Notes and reflections by Nora Hoppe for the Saker blog
To retreat or not to retreat…
Preface:
I have no idea about war… I have never experienced one. I understand nothing of military campaigns, strategies, manoeuvres, weapons, etc. I’ve only seen several war films, read novels featuring war and followed the news on various wars…
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I have heard that each war is different, and that comparisons are only useful for “certain aspects”.
I follow the news regularly on Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. And I have recently read and heard many varying and divisionary views on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson, a city that is now lawfully part of Russia.
Dispensing with the views of the pro-NATO side, which are of no interest, I am observing the division of thought amongst analysts, journalists and commenters in forums siding with the Russians: There are those who are outraged and see the withdrawal from Kherson as “a disgrace”, “a sign of weakness”, “an embarrassment”, “a poor strategy”, “unattractive optics”, etc. Others see it as the outcome of a difficult but wise decision – that was primarily made to save the lives of Russian soldiers, who would have been cut off by a massive flood if NATO were to blow up the Kakhovka Dam. (There may well be additional tactical reasons for the withdrawal, but they are not (yet) known to the public.)
When people speak of the “optics not looking good“… a film set immediately comes to my mind (I have worked in the film world for many years). And that immediately tells me how some people view this operation – as spectators: it has to have a good catchy script, suspense, uninterrupted action and – heaven forbid – no lulls! It has to ultimately supply a dopamine release. It has to have a “Dirty Harry Catharsis”.
This reminds me of similar reactions to the prisoner exchange in mid-September, where some saw it as a sign of weakness to even think of releasing Azov prisoners… or when the Chinese government did not deliver a dramatic retort when Pelosi went to do her skit in Taiwan.
What is at the base of these kinds of reactions? Why such impatience? Why such concern with “appearances”? Why such a need to satiate one’s own personal sense of justice and retribution? Does it have something to do with consuming? Especially in the western world one has become an addicted consumer of not only things but “experiences” that can be lived indirectly.
Today we witness events of other peoples’ wars and battles on computer screens from the comfort of our homes or on our tiny phones from chic cafés… these events can accessed at any moment – just press a key… and they appear – like a scene in a film, a game, a contest, a sports match. Even the dead bodies that lie mangled, bloodied or in gory stumps strewn over the mud become the pieces of a broken puppets on a stage. “Hell, one gets used to it…” The sacredness of Life is gone.
We have become spectators… and our world has become a spectacle.
In his philosophical work and critique of contemporary consumer culture, “The Society of the Spectacle”, Guy Debord describes modern society as one in which authentic social life has been replaced with its representation: “All that once was directly lived has become mere representation.” He argues that the history of social life can be understood as “the decline of being into having… and having into merely appearing.” This condition is the “historical moment at which the commodity completes its colonisation of social life.”
I don’t want to veer off into the film world or into a philosophical discourse here… but I just want to ask the question: When are we going to wake up to the real, authentic world?
When are we going to stop fussing about “cool appearances”, “sensational manoeuvres” and “snappy rebuttals”… and start remembering what this operation is all about in the first place?
Isn’t it essentially about LIVES? Not only about the lives of those who have been suffering injustices and atrocities in Donetsk and Lugansk (and elsewhere) since 2014 (at least)… but also the lives of those fighting for the salvation and survival of those other lives… and – by extension – the lives of sovereign human beings on the planet who yearn to live in a better, multipolar world?
President Vladimir V. Putin had tried to avoid a military response in Ukraine for many long years until the Russian people and Russia began to be faced with its devastation from outside, especially with the burgeoning NATO menace and the enhanced cultivation of the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. It is not an easy decision to take risky military measures to confront an inevitable clash. In his speech on National Unity Day before the historians and representatives of Russia’s traditional religions on 4th November he visibly expressed his horror and personal pain over the profound tragedy of this clash and over what was befalling the Ukrainian people: “The situation in Ukraine has been driven by its so-called ‘friends’ to the stage where it has become deadly for Russia and suicidal for the Ukrainian people themselves. And we see this even in the nature of the hostilities, what is happening there is simply shocking. It’s just as if the Ukrainian people do not exist. They are thrown into the furnace and that’s it.”
Perhaps the “transient” retreat from Kherson is not a setback and can be even seen as a victory, another kind of victory – a moral victory.
