Revolt in Russia: Putin’s trauma is the end of the First World War

In the TV speech in which Vladimir Putin on June 24 the population of Russia of the revolt of the Wagner mercenaries, he also touched on one of his favorite historical subjects: the “blow inflicted on Russia in 1917” when it surrendered to the Central Powers. “Victory was stolen from him,” declared the President. “Intrigues, squabbles, political machinations behind the backs of the army and the backs of the people led to the greatest shock, the smashing of the army and the collapse of the state.” And the Kremlin gentleman assured: “We will not allow something like this to happen.” repeated.”

What like a Russian version of the German stab in the back legend sounds – After 1918, the military and right-wing extremist groups spread the myth of the victorious army in the field, which politicians had prevented from winning – obviously belongs to Putin’s historical trauma. Already in his speech in which he announced the invasion of eastern Ukraine on February 21, 2022, he settled accounts with Lenin and the Bolsheviks. In March 1918 they signed the Peace of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in order to retain power, even though the First World War had long since been “de facto decided”.

If Putin now puts the mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in a league with Lenin and Trotsky, this once again sheds light on the crude historical picture into which the despot has gotten lost.