Firstly, I think, it is necessary to establish the criteria for selection of the greatest. If number of people murdered (indirectly, I assume) by the "great" countryman disqualifies him/her from the contest, then there will no place for many Russian country leaders currently present in the list. From the other hand, if this is not an issue (?!), and say, the most important criterion -- the influence made by that person, then there should not be a shame to put there and discuss Peter the Great, Stalin, even Czar Nicolas.
Also, it is sad, the everything what English-speaking people know about Russian greatest performers -- Stalin and ???... that's it. Although, Russian land gave birth to many great people almost in any area of human activity. If combine all of them, Russia could easy compete with any other country. Say, military commanders Zukov(defeated German army) , Kutuzov(defeated Napoleon army), A.Suvorov -- one of the greatest general not only in Russian, but in the world history. Musicians -- Tchaikovsky, Glinka,... Writers -- Pushkin, Lermontov,... Philosophers -- L.Tolstoy, Tsiolkovsky,... Scientists -- Markov, Lobachevsky, Saharov, Basov, Pavlov,... Engineers -- Korolev, Kalashnikov,... Travelers -- F. Konyuhov, Lazarev and Bellingshausen (discovered Antarctica)... And this is just short list which I very quickly pulled out from the top of my head. (I am afraid to continue, because I may hit the boundary on the comment size limit. Which, by the way, doesn't make any sense for me. Do you hear me, RT? :-)).
As a world traveler and well-educated person interested in history. I can think of many great Russians of the past, many of them rose the challenges of their time and history with great success. To me the greatest Russian in history is the composer Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky wrote and composed some the greatest symphonies known to mankind. Tchaikovsky was a brilliant mind, master composer, and genius. His master works and compositions live on today and forever.
For the last part of the 20th century: 1.Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, Станислав Евграфович Петров, who according to several sources averted accidental retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States.
From a purely internal perspective, there are many key people in Russia's History, Rurik, Peter the Great and yes, even Stalin (albeit Georgian). As a non-russian, I have to think of those who wanted to modernise and transform Russia into a truly great power, both to the world, and to the russians themselves - therefore for me, historicaly Alexander II was one of greatest Russians ever - Pity about his assasination, had he lived longer what would he achieved. Perhaps the greatest Russian in history is with us today, or just around the corner... One who can both work with Russia's European and World partners economically as well as militarily, and provide a stable and effective State that all Russians can rightly be proud of.
Vladimir Putin,he managed to restore Russia's power and pride, in the fields of politics he succeded to create more Russian allies in the world such as China Kazakhstan and other sco and csto members.he managed to prevent Georgia from joining NATO by destroying their American designed military.he put agreat economical pressure on Europe by the possesion of gas supplies.In his 8 years administartion and prime minister he changed the face of Russian in many aspects
Austin wrote: I cant believe that in this age of Education that anyone could seriously consider Stalin as the greatest Russian, He was personaly responsable for the deaths of millions and millions of his own people. Apparently the Russians are like Americans too dumbed down to think straight.
MY REPLY: In this "day and age" it is time for people to demand evidence for the decades of unsubstantiated anti-Stalin propanda disseminated in the West (and now in the East).
The "dumbing down" of people regarding Stalin was accomplished by Western propaganda that for the last 75+ years has presented a non-stop stream of pseudo history published by pro-Nazi Hearst, Conquest, and others. The Western propaganda machine spread the anti-Stalin lies of fascist Western Ukrainians who fought for Hitler and settled in the U.S. and Canada after the Great Patriotic War.
For an "educated" person, it strikes me that you are very quick to accept claims against Stalin that, in fact, have no evidence except for the word of the anti-Soviet, anti-Stalin propaganda machine of Washington and its lackies.
Obviously, you can believe what you want. But, in reality, who is it that is "dumbed down?" Perhaps, you should look in the mirror.
