Stalin wasn't stalling...

C

crackerjack

Well-known member
There's been a lot of theorising lately about the popularity of new autocrats (not just Putin, but the PRC, even the likes of Shinawatra), but I still think this is some scary shit. I'm not sure who I'd expect them to vote for, but even so.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4339108.ece

He sent millions to their deaths in the gulag, but that has not deterred Russians from voting en masse for Josef Stalin as the face of their nation.

The Soviet tyrant and Second World War leader is battling Tsar Nicholas II for first place in The Name of Russia, a domestic version of the BBC series Great Britons. Stalin had been well ahead in the online vote until the show's producer appealed to members of a popular Russian social networking site to back Nicholas II.

The Tsar edged in front tonight as communists and monarchists whipped up support for their candidates. Stalin has received almost 263,000 votes so far, against more than 267,000 for Nicholas II.

Lenin, the Tsar's nemesis, was third with nearly 187,000 votes. The top dozen included Peter the Great, Pushkin, Catherine the Great, Yuri Gagarin, Boris Yeltsin and Ivan the Terrible.
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IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Reminds me of the Charles Taylor 1997 election campaign slogan "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him" - and they did! He became president of Liberia in a vote that was judged by observers as fair, that messes with my head.
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
I am currently reading the Simon Seabag Montefiore (great name) biography of Stalin's early years - absolutely compelling but even in these early years pretty much all of the traits that will go on to make him one of the greatest mass murderers are in place.

Although I must say I hadn't realised just how brutal it was in Georgia (and other parts of Russia) at the turn of the century - vicious and arbitrary slaughter as a regular occurance - radicalisation is no surprise, really.

I am surprised Peter The Great isn't number one, but then again I'm not a Russian.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
jenks said:
I am surprised Peter The Great isn't number one, but then again I'm not a Russian.
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Yeah, it's striking how it boils down to a battle between the Communists and the bloke they executed - what were Tsar Nick's other great achievements?

“There will be very negative opinions presented when we are discussing Lenin and Stalin. In my opinion these guys don't have a chance to win because they do not relate to the lives of modern Russians,” Mr Lyubimov said.
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Says the man orchestrating the vote for the royal autocrat born 140 years ago.
 
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