"The Bolsheviks overthrew the tsar …" - this phrase is capable of confusing not only a professional historian and just a little literate person. Nevertheless, this version very often skips in the speeches of "experts" (I wonder in what area ?!), regulars of various television talk shows, and in journalistic articles. This myth has become so deeply rooted that if right now it is announced on the federal TV channel that the emperor was overthrown not by Lenin and Trotsky, but by the tsarist generals and his inner circle, then for a considerable number of our fellow citizens it will be the opening of the day. Moreover, similar "discoveries" can be arranged almost every day, because fiction on a historical theme has long and firmly hid the real facts behind it.
By the way, in a modern Russian secondary school, the February Revolution is held twice: in grades 9 and 11. For those who are older, there are tons of sources, from popular science films half an hour long to serious monographs. But, obviously, it is more profitable for someone to promote an outright lie. However, “Lenin Who Threw the Tsar” is not the only example.
So, until now, broad masses of the people are convinced that Ivan the Terrible was an unusually bloodthirsty monarch. At the same time, historians estimate the number of executions and massacres during his reign at 4-7 thousand people. Many? It depends on what you compare it to. For example, the English king Henry VIII executed more than 72 thousand people during his reign, and Queen Elizabeth I - 83 thousand people. And nothing, the British quite respect them to this day. A lot of interesting things could also be said about French kings and German rulers.
Here are some more common myths. For example, that Russia lost the Kuril Islands during the Russo-Japanese War. Or that Alaska was sold by Catherine II - one of the most widespread and, at the same time, absurd myths, apparently, it arose from the dubious creativity of the Lube group. In fact, Alexander II sold Alaska to the United States, he also ceded the Kuril Islands to the Empire of Japan. These territories in those days were impossible to defend, and the incompetence of the imperial government made it impossible to develop them. Also, Tsushima is still considered the largest naval defeat of Russia, although the carefully hushed up Tallinn crossing (August 1941) surpasses the Far East battle both in the number of lost ships and in human losses.
And so on and so forth … If you expose only the most popular misconceptions, you will get a separate and very large article. Which, however, few people will read. The population is now disaccustomed to read large texts, because it is boring. A TV is another matter. He will present information in an interesting, at the same time and entertain with jokes and pictures. The only problem is that the story in the version of federal TV channels has very little to do with the real story. For the sake of a momentary goal, there is not just a distortion of facts, but an outright gross lie. Of course, such an attitude towards historical facts is found not only in Russia. For example, in one very expensive American documentary film about the Second World War, there are plenty of such blunders (Germany and Japan are shown within their current borders, and the USSR within the modern Russian Federation with the Kaliningrad region), although what do we care about American propaganda if we live in Russia?
Who is to be punished for replacing history with unscientific nonsense? Television and mass media in general? And them too. However, do not deceive yourself, the main distortions are not at the level of TV channels, but from the offices that are located at higher levels. It is there that they order a picture of the desired shade, as well as the method of its presentation. In the same offices, they determine which guests are considered authoritative "experts" on everything from the economy to the Middle East. We see the result on the TV screen: a Sabbath of Russophobic liberals, Ukrainian Nazis and intellectual bankrupts. Only one Odessa executioner Goncharenko on Channel One, which is worth it, while none of the leaders of the Donbass resistance was given a tribune. Actually, here the question of who the central television actually works for can be considered closed.
With such priorities in the present, it is not surprising that historical falsifications are increasingly taking root in the mass consciousness. Lying is not patriotism. A lie is a lie, regardless of its purpose. When the inconvenient moments of the past are hushed up for the purpose of "educating patriotism", this only leads to their repetition. So the inability to soberly assess the results of the Crimean War has already led to humiliating defeats in the Russo-Japanese, and then in the First World War. The February and October revolutions in this sense are especially valuable for us, so as not to once again make a fascinating journey through the rake of a century ago. But what lessons can be learned from the endless streams of hysteria, manipulation and anti-scientific pseudo-discussion? Yes, no. Well, or frankly false, to which we are being pushed.
Replacing real history with myths has never done anything good. You can tell as long as you like what a wonderful system the conservative autocracy of the Russian Empire was, but at the same time nothing to answer the question of why it all the same collapsed. Because, to be honest about tsarism, it will quickly become clear that it was far from being such a wonderful thing, since it drove the country into eternal backwardness and poverty. The same is about the Soviet system: one cannot call beautiful what ultimately led the country to disintegration. Studying history starts with honesty. Without this honesty, Russia is doomed to receive the next generation of ignoramuses.
