Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 1 – Today, for the
first time since the end of the Soviet Union and reflecting what Russian
commentators say is a patriotic “wave” and “nostalgia” for the USSR, a May Day
parade is passing through Red Square -- although Vladimir Putin is not atop the
Lenin Mausoleum, as his Soviet predecessors were, because it is closed for
reconstruction.
But a new poll suggests that this
and similar May Day parades elsewhere in the Russian Federation may not be exactly
a manifestation of unqualified support for the Kremlin. While few Russians say
they are ready to protest, 70 percent told the Levada Center that they wouldn’t
participate in any pro-regime actions either (levada.ru/30-04-2014/prazdnovanie-pervomaya).
However that may be, the
recrudescence of Soviet-era traditions like May Day, the awarding of Hero of
Labor medals, and the return of the historical name to the All-Russian Exhibit
Center are clearly evidence of the direction the regime wants to go, even if it
proves a direction that far from all Russians want to follow.
In a preview of
the May Day holiday published yesterday, Newsru.com noted that Aleksandr
Mazunov, the deputy chairman of the Moscow Federation of Trade Unions, said
that the parade would proceed according to “a classical, nostalgic schema,”
with columns of “toilers” converging on Red Square where they would be greeted
by leaders on a platform next to the GUM department store (newsru.com/russia/30apr2014/1may.html).
RBK Daily reported that officials
had decided to have the parade in Red Square this year, for the first time in
23 years, because of “the upsurge of patriotic attitudes” in the country, and
said that the main slogans would include “I work in Russia and I Invest in
Russia” and “Worthy Work – Just Pay” (rbcdaily.ru/society/562949991330052).
Vladimir Rodin, a KPRF deputy, said
that the decision of the authorities to allow the parade in Red Square was “quite
unusual.” He said that in the recent past, the Communists had been able to hold
these marches only away from the center, and he suggested that this year’s
event would “strengthen the unity and defense capability of Russians.”
According to “Kommersant,” there will
be 92 May Day events in Moscow on more than 50 squares as well as many more in
other Russian cities (kommersant.ru/doc/2463996).
And “Novyye izvestiya” reported that the slogans are likely going to include
everything from anti-immigrant sentiments to working class demands to calls to
visit Crimea (newizv.ru/politics/2014-04-30/201029-luchshij-otdyh-v-krymu.html).
Beneath that diversity, however, a
commentator in “Politicheskoye obozreniye” said, is a working class protest
against the impoverishment that many in that group have suffered over the last
two decades and their nostalgia for the Soviet past, feelings that sometimes
parallel and sometimes conflict with the Kremlin’s goals (lawinrussia.ru/node/298126).
In an article in “Rossiiskaya
gazeta,” Aleksandr Shubin, a textbook writer, argued that May Day shows that “the
idea of the solidarity of workers has in no way gone out of style.” Workers
still must struggle and his proposed May Day slogan is “social rights are more
important than international conflicts” (rg.ru/2014/04/30/pervomaj.html).
That may not be the message the
Kremlin wants to convey or to hear, and other writers suggested it may not be
the one most Russians share. An article
in “Vedomosti” entitled “The Brezhnev of Today” said that the “phenomenal level
of support” for Vladimir Putin personally is reinforced by such Soviet-type marches
(vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/672121/brezhnev-segodnya).
Under conditions
of relative well-being, the paper said, enthusiasm for great power displays are
popular because “they do not require” from Russians any “sacrifice” or “limitation
on consumption” as was the case “in Stalin’s times.” Instead, the sense that “they
fear us means they respect us” allows Russians to feel good as long as the
costs of such policies are still low.
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