WRITE: A book review on: Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 by Catherine Merridale

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Review must bebetween 1200-1750 words in length.

Need 4 objectives in review:

  1. Choose the most salient points from Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 by Catherine Merridale.
  2. Express the role of the thirty million men and women who served in the Red Army during WWII.
  3. Interpret the continuing reluctance of most Soviet veterans to discuss their experiences — in sharp contrast to German survivors of the Eastern Front.
  4. Diagram the types of evidence Merridale brings to her study.
  5. Set up the Soviet Union's policy of stressing the collective nature of its sacrifice and victory.
  6. Research the soldiers' age and ethnic diversity, to put a human face on the facts.


Book can be found on:

https://erenow.com/ww/ivanswarlifeanddeathinthered...

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Outline
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
References


Running head: IVAN’S WAR

Ivan’s War
Student's Name
Course Number-Name of Course
Instructor’s Name
Date

IVAN’S WAR

2
Ivan’s War

In this narrative, Catherine Merridale explains how the fighters suffered and endured
during the war which is arguably one among the ugliest war of all times. However, her technique
of describing the events during the war is outstanding. Empathy and sympathy are brought in the
explanation. She gives her account of how the Soviet Union and its generation had produced its
military. During this period, she articulates, over thirty million men and women were fighting in
the Soviet Military. This account took place between 1941 and 1945. At first, the theme of defeat
was palpable as these soldiers sensed defeat at every step of their way. However, the team was
victorious as they matched in Berlin. From this book, we can learn about Merridale’s concern
about the numbers in the war. She asserts that the numbers of the slain soldiers were impossible
to count or contemplate as she termed the war as a total catastrophe. We note that during the first
five months of the war, almost two and a half million soldiers were captured. However, the
situation improved when the war was coming to an end. It is noted that almost eight million
soldiers had already perished when the war was coming to an end.
When one of the veteran soldiers was interviewed, the reaction shows the reality of the
issue. The following quote is useful in explaining the ordeal because it qualifies to be one. “They
called us, they trained us, and they killed us.” When she was conducting her research on the
issues and facts behind the Ivan’s War, Merridale’s primary concern was to eradicate the
accolades and hype which was narrated by the Soviet about a great deserved victory. It is
apparent that the words victory, as coined by the Soviet, was an understatement and a
misrepresentation of facts based on the harsh reality which experienced in the war. It was evident
that the theme of government failure was apparent. She identifies that the sacrifices made by

IVAN’S WAR

3

people were not justifiable. It is evident that the Russians seemed worse off than the Americans
in the Second World War.
The theme of failure to plan during a war was apparent from the way the soldiers
perished. When the soldiers came against the Germans in 1941, the tactics used as well as the
number of deaths in comparison to the German soldiers who died was an evidence of inadequate
training and preparedness. Besides, the lack of plan led to a shortage of food supplies thus
making the soldiers more vulnerable to the enemies. They had poor weapons which did not
qualify to be used in any battlefield with experienced soldiers from German.
Another evidence drawn by Merrodale on the failure of the war was the fact that the
training received by the Ivan’s War soldiers was aided by wooden guns as well as cardboard
tanks. While this might be counted as a colossal failure, the justification given by Stalin was that
it was dangerous to have live guns in the hands of untrained ci...


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