Freedom House Chapter 4 The Ministry of Truth in Peace and War An early and telling sign that Vladimir Putin planned nu _ something more ambitious than a mere tightening Its easy predicting the future; of state control over political life was his decision to what's difficult is predicting the return Joseph Stalin to his position in the pantheon past.” of great Russian leaders. Stalin’s rehabilitation was _ . . . . —Soviet joke formalized in 2007, with the publication of a new cur- riculum guide for teachers of Russian history.' "A lie isnt an alternative The manuals content dovetailed with Putin’s broader point of view.” promotion of a narrative in which Russia is a great _ ’ _ power that recovered from the chaos and weakness —Linus Linkeviéius, Lithuanian foreign minister of the Yeltsin era and overcame the hostility of deter- mined enemies, especially the United States. Accord- “Theim plied objective of this line ing te the manual, Russi dark shapters—its domt- of thought isa nightmare world in nation of Eastern Europe, internal repression, Stalinist which the Leader, or some ruling purges—were the regrettable but understandable : responses to the country’s underdevelopment and clique, controls not only the future encirclement by foreign enemies. The new history but the past... This prospect fright- paints a picture of an all-wise Russian state, under ens me much more than bombs.” both Stalin and Putin, whose requirements always ’ : take precedence over the needs of the individual.’ George Orwell, Looking Back on the Spanish War Putin took unusual interest in the preparation of the history manual. The idea that history should be written as a time of progress during which the foundation for by historians, not political leaders, was never voiced in modern Russian greatness was laid.° public discussion. Putin later called for history textbooks “written in proper Russian, free of internal contradic- To build a case that Russia's dark pages were “less tions and double