Europe the Divisive

Forty years after their victory over Germany, aging veterans of the Soviet Union's struggle in World War II paraded past the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square last week, their chests bedecked with medals, the flag that Soviet soldiers had hoisted over the ruins of Berlin in 1945 leading the way. Young soldiers wearing World War II Red Army uniforms followed, carrying vintage rifles and submachine guns. Behind them, enveloped in clouds of white diesel smoke, rumbled armor and artillery from the '40s: T-34 tanks, SU-100 assault guns and truck-mounted Katyusha rockets once known as "Stalin organs."

The nostalgic showpieces were more...