By I.Shishkin

The uniqueness of the Russian situation consists of that fact, that there is the influential group among the elite of our country which is terribly interested in the debunking of the victory. Besides, there is not less influential group which is absolutely not interested in the counteraction of falsification of history, and there is even more numerous and influential group, interests of which prevent the organization of effective rebuff to the falsifiers.

In May, 2009, before the 65th anniversary of the Victory Day, Dmitry Medvedev has founded «the Commission aimed at the counteraction of falsification of history to the detriment of interests of Russia», on a wave of public indignation of campaign of the blackening of histories of the Great Patriotic War, has appointed one of the maximum government officials – the head of the President administration of the Russian Federation by the head of «the Commission aimed at the counteraction of falsification of history to the detriment of interests of Russia». Accordingly, Dmitry Medvedev has erected the struggle against the falsification of history in a rank of the state policy.

Then, this event «was a bombshell». The international structures and the states which have been transformed history in effective means of the decision of political problems for a long time, have cried together about inadmissibility of the intervention of the state (naturally, the Russian) in historical disputes. The liberal public up country got into a tantrum because the censorship, freedom of our word were in danger, the 37th year was on the threshold. Two years have passed from the beginning of the struggle with falsification of history of Great Patriotic War, declared by the Russian president. What results do we have?

On the 23th of September, 2009 The Polish Seim accepted the Resolution in which it qualified the deliverance of the Western Ukraine and the Western Republic of Belarus by the «Red Army» in September, 1939, having been occupied by the Poles, as the aggression against Poland. For the first time, the USSR was declared at an official level by the aggressor which had started the World War II (while together with Germany). The Russian reaction was expressed in the maximum laconic comment of the Department of the information and press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the appeal to live amicably and to leave the history to the historians: «We are still deeply convinced, that the question about the genesis of the World War II after seventy years should be left to historians finally» (The comment of the Department of the information and press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in connection with the acceptance of the resolution by the Seim of Poland concerning events on the 17th of September, 1939,1362-24-09-2009; the note of the author). The State Duma also has decided to not be humiliated up at all to do the reciprocal steps in the connect with so insignificant event and charged to the Committee of the International Affairs to send the letter with call to mutual understanding to the Polish colleagues.

For comparison, I shall remind, that when not a parliament of the country, and the private person – Sergey Kovalyov, the military historian, has published article «The concoctions and the falsifications in assessments of a role of the USSR on the eve and with the beginning of the World War II» in which he has told about unseemly actions of the Polish side before the beginning of war, Poland arranged such a dramatic scandal, that the Russian authorities being in their fright, deleted the article from the site of the Ministry of Defence. Nikolai Makarov, the general, the head of the of the General Staff hastened personally to refuse from the author (The head of the General Staff also «refused» from the article accusing Poland in the beginning of the World War II; the note of the author). By 2010, the Lithuanian Seim has entered the criminal liability for denying of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. Reaction of Russia was that all the same traditional appeals to live amicably and to leave the history to the historians.

If we apply to the results of the counteraction of the review of history of the Great Patriotic war inside Russia, we will have to recognize, that by the quantity of movies, books and articles, in which the identity of the Stalin USSR with Hitlerite Germany «is proved», Russia still keeps palm of victory of superiority with confidence and is capable to give a head start to any foreign falsifiers.

It is indicative, that in 2010, each third (!) citizen of Russia agreed with the statement that our country bears the equal responsibility with Germany for the beginning of the World War II. Five years before, in the 60-th anniversary of the Victory Day less than six percent people divided such point of view. By 2011 the appropriating interrogation still was not spent, but the tendency is unequivocal.

There are the historical truth, a vertical of authority, the great opportunities of Mass Media being under control of the state, finally, the complete support of the vast majority of the nation on one side. There is all the way through false propaganda on another; and it is such result. However, it is only seeming balance of forces «on a historical field». An actual balance looks absolutely differently, and it is defined, first of all, by interests of the Russian elite and its specific character. «The interest» is the main concept of all this «history about history», as abroad, and inside of the country.

The foreign campaign on the review of a role of the USSR in the World War II is based on not only bent of politicians and journalists for to historical researches, waken unexpectedly, and interests of global elite, interests of elites of the majority of the European states, as well as interests of elites of the new independent states.

The global elite (Whether it coincides with the American elite or has the supernational character, in this case it is insignificant; the note of the author) focused on the construction of the unipolar peace for quite natural reasons, sees one of the primary threats to its objectives sees in Russia. The West has not forgotten that by the 20th century all world already was its colony or semi- colony (the great competition of the colonizers allowed to some people and the states to keep independence). Russia, the only country which is not belonging to the western civilization, talked to the Europe on equal terms, and its power steadily increased. Very Russia frustrated plans of Napoleon to unite the Europe that in those days meant also the establishment of actual domination over the world.

