"Back to Stalingrad?" Topic

"A majority of Russians support restoring the name of the country's twelfth-largest city back to ‘Stalingrad,' 60 years after it was renamed Volgograd in the Soviet program of de-Stalinization, a controversial poll has revealed.

The survey, commissioned by the center-left political party ‘A Fair Russia' and made public on Thursday, revealed that 68% of Russians are in favor of returning to the title it bore from 1925 to 1961, with just 28% wanting to keep the current name…"
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IMHO…this is what happens when the young in Russia are not educated on how much of a homicidal maniac Stalin really was. Those who lived during the Stalin era and their children who were taught by their parents on how much of a vicious tyrant Stalin was are overwhelmingly against changing this name. Those who are 40 or younger want the city's name to be changed…

Armand

Tango note that Stalingrad had other meanings too ie the heroic defence against the Nazis. And in modern Russia this is probably more important than Stalin's crimes.

Exactly, arealdeadone. The name Stalingrad is a symbol of the resilience and valor of the Soviet people in the Second World War.
In addition, the assertion that the old people are against such a renaming is not true. Quite the opposite.

From what I have heard, whenever Russian people are polled for their opinions on historical persons, Stalin tends to get rated very high.

That said, as far as I know he has not made it into the list of saints of Russian Orthodox church, unlike some other past leaders of the country.

I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the older generation whose ancestors were assasinated, murdered, or starved by Stalin will NOT be very supportive of this change back to the old name.

Of course, I'm sure now that when answering polls, there is no concern over giving the politically correct and expedient answer there that the "leadership" expects them to give, and there is no peer pressure, or concern over retributions for answering the wrong way (heavy sarcasm intended, in case you can't tell).

I sustain my case….

Armand

Only one leader of the country of the 20th century, Tsar Nicholas II, is recognized as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church (more precisely, a passion-bearer). All Soviet leaders were atheists and have nothing to do with the church.
2-4% of the country's population suffered from Stalin's repressions, the rest only benefited during his reign. So there are very few people who hate him for personal reasons.
The modern Russian authorities are against the renaming of Volgograd to Stalingrad. In Russia, there were several all-Russian social polls on the topic of the country's most prominent personalities in history. And on a regular basis Stalin was in the lead in such polls, but the authorities either closed such polls ahead of schedule, or clearly falsified them.
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The modern Russian authorities are hard-core anti-communists. But they cannot force the people to give up respect for Stalin and the Soviet period of history. This was the greatest flourishing of Russia as a state in its entire history – and the overwhelming majority of people understand this.

Thanks.

Armand