Some have portrayed Tsar Nicholas II as a "bloody, weak, and bad King". Meanwhile, certain propaganda outlets have portrayed Stalin as a "great leader". Is there truth to either claim? Here are the facts . . .
What you need to do to become:
A) a "bloody, weak, and bad King"
B) a "great leader"
A) Nicholas II knew five foreign languages. His brilliant education (both military and law) was combined with deep religiousness and knowledge of spiritual literature. He also served in the army and had the military rank of colonel. When the generals and field marshals tried persuading him to accept the rank of general, he replied: "Gentlemen, do not worry about my rank, think about your own careers."
B) Stalin was uneducated, and could not read or write until he was twelve years old. He also went to seminary and did not finish. He did not serve in the army, but pretended to be ill. Apparently it is not a leader's duty to walk about with his feet wrapped in rags, as do his soldiers. However, he covered himself with awards (in all 27) and took the title of "Generalissimo".
A) The Emperor's day began early, around 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning, sometimes earlier, and ended at 11 or 12 p.m. Life in the palace or in the Tsar's headquarters began with the strike of a key, and by 9 o'clock in the morning the monarch finished his simple breakfast, and immediately began work in his office. He read the morning newspapers, the telegrams presented to him, and a summary of all kinds of information. The Sovereign would immediately note with his own hand anything that attracted attention, like the entire daily routine, into a notebook-calendar, which always lay on his writing desk.
Every working day was heavily loaded. Yet, never during the day did the Sovereign stop to rest. All the day long he showed incredible vigor and willpower, never showing fatigue. The Russian Tsar had only one day off — Sunday — but even on that day, his responsibilities often forced him to attend to certain activities. He actively visited factories, traveled around the Empire, and looked into how his people lived.
B) The visiting journal of Stalin’s office gives a lot of detailed information about his working days for almost the entire length of his leadership of the USSR. From the journal it is clear that he worked very little. On average he worked 2-3 hours each working day, and he never visited plants and factories. He preferred not to go around the country. Almost all his work was in receptions, in the office, and at meetings of the Politburo. Even in 1941, he worked in his office for about 2.5 hours on weekdays. And that was with all the tension of the war in the country!
What was the mode of operation reflected in the most dangerous days for Moscow? In the second half of October, Stalin received visitors at a relatively normal mode until the 27th, approximately 3 hours a day, excluding weekends. However, then huge passes begin. In November, Stalin held meetings only on the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 15th and 27th of November. That is, for the entire month of the most intense battle for Moscow, Stalin held meetings only 4 times.
What did Stalin do every day if work took so little time? There were big dinners scheduled every night, with heavy drinks. A sumptuous feast with various delicacies lasted about 6 hours. As a rule, it began between 10 pm and midnight, and it usually lasted until somewhere between 4 and 6 am. There was a recorded case when Stalin was brought a reheated chicken, and he got angry and threw it away. This was in spite of the fact that common people were dying of hunger at that time.
After the end of dinner, the guests who had been heavily drunk were already going to sleep. The next morning, Stalin got up late, got drunk, had breakfast, rested, ate again, and only went to work in the evening. The next night everything was repeated. In the course of the feasts, there was such profanity and vulgar jokes with laughter. Stalin especially liked to solder his drinking companions until he lost control. Sometimes strangers were present at such orgies. On average, Stalin spent twice as much time (6 hours) at drunken feasts, than he spent working in his office (3 hours).
A) Nicholas II created the greatest power, might, and prosperity of the Empire, which had not been before or after him.
B) Stalin actively participated in the destruction of this very Empire. He was an active revolutionary, robbed banks, extorted money from the rich for the revolution itself, kidnapped people, participated in the assassination and murder of the best and most important people in the country, and did everything to undermine the peace in the already difficult days for the Russian land.
A) Nicholas II — Under his rule the whole Empire was filled with temples and monasteries. The Orthodox Russian Church was the most powerful Orthodox church in the world. By 1913, there were 67 thousand churches and 1 thousand monasteries in the Russian Empire, spread throughout Russia — from Warsaw to Vladivostok, from Arkhangelsk to Yerevan. The Russian Church had a great influence on the Holy Land, patronized Orthodox Christians not only in Europe, but also in Asia (Arab countries, China, Japan, Korea) and even in Africa (Ethiopia).