In the 20th century Russia in the form of the USSR «broke a ridge to the Third Reich», one more applicant for the world domination. Together with the USA, it created the modern world political system within the limits of the Yalta – Potsdam arrangements. Owing to the USSR, the colonial system, the result of centuries-old efforts of the West, and almost the half of the world has left from under its control for decades. The process of globalization and construction of the unipolar world has been started as a result of the crash of the USSR, i.e. it is caused by the reasons in Russia in many respects. Even the present Russian Federation is the unique state which is potentially capable to carry out a sovereign policy (5), to become independent civilizational and a political pole, and by that to open a window of possibilities for other civilizational and the political centers, to open a way to the multipolar world.

Therefore there was an objective interest in the new concept of the World War II at a level of global elite which is based on a recognition of the equal responsibility of the USSR and Germany, identity of the «Stalinism» with Nazism which would allow to put the USSR (Russia) from the category of the countries-winners, the pillars of the modern world order, in the category of the aggressor which suffered a defeat (Germany в1945, the USSR в1991).

According to the new concept of history of the war, the West is the savior of mankind from totalitarianism, the plague of the 20th century (in the form of Nazism and «Stalinism») and the Russian Federation and Germany are the assignees of aggressive totalitarian empire, with all consequences following from here. If Germany has followed a way of correction and expiation for a long time and has ostensibly deserved the right to enter into family of civilized people, Russia still should pass this way. Its mandatory condition is the full «disarmament» (in sense of terminology in 1930s) before a Free world, including the refusal of a great-power and imperial chimera of the sovereignty, a sincere repentance, compensation of the damage to the occupied states, the return of the occupied territories and many other things. «De-Stalinization» and denazification are the heavy and long processes, appealed to transform Russia from the subject of the world politics in the object of realization of interests of the global elite.

The World War II l still has not become history for Europe, its results have rendered the most direct influence on the modern political processes till now. Thus, the vast majority of the European countries were in the war on the side of Germany. Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Norway, Croatia, Austria (in the structure of the Third Reich), Spain and Denmark took part in the campaign to the East. Other states sent the volunteers and made the economy serve for the Reich( voluntarily or forcibly). Almost 500000 representatives of the European states which were ostensibly not at the war with us (conforms to the number of four or six Soviet multi-service armies) were taken captive only in the Soviet captivity.

After disintegration of the USSR and the sudden weakening of the positions of Russia, these countries got the unique possibility to pass from the category of the won aggressors or helpers of the aggressor in the category of victims of the Soviet totalitarian empire. First of all, the elites of the East European states which became dependent on the USSR after the results of the war, are interested in that. The concept of the war based on a recognition of identity of Nazism and «Stalinism», to their equal responsibility for troubles small, but the proud democratic countries is ideally appropriate to them for the disposal of own debts and exhibiting of accounts of Russia.

The elite of the Great Britain, the unique active participant of the anti-Hitlerite coalition in the Europe, also turned out to be interested in the review of history of the World War II, both by virtue of the involvement into the global elite, and by virtue of the aspiration to absolve oneself of the responsibility for the policy of «the pacification of the aggressor», for the division of Czechoslovakia and some others, during the pre-war period.

The special activity of Poland speaks in the frame of a historical field is explained by the whole complex of the reasons and the complexes connected with its position between millstones of the German and Russian world. «A friend among strangers, a stranger among friends». It is vitally now for the Polish elite to keep the western areas which were cut off from Germany in its advantage initiated by the USSR, and, at the same time, to restore the influence in «the East Kresy» lost after the Liberation campaign of the Red Army in September, 1939 .It is necessary to introduce durably an image of a victim of German and Russian totalitarianism and imperialism in world public opinion for achievement of these objectives. The purposeful failure of all attempts of Poland to create the system of the collective security in pre-war Europe, and extremely because of self-interested fear to lose the territories of the USSR, occupied in 1920 (nowadays Ukraine and Belarus) at all. From here, an excessively exalted, «the historical policy» Poland, being on the verge of a hysterics, also arises.

