Falsification, selection… Russians face Putin’s historical revisionism

One may wonder about the role and effectiveness of historical revisionism and memory games in Putin's strategy.

In a July 2021 article titled "On the Historical Unification of Russians and Ukrainians," we learn that: "Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are the heirs of ancient Russia, which was the largest country in Europe."

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But is this vision convincing enough to unite Russians around the idea of ​​reconquest?

What was important for gaining society's support was that the collective memory of Russians had already been formed in the USSR. A Soviet citizen's education included military training, and life was spent in various military-patriotic associations. The calendar was filled with military holidays; commemorating those who fought in the "Great Patriotic War" was a civic duty. It was a kind of militarization of Russian collective memory.

In the late 1990s of the previous century and early 2000s, especially since the annexation of the Cri