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Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Putin's address to historians and representatives of Russia’s traditional religions on 11/4/22:

 

 

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You know well that the origins of the holiday go back to the mists of time – to the feat of the people who themselves rose to fight for their country, cleansed it of strife, betrayal, humiliation, united, put an end to the Time of Troubles, restored legitimate power and our united statehood.

Such key stages, when people of different nationalities and religions united for the sake of the salvation and good of the Fatherland, [sound] like a refrain, they run like a red thread through the entire Russian history. We understand and honor this invaluable experience of our ancestors, their traditions and their precepts.

The history of our country is continuous, a constant stream. We must consider it as a whole, with all, sometimes extremely complex and even contradictory periods.

For the state, authorities, society, citizens, objective, complete knowledge about our past is extremely important: both the distant past and the near, recent one [...]

At the same time, I would like to emphasize that it is unacceptable to repeat the mistakes that took place during the Soviet period, when scientistic conclusions in the humanities were often adjusted to pre-set patterns. Templates are bad in general, but in history they are especially bad.

Something similar is happening now in some countries in the West, where much is determined by the current radical-liberal conjecture. To adjust (fit) it, key historical events are presented in a completely distorted, inverted form, and the truth is canceled.

Such a deliberately perverted attitude to history, loose interpretation distorts people’s consciousness, erodes values, undermines their footing in life. It is known that if someone has a desire to deprive a nation of sovereignty, and turn its citizens into vassals, they begin with rewriting its history, in order to deprive people of their roots, doom them to unconsciousness.

We know that such approaches, unfortunately, work and lead to the tragedy of the people. There have been similar attempts against Russia, and they do not stop, but we put up a solid barrier to them in time and firmly. After all, Russian history and culture are the basis of national identity, our mentality, traditional values, education of the younger generations and, what is extremely important, the foundation of Russian statehood.

Our position on the preservation of historical memory, and hence our sovereignty, irritates some countries in the West. In fact, this has been the case for centuries. And today, attempts continue to knock the ground out from under our feet. These attempts themselves, of course, are not capable of changing the past, they are doomed to failure. It is impossible to deprive the country of the victories achieved by our ancestors.

However, it is a matter of honor for the state, society and, of course, historians to protect both our true history and our heroes, and to improve the quality of historical education. I note that now this subject is studied by students of all universities, and not just humanitarian ones. It is also important to competently and consistently work on historical education, starting with the family, kindergarten and school.

Dear colleagues!

You have probably already seen it yourself, and I, with young people, with the guys I met this afternoon when laying flowers at the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, we also walked through this exhibition [“Ukraine. At the turn of the epochs”. The entire content of this exhibition confirms the accuracy and relevance of the conclusion of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin that the present is a consequence of the past, the history.

For decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has gone the way of direct, overt interference by Western countries in its internal affairs. In fact, they tried to do the same in Russia, but, unfortunately, in Ukraine they managed to instill such pseudo-values into the minds of millions of people, which led to the fact that anti-Russia was created on this territory, sowing hatred, raping the minds of people, depriving their true history. Everything has been done in order to reshape the consciousness of millions, and very skillfully to light the fuse to implode our country.

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A clash with the neo-Nazi regime – Russia’s clash with the neo-Nazi regime that emerged on the territory of Ukraine – was inevitable, and if appropriate actions had not been taken on our part in February, everything would have been the same, only from a worse position for us. The situation in Ukraine has been driven by her so-called friends to the point where it has become deadly for Russia and suicidal for the Ukrainian people themselves. And we see this even in the nature of the hostilities – it’s just amazing what is happening there: as if the Ukrainians do not exist, they are thrown into a furnace, and that’s it.

It is Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, that is the first and main victim of the deliberate sublimation of hatred towards the Russians, towards Russia. In Russia, everything is exactly the opposite, you know this very well: we have always treated the Ukrainian people with respect and warmth. So it was and is, despite today’s tragic confrontation.

[...]

Yes, now it’s also not easy, it’s difficult, it’s also bitter that they are fighting with each other, in fact, one people, in fact, the confrontation is going on within one people, just as it was after the upheavals of 1917, people were again pitted against each other.

Foreign powers have been warming their hands on the tragedy of our people. They did not care about both the White and the Red (army), they pursued their own interests, weakened and tore historical Russia to pieces. And today, constantly supplying weapons to Ukraine, transferring mercenaries there, they are absolutely ruthless to its citizens. At their expense, they are promoting their geopolitical goals, which have nothing to do with the interests of the Ukrainian people.

These efforts are aimed at the weakening, disintegration and destruction of Russia. They underlie the events that are taking place in Ukraine. We will never allow this. We will defend our Fatherland just like our heroic ancestors.

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It always seemed to me that everything is important: events, dates – it’s all interesting, but, as I imagine – if I’m wrong, you will correct me – after all, the essence itself, the meaning, the subject of history is an attempt to understand the laws of development. Why did this or that event happen? Why did it lead to such and such consequences, and what follows from this?

This is very important for today and for the future of any country, any ethnic group, in order to determine what we must do today in order to be confident in the future for ourselves and for our children, for our grandchildren. This, it seems to me, is the main thing.

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