Oh lovely. A Hitler statue in Munich or a Mussolini statue in Rome would set off global outrage. This should be no different, but it is. For some reason. Not a good reason, but a reason.
UPDATE: Stalin statue will NOT go up in Moscow. Some city officials say it will upset too many people. Unlike yesterday's article, this one mentions that the proposed statue was to be part of a set that would include FDR and Churchill in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Hitler's defeat.
Jonathan Dresner was closer to the truth than I was on this one. Global outrage wasn't needed--local common sense was enough. Kudos to you, Jonathan.
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2 comments:
How do you know it won't set off global outrage until the world has a chance to hear about it?
Could it be that the world is already so outraged at Putin's rule (I am) that Stalinism is no surprise (any more than Saddam Hussein's honoring Stalin was a surprise)?
Or are you sure there's a bad reason, but are just being coy?
Jonathan,
Your point is well taken on Comrade Putin--he has been building his own cult of personality ever since he came to power...
Perhaps the global outrage is building, but I doubt it. And even if it does eventually, the fact that it is not more immediate bothers me. A Hitler or Mussolini statue would rightly gain immediate media attention and instant condemnation. The fact that the story I linked was a small Yahoo news post instead of a NY Times or Daily Telegraph one speaks volumes to me. And as of this morning, the mainstream 24 news cycles have not picked up on this. If they do, of course, better late than never.
When I was in Moscow in 2000, I was amazed by the fact that at the Kremlin wall, Stalin's grave was the only one buried under a mound of flowers and wreaths. Since then, I have followed Stalin revisionism as closely as I can. My final comment did indeed have an element of coyness to it--there are reasons indeed given in Russia as to why Stalin should be lauded; he took Russia from the horse-drawn plow to the Atomic Bomb; he led Russia to victory in the Great Patriotic War; he made Russia a feared and respected global power, and so on. It is not surprising that with Russia in its current state, historical memory of Stalin's other accomplishments (Terror Famine, Great Purges, Anti-Cosmopolitanism,and the Gulag, just to name a few)has taken on less meaning for many in Russia (or at least in Moscow). This is something Putin could very well take advantage of--after all, I think the new Stalin-mania is based more in Russian nationalist sentiment than it is a pining for Old Communism. I may be wrong about that, but that is my sense.
I hope that illustrates my point in the original post. Next time, I'll explain myself a bit more from the beginning.
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