The War of the Lost Generation is a theme of war in foreign literature of the early and mid-20th century. The theme of war in Russian and foreign literature of the 20th century The Second World War in the literature of the 20th century

20th century

1. War with the Japanese Empire of 1904-1905.

2. First World War 1914-1918.

Defeat, change in the political system, the beginning of the civil war, territorial losses, about 2 million 200 thousand people died or went missing. The population loss was approximately 5 million people. Russia's material losses amounted to approximately 100 billion US dollars in 1918 prices.

3. Civil war 1918-1922.

The establishment of the Soviet system, the return of part of the lost territories, the Red Army died and went missing, according to approximate data from 240 to 500 thousand people, in the White Army at least 175 thousand people died and went missing, total losses with the civilian population for the years of the civil war amounted to about 2.5 million people. The population loss was approximately 4 million people. Material losses are estimated at approximately 25-30 billion US dollars in 1920 prices.

4. Soviet-Polish war of 1919-1921.

According to Russian researchers, about 100 thousand people died or went missing.

5. Military conflict between the USSR and the Japanese Empire in the Far East and participation in the Japanese-Mongolian War of 1938-1939.

About 15 thousand people died or went missing.

6. Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.

Territorial acquisitions, about 85 thousand people died or went missing.

7. In 1923-1941, the USSR participated in the civil war in China and in the war between China and the Japanese Empire. And in 1936-1939 in the Spanish Civil War.

About 500 people died or went missing.

8. Occupation by the USSR of the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 1939 under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty (Pact) with Nazi Germany on non-aggression and division of Eastern Europe of August 23, 1939.

The irretrievable losses of the Red Army in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus amounted to about 1,500 people. There are no data on losses in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Territorial gains in East Prussia (Kaliningrad region) and the Far East as a result of the war with the Japanese Empire (part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands), total irretrievable losses in the army and among the civilian population from 20 million to 26 million people. Material losses of the USSR amounted, according to various estimates, from 2 to 3 trillion US dollars in 1945 prices.

10. Civil war in China 1946-1945.

About 1,000 people from among military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates died from wounds and illnesses.

11. Korean Civil War 1950-1953.

About 300 military personnel, mostly officer-pilots, were killed or died from wounds and illnesses.

12. During the participation of the USSR in the Vietnam War of 1962-1974, in military conflicts of the second half of the 20th century in Africa and the countries of Central and South America, in the Arab-Israeli wars from 1967 to 1974, in the suppression of the 1956 uprising in Hungary and 1968 in Czechoslovakia, as well as in border conflicts with the PRC, about 3,000 people died. from among military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates.

13. War in Afghanistan 1979-1989.

About 15,000 people died, died from wounds and illnesses, or went missing. from among military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates. The total costs of the USSR for the war in Afghanistan are estimated at approximately 70-100 billion US dollars in 1990 prices. Main result: Change of political system and collapse of the USSR with the secession of 14 union republics.

Results:

During the 20th century, the Russian Empire and the USSR took part in 5 major wars on their territory, of which the First World War, the Civil War and the Second World War can easily be classified as mega-large.

The total number of losses of the Russian Empire and the USSR in wars and armed conflicts over the 20th century is estimated at approximately 30 to 35 million people, taking into account losses among the civilian population from hunger and epidemics caused by the war.

The total cost of material losses of the Russian Empire and the USSR is estimated at approximately 8 to 10 trillion US dollars in 2000 prices.

14. War in Chechnya 1994-2000.

There are no official exact figures for combat and civilian casualties, deaths from wounds and illnesses, and missing persons on both sides. The total combat losses on the Russian side are estimated at approximate figures of 10 thousand people. According to experts, up to 20-25 thousand. According to estimates of the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers. The total combat irretrievable losses of the Chechen rebels are estimated at figures ranging from 10 to 15 thousand people. Irreversible losses of the civilian population of the Chechen and Russian-speaking population, including ethnic cleansing among the Russian-speaking population, are estimated at approximate figures from 1000 according to official Russian data to 50 thousand people according to unofficial data from human rights organizations. The exact material losses are unknown, but rough estimates suggest total losses of at least $20 billion in 2000 prices.

Have you heard the expression? “When the guns roar, the muses are silent.” During the Great Patriotic War, the muses not only did not remain silent - they shouted, sang, called, inspired, and stood up to their full height.

The years 1941-1945 are probably one of the most terrible in the history of the “Russian state”. Tears, blood, pain and fear - these are the main “symbols” of that time. And despite this - courage, joy, pride in yourself and your loved ones. People supported each other, fought for the right to life, for peace on earth - and art helped them in this.

