home-Celebrities-War and peace comparison of Napoleon Kutuzov. Comparative characteristics of Alexander and Napoleon

War and peace comparison of Napoleon Kutuzov. Comparative characteristics of Alexander and Napoleon


Russians and Germans. It is believed that it was Peter I who cut a window to Europe, but, as is known, the Germans were already living in Russia by this time and even had a serious influence on the worldview of the future reformer. Mikhailo Lomonosov considered the Germans his teachers and “our everything” in science. German language was studied in all higher and secondary educational institutions Russia, and many generations of Russians were brought up on the works of the “gloomy German genius” - poets, scientists, philosophers. However, there is also a second side to the coin, which clearly demonstrates that relations between the two peoples can hardly be called cloudless.

Russians and Germans. It is believed that it was Peter I who cut a window to Europe, but, as is known, the Germans were already living in Russia by this time and even had a serious influence on the worldview of the future reformer. Mikhailo Lomonosov considered the Germans his teachers and “our everything” in science. The German language was studied in all higher and secondary educational institutions in Russia, and many generations of Russians were brought up on the works of the “gloomy German genius” - poets, scientists, philosophers. However, there is also a second side to the coin, which clearly demonstrates that relations between the two peoples can hardly be called cloudless.

Now, when a quarter of a century has passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR and much has changed in Russia and around the world, we conducted a small study, interviewing 50 Russian and German contemporaries, 25 people on each side, mainly residents of Moscow, the Moscow region, Berlin and Bavaria, men and women 25−65 years old with higher and secondary education.

What do representatives of the two nations think and know about each other? We asked all our respondents - from the German and Russian sides - the same questions, and the answers to some of them did not differ too much from each other. So, when asked about the most famous representatives of the German nation, both those and others most often named Hitler, Goethe, Karl Marx, Kant, Beethoven, Bach, Schiller, Hegel, Luther, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Engels, Gutenberg, Bismarck, Merkel, Einstein, Schumacher. To this list the Germans often added the names of monarchs, and the Russians the names of writers, the Ramstein group and Hitler’s associates. It is curious that when asked about the nationality of the Fuhrer, all German respondents, without exception, calling him the most famous German, at the same time consider him an Austrian by nationality, in contrast to the Russians, who were perplexed and at the same time amused by such a question: “German, naturlich, who else!”

Both consider Lenin, Stalin, Gorbachev, Putin, Peter I, Catherine II (she was also named among famous Germans), Zhukov, Yeltsin, Khrushchev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pushkin, Gogol, Tchaikovsky to be the most famous Russians in the world. Gagarin, “Tsar Alexander”, Lermontov, Brezhnev, Tupolev, Kalashnikov and Beria were named once each.

The symbol of Germany for Russians is, first of all, beer, sausages, the swastika (100% of respondents) and fascism. They were also called the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall, Reichstag, Gothic, neatness, car brands, bike paths and windmills. The Germans added the eagle, football, industry and bureaucracy to the list of symbols. It is significant that, unlike the Russians, none of the Germans surveyed mentioned the swastika as a symbol of Germany. As we can see, for modern Germans the symbol of the country is now associated only with the eagle.

Both nations called the Kremlin, Red Square, the symbol of Russia, fur hats, winter, vodka, nesting dolls, frost, taiga, Siberia. German respondents added oil, gas, corruption and authoritarian government to the list. Russians preferred more lyrical images: birch tree, Russian braid, bast shoes, generous soul. It is significant that, as in the previous question, none of the Russians surveyed remembered the hammer and sickle as a symbol of a bygone era, but among the Germans, this symbol, like the red flag, was mentioned by the majority of respondents.

The Germans called typical features of their national character: politeness, hard work, punctuality, pedantry, commitment, sense of duty, friendliness, sentimentality, love of order, honesty. Sometimes, however, such a list was accompanied by the following remark: “All this is in the past - whether it still applies now is the question” (Stefan, 40). Russians have added to the list such qualities as accuracy, restraint, truthfulness, self-confidence, independence, and poetry. It is striking that, despite constant references to fascism, negative traits German character was mentioned by Russians in isolated cases (straightforwardness, narrow-mindedness, lack of a sense of humor). Let us also cite this opinion: “The Germans have shortcomings - a continuation of their advantages. Law-abiding, love of order, organization, hard work - excellent qualities. And on a national scale, under the leadership of Hitler, it turned out horrible power"(Victor, 46).

