State Will Get Engaged in Unpredictable Russian History

The president of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev signed the Decree "About creation of the Commission at the president of the Russian Federation on counteraction to attempts of falsification of history to the detriment of interests of Russia", press-service of the Kremlin informed on Tuesday.

It is not known yet, whether the commission will be engaged in scientific polemic or it will receive powers to apply measures of compulsory character to those who will be considered as falsifiers, BBC comments on news. It's also not clear, whether new body will limit its activity to the World War II or it will be engaged in unprofitable for Russia treatments of other events.

The chairman of the commission appointed the head of the Kremlin administration Sergey Naryshkin - the engineer-radio mechanic. The structure of the new body included 28 people - "representatives of Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, FSB, СВР, Security Council, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Culture, Public Chamber, the State Duma, Federal Archives Agency, Russian Science". Scientists-historians are not mentioned in the communiqué.

From editorial board: By and large - standard bureaucratic reaction: there is a problem - it is necessary to create commission. So, for example, Putin created recently commission to study swine flu headed by the first vice-premier. Swine flu got frightened and wasn't found out in the Russian Federation.

By and large, the Russian Federation is not on the first place in the given idiocy, even on one of the last. I will remind that in huge majority of countries there are articles for so-called "revisionism" in the criminal legislation - you doubted in Holocaust - get imprisoned. There are also other "criminal thoughts" recognized in different free and democratic countries penal acts. Recently even in Ukraine the president Yushchenko tried to enter criminal punishment for negation of Holodomor.

So, why we are surprised that Russia follows the same beaten long time ago by democracy and progress way, on which some too free thoughts leads to real loss of freedom, actually to plank-beds?

What we are talking about? Whether they will start prosecuting supporters, for example, of "new chronology" of Fomenko and Nosovsky?

BBC also reminds that on the eve of Victory Day Medvedev declared on his web log that "we began coming across to what is called now historical falsifications". And, according to the president, "such attempts become more and more rigid, malicious, aggressive". At official level that question was raised by the Russian Minister of Emergency Measures and co-chairman of the Supreme Council of "Edinaya Russia" Sergey Shojgu. At a meeting with the Volgograd veterans in February of the current year he suggested to enter criminal liability for "negation of a victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War". Soon in the State Duma the working group for working out of the corresponding bill was created.

So, most likely they will pursue first of all those who will start revising ideological results of the World War II. According to the data of the interrogation carried out on the eve of Victory Day by the All-Russia centre of studying of public opinion, 60% of the Russians support idea of introduction of the criminal liability for negation of victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War and 26% reject this initiative. So "revisionists" will trample down a zone under the general approval.

It's possible to go further, if necessary. For example, in the light of a new main Russian holiday - November, 4^th - Day of Release of Russia from the Poles - they can start prosecuting also the authors of "extracanonical" versions of history of Russia of 17th century. For example, those who consider that the Poles were in minority but there were too many Swedes, Danes, Frenchmen in the ranks of "patriots" struggling with "impostor", for whose help Russia had to part with Novgorod and Pskov for long. Thus some assert that establishment of a dynasty of Romanovs closed for Russia "a window to Europe" which was cut through by Lzhedmitry I.

If to deepen, there are different interpretations also in the treatment of the official doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church based on victory in 16th century of Josephite; there are questions on St. Alexander Nevsky's biography; there are problems with foundation of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia; there are doubts on real relations of Kiev Russia and "stupid Khazars". Well and the most important thing is - what to do with the fact that the first state in the territory of the Russian plain was... Empire of Hermanarich, to put it mildly, of the German by origin.

So, the state commission has a lot of things to be done in unpredictable Russian history.

А.B.

Send by mail

Print