Suffice it to recall the words spoken by two German soldiers many years after the end of the war: “Then, on August 9, 1942, we realized that we would lose the war. We felt your strength, capable of overcoming hunger, fear and even death...” And on August 9, at the Leningrad Philharmonic, the orchestra performed D. D. Shostakovich’s seventh symphony...

It wasn't only music that helped people survive. It was during the war years that amazingly good films were made, for example, “The Wedding” or “Hearts of Four.” It was during these years that beautiful, immortal songs were sung, like “The Blue Handkerchief.”

And yet literature played a huge role, perhaps the main one.

Writers and poets, writers, critics, artists knew firsthand what war was. They saw it with their own eyes. Just read: K. Simonov, B. Okudzhava, B. Slutsky, A. Tvardovsky, M. Jalil, V. Astafiev, V. Grossman... It is not surprising that their books, their work became a kind of chronicle of those tragic events - a chronicle of beautiful and terrible .

One of the most famous poems about the war is the short four lines of Yulia Drunina - the lines of a frightened, excited front-line girl:

I've only seen hand-to-hand combat once,
Once in reality. And a thousand - in a dream.
Who says that war is not scary?
He knows nothing about the war.

The theme of the Great Patriotic War will forever remain in her work.

Perhaps one of the most terrible poems will be the work “Barbarism”, written by the poet Musa Jalil. The level of brutality shown by the invaders seems to be unmatched by all wild animals in the world. Only man is capable of such unspeakable cruelty:

My land, tell me, what's wrong with you?
You have often seen human grief,
You have bloomed for us for millions of years,
But have you experienced it at least once?
Such a shame and such barbarity?

Many more tears were shed, many bitter words were said about betrayal, cowardice and baseness, and even more about nobility, selflessness and humanity, when, it would seem, nothing human could remain in the souls.

Let's remember Mikhail Sholokhov and his story “The Fate of a Man.” It was written after the war, in the mid-50s, but its realism amazes even the modern reader. This is a short and perhaps not unique story of a soldier who lost everything he had in terrible years. And despite this, the main character, Andrei Sokolov, did not become embittered. Fate dealt him blows one after another, but he managed - he endured his cross and continued to live.

Other writers and poets also dedicated their works to the years of the Great Patriotic War. Some helped soldiers survive in battle - for example, Konstantin Simonov and his immortal “Wait for me” or Alexander Tvardovsky with “Vasily Terkin”. These works went beyond the boundaries of poetry. They were rewritten, cut out from newspapers, reprinted, sent to family and friends... And all because the Word - the most powerful weapon in the world - instilled in people the hope that man is stronger than war. He knows how to cope with any difficulties.

Other works told the bitter truth about the war - for example, Vasil Bykov and his story “Sotnikov”.

Almost all literature of the 20th century is in one way or another connected with wartime themes. From books - huge novels, novellas and short stories, we, a generation that has not experienced years of horror and fear, can learn about the greatest events of our history. Find out - and pay tribute to the Heroes, thanks to whom the peaceful sky turns blue above our heads.

Theme of the Great Patriotic War in literature: essay-reasoning. Works of the Great Patriotic War: “Vasily Terkin”, “The Fate of a Man”, “The Last Battle of Major Pugachev”. Writers of the 20th century: Varlam Shalamov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Tvardovsky.

410 words, 4 paragraphs

The World War broke into the USSR unexpectedly for ordinary people. If politicians could still know or guess, then the people were certainly in the dark until the first bombing. The Soviets were unable to prepare fully, and our army, limited in resources and weapons, was forced to retreat in the early years of the war. Although I was not a participant in those events, I consider it my duty to know everything about them so that I can then tell my children about everything. The world must never forget about that monstrous battle. Not only me, but also those writers and poets who told me and my peers about the war think so.

First of all, I mean Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”. In this work, the author depicted a collective image of a Russian soldier. He is a cheerful and strong-willed guy who is always ready to go into battle. He helps out his comrades, helps civilians, every day he performs a silent feat in the name of saving the Motherland. But he does not pretend to be a hero; he has enough humor and modesty to keep it simple and do his job without unnecessary words. This is exactly how I see my great-grandfather, who died in that war.

