The Great Patriotic War, which was led by the Soviet people for their liberation from German fascism, was filled with both the drama and tragedy of events, and the greatness of heroism and the joy of Victory. An important role in ensuring the rallying of the people and the army for the defeat of the Nazi troops at all stages of the war was played by the spiritual and moral factor. Despite the failures, mistakes and even miscalculations made in initial period waging war with a hated enemy, it was the spiritual and moral factor that made it possible to rally the whole society and, ultimately, ensure the Great Victory.

An important component of it, inspiring and uniting the people and the Armed Forces of the country, has become a variety of patriotic and ideological and educational activities organized and carried out in the rear and at the front under the leadership of the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

The restructuring of ideological and educational work in the army and navy in accordance with the directive of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 29, 1941 contributed to a deep understanding of the just nature and goals of the Patriotic War. It contained recommendations for organizing the ideological and political education of personnel in combat conditions. The directive demanded to explain to the soldiers the aggressive nature of the war on the part of Germany, to mobilize personnel for the manifestation of patriotism, the honest fulfillment of the military oath, their duty to the Motherland.

The mighty power of words, military appeal, operational information about the current situation inspired the defenders of the Motherland. Without weakening attention to offensive propaganda, the State Defense Committee is taking measures to strengthen all mass educational work. By October 1, 1941, about 150 thousand political fighters were sent to the front, who explained to the soldiers the policy of the state, the situation that had arisen, demonstrating courage by personal example, inspired them to exploits, and strengthened morale.

Great organizational and ideological work among the population, in the army and navy was carried out by prominent figures of the state: M.I. Kalinin, V.M. Molotov, A.A. Zhdanov, A.S. Shcherbakov, K.E. Voroshilov, N.A. Voznesensky, D.Z. Manuilsky and others.

From the first to the last day of the war, the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, headed by I.V. Stalin did everything to increase the combat capability of the army and navy, supply them with everything necessary for combat operations, and strengthen the morale of the troops.

July 16, 1941 State Defense Committee decided to introduce the institution of military commissars in the Red Army, and on July 20 - on Navy. At the same time, departments and departments of political propaganda are being reorganized into political departments and political departments. Under the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, the Council of Military-Political Propaganda was created. The council discussed topical issues of educational work, summarized experience, and developed recommendations. An important place in his activities was occupied by the organization of agitation and propaganda work among the population in the occupied territory and enemy troops. The Council played an important role in raising the level of ideological and organizational work of the political agencies.

Summarizing the experience of educational work in the troops, the State Defense Committee sensitively reacted to the growing needs of life, made the necessary adjustments to the activities of educational structures, to their tasks and content.

The commanders, political bodies and party organizations of the army in the field directed their main efforts towards building up the offensive impulse of the troops. They taught the personnel to soberly assess their strengths and the strengths of the enemy, not to be conceited, to exercise increased vigilance, and warned against carelessness and complacency. All this played an important role in the further strengthening of the Armed Forces, in strengthening political work among the troops, which was necessary to complete the defeat of the Nazi invaders and the successful fulfillment by the Red Army of its historical mission.

It should be emphasized that during the period of hostilities the spiritual power of the printed word was widely used in the army. In general, during the years of the war, a wide network of military newspapers was created in the Armed Forces. So, already in July 1942, 19 front-line, 93 corps and army, several hundred divisional newspapers were published. At the same time, the central military press expanded and strengthened. The editorial office of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper included famous writers: A. Surkov, I. Ehrenburg, P. Pavlenko and others.

It is characteristic that only in the first weeks of the war 140 members of the Writers' Union went to the front as war correspondents, and in total more than 900 writers, poets, playwrights and journalists worked in the army and navy.

The military press passionately and with inspiration revealed the just goals and the nationwide character of the Great Patriotic War, explained the course of hostilities, talked about the patriotic upsurge of Soviet people in the rear, the mass heroism of soldiers and partisans in the battles for the Motherland.

Many newspapers specifically taught soldiers examples of fighting enemy tanks and aircraft. All this had great importance for the formation of moral and combat qualities of the personnel. An important role at the front was played by the distribution of pamphlets and leaflets in the fight against tank fear and fear of aircraft. They revealed the methods and methods of combating the equipment of the Nazi troops that proved justified in battles. This can be judged from the "Memo to the Red Army", published Main Political Directorate of the Red Army back in July 1941. It talked about the methods and techniques for destroying enemy tanks and aircraft, about organizing an attack, pointed out the need and importance of protecting commanders in battle, mutual assistance of comrades.

By the end of the war, about 800 newspapers were being published in the active army, with a one-time circulation of more than 3 million copies. Front printing along with issue coverage inner life countries widely disclosed the policy of the government in relation to the liberated peoples of Europe.

In turn, the army and navy political agencies explained to the soldiers of the Red Army that they entered the territory of foreign countries not as conquerors, but as liberators.

Political work was also aimed at explaining to the population of the liberated countries - Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary - the government's policy towards these states, the tasks of the Red Army as a liberating army. The political bodies did a lot to ensure that the Soviet troops respected the democratic organizations, traditions and customs of these states, and did not offend the religious feelings of the population.

