Date of Award

Spring 2-11-2026

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History and American Studies

Department Chair or Program Director

Ferrell, Claudine

First Advisor

Harris, Steven

Major or Concentration

History

Abstract

This study examines the evolving historiography of Andrei Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) from the end of World War II to the post-Soviet era. Drawing on Soviet, émigré, and Western sources, it traces how interpretations of Vlasov’s defection reflected shifting moral and political frameworks in Russia’s collective memory. The analysis demonstrates that portrayals of Vlasov, from Stalinist condemnations to post-Soviet reappraisals, mirror the state’s changing relationship to patriotism, legitimacy, and dissent. By comparing Cold War scholarship with contemporary Russian debates, this paper argues that the Vlasov question endures not because of mere intrigue, but because it embodies the ongoing conflict between ideology and historical truth. The case of Vlasov thus illuminates the broader mechanisms through which Russian regimes have adapted wartime memory to justify political authority, revealing the enduring entanglement of history, morality, and power in modern Russia.

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