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Russia's Time of TroublesCurrent troubles only serve to underscore long-standing weaknesses in the Russian system of government. Will Putin have the vision to lead his nation? Will Russians demand a stronger leader?by Melvin RhodesThe late Andrei Sakharov was the nuclear physicist who gave the Soviets the hydrogen bomb. He and his wife, Yelena Bonner, later became prominent dissidents, critical of the Soviet regime that finally collapsed in 1991. Yelena Bonner summed up the Soviet government with these words: "The Bolsheviks are like a bunch of squatters who have taken over a house and are waiting for the police to arrive." Having taken over the Russian house in 1917 without the consent of the people, the communists (Bolsheviks) attempted to fill a vacuum left by the collapse of a dynasty that had ruled for over three centuries. The communists never seemed to know what they were doing and consequently made a big mess of everything. It appears that little has changed. The new democratic Russia is led today by a former KGB official who seemed bewildered during the country's latest crisis-the sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine, Kursk. Officially, it didn't sink-it simply "descended to the bottom of the sea." Officially, no lives were lost and contact with the sub was maintained at all times. Until, that is, no more lies could be told and the true extent of the disaster had to be revealed. By then, it was too late for foreign technology, sent upon request by Britain and Norway. Officially, foreigners are still blamed for the incident, the Kursk supposedly having been hit by an American or British submarine during naval exercises. It is more likely that torpedoes in the submarine exploded, killing most of the men immediately, with the others dying in the days that followed. Russians may not know how to run a modern democracy and free market economy, but they do know their history. Comparisons have been made between the Kursk and Khodynka Field, between "Czar" Vladimir Putin and Czar Nicholas II. On the same day that reports of the Kursk first surfaced, Czar Nicholas II was in the news as he was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church along with the other members of his immediate family. Nicholas was to remember Khodynka Field for the rest of his life. It was the site of the first big disaster of his disastrous reign, on his coronation day in 1896. Thousands of people had gathered on the field to receive free beer and gifts. Before the day was over, 1,400 were to die as crowds got out of control, panicked and stampeded. People were crushed to death or suffocated. When Nicholas first heard the news, he and his wife, the Empress Alexandra, wanted to go immediately to Khodynka Field, but were advised against it. The French Ambassador was holding an official banquet and ball to celebrate the coronation and the French Republic was Russia's major ally at the time. Nicholas and Alexandra attended the ball and thereby gained a reputation as a cold and heartless couple, a reputation only made worse by subsequent events. Fast forward to today. President Putin remained on vacation during the submarine tragedy, showing a lack of feeling toward the families of those who lost loved ones on the Kursk. Newspaper reports later said that his first concern when hearing of the loss was of the financial consequences; his second, the impact on the navy. Only then was any thought added for the men. After 70 years of communism, during which the people had no rights and no recourse to settle injustices, it is understandable that Russian leaders lack experience and don't know how to react in a crisis like this. There is still a pervasive feeling that "squatters have taken over the house and are waiting for the police to arrive." There's a feeling that the present system is only temporary, that the country is waiting for something better to come along-a governmental system that will usher in another 300 years of stability. Fascination with Czarist past Fascination with the czars continues. Perhaps it's the ubiquitous Imperial architecture of the Romanov period that still dominates the skyline of Russia's second city St. Petersburg. Or the pre-Romanov architecture of the Kremlin in Moscow and other kremlins in other ancient cities. Or the restored fortunes of the ancient Orthodox Church, again at the center of Russian life after 70 years in the communist wilderness. Centuries old Russian Orthodox churches are being restored, their unique onion domes dominating ancient communities, in stark contrast to the hideous massive concrete blocks that were communism's architectural gift to the Russian people. The new architecture, like modern technology, seems to be letting the people down while the magnificent palatial buildings of the 18th century remain securely standing and fully functional. Peter the Great founded the Romanov capital of St. Petersburg about 300 years ago. During World War I, when Russia was at war with Germany, the city was renamed. The German burg was replaced by the Russian word for city, grad. But Petrograd didn't keep its name long. Following the death of the first communist leader, the city's name was changed to Leningrad. A joke going around the city during the Gorbachev reforms in the late 1980s was of an opinion poll asking the people of Leningrad the following questions: Where were you born? Answer: St. Petersburg. Where did you go to school? Answer: Petrograd. Where do you live now? Answer: Leningrad. Where do you expect to die? Answer: St. Petersburg. The joke accurately predicted the restoration of the old name of St. Petersburg. There was a similar joke more recently. What was the national anthem at the beginning of the century? Answer: "God Save the Czar." What was the national anthem during the Soviet period? Answer: "Communist International." What will be the new national anthem? Answer: "God Save the Czar." That hasn't happened yet. Rather, Russia has no national anthem. Again, there's this sense of a temporary system in place. The country is waiting for something else to come along. Quest for completion This deep sense of longing was summed up recently in Russian historian Edvard Radzinsky's book The Rasputin File (British title-Rasputin: The Last Word) based on material about the last days of the Romanovs that has only recently become available. Radzinsky, who hosts a popular history program on Russian television, was a