The influential forces of the post-Soviet space also have deep objective reasons to rewrite history of Great Patriotic War. The separatists came to power in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Baltics, as a result of disintegration of the USSR. They did not destroy the USSR. The separatist movement which are special to any multinational country, did not have a such power, but the authority turned to be «in the hands» of the separatists. The main task for them was to keep the unexpected conquest, not to disappear, «as a night nightmare», under influence of the integration, centripetal forces when the crisis in Russia will be over. They well have acquired the history of the restoration of the territorial integrity of Russia, in the form of the USSR, after the geopolitical accident in 1917 (all for 22 years).

It has appeared that it is necessary not only to find the strong owner (to enter NATO), but also to create the mass support of separatism, powerful internal forces of counteraction to any attempts of integration inside of the new independent states for conservation of independence from Russia. The reference to «the historical policy» was inevitable in these conditions. The myth about invaders and the centuries-long national-liberation struggle, about Russia as «the empire of the evil», the source of all last and present troubles of their nation was required.

The joint victory in the most terrible and bloody war in the history of the mankind became one of the main hindrances in a way of elites of the new independent states. It did not separate, it united. The only output was the introduction in public consciousness of essentially new view about the war. It is the fight of two totalitarian empires in «millstones» of the confrontment of which the occupied people had been involved.

However it is not enough. The national-liberation struggle is impossible without a pantheon of the heroes. A reasonable question is: where can we take them, if any national-liberation struggle was not neither in Ukraine, nor in Baltics, in Moldova with Georgia? You will not find anybody for this role except for the Nazi helpers, but there is also a problem here. The third Reich and with helpers were at the war not only against the USSR, but also against the USA, the favour of which is the main guarantee of the independence of Russia. From here, the justification of the collaboration which is peculiar to the post-Soviet falsifiers, and a myth about «the third force». It was impossible not to invent it in the developed conditions. As a result, the «heroes»,the fighters with the Soviet invaders appeared, which put on the Schutz-Staffel uniforms to finish with the Soviet totalitarian empire, and then to turn the weapon against Nazism, shoulder to shoulder with the countries of the Free world.

The global elite and the elites of many European states, and the elites of the former union republics, all of them in an equal measure appeared that now, it is necessary to transfer Russia from the status of the state-winner and the liberator in the status of the aggressor at all distinction with a view of both weight categories.

The uniqueness of the Russian situation consists of that fact, that there is the influential group among the elite of our country which is terribly interested in the debunking of the victory. Besides, there is not less influential group which is absolutely not interested in the counteraction of falsification of history, and there is even more numerous and influential group, interests of which prevent the organization of effective rebuff to the falsifiers.

The blackening of the Russian history has older traditions in our country, rather than in near and far abroad. As A.Panchenko, an academician, marked, that even in Nicholas’s I reign the new type of the person manifested reign in Russia, in consciousness of which there was an identification of the concepts «Russia» and «angrily» and which began to struggle not with the evil in Russia, and with Russia as a source of the evil .Such struggle inevitably assumes the full break with the tradition, the radical demolition of the national system of values and social life, the destruction of the source of the evil «up to the basis».

However, to achieve it is impossible to achieve it, till «you will not tear off the nation from roots», till you will not introduce hatred to the past in public consciousness. Therefore, the reference to «the historical policy», became the natural result of an output of radical fighters for the light future on public arena which have very quickly turned to the radical fighters with the past, with tradition. Dostoevsky, has enclosed in lips of one of such «demons» the «hammered formula»: «Who will damn the past, that already is ours».

It was so in the days of Dostoevsky, so remains now. People for whom the concepts of “Russia” and «an evil» are identical, who are convinced, that any reforms will give nothing, while the Russian archetype is kept, borrow the very influential positions in a modern ruling layer and media-space. The revolution of the end of the 80s – the beginning of the 90s years transfer them in the elite of the Russian society, as the most consecutive and uncompromising fighters with vestiges of the past (to regret there is nobody and there is nothing to regret).

The great victory has quite naturally appeared to be one of the main obstacles in a way to the next «light future» for them. Pride of the country, of the acts of the fathers and grandfathers is a core not allowing to transform the demolition of the obsolete public forms into destruction of the Russian matrix, desirable for a long time. It is impossible to crush the «empire of an evil» without the debunking of the victory. The theses about the responsibility of the USSR for the World War II, about the identity of «Stalinism» and Nazism, about the gloomy past(«the whole Russia is Katyn») were put not accidentally in the basis of the state program of struggle against the totalitarian heritage, appealed «to modernize» consciousness of the society (it is worked out by Council under the President of the Russian Federation on a civil society and human rights). The Commission for the counteraction of falsification of history was founded by the same President. It is appealed to fight against all this.

