The next stop on my trip to Moscow was the Central Armed Forces Museum, which is also known as the museum of the Soviet Army. The former is probably now more accurate, since there are exhibits from the post-soviet period as well as sections being developed that cover the whole history of Russian arms back to the middle ages.
The first hall we visited was a display of artifacts and paintings of scenes from the Russian Civil War. The large dioramas were impressive. The central piece in the room was a tachanka machine gun cart, which I had read about. It was interesting to see one up close.
By far the largest subject covered in the museum was the Great Patriotic War (World War II) Certain battles had their own rooms (Leningrad, Stalingrad) while there were many general exhibits. There was a substantial display on partisan warfare. Also, there was a room with displays honoring the western allies. There was a large diorama of the Normandy Invasion complete with a jeep. Interestingly, a TV screen on the wall in this area was showing “Saving Private Ryan” dubbed in Russian.
From the room, we passed through a series of exhibits on the Holocaust, and then into the great hall which houses displays from the Victory Parade in 1945. This was most impressive and featured many Soviet and captured German artifacts, including the huge bronze eagle which had topped the Reichs Chancellery. Also on the display were the cast-down German Banners, which Soviet soldiers threw on the ground in front of Lenin’s mausoleum at the end of the parade.
Past this hall, we viewed post-war displays and finally post-Soviet Russian military exhibits. There is a large outside display area, which was apparently closed for the winter. Outside we also passed a bronze statue in memory of the crew of the Russian submarine, Kursk, which sank in August of 2000.
This another great museum in Moscow, and one not to be missed by the history buff, if you are in town.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Armed_Forces_Museum
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