I cant believe that in this age of Education that anyone could seriously consider Stalin as the greatest Russian, He was personaly responsable for the deaths of millions and millions of his own people. Apparently the Russians are like Americans too dumbed down to think straight.
Sevodnya_Net wrote: "I for one am not interested in the figures you quote, allegedly from western sources. You are playing with figures, as I suggested earlier. I AM interested in the testimonies and the evidence from the Russian people themselves. Or are you oblivious to their suffering?"
My Reply: I am not the one "playing" with figures. The cogs in the Western propaganda machine are the ones who have been "playing" with figures for decades. I am just rebutting their lies using their own statistics.
The common Russian people who LIVED in the Soviet Union when Stalin was at the helm loved and respected him. It seems that some of the common Russian people who did NOT live during Stalin's years have fallen victim to the anti-Stalin recording being played 24/7.
The positive testimonies of the common Russian people of that time regarding Stalin are either not solicited, ignored, or put down as the ravings of senile old people. On the other side of the coin, people who had a grudge against Stalin are sought out and paraded in front of the world as the "victims" of Stalin. Fascist Western Ukrainians, White Guard monarchists, kulaks, capitalists who lost their businesses, etc., etc. are cited as legitimate, unbiased sources of information regarding Stalin.
The ones who kept the Russian people illiterate, ignorant, and in virtual slavery suffered and were made to pay by Stalin. Those are the people and their descendants that decry Stalin. NOT the Russian people.
Perhaps, in pushing your political agenda YOU are the one who is oblivious to the suffering of the Russian people and who was really responsible for their suffering.
I guess Mikhail pointed out the exact question. Where is the evidence on the allegedly crimes, massacre, etc.? Given the large fraction of the nonsense accusations, i.e. Soviet famine, were scholarly proved not to be true, who are we suggested to believe in? And why do we have to do that? Isn’t it somewhat doubtful that all capitalists and some left groups easily ally on anti-Stalinist statements? I suggest you to just search a little for Soviet famine and hair-raising falsifications that made in order to denigrate Stalin and actually communism. These are all so rubbishy assertions that minimize even the mental level of people who believe in them.
Mikhail, I for one am not interested in the figures you quote, allegedly from western sources. You are playing with figures, as I suggested earlier. I AM interested in the testimonies and the evidence from the Russian people themselves. Or are you oblivious to their suffering?
Sevodnya_Net wrote: "...people like you (thankfully a minority even in Russia) who dismiss the murders as "statistics" or even lies and propaganda by the "west". I mean, even Krushchev denounced Stalin..."
My Reply: Regarding Khrushchev, he was an opportunist with his own political agenda. Denouncing Stalin helped forward that agenda.
The first question anyone interested in the truth would ask is where do these "statistics" listing murders by Stalin come from? Secondly, what is the evidence for them?
One of the problems with the accusations against Stalin is that just about all of the "historians" that forward these ridiculous claims have a grudge against him (or Communism).
Most western figures pretty much mirror those of R.J. Rummel who alleges almost 52 million Soviet citizens were killed by the government during the 25 years Stalin was at the helm of the Soviet Union (1928-1953).
One does not have to be a demographics expert to see the absurdity of these numbers. Add to that figure 20-25 million Soviet citizens killed by Nazi Germany and you have 77-82 million people wiped out in a 25 year period!
A quick look at a demographic table of the Soviet Union shows that the only time the population took a major nose dive was from 1941-1946 during and immediately after the Great Patriotic War.
The numbers tossed around by the "experts" in the West (and parroted by the "experts" in the East) are so blown out of proportion that even a grade school child could figure out that they are lies.
A little common sense and simple math will debunk these fairy tales that were originally concocted by anti-Soviet western propagandists.
