Email Interview with Thomas de Waal
Senior Associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Editor of The Stalin Puzzle: Deciphering Post-Soviet Public Opinion
April 8, 2015
What conclusion regarding the legacy of Joseph Stalin did you reach by analyzing your poll findings in The Stalin Puzzle: Deciphering Post-Soviet Public Opinion? What do your poll findings convey, and do any of them contradict each other or your prior knowledge of the significance of Joseph Stalin in the former Soviet states?
I think our survey showed that a lot of the positive feelings towards Stalin in Russia and Georgia are a kind of "displacement." In the Georgian case it is a vote of approval in a "famous Georgian," who is more symbol than reality. Many of those who said they approved of Stalin in Georgia also expressed support for democracy and for the Georgian Orthodox church--neither of which Stalin would have approved of himself. In the Russian case, the Putin leadership cultivates a kind of "soft Stalin" as a strong leader and victor in World War II. They do not exactly express support for his repressions, rather they choose to make that side of history more vague and ambiguous. Stalin is a useful symbol of non-Western non-democratic rule who can be manipulated by the regime in power in Russia, while they deliberately manipulate the historic facts around him.
I think our survey showed that a lot of the positive feelings towards Stalin in Russia and Georgia are a kind of "displacement." In the Georgian case it is a vote of approval in a "famous Georgian," who is more symbol than reality. Many of those who said they approved of Stalin in Georgia also expressed support for democracy and for the Georgian Orthodox church--neither of which Stalin would have approved of himself. In the Russian case, the Putin leadership cultivates a kind of "soft Stalin" as a strong leader and victor in World War II. They do not exactly express support for his repressions, rather they choose to make that side of history more vague and ambiguous. Stalin is a useful symbol of non-Western non-democratic rule who can be manipulated by the regime in power in Russia, while they deliberately manipulate the historic facts around him.