The Russian’s self-portrait looked, according to the survey, far from being so ideal, and negative qualities Most often it was not the polite Germans who pointed it out, but the Russians themselves. We often come across pairs here: laziness (Russians), hard work (Germans), commitment - optionality, organization - disorganization, self-confidence - uncertainty, supplemented by such qualities as: carelessness, rudeness, laxity, indifference, a tendency to depression, drunkenness. Among their positive qualities, Russians mentioned: hospitality, compassion, kindness, patience, inappropriate generosity, love of reading books and searching for the meaning of life. The Germans noted the following qualities of Russians: patriotism, sacrifice, courage, ruthlessness, revelry, flexibility, rudeness, passivity (“it lasts a long time until the people rise up,” Sandra, 37). Let us cite this opinion: “men, especially in the provinces, are drunkards, beat their wives, women abuse cosmetics” (Bernard, 32).

With an answer to the question about general outline character, the Germans were clearly at a loss: “There are none,” “The only cliché is drunkenness” (Helmut, 53). The Russians, on the contrary, were sure that such traits existed and indeed found them: courage, ingenuity, the ability to neglect comfort and put everything on the line, endurance, fast driving and even “love for stormy holidays in Turkey and Egypt” (Marina, 31) . When asked about differences in national character, Russians often recalled the proverb “what’s great for a Russian is death for a German” and the dialogue between Stolz and Oblomov from Goncharov’s novel (one of the German respondents also pointed to “Oblomov”). Let us also cite the following opinions: “Both people are talented, but a German, if he discovers something new, will at least write a book, while a Russian will ramble on and do nothing” (Valeria, 39); “A lot is changing now, including national character. There are a lot of pragmatic Russians and crazy brave Germans. An example is Matthias Rust” (Victor, 46). “Germans are more fun, more sociable, joke more often” (Irina, 47); “The Russian environment brings up a rougher person” (Anton, 25). On the German side, they also note “the joy of alcohol” (Frederika, 42), but it also emphasizes the difference: “The Germans have beer, the Russians have vodka.” Let us also cite this opinion: “The Germans live clearly within their own framework and rules, the Russians are more flexible and can more easily find their way to the goal” (Andreas, 41).

Let's see what each nation knows about each other from a historical perspective. Russians remember the reformation, printing, fragmentation, the Weimar Republic, the formation of the Third Reich, but most often two world wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and the formation of the European Union. From Russian history, German respondents noted Tatar-Mongol yoke, October Revolution, Chernobyl, the death of the Kursk submarine, iron curtain, glasnost, Perestroika, putsch, Laika in space, Gagarin's flight and both world wars.

Particularly significant for both audiences was, as we see, the Second World War. And it is not surprising, since, as the survey showed, close relatives of almost all our respondents from the Russian and German sides took part in it on both sides: “father, uncle and grandfather”, “both grandfathers”, “grandfather and great-grandfather, grandmother was in the occupation “,” “my great-grandfather was in Russian captivity,” “my grandfather and aunt died. She was only 17 years old, she studied at a medical school in Yalta and died when the Germans blew up the steamship Armenia" (Lydia, 57).

When asked about the events with which their ideas about the Second World War are connected, Russians recalled 1941, the Brest Fortress, the invasion of the USSR, Stalingrad, the siege of Leningrad, Battle of Kursk, concentration camps, partisan movement, mass extermination of people, the battle of Moscow, the capture of Berlin, the flag over the Reichstag, i.e. events that took place during the Great Patriotic War 1941−45 The Germans also noted many of these events, but their understanding of the war went beyond the Russian-German experience: D-Dau, the Battle of the Bulge, the Normandy landings, the fall of Poland, the capitulation of Paris, the extermination of the Jews, the bombing of London, the liberation of Dachau, the death of " Wilhelm Gustlow", conference in Wannsee, resettlement of Germans from Königsberg and the eastern territories, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At our request, the respondents also spoke about the most truthful, in their opinion, work about the Second World War - a book, a film, a song - there were practically no coincidences here. The Russians called “Katyusha”, “Blue Handkerchief”, Leningrad Symphony Shostakovich, poem “Wait for me” by K. Simonov, diaries of residents besieged Leningrad, Books of memory, films “They Fought for the Motherland”, “ Brest Fortress", "And the dawns here are quiet", "The Fate of Man", "Seventeen Moments of Spring", biographies of Zhukov and other military leaders, a series of programs by A. Pivovarov, the website of M. Solonin, memoirs of N. Nikulin, books by A. Suvorov, " The Tale of a Real Man" by B. Polevoy, novels by V. Bykov and G. Böll. The Germans remembered Picasso’s “Guernica” (although the bombing of Guernica took place before the start of World War II), the films “Schindler’s List”, “As Long as My Legs Are Carrying” (“Escape from the Gulag” based on the book by I.M. Bauer), “The Wannsee Conference”, “ Dogs, do you want to live forever? F. Visbara, “The Death of Wilhelm Gustlov”, “Saving Private Ryan”, the book “The Trajectory of the Crab” by G. Grass.