Mikhail (in some desperation, it has to be said) offered: "The infamous "statistic" statement attributed to Stalin was never said by him." Probably not, but that wasn't my point, which was that it is people like you (thankfully a minority even in Russia) who dismiss the murders as "statistics" or even lies and propaganda by the "west". I mean, even Krushchev denounced Stalin and so would Putin if you twisted his arm, although you'd probably have to listen to a good deal of nonsense about the good old days of the Soviet Union as well. Anyway, we shouldn't get too worked up about polls like these which are presumably supposed to be a bit of fun. Britain had one a few years ago and I expect many countries have done the same. The elevation of Stalin is in a sense underatandable as, at a very crude level, he can be seen as Russia's Churchill or Roosevelt, but I merely point out that he has some unpleasant skeletons in his baggage. That fact, I'm sorry to say, is undeniable, no matter how much you may rant and rave to the contrary.
Mikhail he wrote I replied she wrote you replied...Stalin was a DICTATOR that's it! Propaganda? was Russia the only country propaganda free and you think there's not propaganda anymore? Everything is propaganda much more in big superpower like USA and URSS.
IF Stalin is the greatest of Russia History (Is Geogian) then Hitler is the greates of German History and Pinochet the best of Chilean history.
There is no singular great person,great statesmen yes.Actually ,Khrushcoff,the then President of Russia, was the first person to take his shoe off, and bang the table in United Nations,i think he was a statesman .then the world has seen remarkable statesmens in each country.to judge ,you would have to see who does the most good,but in the west,that isnt a criteria,it is full of garbagge in the media and devious people in our broadcasting and media.speaking from the english perspective.
Sevodnya_Net wrote: The perverted views of Mikhail (the Soviet version of the holocaust denier) don't particularly scare me...
My Reply: Of course, when one takes exception to the West's anti-Stalin propaganda those views are "perverted."
What strikes me as "perverted" are the myriad lies and myths about Stalin that have been concocted by the West since 1930.
A perfect example of these perversions are the "historic" works of Robert Conquest. Conquest used photographs of famine in Ukraine during WW I to falsly illustrate his claims for a man-made "genocide" during the famine in Ukraine and southern Russia in 1933. He originally claimed that 4 million died during the famine. Then he upped that figure to 6 million. When he joined the Reagan administration he was babbling about 16 million dead during the famine.
When one considers that the population of the Ukrainian SSR in 1930 was 24 million, these figures seem not only perverted, but absurd!
However, the non-stop repetition of the anti-Stalin mantra has been recited in the West for so long that even the most absurd lies are taken as gospel.
Sevodnya_Net wrote: The murder of millions of his own people merely, in his own alleged words, a "statistic" for many.
My Reply: The infamous "statistic" statement attributed to Stalin was never said by him. This is just another of countless examples of lies that are repeated until people believe them. To my knowledge, no one has come up with a direct quote from any speech or writings by Stalin to link this statement to him.
One thing is for sure. The sun will rise tomorrow and the West and their lackies in the NGO "human rights" organizations in the East will continue to rant on against Stalin.
On January 8th Joseph wrote: We in england have the best method ,the rich control the media ,and they get their adoring servants to fill the masses heads with garbagge all their lives.,now that is the clever way to indoctrinate the masses.
My Reply: Joseph, you can't hog all the credit for the U.K.! The American "free press" deserves some credit, too!!
All the mainstream newspapers, magazines, television stations, and radio stations are owned and controlled by the rich. The news is presented to support the class interests of the wealthy. This means ommissions, twisting facts, and outright lies are normal for the news media in their brainwashing of the American public.
18 October, 2009, 22:47
Firstly, I think, it is necessary to establish the criteria for selection of the greatest. If number of people murdered (indirectly, I assume) by the "great" countryman disqualifies him/her from the contest, then there will no place for many Russian country leaders currently present in the list. From the other hand, if this is not an issue (?!), and say, the most important criterion -- the influence made by that person, then there should not be a shame to put there and discuss Peter the Great, Stalin, even Czar Nicolas.
