Russians name Brezhnev best 20th-century leader, Gorbachev worst

[MattSh]

Generally, I wouldn't post something like this. But when I see someone compare Putin to Bush the lesser, yes, here on DU, that crosses the line into dangerously naive territory, and that must be corrected.

Over half of Russians believe Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was the best head of state in the past century, followed by Bolshevik Revolution mastermind Vladimir Lenin and dictator Joseph Stalin, a poll by Levada Center has revealed.

Sociologists asked Russians about their attitude towards 20th-century leaders. Some 56 percent of respondents have positive feelings about Brezhnev, who led the USSR from 1964 till 1982. A target of countless Soviet jokes and anecdotes, he is now disliked by 29 percent of people, Levada revealed.

The first ruler of the Soviet Union, Lenin, is seen in a good light by 55 percent of Russians, while exactly one-half of Russians favor Stalin. However, over one-third of respondents do not approve of the leader, who is often described as “bloody tyrant.”

<snip>

The late Yeltsin is viewed positively by only 22 percent of Russians, while his predecessor Gorbachev is seen as Russia’s worst leader ever, according to the poll. The architect of perestroika is now disliked by 66 percent of Russians, and only one-fifth of the population has warm feelings about the Soviet president.

http://rt.com/politics/brezhnev-stalin-gorbachev-soviet-638/

Putin is not rated, because he's not a 20h century leader. But I can assure you he'd rank well. Read the article and you'll understand...

[HiPointDem]

1. kr

[burnodo]

2. Putin's not rated because the authors feared a backlash

I'm amazed that so many Russians view Stalin in a positive light.

[Nimajneb Nilknarf]

3. The people who voted for Stalin are probably still afraid that the KGB is watching

[DetlefK]

4. Actually, Lenin was responsible for civil-war and famine.

Lenin toppled the czar. Okay.
Then his regime forcefully founded communes, restricted in-country-travel and caused a famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The ongoing purge against dissenters and the mensheviki-faction of the communists also cost some lives.

Stalin.
His wife falsified Lenin's testament, to declare him Lenin's favored successor. He defeated Trotsky (and later had him assassinated in Mexico City) and shifted the strategy for communism from being a nebulous philosophy spreading out to the international scene to a country-by-country approach. He killed dissenters at every turn, including almost the whole officer-corps of his army in the midst of WWII.

These people should draw no admiration.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. These are chilling words:

Harsh politicians are always perceived better than liberal ones, Grazhdankin said: “Freedom brings uncertainty, while people prefer certainty and clear perspectives… Rights and freedoms are too abstract, and the majority of people don’t need them. First of all, people appreciate the right to social guarantees and labor.”

I hope those words are never true about Americans, but sometimes I wonder. We always need to be on guard against destructive complacency.

[leveymg]

6. Most Americans have no idea about the human impact of the Soviet breakup

and why many Russians might resent its architect, Gorbachev, and be nostalgic for the relative security of the previous USSR and even for its sometimes grotesque leaders.

Interesting that Nikita Khruschev didn't figure more highly in such a survey.

[MattSh]

7. This was a classic implementation of the "Shock Doctrine."

In fact, that they were able to pull it off here made all that more likely that they would eventually try it in the USA, sooner rather than later.

[Starry Messenger]

8. ±1