In his powerful masterpiece, “War and Peace”, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy depicts the Battle of Borodino as the greatest example of Russian patriotism… The collective engagement of all those involved in the Battle of Borodino is what ultimately attained the end result: despite all their losses and the sacrificial need to evacuate Moscow and burn its resources – in order to save the army and Russia, the Russians, achieved a moral victory in this battle… which ultimately led to the comprehensive victory of the Russian army and the entire campaign.
“Several tens of thousands of the slain lay in diverse postures and various uniforms on the fields and meadows belonging to the Davýdov family and to the crown serfs—those fields and meadows where for hundreds of years the peasants of Borodinó, Górki, Shevárdino, and Semënovsk had reaped their harvests and pastured their cattle. At the dressing stations the grass and earth were soaked with blood for a space of some three acres around. Crowds of men of various arms, wounded and unwounded, with frightened faces, dragged themselves back to Mozháysk from the one army and back to Valúevo from the other. Other crowds, exhausted and hungry, went forward led by their officers. Others held their ground and continued to fire.” [“War and Peace” – book 10; chapter 39]
General-in-chief Mikhail I. Kutuzov’s motto of “patience and time” allowed the Russian army to be victorious when he was able to embrace, as opposed to trying to know, the contingencies of war and prepare his soldiers as best he could for such battle. He knew that, by fighting the pitched battle and adopting the strategy of attrition warfare, he could now retreat with the Russian army still intact, lead its recovery, and force the weakened French forces to move even further from their bases of supply.
“By long years of military experience he knew, and with the wisdom of age understood, that it is impossible for one man to direct hundreds of thousands of others struggling with death, and he knew that the result of a battle is decided not by the orders of a commander in chief, nor the place where the troops are stationed, nor by the number of cannons or of slaughtered men, but by the intangible force called the spirit of the army, and he watched this force and guided it in as far as that was in his power.” [“War and Peace” – book 10; chapter 35… bold script mine]
According to Tolstoy: “In military affairs the strength of an army is the product of its mass and some unknown x. … That unknown quantity is the spirit of the army, that is to say, the greater or lesser readiness to fight and face danger felt by all the men composing an army, quite independently of whether they are, or are not, fighting under the command of a genius, in two—or three-line formation, with cudgels or with rifles that repeat thirty times a minute. Men who want to fight will always put themselves in the most advantageous conditions for fighting. … The spirit of an army is the factor, which multiplied by the mass gives the resulting force. To define and express the significance of this unknown factor – the spirit of an army – is a problem for science.” [“War and Peace” – book 14; chapter 2]
This Russian approach to war opened up an entirely new option: for “the destiny of nations” to depend “not in conquerors, not even in armies and battles, but in something else.” That “something else” Tolstoy explains, was in fact the spirit of the people and of the army, that made them burn their land rather than give it to the French.
The highest qualities of a human being, according to Tolstoy, are: simplicity, kindness and truth. Morality, according to the writer, is the ability to feel one’s “I” as a part of the universal “we”. And Tolstoy’s heroes are simple and natural, kind and warm-hearted, honest before people and before their conscience.
Tolstoy notes that, whatever the faith may be, it “gives to the finite existence of man an infinite meaning, a meaning not destroyed by sufferings, deprivations, or death”. … “I understood that faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life in consequence of which man does not destroy himself but lives. Faith is the strength of life. If a man lives he believes in something. If he did not believe that one must live for something, he would not live. If he does not see and recognize the illusory nature of the finite, he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, he must believe in the infinite. Without faith he cannot live… For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.”
“I understood that if I wish to understand life and its meaning, I must not live the life of a parasite, but must live a real life, and – taking the meaning given to live by real humanity and merging myself in that life – verify it.”
For us to attain a true victory – for a better world… we may need to recalibrate our thinking and values. This is indeed a spiritual struggle… not one just being fought in Donetsk, Lugansk and Ukraine. It is a struggle now within our own selves – whatever one’s beliefs are… What has meaning for us? Perhaps it is necessary for each of us to first define what we hold “sacred” in our own lives.
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some references:
http://kremlin.ru/catalog/keywords/78/events/69781
https://www.marxists.org/archive/tolstoy/1869/war-and-peace/index.html
https://hum11c.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/exhibits/show/reading-history/differing-perspecitives-on–re
A thoughtful and thought-provoking article.