Also, it is sad, the everything what English-speaking people know about Russian greatest performers -- Stalin and ???... that's it. Although, Russian land gave birth to many great people almost in any area of human activity. If combine all of them, Russia could easy compete with any other country. Say, military commanders Zukov(defeated German army) , Kutuzov(defeated Napoleon army), A.Suvorov -- one of the greatest general not only in Russian, but in the world history. Musicians -- Tchaikovsky, Glinka,... Writers -- Pushkin, Lermontov,... Philosophers -- L.Tolstoy, Tsiolkovsky,... Scientists -- Markov, Lobachevsky, Saharov, Basov, Pavlov,... Engineers -- Korolev, Kalashnikov,... Travelers -- F. Konyuhov, Lazarev and Bellingshausen (discovered Antarctica)... And this is just short list which I very quickly pulled out from the top of my head. (I am afraid to continue, because I may hit the boundary on the comment size limit. Which, by the way, doesn't make any sense for me. Do you hear me, RT? :-)).
16 October, 2009, 05:01
Leon Trotsky, although I think most Russians forget the name.
18 May, 2009, 22:03
As a world traveler and well-educated person interested in history. I can think of many great Russians of the past, many of them rose the challenges of their time and history with great success. To me the greatest Russian in history is the composer Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky wrote and composed some the greatest symphonies known to mankind. Tchaikovsky was a brilliant mind, master composer, and genius. His master works and compositions live on today and forever.
07 May, 2009, 17:43
I hope the leaders you have today, are the greatest in history, because this world needs one badly, right now.
17 February, 2009, 05:04
For the last part of the 20th century:
1.Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, Станислав Евграфович Петров, who according to several sources averted accidental retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States.
12 February, 2009, 21:57
From a purely internal perspective, there are many key people in Russia's History, Rurik, Peter the Great and yes, even Stalin (albeit Georgian). As a non-russian, I have to think of those who wanted to modernise and transform Russia into a truly great power, both to the world, and to the russians themselves - therefore for me, historicaly Alexander II was one of greatest Russians ever - Pity about his assasination, had he lived longer what would he achieved. Perhaps the greatest Russian in history is with us today, or just around the corner... One who can both work with Russia's European and World partners economically as well as militarily, and provide a stable and effective State that all Russians can rightly be proud of.
06 February, 2009, 13:36
Vladimir Putin,he managed to restore Russia's power and pride, in the fields of politics he succeded to create more Russian allies in the world such as China Kazakhstan and other sco and csto members.he managed to prevent Georgia from joining NATO by destroying their American designed military.he put agreat economical pressure on Europe by the possesion of gas supplies.In his 8 years administartion and prime minister he changed the face of Russian in many aspects
02 February, 2009, 15:12
Austin wrote:
I cant believe that in this age of Education that anyone could seriously consider Stalin as the greatest Russian, He was personaly responsable for the deaths of millions and millions of his own people. Apparently the Russians are like Americans too dumbed down to think straight.
MY REPLY:
In this "day and age" it is time for people to demand evidence for the decades of unsubstantiated anti-Stalin propanda disseminated in the West (and now in the East).
The "dumbing down" of people regarding Stalin was accomplished by Western propaganda that for the last 75+ years has presented a non-stop stream of pseudo history published by pro-Nazi Hearst, Conquest, and others. The Western propaganda machine spread the anti-Stalin lies of fascist Western Ukrainians who fought for Hitler and settled in the U.S. and Canada after the Great Patriotic War.
For an "educated" person, it strikes me that you are very quick to accept claims against Stalin that, in fact, have no evidence except for the word of the anti-Soviet, anti-Stalin propaganda machine of Washington and its lackies.
Obviously, you can believe what you want. But, in reality, who is it that is "dumbed down?" Perhaps, you should look in the mirror.
Mikhail
30 January, 2009, 12:21
I cant believe that in this age of Education that anyone could
seriously consider Stalin as the
greatest Russian, He was personaly responsable for the deaths of millions and millions
of his own people. Apparently the
Russians are like Americans too
dumbed down to think straight.
