Remembrance as weapon
The politics of memory of the Putin regime
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The politics of memory have become a weapon of the Putin regime, and are increasingly being used offensively and aggressively by the regime’s representatives, both domestically and internationally. They serve to mobilise the population, stabilise the regime’s grip on power and to consolidate the image of Russia as a beleaguered fortress. The subjects are well known: the Second World War, Stalin and the 1990s. However, the ways in which these policies are being implemented have changed. Places of remembrance are being eradicated, competition is being created between victim groups, and negative events are being reinterpreted as positive ones. All this is engendering historical myths and propaganda, and it makes it harder for Russia to tackle its difficult past.
(Osteuropa 6/2020, pp. 3–28)