The sincere adherents of struggle with «the damned past», certainly, are in the minority among the elite, but they are supported by «the offshore aristocracy», much more numerous groups of the businessmen and the corrupted officials, formed in the «daring 1990s».They have nothing to do with the history of the country and other humanitarian nonsenses. Only money is of importance, there is nothing personal. They have received the fabulous riches as a consequence of so-called, «a grabfest» ,but if you purchased the property, breaking the law ,you will never believe to any legislative guarantees of its immunity. Therefore, their money is in the West. The children are in London. They live and work in Sherwood, Greenfield, Riverside, City, located, the truth, in Moscow and the localities near Moscow. The conflict to the West, moreover because of any treatment of history, is absolutely not necessary for the «offshore aristocracy». Accordingly, the effective counteraction of the falsification of history objectively contradicts to its interests, and it is able to protect the interests.

Certainly, the positions, for whom the country is Motherland, and not the «empire of an evil» and not «a zone of free hunting», are not less strong in the elite of Russia. However, the specific features of this elite group which key occupied the key positions «in zero years», but formed during the crash of the USSR, in the same 90s, conduce the counteraction of falsification of history a little. Let’s recall, that we have hear from even the most public-spirited representatives of the elite for last decades, in fidelity to that they consider to be necessary to swear constantly: the European choice and the European values. Thus, they are quite sincerely indignant against the falsifiers and stand up for the greatness of Russia. They are sincerely proud of the Victory.

The absence of these most European values is not the direct result of our nice history, isn’t?

If it were not Alexander Nevskiy, Minin and Pozharskiy, if the orthodox brotherhoods, the Cossacks and the simple people who stood to death against the catholicizing in Little Russia ,if it were not the heroes of Borodino and Stalingrad, the European values will have already been imparted to our state. Moreover, if the Russian orthodox people have not existed, then not lime trees, and the real green fields with riversides would be settle down on the East European plain and the continuous European paradise would be observed.

Such duality inevitably «hog-tie» even the sincere fighters with falsification of history in the Russian elite. It Forces them to struggle only with the consequences, but not with the reasons, dooming them to the defeat. Anybody neither on the Russian TV, nor in the Congress of the USA, not in the PACE (the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; the translator comment) is not engaged in the falsification of history for the sake of the falsification. It is only the means of the achievement of the political aims.

However, the recognition of that objective of the falsifiers is not the distortion of the historic facts, and the decision of geopolitical problems, the destruction of spiritual civilizational bases of the state and people, inevitably means, that the counteraction to them should include, besides the refutation of lie, also something another, incommensurably more important thing .It is the strengthening and development of these most spiritual and civilizational bases of the nation.

What should we do with the European choice and the fidelity to the European values then?

The persistent aspiration of the representatives of the «patriotic» group in the Russian elite follows from here to put the political essence of a problem for brackets, to pretend, that it does not exist. It is the extremely important for them to reduce all this to the cleanly historical problems. Therefore, we hear the constant entreaty and conjurations: «Leave the history to the historians», naturally, remaining without response.

As we see, the results of the counteraction of the falsification of history have an absolutely objective character and are caused by the interests and the specificity of the Russian elite which was formed in the 90s and the zero years. However, it does not follow from this, that the struggle against the review of history is doomed to failure. The spiritual health of the Russian society appeared to be stronger, rather than the protectors have expected about its «light future». The instinct of the national self-preservation helped the nation to feel, that there is a question about their own future, the future of the children and the grandsons instead of ostensibly historical disputes. The numerous conferences (including owing to the Commission and to devotees in its structure), are spent, the articles are published , people of the most different trades and ages conduct the sharp discussions about historical problems, expose lie and demagogy of the falsifiers on the Internet.

The Russian society rapidly changes and defends its values, the right to be itself. The explosion of indignation by the supreme commander in chief during the parade is indicative, and in fact, people similar things have been suffering still more recently; or there was the story with the program for the struggle against the totalitarian heritage .It was published, there is not the presidential approval, as well as the disapproval, till now. The sharp public reaction which obviously which has been expected, spoiled the game.

«The recovery» of the society after «the largest geopolitical accident of the 20^th century», naturally generates a process of the improvement of the Russian elite. There are people in its environment who consider the orthodox faith, the Russian way of a residence, the tradition to be unconditional, by the matter- of-course value …

The interests of this new, still small group in the Russian elite, as well as the powerful public counteraction to attempt to reconsider the history of the Great Patriotic War are the pledge of that struggle against falsification still only begins, that our people were not and will be not «Ivans, who do not remember the kinship»

Translation from the Russian by Kalyuzhnaya Irina, APIR Center