B) Stalin — Under his rule, the last churches and monasteries in the country were closed and destroyed, and believers were destroyed by the millions and sent to camps. It was not possible to do away with “opium for the people” only because God sent the war as a punishment for betraying the Tsar, revolution and the people’s deviation from the Orthodox faith.
A) Nicholas II - Over the 20 years of his reign, the population of Russia increased by 62 million people.
B) Stalin - During his reign around 40 million people (before and after the Second World War) were murdered, mostly Russians. Approximately as much because of his lack of talent, as being a commander who ruined the war (both in combat and peaceful losses).
A) Nicholas II - checked the new infantry equipment system, with a march of 40 miles. No one, except the minister of the court and the palace commandant, said anything about it. He reduced military service - up to 2 years, and in the navy - up to 5 years; During the first World War II (First World War), he constantly traveled to the front, and often even with his son. Thus, he showed how much he loved his people, that he is not afraid to die for them and the Russian land. He showed that he was not a bit afraid of death, and anything else. And then, even in the hardest time for the Russian army, the Tsar assumed the supreme command of the troops. While the Emperor led the troops, the enemy was not given a single inch of land. Nicholas' troops did not let Wilhelm’s troops go beyond Galicia — Western Little Russia (Ukraine) and Western Belorussia — and military historians believe that there was no internal turmoil (revolution), that there were only one step left for Russia's victory. Not so in the fight in 1941. The prisoners were treated as sufferers. They kept their ranks, awards, and cash allowances. The period of stay in captivity was counted in the length of service. From the 2 million 417 thousand prisoners of the entire war, no more than 5% died.
B) Stalin - After the start of the 2nd World War II 2 weeks did not leave off drinking to check on the country, and never went to the front once. Apparently it’s not the General Secretary’s job to hang out with cannon fodder. The brutal genocide and terror against the Russians, before the German attack, led to the fact that the people were terribly battered, hungry, physically and spiritually exhausted, and entered into a military conflict. In December 1941, the Germans stood near Moscow, and they barely held them back for almost three years, despite the fact that they had twice the advantage in planes, tanks, mortars and guns, and all this was swept away to Moscow. For every 1 German 10 Russians were killed. Losses in the divisions were from 85 to 90% of the personnel, and in 1941, about 2 million. Soldiers were captured like defenseless kittens. (In total, for all of the prisoners there were 5 million 800 thousand people. Of these, more than 60% died). By order No. 270 of August 1, 1941, families of soldiers captured were deprived of state benefits and assistance. After the war, the survivors fell into the filtration camp of the NKVD, and then many into the Gulag. He paid no heed to the beginning of the war, when he was repeatedly warned. Some of the front-line soldiers with disabilities were shot, others were drowned, others were taken away to Valaam where they died, not needed by anyone, so that they would not spoil the image of the “great” Soviet leader by their deformities. Victory Day is celebrated, because our great nation won and he had nothing to do with it.
A) Nicholas II - GKZ Bank issued large loans to peasants, by 1914 100% of arable land in Asian Russia and Siberia and 90% in the European part of the country belonged to the peasants. In Siberia, state-owned warehouses of agricultural equipment were installed, supplying the population with agricultural machines. The amount of taxes per person in 1913, in Russia was 2 times less than in France and Germany and more than 4 times lower than in England. The population grew steadily and quickly rich. The wages of Russian workers are higher than European wages, highest in the world second only to American wages. The law on social insurance was passed before all European states and the USA.
In this case, the prices were some of the lowest in the world, along with taxes.
B) Stalin - Serfdom flourished in full swing, workers of hard labor received pennies, organized 2 famines, bringing people to cannibalism, and 10 ml. peasants were dekulakized (looted), sent in whole families (together with children) to monstrous camps and they no longer own anything. There were no passports or pensions. Those that remained, as a rule, worked for free, while they also had to pay very heavy taxes.
A) Nicholas II - In 1908 the following was introduced: free, compulsory, primary education. By 1916, at least 85% were literate in the Empire. On the eve of the war in Russia there were more than a hundred universities with 150,000 students. According to the total number of students, RI occupied the 3rd place in the world, sharing it with the UK. The financing of education has grown in 20 years from 25 million rubles to 161 million rubles. And this is without regard to the Zemstvo schools, the costs of which increased from 70 million in 1894 to 300 million in 1913. The total budget of public education grew by 628%. The number of students in secondary schools has grown from 224 thousand to 700 thousand people, and the number of students in 20 years has doubled, the number of schoolchildren has grown from 3 million to 6 million people. By 1913, there were 130,000 schools in the country, moreover, the aggregate budget of public education substantially exceeded the budget of the military ministry.
