Vladimir Putin praises Stalin for creating a superpower and winning the war

Vladimir Putin praises Stalin for creating a superpower and winning the war





Joseph Stalin sent millions to their deaths during his reign of terror, and his name was taboo for decades,cheap ugg but the dictator is a step closer to rehabilitation after Vladimir Putin openly praised his achievements.

The Prime Minister and former KGB agent used an appearance on national television to give credit to Stalin for making the Soviet Union an industrial superpower, and for defeating Hitler in the Second World War.

In a verdict that will be obediently absorbed by a state bureaucracy long used to taking its cue from above, Mr Putin declared that it was “impossible to make a judgment in general” about the man who presided over the Gulag slave camps. His view contrasted sharply with that of President Medvedev, Russia’s nominal leader, who has said that there is no excuse for the terror unleashed by Stalin.

Mr Putin said that he had deliberately included the issue of Stalin’s legacy in a marathon annual question-and-answer programme on live television, because it was being “actively discussed” by Russians.

The final part of the four-hour broadcast focused on questions selected by Mr Putin from among two million submitted by Russians. cheap ugg He told viewers: “I left this question in, because I understand what a fiery issue it is. And the problem is: you say something positive and someone will be unhappy; you say something negative and someone else will be.

“It’s obvious that, from 1924 to 1953, the country that cheap ugg Stalin ruled changed from an agrarian to an industrial society. We remember perfectly well the problems, particularly at the end, with agriculture, the queues for food and such like ... but industrialisation certainly did take place.

“We won the Great Patriotic War [the Russian name for the Second World War]. Whatever anyone may say, victory was achieved. Even when we consider the losses, nobody can now throw stones at those who planned and led this victory, cheap ugg because if we’d lost the war, the consequences for our country would have been much more catastrophic.”

Mr Putin said that positive aspects of Stalin’s rule “undoubtedly existed”, but had been achieved at too high a price. He went on: “There was repression. This is a fact. Millions of our citizens suffered from this. And this way of running a state, to achieve a result, is not acceptable. It is impossible.

“Certainly, in this period we encountered not only a cult of personality, but a massive crime against our own people. This is also a fact. And we must not forget this.”

Mr Putin’s willingness to praise Stalin put him at odds with Mr Medvedev, who issued a forceful condemnation of the dictator’s regime on October 30 — the day that Russia commemorates victims of political repression in the Soviet Union.

“Millions of people died as a result of terror and false accusations ... But we are still hearing that these enormous sacrifices could be justified by certain ultimate interests of the state,” Mr Medvedev said. “I am convinced that neither the goals of the development of the country, nor its successes or ambitions, should be achieved through human suffering and losses. It is important to prevent any attempts to vindicate, under cheap ugg the pretext of restoring historical justice, those who destroyed their own people.”

Mr Putin answered 80 questions in a broadcast that demonstrated his continuing dominance of politics. Most focused on the economic crisis, and questioners in different parts of the country repeatedly asked Mr Putin to intervene to save their factories from closure. He told one that he had “plenty of time” to decide whether to return to the Kremlin as President at the next election in 2012. When another asked whether he was planning to leave politics, Mr Putin replied: “Don’t hold your breath cheap ugg.”

He said that he and Mr Medvedev could “work together effectively” because they shared the same university background, and values, as graduates of Leningrad State University. Mr Putin had said in September that the two men would “come to an agreement” about which of them would stand in 2012. While Mr Putin was holding court Tsar-like with the nation, Mr Medvedev was in Italy to meet the Pope and re-establish diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Asked if he would stand for a second term, Mr Medvedev replied: “If Putin doesn’t rule out running, neither do I rule myself out.”

During the television programme, Mr Putin demonstrated his populist instincts by lashing out at Russia’s billionaire class for their vulgar displays of wealth. His comments came after a scandal in Geneva, when an elderly man was critically injured in an accident after an alleged road race involving the children of wealthy Russians in a Lamborghini and three other sports cars.

“The nouveaux riches all of a sudden got rich very quickly, but they cannot manage their wealth without showing it off all the time. Yes, this is our problem,” Mr Putin said. “In Soviet times, some of our rich showed off their wealth by having gold teeth. The Lamborghinis and other pricey knicknacks — they are today’s gold teeth cheap ugg.”