Songs bring back memories?
In the mood by Robert Plant.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImpSyGTzo... reminds of college. I go to sleep by The Pretenders......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScC_2Nu0W... an old boyfriend. Hell Cat by Scorpions....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOtYoibYo... high school football games.
How many Russians want to bring back the Czar?
Depending on conditions of restoring of Monarchy. The best percentage (almost 18%) gives the following condition:Members of Romanov dynasty can be just one of candidacies. Because a lot of those who can agree with transforming the Russia back to Monarchy will against the Romanov as Czar because the last Czar as well as whole nobility were unable to serve the Russia enough good and prevent the revolution by making the changes in society in time. So the whole Romanov dynasty and nobility lost the trust 100% an that time and did nothing to got the trust of now.So dynasty have to be replaced.2. Way to got power by the next Emperor must be rethinked. The next Emperor must be chosen by previous as the best for that work. It is absolutely not necessary that it have to be elder son of previous.3. Role of Emperiour should be rethinked. Neo monarchists provided the alternative conception based on psychology, sociology and analysis of history in Russia and other countries. But their models needs in more researches and popularization.Note. On these conditions the support for monarchy is much more higher then support for pro-Western politics (so called “democratic opposition” is mostly recognized as power of richest rogues and pro-Western puppets and return to times of 90-th so supported by 3%-5% of people).Btw, at least 12% of people thinks that giving the title of Czar to Putin may be a good idea.
Do Russians born in the early to mid 80s have memories of the Soviet Union and the Cold War?
I was born in 1982, so probably I can answer this question :)It seems when you're a kid, everything that matters is that your parents love you. My parents did, and I was happy. Surely, everything was pretty much different from today. I remember Leningrad as a city of drab colors, with no cafes and restaurants, dark evenings and rare buses full of people. I remember it was difficult to get some goods, and when my mom got a couple of bananas that looked like a miracle. I remember my Granny watching TV with Gorbachev speaking but didn't understand a word of what he was saying, playing with my toys on the floor. All this means that my attitudes to Soviet Union and Russia, as well as my national identity developed later, in 2000s, when the USSR didn't exist anymore. So it was formed not based on my experience, but based on things I've read in the books and heard from elder people.And in such case, I believe, everybody makes a choice according to their temper. Some people like the idea of a mighty country, feared of and respected everywhere on the planet. Others hate this idea and want a nice cozy state without any ambitions. As for me, after digesting Russian culture I realized that I'm Russian; and my country, Russia, was conquered by the bolsheviks -- an alien and ruthless force. This understanding had defined my own attitude towards our disastrous 20th century.
Why are Russians so proud of the USSR?
If you are asking about teenagers who live in the USA and whose parents came here from Russia since the USSR collapsed in 1989, the reason is that they have been influenced by their parents who do not accurately remember how bad things were in the USSR. What I am saying is that the parents of these teens probably came to the USA when they were teenagers themselves, so they do not have a very accurate memory of what things were like in the USSR. They just remember that the USSR was a more powerful nation than Russia is today, and they have passed on a fantasy image of the USSR to their children who are now teens in America and have never been to Russia. This line of reasoning could also apply to teens and people in their young twenties in Russia today, and would account for the Russians having lost their opportunity for democracy since 1989 and having slid back into living in a virtual dictatorship under Mr. Putin who recently switched offices from president to prime minister. Russia has always been a xenophobic, chauvinistic, very patriotic-minded country. This attitude dates back centuries before the Communists.
Why do people sometimes refer to the Soviet Union as the Russians, sometimes not?
Some people indeed refereed to the Soviet people (citizens of the USSR) as Russians. Technically speaking it is incorrect. Soviet Union called this way because it was union of ethnically different republics (15 of them) autonomous republics as well as autonomous regions. More then 100 different ethnic groups inhabited USSR and Russians were one of them. That said, Russians by far was the largest ethnic group and were the centerpiece of the USSR. The capital city of USSR was Moscow, which is a Russian city. Besides, the Russian Empire that preceded USSR was on many people’s memory. I remember an episode somewhat relevant to this question: a Soviet professional football league included teams from different ethnic republics. One of the teams was Ararat-team from Yerevan, Armenia without a single ethnic Russian player. In the European cup Ararat played against some English club at home turf and won the first game. During the press conference one journalist asked the coach: Do you believe Russians can win in England? For that the coach answered: not sure about Russians, but Armenians definitely can.
Which Russian was smuggled out of the USSR to play hockey?
I remember a Free Press article when I was younger contrasting two Russian Red Wing Players. One was smuggled out the USSR and the other was able to come here "by choice". Who was the first Red Wing player (I don't know if Detroit was the first team he played for after he "escaped"). And I can't belive I am asking this part too. But who was the Eastern Europen (Russian maybe) who was in the Vernors commerial where he said his team mates taught him "If he gets lost then hold up your palm and point here".
Why do some Russians love Stalin, despite the brutality of his regime?
I'd like to give a few remarks:1. Stalin was natural born Georgian. Not Russian, not Slavic. Why it is important to understand? USSR was not racist. And when people in the US are saying something like "hey look, we got Obama - so we are really democratic country" they should understand, that Russians have come further many decades ago.2. The real amount of people who were repressed in the USSR for political reasons is about 2.5 million people during 1924-1953. Not so much. The number of criminals in prisons was much higher, but they were criminals, not political persecutes. On the other hand - significant increasing of ordinary people's level of comfort, victory in the war, etc.3. When Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, it was supported and supplied by many European countries. For several years, the SU was fighting against almost whole Europe alone. Could it be possible if the political course of Stalin 1924-1941 had been different? It is still the topic of historical debates.4. That decades of history were horrible for all the humanity. Italy - fascism. Spain - civil war. Germany - Nazis, concentration camps, genocide. Japan - concentration camps (where inhuman medical experiments were applied). US - concentration camps for Japanese, etc. As you see, everyone went crazy during that period. Today it is strange to see that everything is forgotten and everyone is forgiven, except Russians and Stalin. They are still demonized because of... what? The ambition to make their live better? On their own territory, btw.