“Would Russia have had a different future if not for World War II?” - What do our respondents think about this? Some Russians believe that “for sure”: “So many people would not have died and would not have starved after the war. People could have invested their efforts in something else - in building a successful country, but they didn’t have enough strength” (Peter, 35). "Perhaps there would not be such Stalin's repressions, which the people considered to be somewhat justified by the war” (Mikhail, 62). “Of course, democracy would have come sooner, but as the country was being restored, there was no time to hold a rally, and there was no one, there were no men” (Irina, 57). But the majority is inclined to believe that special changes would not have happened: “In some ways, yes, but overall not particularly” (Alexey, 27). There are also adherents of the “world conspiracy”: “I believe that the world’s future, including the Russian one, is organized and controlled by certain people and the Second World War is part of a planned process” (Igor, 27). But here is the opinion of the Germans: “Of course, it’s just not clear what the whole world would look like if there had been no World War II” (Frank, 31); “Politically, nothing has changed since World War II, so Russia would probably not look much different today” (Helmut, 53).

It turned out that our respondents have a rather poor understanding of major events occurring on the territory of another state. Thus, only a quarter of Russians surveyed had “heard something” about the blockade of West Berlin. “I don’t know very much about the blockade of West Berlin, but I think it’s impossible to compare these two events, as M. Solonin does. The siege of Leningrad, a crime against humanity, lasted almost three years, was accompanied by daily bombings (by no means raisin), and the number of victims among the civilian population alone was about a million people. The blockade of West Berlin is rather a political action” (Natalia, 29); “No one suffered as much as the Russians! I don’t know about the blockade of Berlin, but if it was as terrible as in Leningrad, we would, of course, know. It seems to me that modern Germans simply do not understand what their ancestors did on our territory. This always comes to mind when you visit Berlin. They rush around with the hundreds who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall, but they don’t want to understand that because of the Nazi invasion, 25 million of us died” (Alexander, 53). German respondents also believe that these events cannot be compared, but their motivation is different: “It is impossible to compare, because the siege of Leningrad took place during the war, i.e. according to the laws of wartime, but the blockade of West Berlin is in peacetime, so we must judge according to the laws of peacetime” (Beate, 42).

But the question of the prerequisites for further relations, as expected, did not cause international disagreement. The Russians were more emotional: “They are a cool country. We want to be friends. Our president knows German” (Tamara, 25). The Germans approached the issue in a businesslike manner: “Since the system in Russia has changed, such prerequisites have appeared. The end of socialism is the decisive reason” (Martha, 37), “The closer two states are in terms of system and ideology, the stronger the relationship” (Wolfgang, 44).

We tried to find out whether our respondents have language capabilities for mutual communication. Of the Germans we interviewed, three speak Russian, all residents former GDR, over 40 years old, who studied Russian at school. Russians who own German language, it turned out to be even less - two. As we see, in currently our countries are not experiencing better times for language communication.

What words from each other’s language do the respondents know? For Russians, as it turns out, the main sources of knowledge are films about the war (“Hende Hoch”, “Schnell”, “Achtung”, “Arbeit”, “Kaput”, “Sieg Heil”), television advertising (“Das ist Fantastish”, “kvadratish, praktish, gut”), folk songs and the group “Ramstein” (“Vas wollen vir trinken sieben tage lang”). The Germans have fewer military traces, but they also exist: “come on, come on,” “work” (Wolfgang, 44, “grandfather was captured”). In addition, they were called: “comrade”, “grandmother”, “matryoshka”, “perestroika”, “cheers” (the Germans, by the way, are firmly convinced that this is what they say when they clink glasses). Those who studied Russian at school remember such words and expressions as “satellite, tractor, party” and “how to get to the city center.”

