Posted on 11/26/2002 7:31:29 AM PST by HAL9000
The Russian army restores red star with five branches like emblème
Tuesday November 26, 2002 - 15h20 GMT
MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (AFP) - the Russian army asked and obtained Tuesday the re-establishment of red star with five branches, emblème of the Soviet forces armed disappeared from its flag after the fall of the USSR, brought back the Interfax agency.
The request was presented by the Minister for Defense Sergueï Ivanov at president Vladimir Poutine who immediately supported it, during a meeting with the executives of the army joined together at the Kremlin.
One will need a vote of the Parliament to officialize the return of star by amending the law on emblème of the armed forces. Mr. Poutine expressed the hope that the presidents of the two rooms, present at the meeting, would support this initiative.
Informant to express itself in the name of the soldiers and of ex-serviceman, Mr. Ivanov affirmed in particular that "the star is crowned for the soldiers".
"Our fathers and our grandfathers fought under star. And we always have stars on our shoulder pads ", said the minister.
The flags of the units of the Soviet army carried a red star bordered of yellow, and among the decorations decreed during the Second World War that of red star was most largely allotted to the men as with the units. The daily newspaper of the Russian ministry of Defense preserved as for him the name of Krasnaïa Zvezda, the red Star.
The president of the Union of the committees of mothers of soldiers, Valentina Melnikova, which gathers associations of parents of conscripts, criticized the decision of Sergueï Ivanov.
"the Minister for Defense was named to carry out a reform (army), not to restore the dead symbol of a died State", it declared on the radio operator Echo of Moscow.
Last year, Mr. Poutine had restored the old anthem of the USSR, whose new words were written by a former official poet of the Soviet Union.
How about their great grandfathers?
That's no different than what Germany did after WWII. Same song as the Nazis, different words. Also, did they imply that they put a crown on top of the star to also denote Russia's czarist past as well?
Since the NSDAP was, in fact, Socialist, there is one song (Brueder im Zechen und Gruben) that was taken over by the Volksarmee as their "theme", without any modifications to the words. Many of the political songs from the twenties and thirties were based on traditional tunes. The Nazis and Red Front each had their own sets of lyrics, though. I guess it saved money on the sheet music.
During the Nazi era, Germany actually had two anthems. Deutschland continued to be used by the army and "non-politicals" while Die Fahne hoch was the song of the NSDAP (there were Communist words to this one, as well). The latter has been, of course, outlawed. The first verse of the Deutschlandlied is no longer ordinarily sung at public funtions, because the borders to which it refers are not currently operative. Singing it, however, is not illegal. On the other hand, you can be locked up for singing the Horst Wessel Lied.
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