Posted on 08/20/2025 11:28:15 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
In May of this year the world was shocked by the Moscow City government decision to unveil a grand bas-relief of Stalin at the Taganskaya metro station in the heart of Moscow.
Widely seen as a murderous dictator on a par with Hitler by westerners, Stalin is a much more complicated figure for Russians. He is responsible for the Red Terror of the 30s where millions were shot or sent to the GULAG as well as the mass deportations that still fuel hatred of Russians today in countries like Estonia that were worst affected.
But for the average Russian he was also the man that industrialised the largely bucolic Russian economy, turned the Soviet Union into a nuclear-armed superpower and put Sputnik, the first ever satellite, into space. For these achievements, and others, regular Russians are willing to forgive Stalin a lot.
There has been a wave of monument unveilings and the Communist Party (KPRF) has adopted a policy of trying to rehabilitate the former Soviet leader’s image. A study conducted by research centre Sidorin Lab, commissioned by Vedomosti, found that nearly all social media commentary on the recent Stalin monuments was either positive or at least neutral.
While Putin has said little about Stalin, he clearly benefits from the same strongman image and aura of defender of Russia’s sovereignty.
Stalin’s image is rooted in his wartime reputation in the Second World War, where he delivered a victory over the Nazi’s in what the Russians call “the Great Patriotic War.”
A majority (85%) of users viewed his role in WWII positively. In contrast, Stalin-era repressions were largely discussed in neutral terms (86%), with 7% defending them as “a necessary measure in that historical period” and 7% expressing strong criticism.
(Excerpt) Read more at intellinews.com ...
Stalin was the modern-day Ivan The Terrible.
Breaking News: Leftists now conflicted about Russia.
see post 22.
None of those at America’s “colleges and universities” condemn him. 0%.
Actually not true, because they are Trotsky-ites.
I must say though, Stalin probably killed more Communists than any one else.
Of course, he killed everybody.
Between Stalin and Hitler, Russians were dropping like flies in the 30’s and 40’s. Hard to say who killed more.
Most GIs ideas about Russia would have come from the positive propaganda about them as allies that we put out during the war, Russia was an enemy but useful during the war once they broke from the Nazis and focused on their own defenses, although they continued their 1930s/1940s conquests for empire, and we were never friends, once Germany was defeated the focus switched to defending the free world from Russia.
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