August 11, 2007: The government is issuing new high school history books that downplay the mass murders (over 25 million dead) carried out during the quarter century that Josef Stalin ran the country. Stalin is now being portrayed as a "strong and successful" leader. Between Stalin and the German invasion, about a third of the Russian population was killed off during Stalin's rule. There was much relief, and remorse, in Russia when Stalin died in 1953. But with the end of the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet (and Russian) empire (built up over the previous three centuries), there is much nostalgia for the mythical good old days. The current government is playing into that.
What freaking morons.
What is the logical end point to reviving Stalin as a hero in the Rodina?