Newspaper 3rd Ukrainian Front "Soviet Warrior" during the battles in Bulgaria she wrote: “Remember, comrade, the centuries-old friendship of the Russian and Bulgarian peoples, remember the glorious deeds of the valiant Russian warriors - the heroes of Plevna and Shipka, remember the traditions of the blood brotherhood of Russians and Bulgarians and at every step try to strengthen and multiply these glorious traditions. Thus, the newspaper successfully used the heroic past of our people in the interests of fighting the fascist army and strengthening friendship with the Bulgarian people.

The Red Army was multinational in its composition. Given this circumstance, the GlavPU of the Red Army already in September 1942 issued a directive “On educational work with the Red Army and junior commanders of non-Russian nationality. This document emphasized that military personnel did a lot to help non-Russian fighters become skilled defenders of the Motherland. On the pages of newspapers published in national languages, the goals of the war and the liberation mission of the Red Army were widely explained to the soldiers, the friendship of peoples was promoted and the military exploits of fighters and commanders of non-Russian nationality were popularized. It is noteworthy that front-line newspapers were published not only in Russian, but also in other languages ​​of the peoples of our country. Sometimes several newspapers were used at the front for soldiers of different nationalities. The circulation of these newspapers was set at the rate of one newspaper per 5 fighters. In addition, newspapers were published in national languages ​​in divisions and brigades of national formations.

An important component of the spiritual and moral foundations of the Victory was domestic art, its different kinds and genres. In terms of its popularity, the impact on people's consciousness, literature undoubtedly occupied the first place.

Literature inspired the defenders of the Motherland to heroic deeds, helped to strengthen morale among the people and soldiers. Already in the most anxious days, when the fascist hordes were rushing towards Moscow, D. Bedny's poem "I believe in my people" was written and published, in which he called for the moral and political unity of the Soviet people in the fight against the enemy:

Let the war take a dangerous turn
Let the Germans amuse themselves with the fascist chimera,
We will repel the enemy. I believe in my people
Indestructible thousand-year faith .

From the first anxious days of the defense of the capital, “the pen was equated to a bayonet” by famous Moscow artists of the word: A. Tolstoy, I. Ehrenburg, L. Leonov, K. Simonov, A. Surkov, M. Svetlov, A. Gaidar, M. Sholokhov and many other. In the most difficult days of the defense of Moscow, figures of literature and art reflected the patriotic theme in their speeches, articles, works of art. In them, cultural figures spoke about the most important thing - about the fate of the Motherland, about the historical place of Moscow in it, about the duty of every soldier and citizen. A.N. Tolstoy wrote: “It would seem that the roar of war should drown out the voice of the poet, but great people, finding in itself more and more strength in a bloody and merciless struggle, where only victory or death, more and more urgently demands from its literature ... to rise to the level of the moral height of the heroic deeds of the warring people.

The Great Patriotic War convincingly showed the great importance of the spiritual and moral foundations in achieving victory over the Nazi invaders. And first of all, such as duty, honor and dignity, moral ideal, etc. Military duty is an expression of the duties of an individual to protect the Fatherland, which are enshrined in moral convictions and military law. It implies the obligatory fulfillment of requirements leading to the achievement of moral goals. This means that the highest moral assessment deserves the act in which duty and dominant desire form a single whole.

Military duty consists not only in knowing and accepting certain life ideals, but also in defending them. During the Great Patriotic War, military duty was associated with the idea of ​​a just struggle, with a burning hatred for the fascist invaders, who destroyed the material and spiritual values ​​of our country, sowed grief and suffering to its peoples. The essence of the military duty of that period is successfully conveyed in the lines:

Beat the enemy. Over your head
The silk of the Russian banner curls.
Every enemy you kill
This is a debt given to the Motherland .

Military duty activates a person's activity, positively affects all processes of his spiritual development. The moral dignity of warriors is judged, first of all, by their actions, deeds and practical fulfillment of duty. In military service, he is inextricably linked with the consciousness of personal responsibility for the security of his homeland, with constant combat readiness, and the improvement of military skills.

Military honor and dignity act as recognition by public opinion and awareness by the warrior himself of the high social significance of fulfilling military duty. Voluntary performance of military duty becomes a necessary condition for the assertion of personal dignity and honor. Awareness of honor does not allow one to give up the requirements of military duty, it stimulates its fulfillment.

In the years Great Patriotic War military honor found expression in a just struggle against fascism. The honor and dignity of the defenders of the fatherland, filled with a sense of patriotism, love for the motherland, acted as a natural need for courageous deeds on the battlefield. These qualities were fully manifested in the heroism of the defenders of the capital - political instructor V. Klochkov, general I. Panfilov, pilot V. Talalikhin, partisan 3. Kosmodemyanskaya ... "And this need to do the almost impossible, and not just your own courage, pushes people to a feat" - wrote K. Simonov.

military honor and dignity are inextricably linked with the traditions of the Armed Forces, military team. The traditions of the collective, unit, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as a whole are changing, filled with new content. However, modern Army Russia cannot successfully develop and shape the morale and combat qualities of soldiers without a careful attitude to the historical past, especially the courage, steadfastness and heroism shown by the older generation during the Great Patriotic War.

