He changed his country and the world, but a century after his death, virtually no one cares about his legacy anymore. The Russian government did not organize an event to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Father of the Soviet Union Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, which took place this Sunday. Only around half a thousand people came – generously – to his mausoleum to honor the memory of the man who, with the sacrifice of thousands of victims, founded the first socialist state in history and elevated Moscow to superpower status. For the Kremlin, the figure of Lenin is more uncomfortable than that of Stalin, the victor of his Great Patriotic War – the Russian front in World War II – and Vladimir Putin, who is passionate about history, prefers to remember wars and tsars first, rather than events that cause revolutions.
The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, went to Red Square in Moscow to lay a bouquet of flowers on the grave of his predecessor. This framework was a golden opportunity for a party that will run in the presidential elections in two months as a supposedly great alternative to Putin. Before he arrived there, the head of the Communists since 1993 remarked in an interview that “Lenin showed that you can change your policy four times in five years,” words that attract attention given the party's official policy: Zyuganov was one of one of Putin's most important supporters in the Russian parliament over the last quarter century.
Other communists who braved the minus 12 degrees in Moscow to honor Lenin, mostly older ones, were more critical. “Everywhere abroad people are demonstrating, showing their anger at their situation, while here we remain silent and go straight to prison.” All laws are against us. There is no popular will, everything is forbidden,” complained an elderly woman named Lidia as she stood in line to lay a rose at Lenin’s grave. “Putin has destroyed everything that socialism has brought and despises his figure. “He covers his mausoleum with a sign every time there is a holiday,” he added resignedly.
Russia has not experienced a general strike since the 1917 revolution, not even in the last 30 years. “Lenin’s ideas are unacceptable for this state. Since he cannot pursue socialist politics, he has become a capitalist,” said Víktor, 85 years old. “Lenin was a great man, the founder of the first state of workers and peasants, the first state of a just society,” said this man, who described himself as a “lifelong communist.”
While hundreds of people lined up to enter the mausoleum, many more walked indifferently on the other side of the fence that separated Red Square between Christmas trees and attractions that have not yet been removed. According to the sociological study center VTsIOM, about 49% of Russians have a positive attitude towards Lenin, although they generally see him only as a historical figure from the past and do not care whether his remains are moved elsewhere, a debate , which is still being run, evades the Kremlin.
Favoring Stalin
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The Soviet figure that the current Russian government praises is Stalin, who represents stability and order in the country's imagination, although behind his determination lies a huge human cost. “Putin's policies are being compared to Stalin's policies, this is becoming clearer every year,” said Elizaveta, a young woman who appeared in Red Square with a poster of the Soviet dictator and declared that Putin was “finally honoring Russian history.” .” His partner Alexander wore another one from Lenin. “Putin inherited a destroyed country from Yeltsin before adopting these 'Stalinist' policies. In 20 years he has restored everything that was destroyed. “That the incumbent president chooses a similar policy like this historical figure, says something special about him,” the young man added, after praising that school history books “already portray the Soviet Union as something positive.”
This couple neither defined themselves as socialists nor emphasized Soviet social policies, but rather highlighted the work of Lenin and Stalin in industrializing the country and elevating its role to power. “You cannot say that communism or capitalism are bad, each system has its advantages and disadvantages,” said Alexánder.
At this small meeting there was an argument between several communists and two Russians in military uniforms who renounced this formation. “Look at them. Zyuganov, together with Gorbachev, destroyed the Soviet Union. “These people were simply deceived and think that Zyuganov is a great guy, but he is a traitor, he voted for the law that would allow the entry of foreign companies like Shell , Chevron or Mitsubishi are allowed,” argued Vadim, 49 newspaper after an argument with several older people who said goodbye to him with a resounding insult against Putin.
“Lenin is an ambiguous figure,” Vadim continued. “He led the revolution after arriving in Russia by train from Germany and liberated Poland and Finland from the Russian Empire, with which there was later war.” With Stalin it was different, he put the world revolution aside and himself focused on his country,” added the man who, according to his story, had recently served in the army and viewed Ukraine as “an artificial state” arbitrarily created by Lenin.
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