Despite the brutality of their regimes, Stalin and Lenin are still popular in Russia. Statues, plaques and the Mausoleum still draw crowds and are scattered across St. Petersburg and Moscow. Yet, it is no secret that these two men ran regimes that lead to the death of thousands of Russians. Many of the Russians who were killed were the smartest and the most promising minds, yet this fact seems to be glossed over. Surveys show that a large majority of Russians view Stalin as a positive figure, and as of 2007, 4% of the population would still like to live in the Stalinist era.
Russians seem to view the Stalinist era as more positive because they choose to focus on the positive times. A section from a government-approved history textbook for children explains: “The result of Stalin’s purges was a new class of managers capable of solving the task of modernization in conditions of shortages of resources, loyal to the supreme power and immaculate from the point of view of executive discipline.” The purges are explained as an unavoidable technique to better the state.
Russians also respect a strong leader and value that over human rights or democracy. The Soviet Union at one time was a powerful country, and Stalin and Lenin created that super power. Stalin in particular was a strong figure during World War II, and even today Victory Day is one of the largest holidays in Russia. These two men allowed Russia to become a super power, something today it is still trying to reach. Perhaps Russian citizens are nostalgic for when they had immense pride in their country on a global aspect.
It has also been questioned whether perhaps the reason they are so popular is a biological issue. Most likely those who are alive now where either successful during the Stalin era, or they were able to keep their heads down. Those who experienced the camps and the direct negative impact of the purges are not around to contradict other beliefs and tell the negative side.
There is also the explanation that there are still communist citizens in Russia. It is possible that this strong political belief is enough to actually believe that Stalin and Lenin were doing the best for their country by executing citizens who seemed to be against the state. It was because of Stalin and Lenin that Russia was the first country to master communism. Stalin and Lenin are heroes in some people’s eyes, and they are a part of Russian history.
As for the reason why there are still so many physical items around the cities, perhaps this also is because they are a part of Russia’s history, despite the fact that not everyone agreed with the regimes. People still line up to see Lenin’s Mausoleum just as people lined up to view the movie Czar based on the life of Ivan the Terrible. The palaces of the Romanov era are still intact and have been maintained throughout time, because they are a part of Russia’s history. “In a discussion with history teachers, [Putin] said that the Great Terror of 1937 was a “scary page” in Russian history, but suggested that the American bombings of Hiroshima and Vietnam were far worse. ‘We should never allow others to make us feel guilty.’” Russians like Stalin and Lenin because they made Russia a world power – they just choose to ignore what else they did.
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