title: Introduction
abstract: Abstract This chapter introduces the topic of historical memory of World War II and regime support in Russia, China, and North Korea. It draws on Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the use of World War II symbols and narratives in Vladimir Putin’s framing of the crisis. This chapter also introduces the decision to extend the length of World War II in China under Xi Jinping from eight to fourteen years, and the role of wartime history in the Kim regime’s claim to power and pursuit of nucle