I also really remember Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man.” Andrei Sokolov is also a typical Russian soldier, whose fate included all the sorrows of the Russian people: he lost his family, was captured, and even after returning home, he almost ended up on trial. It would seem that a person would not be able to withstand such an aggressive hail of blows, but the author emphasizes that Andrei was not alone - everyone stood to their death for the sake of saving the Motherland. The hero's strength lies in his unity with the people who shared his heavy burden. For Sokolov, all the victims of the war have become family, so he takes in the orphan Vanechka. I imagine my great-grandmother, who did not live to see my birthday, as kind and persistent, but, as a nurse, she gave birth to hundreds of children who teach me today.

In addition, I remember Shalamov’s story “The Last Battle of Major Pugachev.” There, a soldier who was innocently punished escapes from prison, but, unable to achieve freedom, kills himself. I have always admired his sense of justice and his courage to defend it. He is a strong and worthy defender of the fatherland, and I am offended by his fate. But those who today forget that unparalleled feat of dedication of our ancestors are no better than the authorities who imprisoned Pugachev and doomed him to death. They're even worse. Therefore, today I would like to be like that major who was not afraid of death just to defend the truth. Today, the truth about that war needs to be protected as never before... And I will not forget it thanks to Russian literature of the 20th century.

The First World War became a cardinal theme in the art of the first half of the century, determined the personal destinies and shaped the artistic identities of such writers as Henri Barbusse, Richard Aldington, Ernest Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque. During the war, the poet whose work opened the 20th century, Guillaume Apollinaire, was mortally wounded. The conditions and consequences of this war were different for each country. However, the artistic embodiment of the First World War in different literatures also has common, typological features, both in problematics and pathos, and in poetics.

An epic artistic interpretation of the war is characteristic of large-scale chronicle novels by Roger Martin du Gard, Romain Rolland and others. Books about the war show this war in very different ways: from the depiction of its revolutionary influence in Henri Barbusse’s novel “Fire” to the pessimism and despair it caused in books by writers of the “lost generation”.

Henri Barbusse (1873-1935)

In the 20s - 30s, Barbusse was on the left flank of progressive literature. In his youth, he paid tribute to decadent literature (the collection of poems “The Mourners”), imbued with pessimism and disappointment, then he wrote the novels “The Pleaders” (a psychological study of the mental state of young people) and “Hell” (the perception of the world through the eyes of a hero - a sophisticated intellectual), carrying features of naturalism and symbolism.

The First World War radically changed the life and work of Barbusse: being a convinced pacifist, at the age of 41 he voluntarily joined the army and spent about 2 years at the front as an infantry soldier. Therefore, he conceived and wrote the novel “Fire” in the trenches (1915-1916). The hero of the novel is autobiographical: on the path of saying goodbye to false illusions, he passes through a cleansing fire to clarity, which in the writer’s vocabulary means truth and truth.

Barbusse looked into the essence of war and showed people the abyss of their delusion. War is violence and a mockery of common sense; it is contrary to human nature. This was the first true book about the war, written by a participant, an ordinary soldier who suffered the senseless cruelty of monstrous bloodshed. Many participants in the war, who previously believed that they were driven by patriotism and a thirst for justice, now saw their own destiny in the heroes of the novel.

The main idea of ​​the novel - the insight of the mass of soldiers - is realized mainly in a journalistic vein (the subtitle of the novel is “the diary of a platoon”). About the symbol that gave the book its title, Barbusse wrote to his wife: “Fire means both war and the revolution to which war leads.”

Barbusse created a kind of philosophical document in which an attempt was made to revise the historical practice of glorifying war, because murder is always vile. The characters in the novel call themselves executioners and do not want to be talked about as heroes: “It is criminal to show the beautiful sides of war, even if they exist!”

The space of Barbusse's novel is a war that has torn people out of the orbits of their existence and drawn them into its craters, flooded trenches and devastated steppes, over which an icy wind blows. I remember the plains strewn with corpses, along which, as if in a city square, people are scurrying: detachments are marching, orderlies are often doing back-breaking work, trying to find their own among the half-decayed remains.

The experience of a naturalist came in handy for Barbusse when creating the ugly face of war: “War is not an attack like a parade, not a battle with flying banners, not even a hand-to-hand fight in which people rage and shout; war is monstrous, supernatural fatigue, waist-deep water, and dirt, and lice, and filth. These are moldy faces, bodies torn to shreds and corpses floating above the voracious earth and not even resembling corpses anymore. Yes, war is an endless monotony of troubles, interrupted by stunning dramas, and not a bayonet sparkling like silver, not a cock’s horn crowing in the sun!”

The novel “Fire” caused a huge resonance, a response from official criticism, Barbusse was called a traitor, and they called for him to be brought to justice. The master of surrealism Andre Breton called “Fire” a big newspaper article, and Barbusse himself a retrograde.

