Jin Chen: How does Putin view the history of the Soviet Union?

In public political activities, Putin often intends to convey and publicize his attention to Russian historical traditions. In March 2000, Putin, who had just been elected Russian President, carefully planned a one-day trip for visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair: Mr. and Mrs. Blair went straight from Britain to St. Petersburg, held talks with themselves in a luxury hotel built during the czar's period, and then went to the Mariinsky Theatre to watch the opera War and Peace created by Soviet composer prokofiev. This arrangement made Blair, who met for the first time, realize that "he is a man with political foresight and knows what he should do". 199 1 years ago, like other government officials, Putin hung Lenin's portrait in his office. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, most people chose to hang the portrait of Yeltsin, while Putin chose to hang the portrait of Peter the Great, which has not changed so far. Hanging a portrait of Peter the Great in the president's office can be regarded as a demonstration for the Russians. At the suggestion of a little girl, Putin also asked the relevant departments to establish a "school-age citizen Russian President website" for children's literature writers to write articles for this website, and opened up an online game: let gamers make a major historical decision, and some famous politicians in Russian history will participate in the game at the same time.

Putin, who became president when Russia suffered setbacks, is so keen on "reviewing" that he is obviously expressing his strong idea: to rebuild a strong Russia. Putin once said: "I have a dream that one day Russians can say,' I am proud to be born in Russia.' "The unique geographical location, rich natural resources, heavy historical accumulation, the civilization created by predecessors and the wisdom embodied make Putin believe that Russia will become strong again.

The forces that began to promote the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s began to act by denying the history of the Soviet Union. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, in the face of the sharp decline of Russia's national strength and influence, how to treat the history of the Soviet Union has become an unavoidable topic for the whole society. There is no doubt that Putin has a strong and keen sense of history on this issue, and some biographers even call his sense of history "Soviet complex."

Putin's "Soviet complex" may be related to his personal experience. When he was young, he worked in the KGB of the Soviet Union 16 years. 1998 after he became the director of the Russian Federal Security Service, he consulted his own file and found that the only negative evaluation of his boss in that year was: "lack of fear." Before and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, ordinary people had a bad impression of the KGB. After Putin came to power, he took various measures to try to restore the reputation of the KGB. In February, 2000 1,1,he specially held a press conference on the Workers' Day of Russian state organs, encouraging the staff of security organs not to be ashamed of their identity, but to "hold their heads up and be a man", and made a speech as an experienced person, saying: "When it comes to history, we should not be ashamed, but should be for the heroes and theirs. In September 2004, the statue of dzerzhinsky, the originator of KGB in Lubyanka Square in the center of Moscow, was demolished 13 years later and was restored with the approval of Putin, and a grand ceremony was held. From June 5438 to February 2006, Putin held a grand banquet in the Kremlin to celebrate the 89th anniversary of the establishment of Russian security agencies, and proudly declared in his speech: "In the history of Russian national security agencies, there were many brilliant moments, showing real heroism and courage."

As the Russian president, Putin attaches so much importance to the history of the Soviet Union, which stems from patriotism and far-reaching political strategy. From this perspective, its "Soviet complex" is essentially a patriotic complex. From June, 5438 to February, 2000, he suggested that the State Duma pass relevant laws, stipulating that the Soviet national anthem should be the national anthem of Russia and the red flag should be the flag of the Russian army. When someone objected, Putin retorted that it was wrong in principle to deny all the symbols of the Soviet era, and that denying history would make the whole nation "forget its ancestors after several times." In February 65438+February 65438+April this year, he clearly stated in the Statement on National Symbols: "Isn't everything our country had in the Soviet era worth remembering? Where do we put Dunayevski, sholokhov, Shostakovich, korolev (Soviet rocket manufacturing and space scientists and designers) and their achievements in the space field? Where shall we put astronaut yuri gagarin's flight? Where should we put the brilliant victory of the Russian army since the period of Rumyantsev, suvorov and Kutuzov? How to explain the great victory of 1945 in spring? ..... The red flag is the flag that our people won in the Great Patriotic War. " To this end, Putin also insisted on restoring the renamed city name Stalingrad. When someone proposed to move Lenin's body from Red Square to his hometown for burial, Putin made it clear: "I am opposed to this. Many people associate their lives with Lenin, and burying Lenin means that they have wasted their lives. " In Putin's mind, the historical, cultural and scientific achievements of the Soviet era have become the symbol of Russian national spirit. After years of thinking, he also had an overall view of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In his State of the Union address on April 25, 2004, he said: "The disintegration of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical disaster in the 20th century and a tragedy for the Russian people." He also told foreign journalists that the disintegration of the Soviet Union was "thrown with children when splashing water".

Putin's metaphor borrowed Marx's famous words, which is really appropriate for the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Emphasizing the sense of history does not mean to inherit all kinds of historical experience indiscriminately, but to make use of and give play to it according to today's conditions and the development of practice. However, if a nation or a country abandons its precious "children" when reflecting on history, it is not a sense of history, or it loses its subjective consciousness and core values at the same time, weakening its independent and mature thinking ability. As a result, I am probably used to thinking with other people's heads, speaking in other people's languages and walking according to other people's requirements. It is difficult for such a nation and country to stand up.

As a politician with a strong sense of history, Putin's above-mentioned measures are obviously aimed at changing the nihilistic attitude of some people towards the history and culture of the Soviet Union, hoping that people can correctly understand their own history and creativity, thus enhancing national self-esteem, self-confidence and self-improvement spirit, and guiding people to see and firmly believe in the future of the country. In the final analysis, Putin's actions are painstakingly accumulating the necessary spiritual impetus for Russia's national rejuvenation.

Generally speaking, people who ignore the past are just passers-by who lack psychological preparation in the future journey; Ignoring the past countries, there will be no mature choices in the face of world changes, and there is even the risk of getting lost. A truth is often repeated on the way forward-many things, history tells the future!