Великая Отечественная война

Russian

Etymology

Literally, “great war of the fatherland”. The term Оте́чественная война́ (Otéčestvennaja vojná, “patriotic war”, literally “war of the fatherland”) (оте́чество (otéčestvo), Russia), was meant to represent a defensive war against an invader.

It was first used in 1844 to refer to Russian resistance against the French invasion in 1812. On the centenary of the French defeat, it became known as Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́. This term reappeared in the Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, on 23 June 1941, just a day after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, to motivate Soviet citizens to unite and fight against the invasion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vʲɪˈlʲikəjə ɐˈtʲet͡ɕɪstvʲɪn(ː)əjə vɐjˈna]

• Audio:

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Proper noun

Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́ • (Velíkaja Otéčestvennaja vojná) f inan (genitive Вели́кой Оте́чественной войны́)

1. (history) Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)

   Synonym: ВОВ (VOV)

Usage notes

"Оте́чественная война́" ("patriotic war") was also used for two earlier wars: resistance against the French invasion of Russia (Оте́чественная война́ 1812 го́да), and World War I (Втора́я оте́чественная война́ ("Second Patriotic War"), within the Russian Empire).

Declension

Declension of Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́ (inan sg-only fem-form hard-stem accent-b) 

	singular
nominative	Вели́кая Оте́чественная война́ Velíkaja Otéčestvennaja vojná
genitive	Вели́кой Оте́чественной войны́ Velíkoj Otéčestvennoj vojný
dative	Вели́кой Оте́чественной войне́ Velíkoj Otéčestvennoj vojné
accusative	Вели́кую Оте́чественную войну́ Velíkuju Otéčestvennuju vojnú
instrumental	Вели́кой Оте́чественной войно́й, Вели́кою Оте́чественною войно́ю Velíkoj Otéčestvennoj vojnój, Velíkoju Otéčestvennoju vojnóju
prepositional	Вели́кой Оте́чественной войне́ Velíkoj Otéčestvennoj vojné

See also

• День Побе́ды (Denʹ Pobédy)