In 1919, Barbusse appealed to the writers of the world to create an International Organization of Cultural Workers, which should explain to people the meaning of current events and fight against lies and deception. Writers of various worldviews and trends responded to this call, and thus the group “Klarte” (“Clarity”) was born. It included Thomas Hardy, Anatole France, Stefan Zweig, Herbert Wells, Thomas Mann. The group's manifesto, Light from the Abyss, written by Barbusse, called for people to bring about social change. “Clarte” led an active attack on the position “above the fray” of Romain Rolland.

Together with Rolland, Barbusse was the initiator and organizer of the International Anti-War Congress in Amsterdam in 1932.

Dozens of books have been written about the First World War, but only 3 of them, published after the novel “Fire” by Barbusse almost simultaneously (1929), stand out among the rest for their humanistic and pacifist orientation: “A Farewell to Arms” by Hemingway and “All Quiet on the Western Front” Remarque and Aldington's "Death of a Hero".

The twentieth century in the life of the whole world was marked by such monstrous events as war, the First and Second World Wars. Undoubtedly, they could not but influence the work of writers of this time. Geniuses, pacifists Hemingway, Aldington, Remarque, Saint-Exupery, Böll, Seghers and many others created their anti-war works, putting pieces of their lives into them, giving the reader the emotions experienced during the terrible years of hostility between states. And what these authors left us as a legacy is an invaluable fund of literature created by people who saw and survived the war.

War in the works of Remarque

One of the galaxy of “stars” of the 20th century. in foreign literature about war, of course, Remarque, Erich Maria. His works have been repeatedly filmed over the years and are still interesting to read by our contemporaries. “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “Arc de Triomphe”, “Spark of Life”, “Night in Lisbon”, “Black Obelisk” and many others are imbued with hatred of fascism and traitors to their homeland.

At that time, paradoxically, he himself was accused by the Nazis of desecrating the honor of his country and suspicion of belonging to the Jewish people by changing the supposedly genuine surname of the writer “Kramer” to the well-known “Remarque”. However, these attacks remained unfounded and were not officially confirmed. The author's first novel about the front was based on the author's memories of the time spent in the trenches. Realistic and terribly harsh episodes describe the truth of life, not embellished by any literary fiction.

Many other works of Remarque also reflected moments from his own life during the war. This is also closeness to the hero of “The Black Obelisk” Ludwig Bodmer, who, like himself, worked in an office selling tombstones and played the organ in church on weekends. And the story of the author’s relationship with actress Marlene Dietrich, which is the basis for the novel “Arc de Triomphe.”

The theme of war in Hemingway's works

Ernest Hemingway is a writer, war correspondent, another famous and popular representative of the so-called “Lost Generation” (a term applied to all anti-militarist writers in Europe between the First and Second World Wars). In 1929 His autobiographical novel “A Farewell to Arms!” was published. The love story of an American with an Italian hospital nurse echoed an episode from the life of Hemingway himself, who served at the front and was in a hospital in Milan after being wounded.

The author's sharply negative attitude towards military action and condemnation of the powers that be who failed to prevent the bloodbath found a response in the hearts of readers. The publication of the novel became a sensation in its time for the generation of the author’s contemporaries and still remains one of the significant works on military topics. And among other equally famous works (“Fiesta”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”) it undoubtedly occupies a central place.

Richard Aldington in anti-war literature

Richard Aldington, an English writer whose novel “Death of a Hero” brought fame far beyond the borders of his native country, also made a major contribution to the history of anti-war literature. It was published the same year as A Farewell to Arms! Hemingway and attracted no less attention from readers. The story of a bourgeois intellectual who went to the front reveals the author’s idea of ​​the meaninglessness of war and the glorification of life in its peaceful manifestations. Having survived the war, Aldington feared the outbreak of a new one, and with all his might, in his works, he advocated its prevention. The cycle of seven novels about the war and the collection of poems “Images of War,” just like the other authors of the “Lost Generation,” reflected the horror of life at the front and left a significant mark on world literature.

Significant and very important contributions to the development of the genre of war novels were made by such writers as Fitzgerald, Barbusse, Dos Passos, Woolf and many others. A long list of authors and their works has long been included in the fund of literature of world significance, designed not only to punish war with words, but also to encourage humanity, remembering the mistakes of the past, to preserve peace for the life of future generations.

The theme of war in foreign literature was revealed by Ekaterina Viktorovna Serdyukova (teacher-philologist)