Was Stalin the greatest Russian ever?

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Published time: July 09, 2008 13:10
Edited time: September 14, 2010 10:54

He’s often vilified as one of the 20th century’s worst tyrants, but it seems that Joseph Stalin has a big following in modern Russia. In a nationwide poll to find the greatest hero in Russian history, the former Soviet leader is leading the pack by a land

Communists are rubbing their hands at the news, while much of the media are sounding alarm bells.

Two months ago, the state-funded Rossiya channel launched the ‘Name of Russia’ project. On June 12, a shortlist of 50 finalists was announced. Since then a second round of voting has been under way. The winner won’t be officially announced until the autumn, but preliminary results show Stalin to be out in front. Way behind in second place is the popular singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky. Curiously enough, Stalin’s ‘comrade’, Vladimir Lenin, is in third spot.

Not everybody is happy with how the voting is going. Opponents of the poll point to what they say is a serious flaw in the voting procedure: respondents may vote as many times as they want.

It is believed bloggers across Russia are exploiting this loophole. Many Russian websites encourage surfers to vote for this or that candidate. So, Stalin’s position at the top of the poll could be the result of a campaign to manipulate the survey.

Such polls are common in Europe. Since 2002 they have been held in the UK, Germany, Ukraine and other European countries.

Comments (4)

Alek 14.09.2010 05:08

i thought this poll was for any Russian, not a leader, but anyway at any case i'd pick Vladimir Vysotsky for obvious reasons.

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Giorgi 09.05.2010 17:05

Most Non Russians conveniently forget that Hitler had quickly swept to Victory Conquering & controlling Europe. If Hitler had stopped at the Borders Of Russia the outcome of the war would have been dramatically different. He did not count on a madman worse than him to fight him. It was Hitlers worst mistake & the Worlds saving grace. Russia was the only country that had been invaded & fought to Victory against the Nazi's. Like it or not, the war that Stalin fought was the main cause of Hitlers demise. NO historian can argue this. The Cost & Methods were brutal but there is no war in history that was not. The alternative was enslavement of not only Russia but all of Europe & maybe the world. The Americans & British like to claim victory but there country was never invaded. Certainly they were an immense help but it is very different from Sacrificing 25 million men to save your country & the world. The cost of the war effected him personally very much, & afterwards changed the worlds view of him. But Until the end of 1945 he was the Greatest Russian ever.

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krasnov 09.10.2009 09:33

I agree with the last post in the choice but the order I would reverse. However, I would like to say there were so many great Russians that to place Stalin at the top is ignorance by a percentage of the population unless they are of Bolshevik ancestors still spewing their propaganda. One must realize that many of the best people of Russia were unable to provide offspring into Russia's future, since they were systematically shot or sent to the GULAG. These historical acts do not make a great human and for those voting in his favor confirms they reject truth in favor of fear tactics. How would the 40 to 60 million who perished under his "Red Terror" vote? If I were to pick a modern Russian then it would be Nicolas II because under great pressure in dealing with WWI and the insurgent revolutionary forces he appears to have risen above to the level of Humanity the world lacks by dealing with these problems civilly unlike Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin in the use of persecution, terror and death by the NKVD. It would be hypocritical for Russia as a newly embraced Christian nation to accept a vote for evil men and realize this is the wrong policy for building a respectable society.

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