Only 13 percent of Europeans think that the Soviet Army played a key role in liberating Europe from Nazism during World War II. Now, 70 years after the Victory many people do not understand that the War would have been lost without a courage of EVERY solder. Skin color and spoken language were unimportant. The Victory is indivisible. However, “ICM Research” questioned over 3,000 people in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France about their understanding of World War Two. In Germany, 17 per cent of respondents said that the Soviet army played a major role in the victory, while in France only 8 percent shared the same opinion. The largest group of respondents, 43 per cent, said that the United States Army played the main role in liberating Europe during WWII. Sixty-one percent of French citizens agreed, compared to only 16 per cent of British residents. What is happening? Why do people forget their history? Moreover, how could people of one country consider their contribution to the Victory more considerable?
Well since it is debateable whether or not the Red Army liberated, in the true sense of the word, much of anything at least one of the opinions may have some validity. It is strange how in Europe, especially in Germany the role of the Soviets seams to be so vastly underplayed. It does make me wonder about these surveys though. Exactly what were the questions asked and what was the sample size and how was it determined.
Here's the "survey"; it comes from Russia Today. http://rt.com/news/253753-europeans-wwii-victory-poll/
Can't get to it right now but given the source my suspicions as to the quality of the "survey" went down from the already questionable level. Also interesting that it is someones first post.
Wonder if there's a survey of Russians, to see how many of them appreciate the contribution of their western allies.
The numbers seamed extremelly low to me even for my fellow Americans who for a number of reasons are often not well informed of the Soviet contributions. But only 17% of Germans saying the Red Army played a major role???? That one alone IMO brings the survey into question.
The truth is opposite: the entire Europe has turned into the US protectorate after the fall of the SU.
I am not surprised by so low percentage - I am just surprised that such a large fraction of general population is aware of the truth.
"Forgotten brotherhood?" There has never been "brotherhood" with Russia. Russia has always been the #1 target. A short armistice with Russia during the World War was just used to defeat the other opponent in a struggle for global domination - the Nazi Germany.
Really? Perhaps you need to discuss these ideas further with Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, or Poles. I've not heard a single person of those nations that think that the Soviet occupation of their territory was a Good Thing(TM) .
On April 7, 1989, Soviet troops and armored personnel carriers were sent to Tbilisi after more than 100,000 people protested in front of Communist Party headquarters with banners calling for Georgia to secede from the Soviet Union and for Abkhazia to be fully integrated into Georgia. On April 9, 1989, troops attacked the demonstrators; some 20 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. This event radicalized Georgian politics, prompting many to conclude that independence was preferable to continued Soviet rule. You can't equate the oppression of national and liberal thought within the Soviet Communist satellite states, with the current liberal market democracies established in a large part of Central and Eastern Europe. You might like to paint it in ideological tones, but the fact remains, those countries are actually now free to choose their future, in a way they never were under the Soviet system. Hungary 1956 Czechoslovakia, 1968 Latvia 1989
Even if the latter is true (whether or not it is depends a lot on semantics) it is hardly the opposite of what was stated. Soviet liberation was in most cases (Austria being one of the few counter examples) an oxymoron. Then you have an extremly low opinion of the education and intelligence of the people involved. The odds are of course that the numbers are bogus. That is absurd, indeed it is contradictory. Arguably Russia has never been the #1 target of the West. For several decades after WWII the USSR was but that's a long ways short of "always" and was due in large part due to the actions of the USSR. Not sure what your point is unless you are trying to insult a fair number of East Europeans.
