As has been reiterated numerous times during class, Russian culture is obsessed with what it means to be “Russian”. It is an ironic and cyclical phenomenon. As the Russian citizen ponders their identity, they are including themselves in the long Russian tradition of doing so, and asking such broad cultural questions. It is unsurprising, however, to see several common elements emerge when analyzing the collective Russian psyche. Chief among those is an incredible resilience of spirit, and the belief that triumph is  won through sacrifice. Many instances of Russian history have established and cemented these themes. It is often in the darkest of night that the Russian spirit truly reveals itself, and prevails.

Perhaps most famous among Russia’s  triumphs was the halt of Nazi Germany by Russian forces just 5 miles from Moscow. Until this point in World War II, the Red Army had lost hundreds of thousands of men to German rifles, and thousands died from starvation. Previously, and almost equally well known, Napoleon encountered much the same narrative in his invasion of Russia. The Russian Army essentially sacrificed itself in a climatic battle outside of Moscow, taking with them a large percentage of Napoleon’s force. The French were only able to hold Moscow for a few months, until the Russian Army crawled back from the grave and expelled the intruders west of the Dnieper. Tchaikovsky chronicled this musically in The 1812 Overture.

Themes of sacrifice before triumph lie deeply in the Russian literary canon, a direct result of an extensive history of such. In Tale of the Destruction of Riazan, the Russians suffer catastrophic defeat, losing one prince and city after another. The extent of the loss is exhibited explicitly, when it is written “Prince Ingvar Ingvareveich found his fatherland devastated, and learned that all his brothers had been killed by the impure, lawbreaking Batu.” Later, however, Ingvareveich rises above his loss when he “Took the throne of his father […]. And he restored the land of Riazin and he erected churches and monasteries.” Ingvareveich, after assuming the throne, is also described as a “great joy for the Christians”. The text emphasized the unyielding character of the Russian spirit, and the eventual triumph of Russia and her Christendom over all invading forces. The famed Russian film director, Eisenstein, uses these themes in overwhelming fashion in his seminal  Alexander Nevsky,  which depicts the titular hero’s victory over invading Teutonic Knights. In its purest sense, the aforementioned theme is nowhere more present than in Sergei Prokofiev’s score for Alexander Nevsky. The score moves from utter despair to incredible triumph, perfectly encapsulating a central element of Russian identity over the last one thousand years.