I want Russia to win, but I also hope that Ukraine doesn’t smash itself up too much. I hope the USUK gets a black eye, but I feel sorry for its stunted militants.
Marvellous piece. Deep and thoughtful, worthy of Tolstoy. Gave me goosebumps. Thank you. .
I’m very honoured by your words. Thank you so much.
Very true and this is a war where the majority of this planet’s inhabitants support the just nature of Russia’s position – This will end in only one way which has already been decided,it’s just a matter of when
I’ve always felt that the war in Ukraine is mainly and formost of a spiritual nature and good people instinctively sides with Mother Russia against the dark forces of evil.
Thank you, Nora. To read you this morning has given me great emotional and spiritual comfort, piece of mind. And I take up your kind invitation to get back to Tolstoy’s profound wisdom. So that I have picked up from the bookshelf in my study a copy of that masterpiece of all times: Guerra y Paz; with the firm intention to reading it from beginning to end over the following days, with new eyes in view of the troubled times we are going through. Yet hopeful that a more just world will set in; that in the end Russia will prevail, for the best of Humanity as a whole. Andrés Barrera, from Spain.
Thank you very much for your kind words.
I, too, want to read War and Peace again after many years. I think we need great literature more than ever these days. I just hope that the younger generations begin to read! That is so important for the future!
Beautiful essay, especially “the intangible force called the spirit of the army” part, but things are not that simple. Even during WW2 the Nazi’s used to drug their troops in order to get them to attack. The Soviets used to place men in the rear of battle to shoot any who retreat, so Soviet troops knew that behind them was certain death while in front of them was the possibility of life. The Ukrainians are right now using both the Nazi drug method and the Soviet death to the rear threat with great success in Ukraine.
The Japanese believed in the valour and skill of the individual soldier, while the Chinese believed in mass momentum or “the spirit of the army” so to speak. So for the Japanese it was the skilled individual who mattered, while for the Chinese it was the mass of troops and their mood at a point in time which mattered, with the combination of mass and mood translating into momentum. But the Japanese were on a permanent war footing since birth with the samurai, while the Chinese depended more on masses of conscripts for their wars. Since modern large scale wars are all conscript wars it stands to reason that the combination of drugs and death threats to the rear will contribute greatly to the spirit of any army in a future world war.
But some believe that in modern warfare spirit, valour, bravery, tactics and even strategy are irrelevant, all that matters is supply of materials, the manufacturing pipeline so to speak. In modern warfare most soldiers are killed with artillery, so whoever has the most shells or missiles wins. Quite often the individual soldier doesn’t even have a chance to fire his rifle, in spite of all the loving care and maintenance he has put into it. By this kind of reasoning the Kherson retreat or not to retreat is irrelevant, the only real issue is Russia’s willingness to bomb or not to bomb.
Vorweg; der Inhalt des Aufsatzes von Nora Hoppe ist mit dem wachen Geist einer Frau geschrieben. Hervorragend!
Für mich steht und fällt eine Armee mit den Menschen die in ihr dienen.
Es ist richtig und wichtig auch in der modernen Kriegsführung über genügend Waffen und Ausrüstung zu verfügen. Als ehemaliger Offizier in einen Regimentsstab habe (so denke ich) ich jedenfalls ein paar kleine Kenntnisse vom Geschehen.
Für uns war es wichtig, dass die untergebenen Bataillone und Kompanien gut funktionierende Einheiten sind. Das bedeutete, dass alle “Mannschaften” selbst unter schwierigen Bedingungen tadellos funktionieren und die gestellten Aufgaben erfüllen. Dies setzte einen sehr hohen Ausbildungsstand voraus. Aber ein Soldat (egal welcher Dienstgrad) muß wissen für wen und für was er kämpft und sich dafür ggf. opfert.
Ich denke, dass es einen Unterschied macht, ob ich Söldner bin, ob ich zur Armee gepresst wurde, oder ich verteidige mein Vaterland.
Viele Beispiele in der Militärgeschichte haben bewiesen, das unterlegene (Anzahl und Ausrüstung der Einheit) gegen einen weitaus stärkeren Feind gesiegt haben z.B Spartaner gegen Perser, Vietnamesen gegen USA; Taliban gegen USA.. es ließe sich noch wesentlich erweitern. Die Moral der Truppen bildet einen nicht zu unterschätzenden Faktor.
Ich möchte nicht auf den Ausbildungsstand der höheren Offiziere in den Stäben der Divisionen und Armeen eingehen.