The synthesizing role in the spiritual values ​​of a warrior belongs to the moral ideal. The ideal and reality are interconnected: the ideal reflects reality, is generated by it, it inspires people to fight for the transformation of existing reality.

One side of the moral ideal involves the desire of a person to follow a positive image in behavior, which embodies the heroic deeds of previous generations. And such images are a moral example of serving the Fatherland. These are, for example, the images of A. Maresyev, G. Zhukov, A. Matrosov, L. Chaikina, N. Gastello, I. Kozhedub. The other side is to resolve the issue of the purpose and meaning of life, its purpose. The moral ideal of Soviet soldiers during the war was expressed in the fact that the meaning of their life was inseparable from the defense of the Fatherland. Dying in the struggle for the Motherland, upholding high moral ideals, Soviet soldiers believed in the triumph of justice and the ultimate Victory over the enemy.

Here is how the patriot warrior expressed this idea:
I will come back to you, Russia,
To hear the sound of your forests,
To see the rivers blue
To follow the path of my fathers .

The moral values ​​of soldiers, along with such ethical concepts as military duty, honor and dignity, and the ideal, also find a specific manifestation in the morale of the army.

The allocation of this category is necessary, firstly, to understand the real processes of armed struggle, war as a whole. Secondly, the analysis of the moral state makes it possible to assess the spiritual connection between the society, the people and its Armed Forces. Thirdly, knowledge of the moral state is an important prerequisite for building up the spiritual strength of the people and the army.

Moral condition according to the specifics of manifestation, it is stable. It is known what a difficult situation our state and its army found themselves in as a result of the attack of fascist Germany. However, the people and the army did not flinch in the face of the difficulties and defeats of the first days of the war, did not lose faith in the final victory over the enemy.

Even opponents were forced to reckon with this circumstance. So, a week after the start of the war, the chief of the general staff ground forces Germany wrote in his diary: "Information from the front confirms that Russian people everywhere are fighting to the last man." One of the leaders of the German military intelligence, General Tippelskirch noted later that "the Russians held out with unexpected firmness and tenacity, even when they were bypassed and surrounded."

In the public consciousness of our country at that time, the maximum purposefulness of the political attitudes of the state leadership was concentrated with the active moral mobilization of the people and the army for a decisive struggle against the German invaders.

The situation was completely different in the states of Europe opposing fascist Germany, which turned out to be morally incapable of actively confronting the aggressors. In his memoirs, the French general de Gaulle wrote: "In reality, the shocked army did not believe in anything, and the state machine was spinning in an atmosphere of complete chaos."

The morale in the war in defense of the Fatherland is determined by political ideas that express the just character of the struggle of the people, allowing them to develop a personal ideological position and carry out practical actions to protect their Fatherland. Such a war is assessed by them as a highly moral phenomenon. It causes spiritual uplift and encourages readiness in the name of victory over the enemy to overcome all obstacles, to go through any disasters and hardships.

The high effectiveness of the morale of the people and the army during the war is realized in mass heroism. So, it is known that during the years of the Great Patriotic War, the feat of A. Matrosov, who closed the embrasure of the enemy bunker with his body, was repeated 300 times, and N. Gastello and his crew, who sent the plane to the enemy convoy with military equipment, more than 300 times. The patriotic value of such heroic deeds lies in the fact that they not only call others to the feat, but also, as it were, reveal a specific form of moral deed that can be disseminated on a mass scale.

During the war, Russian fiction of various genres paid considerable attention to reflecting such spiritual and moral qualities of Soviet soldiers as courage, bravery, courage. On August 25, 1943, the remarkable writer A.N. wrote about these qualities quite capaciously and figuratively. Tolstoy in the story "Russian power". Describing the spiritual image of the Russian soldier in the battles on the Kursk Salient, he wrote in general terms: “Our troops are infiltrating, breaking through behind enemy lines, surrounding, attacking from all sides, dismembering the front, ahead of the Germans both in speed of movement and in speed of consideration. At the heart of all this, first of all, are Russian talent, Russian courage and awakened Russian fury. Proud and brave Russian people. Glory to him."

Along with vivid prose, revealing the high moral qualities of the Soviet warrior, poetry also noted the courage, unbending stamina and courage of the defenders of the Fatherland. It is well known that in the battle on the Kursk Bulge, the German command, using the Tiger and Panther tanks, new for that period, tried to break the resistance of the Red Army, inflict not only a military defeat on it, but also spiritually break the resistance of the Soviet soldiers. However, this did not happen, and the spiritual fortitude of the Soviet soldier withstood the pressure of enemy tanks with honor and defeated the German troops.

This idea is very convincingly revealed by the poet A. L. Golovkov, a participant in the Great Patriotic War.

In forty-three, under Ponyri,
The enemy tried in mortal combat
Armored fists
Knock out my Russian soul.
Tested by fire and iron
And I am near Kursk, and near Orel.
Well, he survived and was not killed,
And tested for fear, for a break }