23 January, 2009, 11:33
Sevodnya_Net wrote:
"I for one am not interested in the figures you quote, allegedly from western sources. You are playing with figures, as I suggested earlier. I AM interested in the testimonies and the evidence from the Russian people themselves. Or are you oblivious to their suffering?"
My Reply:
I am not the one "playing" with figures. The cogs in the Western propaganda machine are the ones who have been "playing" with figures for decades. I am just rebutting their lies using their own statistics.
The common Russian people who LIVED in the Soviet Union when Stalin was at the helm loved and respected him. It seems that some of the common Russian people who did NOT live during Stalin's years have fallen victim to the anti-Stalin recording being played 24/7.
The positive testimonies of the common Russian people of that time regarding Stalin are either not solicited, ignored, or put down as the ravings of senile old people. On the other side of the coin, people who had a grudge against Stalin are sought out and paraded in front of the world as the "victims" of Stalin. Fascist Western Ukrainians, White Guard monarchists, kulaks, capitalists who lost their businesses, etc., etc. are cited as legitimate, unbiased sources of information regarding Stalin.
The ones who kept the Russian people illiterate, ignorant, and in virtual slavery suffered and were made to pay by Stalin. Those are the people and their descendants that decry Stalin. NOT the Russian people.
Perhaps, in pushing your political agenda YOU are the one who is oblivious to the suffering of the Russian people and who was really responsible for their suffering.
Mikhail
23 January, 2009, 08:59
I guess Mikhail pointed out the exact question. Where is the evidence on the allegedly crimes, massacre, etc.? Given the large fraction of the nonsense accusations, i.e. Soviet famine, were scholarly proved not to be true, who are we suggested to believe in? And why do we have to do that? Isn’t it somewhat doubtful that all capitalists and some left groups easily ally on anti-Stalinist statements? I suggest you to just search a little for Soviet famine and hair-raising falsifications that made in order to denigrate Stalin and actually communism. These are all so rubbishy assertions that minimize even the mental level of people who believe in them.
22 January, 2009, 20:58
Mikhail,
I for one am not interested in the figures you quote, allegedly from western sources. You are playing with figures, as I suggested earlier. I AM interested in the testimonies and the evidence from the Russian people themselves. Or are you oblivious to their suffering?
21 January, 2009, 14:24
Sevodnya_Net wrote:
"...people like you (thankfully a minority even in Russia) who dismiss the murders as "statistics" or even lies and propaganda by the "west". I mean, even Krushchev denounced Stalin..."
My Reply:
Regarding Khrushchev, he was an opportunist with his own political agenda. Denouncing Stalin helped forward that agenda.
The first question anyone interested in the truth would ask is where do these "statistics" listing murders by Stalin come from? Secondly, what is the evidence for them?
One of the problems with the accusations against Stalin is that just about all of the "historians" that forward these ridiculous claims have a grudge against him (or Communism).
Most western figures pretty much mirror those of R.J. Rummel who alleges almost 52 million Soviet citizens were killed by the government during the 25 years Stalin was at the helm of the Soviet Union (1928-1953).
One does not have to be a demographics expert to see the absurdity of these numbers. Add to that figure 20-25 million Soviet citizens killed by Nazi Germany and you have 77-82 million people wiped out in a 25 year period!
A quick look at a demographic table of the Soviet Union shows that the only time the population took a major nose dive was from 1941-1946 during and immediately after the Great Patriotic War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogr...he_Soviet_Union
The numbers tossed around by the "experts" in the West (and parroted by the "experts" in the East) are so blown out of proportion that even a grade school child could figure out that they are lies.
A little common sense and simple math will debunk these fairy tales that were originally concocted by anti-Soviet western propagandists.
Mikhail
21 January, 2009, 03:52
Peter Romanov. He brought Russia into the modern era from the Middle Ages.
