be just, patriotic, and sacred (emphasis added by M.Zh.). Even the Minister of Propaganda of Germany, J. Goebbels, admitted in his diary the fact that “... Stalin managed to make the war a sacred patriotic cause.”
The victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War predetermined the entire course of further world development. The victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany and its allies became the milestone from which the countdown of a new period in the history of our planet began. And the further we move away from this event, the deeper and more widespread we realize the greatness of the feat accomplished by the Soviet people during the war years. Time has no power to weaken or diminish the historical significance of the military and labor feat demonstrated by Soviet people in the name of freedom and Independence of our Fatherland, we who are living today must honor and remember the memory of those who obtained this for us
Great Victory.

Fostering patriotism based on the study, preservation and enhancement of the cultural and historical heritage of the Belarusian people

“Youth are responsible for the fate of the Fatherland!” - this slogan contains the formula for the ideological basis of patriotism among young people in the Republic of Belarus. Young people are the most active part of our society, on which the present and future of the state depends. Its share of participation in the rise of all spheres of production, scientific activity, success on the cultural front, and the preservation and enhancement of the gene pool is great. Therefore, a very important task at the present stage is to educate young people into citizens who think and act like patriots of Belarus and are ready to give their strength and knowledge to the Motherland and its defense.

Patriotic education- this is a systematic and purposeful activity of government bodies and organizations to develop in citizens a high patriotic consciousness, a sense of loyalty to their Fatherland, readiness to fulfill civic duty and constitutional responsibilities to protect the interests of the Motherland. Patriotic education is aimed at the formation and development of an individual who has the qualities of a citizen-patriot of the Motherland and is capable of successfully fulfilling civic duties in times of peace and war.

Patriotism- one of the most significant, enduring values ​​inherent in all spheres of life of society and the state. Patriotism as the most important spiritual asset of an individual characterizes the highest level of its development and is manifested in active self-realization for the benefit of the Fatherland. Patriotism personifies love for one’s Fatherland, involvement with its history, culture, achievements, attractive and inseparable due to its uniqueness and irreplaceability, constituting the spiritual and moral basis of the individual, forming his civic position and the need for worthy, selfless service to the Motherland.

The word “patriot” first appeared during the French Revolution of 1789-1793. Fighters for the people's cause, defenders of the republic then called themselves patriots, as opposed to traitors to the motherland from the monarchist camp. Patriotism is one of the most important moral qualities personalities that determine life position person and the line of everyday behavior. Its significance in the social and spiritual development of the individual is great.

In Help and educational literature There are different definitions of patriotism. “Native land, whose place of birth; in a broad sense - land, a state where someone was born,” wrote V. Dahl in 1866 in his “ Explanatory dictionary" “Fatherland, the country in which a person was born and of which he is a citizen,” stated D. Ushakov in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language in 1939. “Fatherland, fatherland; 1. the territory historically belonging to a given people; 2. More narrowly - the place of birth of someone,” it is said in “ Encyclopedic Dictionary"1964. “A moral and political principle, a social feeling, the content of which is love for the fatherland, devotion to it, pride in its past and present, the desire to protect the interests of the homeland,” say the authors of the philosophical dictionary edited by I.T. Frolov edition 1981.
Along with the differences, these formulations also have something in common - patriotism is defined as “love for the motherland,” based on the fact that the word “patria” in Greek means “homeland.” In the etymological sense, “homeland” goes back to the word “clan”. Clan, give birth, relatives, spring... From the root “clan” comes the concept of people, which primarily means people related to each other by blood, place of residence, language, territory of residence, cultural rites, traditions and customs. The homeland is, first of all, the people who historically took shape on this land, who water it with their sweat, improve and transform it with their labor, sprinkle it with their blood in the struggle for freedom and independence.
IN everyday life the concepts of “homeland” and “fatherland” are used as synonyms. But the word “fatherland” is something higher. The Fatherland is not just native land, bordered by willows, are not landscapes familiar from childhood, but this political, social, cultural environment. The political environment is the state, power. Social environment is a society at a certain stage of historical development. The cultural environment is, first of all, the ideology dominant in the country.

Patriots are not born, they become them in the process of life in specific natural and social conditions, in a historically given fatherland. The dialectic is such that from birth a person becomes familiar with the natural and social environment, the existing way of life, culture and language, and the entire system social values. From childhood, he is imbued with feelings that contain the beginnings of love for the Motherland. Gradually, in the process of education, upbringing, and work, his horizons expand, connections with his homeland multiply, and his self-awareness grows. From a sensory perception of his native places and close people, he moves on to an awareness of his native language, culture, traditions of the people, their achievements and, finally, to active service to him and the cause of the prosperity of his beloved Fatherland.

