The best books, their authors and the great people who inspire these stories / Les meilleurs livres, leurs auteurs et les grand.e.s de l'histoire qui les inspirent.
Si je vous demandais de me dire quel dirigeant russe a prononcé les paroles suivantes: « Pour défendre mes frontières, je n’ai d’autre choix que de les étendre », il y a fort à parier que vous penseriez qu’il s’agit de Vladimir Poutine. Après tout, ne lui impute-t-on pas actuellement – et peut-être à bon droit – des desseins guerriers en Ukraine? Mais cette citation provient de Catherine II, dite la Grande (1729-1796), celle-là même qui « […] prit le sud de l’Ukraine et annexa à la Russie la dépendance ottomane de Crimée en 1783, ce qui aura des répercussions historiques jusqu’au XXIe siècle. » Qui a dit que l’histoire ne se répète pas?
The blogosphere is a jungle in which the blogger has to make his or her way. We depend on the interest we generate, beneficiaries of our readership.
For my part, I am constantly looking for subjects to discuss, books to devour and review and authors or historical figures to interview.
Upon closer examination of this blog, you will notice I am very interested in Russia, its history and its political life, especially its president.
A few weeks ago, I made a crazy bet, arousing the doubtful gaze of my loved ones. I got in touch with the Kremlin Press Office, asking if they would be willing to answer a few questions for this blog. To my surprise and delight, this request was met favourably, a privilege bestowed on few people I am sure.
The importance of this interview is not so much based on its content – one would have to be disconnected from reality to think that the assistants of the Russian President who work behind the mythical walls of the Kremlin will entrust secrets to a modest blogger – but rather on the fact that I got a response.
I am therefor very grateful toward the Press and Information Office of the President of the Russian Federation. Here is the Q&A about President Putin, followed by the French version of this exchange.
Who are President Putin’s favorite historical figures and why?
Generally the President is seriously interested in Russian history, although he has deep knowledge in world history, especially the history of the European continent. Vladimir Putin has sympathy for many statesmen in the history of our country, but perhaps most often in this regard he mentions Peter I. The role of Peter the Great can hardly be overestimated, it was him who laid the foundation of Russian Eurasianism [Editor’s note: a political ideology positioning Russia’s re-emergence as a conservative world power in opposition to the hegemony of the west and its values], which became the forerunner of the modern Russian state.
BookMarc 