An Updated History of the Russian State (according to V.V. Putin)

 

Alik Bakhshi

 

An Updated History of the Russian State

(according to V.V. Putin)

 

 

History as a discipline in Russia has a unique characteristic: it changes with each new ruler of the Kremlin, serving the goals and plans of that ruler depending on the circumstances. After the collapse of the USSR, Putin, who did not hide his regret over the significant loss of once-conquered territories, harbored thoughts of revenge, a sentiment confirmed by military adventures in Georgia and Ukraine. There is no doubt that the fate of Ukraine would have befallen the former Soviet Baltic states, which had a higher percentage of ethnic Russians than Ukraine, had they not joined NATO in time.

It is important to note that, under Yeltsin, with the fall of the communist regime, historical materials relating to World War II, which had been carefully concealed from the public, became available. However, even earlier, perhaps those who didn't take Soviet propaganda at face value and took an analytical approach to historical facts inevitably raised questions that were dangerous for the authorities, or rather for themselves (1). The truth about the war (2) didn't suit the revanchist Putin, so he declared himself the custodian of the state archive, which affected its accessibility. Moreover, in order to reinstate the lies with which the Russian people had lived throughout the Soviet era, Putin created a special body charged with protecting these lies, with the rather frank name "The Commission under the President of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests" (3). This is precisely the case when the truth hurts the eyes and is unwelcome to the people with their imperial worldview.

It must be said that Putin, in order to justify his territorial claims, began searching for historical bonds, and exclusively outside of Russia. Incidentally, the bearer of the bonds pledged to protect the "Russian world" in countries that had broken away from the Russian Empire, while within Russia itself, he successfully fleeced the dwindling population, willing to endure any hardship for the sake of "Crimea is ours." However, Russian history is known for popular rebellion, "senseless and merciless." Time will tell how long the people's patience will last, and it may well be that the desperate people crucify their idol and his nouveau riche cronies at the gates of the Kremlin.

                                                                       

Returning to the Russian people the history written by their Kremlin predecessors, Putin decided to make his own contribution by writing an article, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians," the essence of which boils down to a discovery in historical science: namely, that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. It's a shame Taras Shevchenko didn't live to see this Nobel Prize-worthy discovery. Then he wouldn't have had to serve exile in Central Asia and waste his time writing the poem "Testament," which lost its relevance after Putin's discovery. I'd like to brag, but I'll say right away, without any Nobel Prize ambitions, that I wrote an article on my blog (4) entitled "Taras Shevchenko and Putin – Representatives of the Same People" somewhat earlier than Putin. I don't think Putin will be offended, as it's purely coincidental, especially since I'm, so to speak, a history buff compared to Putin. Incidentally, following the logic of Putin's historical research, Hitler could also have declared the English and Germans to be a single Anglo-Saxon people, despite the fact that they don't understand each other, just as the Russians don't understand the Ukrainians. My only personal criticism of Putin the historian's article, undoubtedly due to my lack of knowledge, concerns the phrase by former St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak: "Leave with what you came with," which is key to the article justifying Putin's intentions to reclaim territories stolen by the former Soviet republics that left the Russian Empire. The fact is, as we know, they didn't come to the empire, but were brought there, meaning conquered, for example, Turkestan (5), the Caucasus, or even Crimea. However, I repeat, this is probably due to my misunderstanding of the factual historical material.

 

1.The Father of Papers and the History of the Russian State. https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/66241.html

2. Stalin's Fatal Mistake That Saved the World. 

   https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/20036.html

3. Appeal to the "Commission under the President of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests" https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/6934.html

4. Taras Shevchenko and Putin – Representatives of the Same People. https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/69850.html

5. E. A. Glushchenko. Russia in Central Asia: Conquests and Transformations. Moscow: Centerpoligraf, 2010

 

July 15, 2021