20 January, 2009, 21:56
Mikhail (in some desperation, it has to be said) offered:
"The infamous "statistic" statement attributed to Stalin was never said by him."
Probably not, but that wasn't my point, which was that it is people like you (thankfully a minority even in Russia) who dismiss the murders as "statistics" or even lies and propaganda by the "west". I mean, even Krushchev denounced Stalin and so would Putin if you twisted his arm, although you'd probably have to listen to a good deal of nonsense about the good old days of the Soviet Union as well.
Anyway, we shouldn't get too worked up about polls like these which are presumably supposed to be a bit of fun. Britain had one a few years ago and I expect many countries have done the same. The elevation of Stalin is in a sense underatandable as, at a very crude level, he can be seen as Russia's Churchill or Roosevelt, but I merely point out that he has some unpleasant skeletons in his baggage. That fact, I'm sorry to say, is undeniable, no matter how much you may rant and rave to the contrary.
19 January, 2009, 11:08
Mikhail he wrote I replied she wrote you replied...Stalin was a DICTATOR that's it! Propaganda? was Russia the only country propaganda free and you think there's not propaganda anymore? Everything is propaganda much more in big superpower like USA and URSS.
IF Stalin is the greatest of Russia History (Is Geogian) then Hitler is the greates of German History and Pinochet the best of Chilean history.
16 January, 2009, 10:27
There is no singular great person,great statesmen yes.Actually ,Khrushcoff,the then President of Russia, was the first person to take his shoe off, and bang the table in United Nations,i think he was a statesman .then the world has seen remarkable statesmens in each country.to judge ,you would have to see who does the most good,but in the west,that isnt a criteria,it is full of garbagge in the media and devious people in our broadcasting and media.speaking from the english perspective.
12 January, 2009, 20:00
J. Stalin is the greatest person in Russian history & World history.
10 January, 2009, 14:16
Sevodnya_Net wrote:
The perverted views of Mikhail (the Soviet version of the holocaust denier) don't particularly scare me...
My Reply:
Of course, when one takes exception to the West's anti-Stalin propaganda those views are "perverted."
What strikes me as "perverted" are the myriad lies and myths about Stalin that have been concocted by the West since 1930.
A perfect example of these perversions are the "historic" works of Robert Conquest. Conquest used photographs of famine in Ukraine during WW I to falsly illustrate his claims for a man-made "genocide" during the famine in Ukraine and southern Russia in 1933. He originally claimed that 4 million died during the famine. Then he upped that figure to 6 million. When he joined the Reagan administration he was babbling about 16 million dead during the famine.
When one considers that the population of the Ukrainian SSR in 1930 was 24 million, these figures seem not only perverted, but absurd!
However, the non-stop repetition of the anti-Stalin mantra has been recited in the West for so long that even the most absurd lies are taken as gospel.
Sevodnya_Net wrote:
The murder of millions of his own people merely, in his own alleged words, a "statistic" for many.
My Reply:
The infamous "statistic" statement attributed to Stalin was never said by him. This is just another of countless examples of lies that are repeated until people believe them. To my knowledge, no one has come up with a direct quote from any speech or writings by Stalin to link this statement to him.
One thing is for sure. The sun will rise tomorrow and the West and their lackies in the NGO "human rights" organizations in the East will continue to rant on against Stalin.
Mikhail
10 January, 2009, 13:30
On January 8th Joseph wrote:
We in england have the best method ,the rich control the media ,and they get their adoring servants to fill the masses heads with garbagge all their lives.,now that is the clever way to indoctrinate the masses.
My Reply:
Joseph, you can't hog all the credit for the U.K.! The American "free press" deserves some credit, too!!
All the mainstream newspapers, magazines, television stations, and radio stations are owned and controlled by the rich. The news is presented to support the class interests of the wealthy. This means ommissions, twisting facts, and outright lies are normal for the news media in their brainwashing of the American public.
Mikhail
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