member of the "Government Commission for the Funeral of the Royal Family"-the family that the Bolsheviks murdered in July 1918. Their bodies had been hastily disposed of in the city of Ekaterinburg. The commission's task was to recover the bodies, identify them through DNA and arrange for a suitable funeral. It was decided that the czars should be buried along with most of their ancestors in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. The following is part of Radzinsky's account of the day of the funeral. "Then the funeral march burst forth. The cortege of buses with the royal coffins began to move. And the miracle was extended. The quarrels all vanished. And the entire city came out to meet them. People stood in an unbroken line, extending for many kilometers, from the airport all the way to the Peter and Paul Fortress. And there were people in the open windows of the buildings. And others were waiting on their knees. And the President [Yeltsin], who the day before had refused to attend the funeral, had that day suddenly flown to Petersburg to repent before their coffins for all our evil deeds in the departing century. "They found their resting places in the Peter and Paul Cathedral-across the Neva River from their palace and among the tombs of their ancestors. And all Russia buried them that day. And in the country, there was a long forgotten sense of joyful union, of a moved, happy ease. As if a stone had fallen away from the soul. As if some terrible spirit had at last released the 'czars' and flown away from Russia for good. Or was it only for a moment? And an illusion, after all?" (Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File, 2000, pp. 502-503). It is as if Russia has not yet come to terms with its history. Again, this can be understood with the realization that the Soviets froze history. It was as if nothing of any great significance happened before they came to power and everything that had taken place during their 70 years was perfect. No other interpretation was allowed. Now Russians are free to discover, to learn and to think about their past and to compare themselves with other European countries they knew little about under communism. A new book, Nicholas II: The Interrupted Transition by French historian Helene Carrere d'Encausse shows the reformist nature of the last czar's regime, that Russia was slowly moving toward a constitutional monarchy, which was the model for the more successful European nations at that time. Communism interrupted this. Now the country is trying to make up for lost time and build on those early reforms. Radzinsky explains that Russia missed its opportunity to restore the Romanovs immediately after the collapse of communism in 1991. This was not entirely the fault of the Russian government or people. The Romanov family is itself divided into two factions, each with a different claimant to the throne. There was no talk of a restoration of autocracy. The European experience has been that constitutional monarchy is the best way to ensure democracy. Under that system, the head of state is a hereditary position with very limited political powers. This severely restricts the probability of a politician becoming a dictator. It doesn't always work, but historically it has worked well in many countries. On the hand, most republics around the world have too easily succumbed to dictatorship. Russia under communism and Hitler's Germany are two of the worst examples. Formula for dictatorship The present Russian system makes it too likely for a dictator to arise. Repeated crises like those in August will likely lead to stronger central government and eventually could lead to one man becoming a dictator. Fears of this were increased recently when the Russian president's powers increased at the expense of regional governors and Russia's fledgling free press came under attack with the arrest of a media mogul. August was a catalog of disasters for the new Russian president. An explosion in a Moscow subway caused a number of fatalities. Speculation is rife that Chechens were behind the bomb blast in retaliation for Russia's continued disastrous presence in Chechnya where countless young Russian men have been slaughtered in a bloody conflict without end. Then the submarine disaster followed. Before the month was over, a fire in Moscow's 33-year-old television tower left a small number of firemen dead and a dangerous building that could collapse at any time-"symbolic of the state of the nation as a whole," claimed President Putin. When the tower was built, it was the pride of the Soviet system. It is taller than the Empire State Building. The last decade has seemed like a replay of Russia's "Time of Troubles," the period between the two dynasties that ruled Russia for over a thousand years. Comparisons were drawn between Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia until a few months ago, and Boris Godunov, the interim czar who dominated Russia at the beginning of the 17th century. After that a new dynasty began in 1613 with the coronation of the 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov. Ironically the first and last Romanov czars were named Michael. Nicholas abdicated in favor of his brother Michael who was to be a constitutional monarch. The Bolshevik revolution ended his reign before it began. A further irony is that the first Michael was at the Ipatiev Monastery when asked to be czar. The last Romanovs were slaughtered in the basement of the Ipatiev House. Ironies like this are not lost on the Russian people. With no nobility to speak of and a Romanov family divided, it is unlikely that Russia will introduce a constitutional monarchy. This increases the likelihood of dictatorship-unless Russia can move fast to improve its economy. Catch-22 Here's Russia's Catch-22: Economic progress depends on political stability. But political stability is not likely until there is some economic progress. This would give a government legitimacy in the eyes of the people. The perception in Russia that people in government are like "squatters waiting for the police to arrive" has a great deal of truth to it. People at the highest levels of government in most countries are corrupt-they line their own pockets at the expense of the people they are supposedly serving. It was Lord Acton, the British ambassador to St. Petersburg at the time of Peter the Great, three centuries ago, who observed that "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Russian leaders are no longer autocratic, but an all-pervasive bureaucracy also perpetuates corruption. One reason the search for survivors of the Kursk took so long was the need for rescuers to obtain permits from different departments before being given permission to act. Another Russian irony is that many Russians would like to see a return to autocracy. They look back at their history and see that the leaders who accomplished the most for the country all had absolute power. Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Stalin are the three most often mentioned. Catherine the Great is another. In the midst of all the present confusion, it is interesting to note a return to religion in the country. Radzinsky's book shows the role that religion played in the country prior to the revolution. The state church was the Russian Orthodox Church, as it is again. Moscow was the "Third Rome" after Rome and Constantinople. The country's official name was the "Holy Russian Empire." After seven decades of religious persecution by the communists, Russia celebrated 1,000 years of Christianity in 1988 during the Gorbachev thaw. The people remembered Vladimir, the Grand Prince of Kiev, who ordered the forced baptisms of all his subjects when he himself decided to convert. Naturally, under such conditions, many of the old pagan beliefs and practices survived and continued right down into modern times. The Orthodox Church struggled with a rival spiritual power at the time of the last czar, a mystical amalgam of orthodoxy and paganism that, through the monk Rasputin, influenced the royal court. Now religion is back at center stage in Russia. The Orthodox Church again dominates the religious life of the nation. Under pressure from the church, the government has made it more difficult for Western religions to practice there. Biblical solutions to Russia's problems There's an irony here, too. The irony is that the solution to Russia's present crisis lies in the pages of the Bible. The Scriptures contain a great deal of advice for governments, both ancient and modern. There is advice, too, for those ruled, as well as for rulers. Perhaps the most famous passage in the Bible regarding government contains Christ's instruction to "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21). Tax evasion is a major Russian problem. Without revenue, government cannot function. Teachers, military personnel and others on the government's payroll go unpaid for months. Even when they are paid, their wages are so low they hardly cover the monthly food bill. The commander of the Kursk received the equivalent of $250 per month. Conscripts on the sub received only $30 per month, when they received any pay at all. The revenue shortage also meant that only three submarines could be in service at any time-this in a nation that was one of the two most powerful military nations on earth just 10 years ago. Although tax evasion is a sin, the Scriptures highlight a contributory cause of this problem-the incredible ability and appetite of government to take too much for itself. When the Israelites rejected God and said that they wanted to be ruled by a human leader like all the nations around them, God warned them of the natural tendency of government to take more and more from the people. This warning is recorded in 1 Samuel 8: "This will be the behavior of the king [any human leader] who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. "And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day" (verses 11-18). Here we see God's warning against big government and the tendency of governments to start small and become big. Under the communists, the government controlled everything. Under the czars, prior to the liberation of the serfs under Czar Alexander II as recently as 1861, the people were mere possessions of their rulers. With such a history, the heavy hand of government is still a major problem in Russia. Some would even make it heavier as a solution to current problems. When the people have no rights, the economy will not flourish. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18, KJV). For a nation to thrive, its people must have the prospect of bettering themselves. As individuals prosper, so the nation itself becomes richer. Russia has made attempts during the last decade to encourage individual initiative, but government's heavy role has ensured that criminal activity, from tax evasion to trafficking in human beings and drug smuggling, is the quickest way to make money. This also means that money has accumulated in foreign banks outside of the country, thereby depriving Russian companies of much needed investment. A major weakness of many nations in today's world is that the ordinary people have no rights. This includes property rights. Any accumulation of assets means nothing-everything can be taken away at the slightest whim of government. The biblical book of Micah addresses this problem. Speaking of a time in the future after the return of the Messiah and the establishment of righteous government over all the earth, we read that "everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:4). Russia urgently needs a law giving the people the right to private property protected from government confiscation. A system of checks and balances is needed to stop the excesses of government. There is still no law in place granting farmers the right to their own land in perpetuity-land they can work hard on, develop and hand down to their children. Such a law would boost agricultural production, ensuring greater prosperity for all. Perhaps all this is too much for Russia's new leader, Vladimir Putin. Being the leader of a great nation was overwhelming to ancient Israel's King Solomon. Realizing his own limitations he asked God for "an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kings 3:9). Verse 10 states that "the speech pleased the LORD." This humble attitude when inheriting the mantle of power allowed God to give Solomon great wisdom in ruling the nation of Israel. Such humility today on the part of world leaders would also be answered. Russia is going through a major era of change. Change can be negative, but it can also be positive. Russia has a historic opportunity to break away from its past and move toward a better political and economic system than it has had before either under the communists or the czars. It's a historic opportunity that Russia's leaders cannot afford to miss. WNP |
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