Half of Russians (12 out of 25) expressed a desire to settle in Germany temporarily or permanently: “It would be nice to live at least for a little while!” (Inna, 27), although there were those who, like 60-year-old Valentin from the Moscow region, “had nothing to do there.” Let us note that most of those who are not averse to changing their place of residence are young people under 30 years old. There were no German respondents who wanted to live in Russia, “although I’m sure there are very nice places there” (Jens, 58); “Probably not, due to the political regime, climate and large social stratification” (Frederica, 42).

Both parts of our audience expressed the unanimous opinion that Germany has a higher standard of living than Russia. Among the reasons for this situation, the Russians noted the following: “The Germans are more hardworking, love order and steal less. They built socialism twice as successfully as ours” (Alevtina, 41); “The reason is the government, which takes care of citizens and maintains their standard of living at a high level” (Svetlana, 31); “It’s hard to even imagine that our head of state will resign only because of the loss of citizens’ trust” (Valery, 61). There were also those who blamed the weather for everything: “Their climate is more suitable for more active life"(Igor, 27) and even the lack of natural resources in Germany in the form of oil and gas: "There is no need to raise so many slaves to extract them! There is a place where they dig, and there is a place where they decide how and how much to dig. Unfortunately, Russia is destined for the fate of a raw materials state, and the labor force is paid much less decently than qualified ones” (Anton, 25).

German respondents believe that it’s all about hard work, responsibility, political system, democracy. Among the reasons cited are corruption, the outflow of skilled workers from the country work force, huge territory, decentralization: “Russia is big, very big country, and therefore difficult to manage, the infrastructure for such big country more expensive, politicians sit in cities, the province can be easily forgotten” (Helmut, 53).

Let us note that of the 25 Russians surveyed, seven visited Germany, while only two of the Germans visited Russia, one of them a Russian language teacher from the former GDR. Russians liked Berlin: “beautiful, modern, international, lots of castles and greenery” (Nikolai, 30); "polite, friendly people, stunning architecture, Potsdam, Alexanderplatz, Museum Island, Gedechtniskirche, Jewish Museum, Checkpoint Charlie (“I was shocked by the Western interpretation of the Second World War”)” (Natalia, 29). The Germans praise Moscow: “Beautiful historical city, with incredible architecture from different times, the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square, Mausoleum" (Andreas, 41). Barbara, who visited Chelyabinsk, also notes: “Outdated factories, smoke, pipes, poor ecology, many sick children, people are not very polite to each other, but when they get to know each other they are very cordial.”

We asked a few more questions about people who contributed to the development of world culture. Russians are not so unfamiliar with German culture; in any case, they named more names of writers and poets, philosophers and scientists than the Germans themselves, while it was not young people who were more educated, but older people. The Germans' knowledge of Russian culture was more modest.

Evgenia Nurmukhamedova

We are in Moscow, Ove Schattauer is with us.

Ove Schattauer:

Hello, dear friends.

Ove, you have already been in Moscow for three days, the weather has cleared up. Tell us about your impressions. What new things have you learned in the last couple of days?

Ove Schattauer:

The red thread of our rally is meeting with many interesting people. It is striking that Moscow is still not a village, not even a hamlet. She's bigger here more people. This means that life here is faster. We went on the subway: everything moves there, people experience stress - this is the same in any big city. We know this a little from living in Berlin. But what is Berlin against 22 million inhabitants in this city!? That's why there are big traffic jams. We spent a lot of time in traffic jams, driving around to meetings.

I must say, Moscow is a clean city. But unlike villages and small towns like Pskov, Gvardeysk and so on, there is no such contact between people. There people are closer to each other. They look into each other's eyes. Here is the typical Big city: everyone has their own program, everyone runs about their own business. Otherwise everything is fine. When the sun is shining, everything is fine.

We spent again interesting events related to the purpose of the rally. On the day of arrival, in pouring rain, we visited the eternal flame on Red Square.

We are very grateful. It is a great honor for us Germans to be able to lay flowers. Everyone could feel how the relationship between the two peoples is steeped in history. It's good that it was raining, it was helpful. The sky cried with us.

Was this the most touching moment?

