Sergei Medvedev is a Russian historian, specialist in the post-Soviet period. In his latest work, A war made in Russia (Buchet-Chastel, 240 pages, 22.50 euros), published on February 15, it analyzes the violence which permeates Russian society, from the family to public institutions.
You write that the war led in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin is part of the logic of Russian history. What do you mean ?
Russia is a warrior and police power and always has been. A quote attributed to Alexander II [empereur de Russie entre 1855 et 1881], who was not, however, a belligerent tsar, said in substance that Russia was not intended to become an industrial, commercial or agricultural power, and that its essential function was to threaten the rest of the world. By studying its history, we understand very well that war has always played a central role, both outside and inside the country.
Over the centuries, Moscow has fought its neighbors, but also its own population by monopolizing resources, by not allowing private property to develop, nor the social class that goes with it. Leaders also perceive it as one resource among others, a “second oil”. Human life is not worth much in Russia. The great military victories of the Second World War – the Battle of Stalingrad, the capture of Berlin – were obtained at the cost of colossal losses. At the time, the ratio was ten Soviet soldiers killed for every German; Currently, in Ukraine, there are three Russians for every Ukrainian. In 1945, while [le général américain Dwight] Eisenhower was surprised by the massive losses on the Soviet side, Marshal Georgy Zhukov retorted: “It doesn’t matter, our women will give birth to new soldiers. » Vladimir Putin thinks the same thing. He claims to have a right over the physical body of citizens, by calling on women to have more births, by stigmatizing LGBT people. He doesn’t need individuals, human beings. All he needs are soldiers to fuel his wars.
High inflation, shortage of eggs, breakdown of the heating system in the middle of winter… Economic dysfunctions have become legion in the Russian regions. Can we expect a social crisis, or even separatist demands? Could the Russian Federation dismember itself, like the Tsarist Empire or the USSR in the past?
If Russia is to break up one day, it won’t be because of a shortage of eggs or heating! Its population has a solid capacity to endure anything. Above all, she is incapable of taking control of her fate. The great historical changes were never of her making, she underwent them. She had nothing to do with the revolution of 1917: the autocratic system collapsed by itself. The same goes for the breakup of the USSR in 1991, which occurred not as a result of popular protests, but because Moscow lost the Cold War and the price of oil fell to $10 per barrel.
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