Two thirds of Russians believe USSR could have won WWII without allies - poll
Interfax
Moscow, 1 September: Russians are certain that the USSR could have won World War II without the help of allies, and they consider the role of Great Britain and France in defeating fascism insignificant, a poll has shown.
Almost two thirds of Russians (63 per cent) say that the Soviet Union could have won World War II even without the help of allies, although the number of such respondents has fallen since 2001 (from 71 per cent), sociologists from the All-Russia Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) reported to Interfax on Tuesday (1 September) on the basis of the results of an all-Russian survey carried out on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the start of the war.
Twenty-three per cent of Russians surveyed are of the opposite view, whereby victory in World War II would have been impossible without the help of other countries. At the same time, over recent years the share of people who do not know how to answer this question has risen by 100 per cent (from 7 to 15 per cent).
As previously, the overwhelming majority of our citizens regard the USSR's contribution to victory in that war as the main one (87 per cent). As a rule, respondents view the role of Great Britain and France as insignificant (36 and 34 per cent respectively), or quite significant (26 and 22 per cent respectively). Russians tend to express both the former and latter viewpoints in equal measure regarding the USA (30 per cent each). In the opinion of Russians, China did not make any contribution to the victory in World War II (47 per cent).
According to the VTSiOM figures, over the last seven years the opinion of our compatriots about the role of specific countries in the victory in World War II has changed somewhat. The proportion of Russians pointing to the USSR making the main contribution has fallen from 92 per cent to 87 per cent. There are now also less people who regard as insignificant the role of Great Britain (from 42 to 36 per cent), China (from 27 to 18 per cent), USA (from 39 to 30 per cent), France (from 39 to 34 per cent). At the same time, the number of people who consider the USA's contribution as very or quite significant has risen (from 10 to 14 per cent).
The VTsIOM survey was carried out on 22-23 August in 140 locations in 42 regions, territories and republics across Russia.
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