Ich war auch sehr erschrocken, was heute mit den Drohnen alles erreicht wird.
Wir hatten damals noch Luftbeobachter, welche (nur) nach Flugzeugen und Hubschraubern Aussicht halten sollten. Die Truppenluftabwehr (der Einheiten) war für meine Begriffe mittelmäßig.
Am Rande; Die Angehörigen der deutschen Wehrmacht erhielten im 2. Weltkrieg Pervertin
Vielen Dank für Ihre freundlichen und unterstützenden Worte.
Thank you very much!
Optics are a double-edged sword, for what else are illusions based on? We may well ask: Which is the most grounded in reality, the “Collective West” or the “Gas station masquerading as a country”?
Before your nation, comes your family, and before your family, comes your homestead, and before your homestead, comes your education, and before your education, comes your health, and before your health, comes your birth, and before your birth, comes your conception, and before your conception, comes love.
The way of love, life and living.
Just a thought…in Peace-time the borders are guarded and the land is ruled by the sovereign. But in war-time the land-value varies according to military advantage…thus a retreat may serve to burden the enemy and free the military to destroy more enemy…burning Moscow comes to mind naturally, or burning Washington. Often a slow retreat can bring great advantage…as it conserves the resources of one party and obliges the opponent to waste resources.
In Matter 404 it’s obvious that the military-technical resources of the fascist forces are being reduced rapidly…
I often recall the December declaration https://tass.com/politics/1377261 [and] https://ru-main.ru/russian-foreign-ministry-revealed-security-draft-agreements-documents/
Under what conditions would “Zone A” comply? Such conditions are open to speculation, but strongly imply that foundational change in “Zone A” is the military-political goal of Conflict 404 et sec. Repeat> “Foundational Change”. Possibly that term may encompass what Historians might call “revolution”.
Thus, when we consider “retreat” we perhaps ought to see a US retreat from occupied Europe, especially from Germany and Poland, as a goal of Conflict 404. Under what circumstances would the US chose to vacate Europe? Ultimately all foreign policy is driven by domestic matters…
I agree Mr. P.
I wonder if the French in Agincourt felt any regret for believing their own BS and not taking terrain into consideration. Some think that battle was the end of chivalry in west, but I think it was a wakeup call that shows how monstrous war is in reality. This article also reminds me of the fact that there is no chivalry in warfare. It is a human meat grinder. It is apparent to me that the RF don’t want their troops to be cut down for the sake of a false fleeting feeling of showing how great they are while losing valuable human beings for a useless piece of land.
Agincourt indeed,seven thousand English longbowmen had something to do with that.
This is not just a war against Americans, or Western Europeans, or Ukrainians, or Poles. They are merely proxies, cannon fodder. So is this a real war? Well, anyone who has been on the ground getting his head bashed in knows this is a real war. Bloody, painful,and debilitating. Yes, this is a real war.
I intended to begin this next paragraph by stating this war is different. The horrible truth my dear friends is this war is very similar to many other wars that have occurred in the past. This is just another war between humans on one side, against Satan and his spawn on the opposing side. “Same sh*t, different pile.”
It’s just another war against Satan. Bloody, painful, and debilitating? Sure, aren’t they all?
The same joke I remembered at the start of the operation comes back to mind.
Two Russian tank commanders are having breakfast in a cafe in Lvov. One of them asks, “so who won the media war?”
Thank you so much for the heavy dose of wisdom today.
Thank you for your very kind words.
The article confirms; the Russians leaving Kherson is but a tactic already used many a time by the Russian army throughout history.
On the subject of spectators …
Elections are a form of theater, like horror films. Except that in election theater the audience is chained to their seats, unable to leave, and they have to keep watching the same horror movie over and over and over again.
Bravo ! Excellent. Thank you very much.
Thanks! Very much appreciated!
“a sign of weakness” – Bingo. Kherson is the capital of an Oblast that is now part of Russia.
There is not universe where evacuating Kherson is a sign of strength; it is the lesser of evils. Is this the dethnell of the Russian’s army? No. Russia withdrew in good order. But it does indicate that Russia underbudgeted for this operation and likely underestimated Ukraine.
Ukraine is still an operational force despite the claims by Russia’s MoD on Ukraine’s losses.
Good quotes. Thank you.
