memri
July 28, 2017 Special Dispatch No. 7030

Paranoids Show Respect For Each Other

July 28, 2017
Russia | Special Dispatch No. 7030

The dissident Russian sociologist Igor Eidman, an expert on the sociology of the internet, wrote the following observation that appeared on various opposition websites including Kasparov.ru and Inforesist.org: Eidman, a cousin of the assassinated opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has moved to Germany from where he continues his criticism of Putin. Eidman believes that Putin subconsciously feels that Stalin and Ivan the Terrible are his "soul mates".

MEMRI's translation of Eidman's comments[1] follows below:


Ivan the Terrible, Stalin and Putin (Photomontage: Inforesist.org)

"Putin defends Ivan the Terrible and Stalin from 'excessive demonization' because he subconsciously sees them as his 'soul mates', or rather, fellow sufferers from clinical paranoia. In addition, the new 'chief' thinks his predecessors, like himself, to be victims of defamation by the hated foreigners. Stalin defended Ivan the Terrible for exactly the same reason. Granted that for Stalin, Ivan did not appear to be a sufficiently decisive murderer; but for Putin, they are both cruel in the precise amount, 'in accordance with the dictates of the times'. Putin, by his own admission, is unafraid of the Stalinist birth marks (or are they marks of rigor mortis) on the body of contemporary Russia.

"In Stalin’s time, Ivan the Terrible’s reputation was rehabilitated; under Putin, we can witness creeping rehabilitation not only of Ivan the Terrible, but of Stalin himself. Paranoids take care of their own…

"Stalin on Ivan the Terrible:

'Ivan’s wisdom consisted of his standing up for the national point of view and he did not let foreigners into his country, thus safeguarding it from the penetration of foreign influence.

'Ivan the Terrible was very cruel. One may demonstrate that he was cruel, but it needs to be pointed out why it was necessary to be cruel.'One of Ivan’s mistakes was that he did not finish off the five major feudal families. If he had destroyed those five boyar families, then the Time of Troubles [interregnum] would not have happened at all. But Ivan the Terrible would execute somebody, and then repent and pray for a long time. God was a hindrance to him in these plans… He needed to be more decisive.

"Putin on Ivan the Terrible:[2]

'Take the famous legend that Ivan the Terrible killed his own son. Actually, it is unknown whether he killed his son or not. Many researchers think that he did not kill anybody, and the legend was invented by the papal nuncio who came to negotiate with him and tried to convert the Orthodox Rus into the Catholic Rus.

'And when Ivan Vasilyevich rejected the idea and sent him packing back home, all kind of legends appeared, etc. They labeled him Ivan the Terrible, this super-cruel man. Although, if you look at other countries at the same time, it was the same everywhere. The times were rather cruel.

"Putin on Stalin:[3]

'Stalin was the product of his time… I think that excessive demonization of Stalin is one of the ways, one of the methods of attack on the Soviet Union and Russia, intended to show that today’s Russia bears some birth marks of Stalinism. We all bear birth marks of some kind, so what?'"

 

[1] Kasparov.ru, July 17, 2017.

[2] This remark was made by Putin when he visited the Lebedinsky steel factory in honor of Steelworker's Day. Putin's evaluation of Ivan came in response to a complaint by steelworker Ivan Lapchenko who complained: " There are a lot of historians and non-historians who mangle our history, and apply lots of pressure. A lot of versions. And I would like to know whether the state will fight for our history until the end? Maybe it is worth thinking up some special measures, tools? Can we be sure than next generations will know the truth about war, about Victory, about everything?"

Putin pounced on the question: "As for various perversions of our history. You know that it has almost always been like that over the course of our history. Why? Because as Alexander III said once, everyone is afraid of our hugeness, because there are only two allies – our army and navy. But this method of challenging Russia has always been used.

"Take for example the famous legend that Ivan the Terrible killed his son. It remains unknown in fact whether he really killed his son or not. Many researchers believe that he did not kill anyone at all and that the Pope’s nuncio made it up when he visited Russia for talks with Ivan IV and tried to turn the Orthodox Rus into a Catholic Rus.

"And when Ivan IV refused different legends and so forth emerged. He was made Ivan the Terrible, an extremely violent individual. Although, if one examines other countries in this period of time, everything was the same everywhere. It was quite a violent time. I do not want to say that Ivan the Terrible was an angel, he must have been a very tough individual.

"But I am talking about something else, about what you said, about the fact that this is a method of fighting our country, this is a competitive struggle that is always ongoing in the world, constantly. And as soon as any rival emerges, all other participants in the process start thinking: no, wait, we have to hold him back. Well, it has always been like this…

"Russia is becoming more stable, getting stronger – see, getting too strong in fact, we need to put some pressure on it. All kinds of insinuations start emerging, including different perversions of history. If we have always been that bad in their eyes, then what is there to talk about with such people?

"And this tool will continue to be used. One cannot neglect this fact. One must not lose his head over this. It just needs to be treated as part of the job. We need to be exact and persistent in clearly demonstrating our own position.

"If we do this, if we pay the necessary attention to this, then all attempts to either pervert something or use it against us will be doomed from the start. There are some absolutely obvious things. We just need to talk about them.

"Ask the Japanese who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Practically every third person will say that is was the Soviet Union. This is nonsense! But it is so! Ask who made the greatest contribution in the victory over Nazism. Westerners will definitely say: the United State or the United Kingdom.

"Around 350,000 people died in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. During the First World War about 1.2 million people died, I believe. And in the Second World War −350,000−400,000. Americans sustained bigger casualties, 550,000 people died, I believe. Russia lost 27 million people! Wehrmacht’s main forces was concentrated in our country…

"The biggest country in the world, in terms of area. Not as densely populated as India or China with 1.5 billion people, but 146 million is still a good number for a population. You understand we simply cannot allow our interests not to be taken into account. We are going to defend them but with lawful, civilised ways and methods. And for this, of course, we need to provide the world with information about us, including about the country’s history, impartially, you are right." Kremlin.ru, July 14, 2017.

[3] Putin's remark on Stalin was made when the Russian President was interviewed by Oliver Stone. This quote is from episode 4. Putin compared Stalin with Oliver Cromwell.

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