Instrumentalisation, patchworking, suppression
Russia’s unwanted anniversary of the Revolution
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Soviet image of the October Revolution is only slowly disappearing from people’s minds. Many still view 1917 from the perspective of the Party history written by Stalin and the literature produced for the masses during the 1960s. At the same time, the Putin regime is promoting a specific reinterpretation. The aim is to anchor stability and a strong state as the core political values among the population. Surveys show that this venture has succeeded. This point of view is supported both by those who regard the October Revolution as a catastrophe and those for whom the Bolsheviks overcame chaos and the dissolution of the state. By contrast, the liberal ideas of the February Revolution have been completely suppressed.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2017, pp. 19–42)