I feel the Kakhovka Dam, though itself a distinct catastrophic potential, was also used to goad and persuade people to leave because the destruction of the bridges represented a possible risk to adequate logistics.
Lucked upon a copy in the giveaway pile at the library. It has the grueling reputation from students forced to read. I could not put it down easily. Loved that one character who reminded me of the gung-ho type from my sub years. Went sailing into battle with great fanfare and died like an absolute nobody quickly, easily and pointlessly.
So many great points in this article. Will read again and distribute. I don’t think it is just the spirit of the fighters. The folks creating the equipment play a decisive role as well. The West long ago quit producing armaments, now their goal is profit. You can tell in their propaganda, hell we spent 10 times as much. So what, how much got siphoned off the top?
Wonderful piece, thank you Nora. Your movie The Crossing was underappreciated by many – I loved it.
Thank you so very much.
And I’m so amazed you saw my film (I’m wondering where you saw it!) I deeply appreciate your words about it!
SMO ‘Love Bombs’ Day
Russia must learn that to be kind, you must be cruel, first. Personally, I’d have the Azov prisoners goosestepping in formation clearing minefields in Donetsk. Why put sappers lives at risk?
Keep pounding until morale improves. It’s the only language the western butchers understand.
Peace was hung, now love can only exist when those who hung peace are exterminated.
One embarrassing question because of the most likely obvious answer: did the Ukro/Nato forces take Kherson?
An excellent and profound article. Thank you for sharing with us.
You cited Tolstoy as saying “If [man] does not see and recognize the illusory nature of the finite, he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, he must believe in the infinite.”
I for one can only think the Western leaders cannot recognize this illusory nature of the finite, and hence they merrily wallow in their own immoral acts thinking all is finite and there is no consequence. There will be much gnashing of teeth when they find themselves burning in the innermost circle of hell…
Thank you for your kind words!
It has to have a “Dirty Harry Catharsis”. “Hell, one gets used to it…” The sacredness of Life is gone.
We have become spectators… and our world has become a spectacle.
This condition is the “historical moment at which the commodity completes its colonisation of social life.”
When are we going to stop fussing about “cool appearances”, “sensational manoeuvres” and “snappy rebuttals”… and start remembering what this operation is all about in the first place?
They are thrown into the furnace and that’s it.
and force the weakened French forces to move even further from their bases of supply.
for “the destiny of nations” to depend “not in conquerors, not even in armies and battles, but in something else.” That “something else” Tolstoy explains, was in fact the spirit of the people and of the army, that made them burn their land rather than give it to the French.
whatever the faith may be, it “gives to the finite existence of man an infinite meaning, a meaning not destroyed by sufferings, deprivations, or death”. …
“I understood that if I wish to understand life and its meaning, I must not live the life of a parasite, but must live a real life, and – taking the meaning given to live by real humanity and merging myself in that life – verify it.”
“For us to attain a true victory – for a better world… we may need to recalibrate our thinking and values.” Hoppe
My inclination is to rush through first time. A hungry glutton. On second reading things really jump out. Must track down my copy of war and Peace.
You are fantastic. I avoid film, tv and MSM in general as there are too many senses at play and ‘they’ manipulate. I could get a job as a professional mourner, I feel others pain acutely. Is there a film you would recommend please? Will check out your stuff automatically.
Thank you so much for your effort even the art is spectacular.
Thank you so much, frankly. I’m really blown away by your words…
I must admit I haven’t seen any recent films.
But I recommend these wonderful soviet films that I wrote about in an older article:
/the-great-patriotic-war-as-seen-through-soviet-cinema-for-todays-battle-against-amnesia/
I am an atheist and I have a deep personal comprehension of the sacred and divine. I share Tolstoy’s views on basic virtues (simplicity, kindness and truth), moral values and faith. I particularly believe that “morality is the ability to feel one’s “I” as a part of the universal “we”. I just do not think that the “universal we” is a cosmic human mind ruling over the universe. The “universal we” is what binds us humans toghether with all forms of life on this planet, as well as its interactions with the entire universe. Humanity is not the main part, but one of the participants in the flowing realm of energy and matter, forever fusing one into the other (which embodies the notion of infinite). The leading distortion of the times we live in (the demise of the current global empire), is the precedence of individual “rights and freedoms” over the collective interest, even to the point that the rule of law should be bent to individual opinions.
Inspiring article, indeed.