Before the revolution, a law was passed on completely free education, not only for learning, but also for life during training. The seminar was terminated at public expense - this public account included all the content and nutrition of students.
B) Stalin - according to the census of the population of 1937, 30% of women did not know how to read and sign their last name (this was the census of literacy). In general, a quarter of the population aged 10 years and older did not know how to read, although it was said there was universal literacy. All census data was immediately seized and destroyed, and its organizers were repressed. In 1940, Stalin introduced paid tuition in schools and universities, but a completely free education was introduced only with the death of an “effective manager” - in 1954. The approach to literacy indicators under Nicholas II was possible only after the Second World War.
A) Nicholas II - The industry grew rapidly. From 1890 to 1913, GDP grew by 4 times. Coal mining has increased 5 times in 20 years, smelting iron over the same time increased 4 times, and copper and manganese mining 5 times. Investments in fixed assets of machine-building plants increased by 80% from 1911 to 1914. In 20 years, the length of railways and telegraph networks has doubled. During this time, the tonnage of the world's largest river merchant fleet also doubled. The mechanization of industry was growing rapidly. In 1901, 9 million 920 thousand tons were produced in the USA, and 12 million 120 thousand tons of oil in Russia. in the period from 1908 to 1913, labor productivity growth in industry was ahead of the United States, England and Germany, which for a long time were considered as industrial giants, by corresponding indicators. The result of the activities of the Tsar was amazing economic stability. During the period of the world economic crisis of 1911-1912, Russia, on the contrary, was on the rise.
B) Stalin - Even in spite of tens of millions of murdered, ruined Russian lives in the camps, with the monstrous exertions that he laid on them he could not and would not come close to the power and prosperity of Nicholas the Second's Empire.
A) Nicholas II - The Sovereign stood outside and above the interests of certain groups and strata of the population. Economic reforms, like anti-alcohol, were carried out personally by the Tsar, often, and in defiance of the Duma. The author of all transformations was Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, contrary to all the myths making him out to be the opposite.
B) Stalin - Right here is the opposite. All achievements are not that due to only ordinary Russian people invented and made, it is also not rarely against the wishes of Joseph. For example: Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, a great man, did so much in his life that it was enough for the whole country. Almost all of our cosmic achievements are associated in the name of this brilliant designer. The first satellite, the first man in space, the first man to outer space, the first interplanetary spacecraft, the first flyby of the moon. A little more time and he would have launched the first man on the moon, but Sergey Pavlovich died, and the Soviet lunar project died with him. A substitution for him could not be found. In 1938, he was sentenced to eight years in camps for allegedly "participating in an anti-Soviet Trotskyite organization." Investigators broke both his jaws, brutally beat him, and in Korolev camp, he almost died of starvation twice.
“As soon as I lean forward, I fall." His tongue was swollen, his gums were bleeding, and his teeth were falling out of scurvy. The doctor, Tatyana Repyeva, saved him by transferring him to the hospital as an orderly. He was saved by the Queen, and with it Gagarin and all our cosmic victories. And Stalin's executioners, breaking his jaws, together with him, forever broke our hopes for a flight to the moon. The fact that Korolev survived is pure coincidence. If it were not for Repiev’s doctor, we would have a nameless grave, and not Gagarin’s flight. Stalin, on the other hand, has no relation to cosmic achievements. It's all obvious. He acted like this with Korolev for the reason that he was not at all interested in space.
A) Under Nicholas II there was freedom of the press, freedom of speech; freedom as much as there was neither before nor after his reign.
B) Under Stalin there was no freedom at all, not even a hint of it. There is an unconditional propaganda of communism and the personality cult of himself and Lenin. No other parties and dissent. For only one word, you could get 10 years in the camps. There is no point in talking about other “violations” of the regime’s rules. Also, Stalin issued a decree to force the entire population of the union to write denunciations (in order to accuse them and exile them to camps to be used as slaves). And not only were adults forced, but children were also forced to accuse their parents.
Source: orthoview.ru (Russian)