Modern Russian History Revisited

Sicebise Msengana

The history of Russia, especially communist Russia also known as Soviet Union (USSR), as told by its Western enemies is suspicious. For example, western propaganda used shaming tactics such as frequently portraying Russians as the bad guys and spies in movies produced in the 50s and 80s. The acclaimed “Animal farm” is one of the best examples. It is public knowledge that the CIA bought rights of George Orwell's book from his widow, Sonia. 

 

 But to have a concise understanding of Russia, we have to take a look at Its history.

Background

The Russian empire span over three continents, Europe, Asia and North America from 1721 until 1917, after the February Revolution and a republic was proclaimed by a provisional government. The third largest empire in history, only surpassed by British and Mongol empires. It played a major role in the defeat of Napoleon who had ambitions to bring Europe under his rule. With St Petersburg as its capital, the empire was an absolute monarchy from 1721 until 1906. After public outcry a new form of government was introduced in 1906, autocratic constitutional monarchy gave way to new rights for the Russian people. The land was ruled by a noble class, boyars and the emperor. Russian peasants known as serfs were locked in a feudal system by autocratic landowners. Emancipation was reached in 1861, but landlords kept control of the production and land.

 

Tsar Ivan III (1462–1505) laid foundation for the empire and extended his territory and made Moscow his capital. Peter the Great fought numerous wars to expand an already large empire. During his reign he moved the capital from Moscow to St Petersburg. He introduced a cultural revolution in Russia through the replacement of traditionalist and medieval social and political mores with a modern, scientific, Europe-oriented, and rationalist system. Empress Catherine the Great (reigned 1762–1796) reigned over a golden age; she expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Great's (Peter I's) legacy of modernization along Western European lines. In 1861, emperor Alexander II introduced many reforms including the emancipation of 23 million serfs and the protection of Orthodox Christian Church from the Ottoman empire. A semi constitutional monarchy was established in 1906 until 1917, when Tsar Nicholas II and his family were brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks. the Revolution and a bloody Civil War with the White Army ensued in the 1920s, many ruling classes were either forced into exile or executed. Resulting in the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922.

In the following years, Lenin Vladimir was proclaimed as its leader, Joseph Stalin as his right hand man. Lenin suffered a stroke and died 1924. Joseph Stalin assumed absolute control. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, the Soviet Union was in neutral position between European powers. World war II broke in 1939, after Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Interestingly, British, America and other European powers united with the USSR against a common threat posed by Nazi Germany and its allies, Japan and Italy. Berlin fall in May 1945 following the suicide of Adolf Hitler in 30 April, in the same year. The split between capitalism and Communism began with disagreement about Eastern Europe. US president, Truman and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin showed opposite ideological differences. The CIA worked tirelessly to overthrow the Soviet Union and enlisted the help of the biggest propaganda machine in history – Hollywood- to spread misinformation, but failed miserably during the Soviet Union’s time as a socialist country. Joseph Stalin was a strict leader who wanted law and order, even if it meant sending millions of people to gulags. Not defending Stalin’s bloodstained reign in which he is responsible for the deaths of over 20 million Russians, but western academia twisted history to favour the victors.