Stalin was the first leader in Russian history to trumpet a positive appraisal of the 16th century tyrant. And with his demise, such views returned to the fringes of the historical profession.
Until now. In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Ivan the Terrible’s star is once again on the rise. [...]
The opening ceremony was attended by nationalist, Cossack and Orthodox groups, many dressed in military uniforms or in black. Some carried flags, others icons, and traditional Russian folk dancing troupes performed for the occasion.
The guest list was a who’s who of Russian nationalists, senior Orthodox Church figures, prominent Putin supporters and government officials. Speeches were given by the governor of the Oryol region, Vadim Potomsky; the head of notorious pro-Putin biker gang the Night Wolves, Alexander Zaldostanov; and Schema-Archimandrite Iliy, a senior Orthodox cleric and personal confessor to the head the Russian Orthodox Church. Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky sent a letter that was read out to the assembled crowd. [...]
In a public lecture on Ivan the Terrible earlier this month, Culture Minister Medinsky argued that historians rely too heavily on sources critical of the czar, many of them written by Europeans. Western commentators in the 16th century, he alleged, deliberately blackened the czar’s name as part of an “information war,” much in the same way Western media attempt to blacken Putin’s name today.
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