Patriotism is passed on from mothers and fathers to children. At all times, boys were specially trained and prepared for the role of creators and defenders of the Motherland, and girls were raised as inspirations for the feats of their loved ones. And the first mentors in awakening patriotic aspirations in children were parents, teachers, then army commanders, production organizers and others. Each generation goes through the school of patriotism in its own way.

Patriotism- natural state of mind. Only people with a perverted psyche or extreme selfishness can develop indifference or a negative attitude towards their Motherland and people. It is characteristic that the “Ivans, who do not remember kinship” - traitors to the interests of the Motherland - have evoked contempt among all peoples and at all times. And vice versa, the desire to do everything possible for the Motherland is a healthy reaction of human consciousness to the problems of social existence and human activity. “Love your Motherland,” wrote V.G. Belinsky means to ardently desire to see in it the realization of the ideal of humanity and, to the best of one’s ability, to contribute to this.” “...A true man and son of the fatherland,” wrote A.N. Radishchev, - there is one and the same thing... He would rather agree to die and disappear than to set an example of bad behavior to others... he burns with the most tender love for the integrity and tranquility of his compatriots... overcomes all obstacles, tirelessly vigils over maintaining honesty, gives good advice and instructions... and if he is confident that his death will bring strength and glory to the fatherland, then he is not afraid to sacrifice his life.”

The role and importance of patriotic education increase at sharp turns in history, when objective trends in the development of society are accompanied by an increase in the tension of its citizens.

At a certain stage in the development of our state, a strong social differentiation of society began to be observed, a certain devaluation of spiritual values, a decrease in the educational impact of historical and cultural values, art and education as the most important factors in the formation of patriotism.

For recent years we have become unwitting participants in the greatest tragedy of humanity. As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country was overwhelmed by an unprecedented economic crisis and unemployment. More than half of the population of Belarus found itself below the poverty line. Under these conditions, the press, cinema, television, theaters, and literature hammered into the consciousness of young people the cult of violence, sex, and base human feelings.

The media launched an active attack on patriotism as the “ideology of Bolshevism”; this proud term began to be used disrespectfully. The Ministry of Education hastened to disperse the qualified military personnel and put a stop to the paramilitary games “Zarnitsa” and “Eaglet”, which were beloved by schoolchildren.
All this could not but affect the consciousness and behavior of young people. Never, even in difficult times post-war years, Belarus was not overwhelmed by such a wave of offenses and criminal offenses as at the present time. Belarus has never known such a shameful phenomenon as evasion from military service and desertion. The restructuring of the social system entailed huge changes in the life of our society. Economic and political changes are so strong that we often do not see what a strong factor destabilizing the country is, which is the crisis of values. If in Soviet era While collective principles were actively promoted, a radical socio-economic restructuring caused the opposite trend.

Collectivism and patriotism have become almost dirty words. The change in habitual basic principles led to rampant selfishness, when everyone, to the best of their energy and aggressiveness, disregarding laws and universal human norms, began to strive to achieve material well-being. Essentially, the principle “Get rich by any means possible” was raised on the shield.

Young people, who, unlike the older generation, have not yet developed a system of moral guidelines, fall into this trap especially willingly, and therefore with worse consequences.

At the dawn of the so-called democratic reforms in the early nineties, this state of affairs was not sufficiently understood by the leadership of our country. But with the coming to power of healthy forces, this issue began to be given priority attention and importance.

As a positive point, it should be noted that this problem was and is being solved in our state on the ideological-theoretical and ideological-practical basis of state ideology, since the postulates of state ideology have a certain set of views concentrated in the national idea, it is impossible to consider these two concepts in isolation from each other. The concept of a national idea should be based on the most fundamental category, denoting the basis of the spiritual nature of the nation, pointing to the collective image of individual and mass consciousness. In Belarusian society, at all stages of its development and formation of such a category, the Motherland is considered. The homeland determines our dominant civic feeling - a feeling of patriotism, and this is not some abstract concept. Patriotism is reflected in specific actions. True love for the Motherland - effective love, associated with the direct participation of the citizen in its strengthening, in improving the well-being of the people. In simple terms, you cannot be a theoretical patriot; you must actually prove your readiness to serve your Fatherland.