Ove Schattauer:

It wasn't the most touching moment, but it was one of many touching moments. Everyone has it memorial site our tears flowed. I was also in Sevastopol, and I was very impressed by the one built 11 years ago museum complex and a memorial. Very modern and impressive. Of all memorable places that was the most impressive thing. If you have the opportunity to go to Sevastopol and see the 35th coastal battery, take advantage of it. The whole complex is impressive. And you feel the pain that permeates this place.

This was the memorial that impressed me the most. The most touching moment and what I am most proud of is when they ask me why this trip was needed, what you achieved. This is the speech of one of the speakers eternal flame, who called all 250 participants in the rally for peace heroes. Everyone heard it. Everyone will go home with these words. It was worth all the traffic jams, the 12-hour border crossing, we did something good, we can be proud of it. The next day the sun came out, many went for a walk around Moscow, finally saw the city, and went to Red Square. Of course it's worth going there.

I was there last year. We also participated in the TASS press conference. It was very interesting. My first press conference at this large site. And Rainer, in my opinion, too. People watch you on TV, you have to answer questions quickly. I was impressed. Great! We enjoyed it because we have no bad news. We are well-disposed and heartily wish for peace. There was no fear in front of the microphone, because we don’t talk nonsense. Therefore, we can do it without preparation. We speak from the heart. Rainer says I complement him, I say Rainer helps. I think we have become a good team in recent days.

What is important: we present visually different types of people. We want to interest not only the intelligentsia, like Professor Rothfuss, clever man, a scientist, a geopolitical scientist who understands everything, legs and people like me: a musician, a little crazy, speaking from the heart, sometimes funny things. We know that the topics we cover are quite serious, but this mixing is important.

I felt it in the villages when I meet people in person. They like that when discussing a serious topic of peace or “no to war”, they can then laugh at something, because the language of life is laughter and tears. This is what we demonstrate. I hope the Russians feel it.

And now we must bring these feelings to Germany. This is even more important. I have no doubt that the Russians want peace with Germany. There is no need to propagate this here. This is completely obvious.

We must finally convey this idea to the Germans so that they come here, so that they, like us, get to know the people, create their own impression, stay with families, feel hospitality and kindness, as well as the omnipresent sorrow of the Russian people that exists still. You need to understand this, accept it and draw conclusions. And promise the Russians that we, the Germans, and Europeans in general, will never point weapons at Russia again, that we have learned from the mistakes of the past, that we want to live in peace, love, friendship, respecting each other equally.

What else impressed me here, in Moscow, this international city, is that Russia is the only country in the world where all religions, all nationalities, all races coexist peacefully. I think it works here. There is an international life here. Neither the USA nor France succeeds in this. There is a ghetto there, everyone lives for themselves. I have heard from many people, and I myself have the same opinion: Russia, people, manage to live peacefully together.

We can learn from the Russians about this. At the press conference, I also said that, looking at the Russians, we can remember our own roots, the values ​​that live in people here again. This is such happiness. I am a big supporter of these values, we must return such values ​​to our society: love, family, respect, decency. We had these values ​​in the past. Now they are forgotten. You can learn from the Russians to remember them; you need to spend a couple of days with the Russians. Moreover, not just for the weekend and not only to Moscow and St. Petersburg, to typical tourist places. Go to the countryside, talk to people, spend one evening with them.

Sit at the table, drink a little vodka, everything in moderation. I personally haven’t seen heavily drunk people in Russia and perhaps I’m lucky, I don’t know when they appear on the streets. We gathered in the evenings. We had fun and laughed. As you can hear in my voice, so am I. But everything is within the limits of decency. Everything is the same as here in Germany.

Go visit a Russian family, look at their children, see how happy they are because they are loved. They don't have expensive video consoles, they don't care about super expensive fancy clothes. Parents love them, and love is the main thing that parents can give. You see happy children. I lived in such a family. They sang songs. Naturally, they are well brought up. Most people know how to play musical instruments, go in for sports, have a classical education, and are spiritually developed. They took a classical Greek education: body, music and spirit. Classical education, discipline, rigor, authority and great love wonderful children grow up. I realized this while living with Vladimir’s family. Their children are so wonderful. We sang together. You will see on Ejin Tiwi how they sing to me. Amazing children live here.

Not eating burgers, playing PlayStation, trying drugs, doing nothing all day. I can't look at people like that anymore. I feel very good here. Hello Germany.



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