Encyclopedia of Russian History

A successful commander, Vlasov had impressed Stalin. Having fought his way out of the Kiev encirclement, he was appointed to repulse the German attack on Moscow in December 1941. In March 1942 Vlasov was made deputy commander of the Volkhov front and then commander of the Second Shock Army. For reasons that are still unclear, the Second Shock Army was neither strengthened nor allowed to withdraw. On June 24, Vlasov ordered the army to disband and was captured three weeks later. As a prisoner-of-war, Vlasov met German officers who argued that Nazi policy could be altered. Relying on his Soviet experience, Vlasov believed that their views had official sanction and agreed to cooperate.

In December 1942 the Smolensk Declaration was issued by Vlasov in his capacity as head of the so-called Russian Committee, and was aimed at Soviet citizens on the German side of the front. In response, Soviet citizens began to sew badges on their uniforms to indicate their allegiance to the Russian Liberation Army, which in fact did not exist although the declaration referred to it. In the spring of 1943, Vlasov was taken on a tour of the occupied territories and published his Open Letter, which attracted much support among the population. Hitler was opposed to this and ordered Vlasov to be kept under house arrest as there was no intention of authorizing any anti-Stalinist movement. Dabendorf, a camp near Berlin, became the main focus of activity. Mileti Zykov was particularly influential in developing some of the program at Dabendorf. Finally, on September 16, 1944, Vlasov met Heinrich Himmler, who authorized the formation of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR, Komitet Osvobozh-deniya Narodov Rossii). The Manifesto was published in Prague on November 14, 1944. Two divisions were formed, but Soviet soldiers already serving in the Wehrmacht were not allowed to join. In May 1945, the KONR First Division deserted their German sponsors and fought on the side of the Czech insurgents against SS troops in the city. Vlasov wished to demonstrate his anti-Stalinist credentials to the Allies, but when it became clear that the Americans would not be entering Prague, the First Division was eventually ordered to disband. Vlasov was captured, taken back to Moscow, tried, and hanged as a traitor in August 1946. For many years, mention of Vlasov and the anti-Stalinist opposition was taboo in the USSR. Since the 1980s more material has been published. An attempt to rehabilitate Vlasov and to argue that he had fought against the regime-not the Russian people-was turned down by the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court on November 1, 2001. See also: STALIN, JOSEF VISSARIONOVICH; WORLD WAR II

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Andreyev, Catherine. (1987). Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Dallin, Alexander. (1981). German Rule in Russia, 1941-1945: A Study in Occupation Politics, 2nd ed. London: Macmillan.

CATHERINE ANDREYEV

VODKA

Prior to the twentieth century, the Russian word vino indicated the class of beverages known in English as vodka. The term refers to all alcoholic drinks made from distilling grain. (Confusingly, vino could also mean wine.) The Russian word vodka usually referred to the higher grades of spirits.

Precisely when spirits appeared in Russia is difficult to discern. Some historians note references to vodka in written chronicles as early as the twelfth century. Others argue that spirits arrived in Russia in the late fourteenth century. One source claims that Livonians and Germans were granted permission to sell aqua vita, or vodka, in certain areas of Moscow in 1578. A commonly held view is that drinks such as present-day vodka spread to Russia only in the sixteenth century when Russians learned the art of distilling grain from the Tatars. The most widely held consensus is that vodka came from the west in the first half of the sixteenth century, but its consumption was initially limited to foreign mercenaries.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY

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