Speaking to a “young man from Belgium” during the so-called World Youth Festival, the Russian president once again demonstrated a rather strange interpretation of historical events.
V. Putin spoke: “Belgium as an independent state appeared on the world map largely thanks to Russia and its position. But that doesn’t matter today.”
Speaking about Russia in a historical context, V. Putin meant the Russian Empire.
But the then emperor Nicholas I foreign policy basically did not mean support for revolutions and national liberation movements.
On the contrary, its main principle was to strengthen Holy union, created after the defeat of Napoleon I in 1815. And the purpose of the Holy Union was to protect the rights of legitimate monarchs throughout Europe.
As a result, it would be very strange if a leading proponent of the principle of monarchical legitimacy suddenly supported the rebellion in the southern Netherlands that led to the creation of an independent Belgium.
More on this topic: V. Putin talks a lot about history, but avoids mentioning one Russian emperor – why
Nicholas I fostered the idea of a transnational Russian civilization, as the Russian leader does today. His idea included a civilization uniting ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers, built on the fundamental foundations of culture, tradition and Orthodoxy.
Nicholas the First. Wikipedia photo
The Russian Empire intended to suppress the Belgian revolution
After the beginning of the revolutionary eventsKing of the Netherlands William II (married to the Russian Tsar’s sister) turned to Nicholas I for help.
The latter, in turn, put the Russian military forces on the western border on alert, with the intention of sending them to quell the revolution.
Only the lack of active support from Austria and Prussia and the uprising in Poland prevented the implementation of this plan.
The great encyclopedia of Russia against Putin
It is worth noting that the previous rulers of the Russian Empire, the leaders of the USSR or the Russian Federation never claimed that the country played any special, or even more so positive, role in the formation of Belgian statehood.
In the state scientific publication “The Great Encyclopedia of Russia” Nicholas I’s policy towards Belgium is described quite unambiguously: “in 1830 in the autumn he urged Great Britain, Austria and Prussia to fight together against the 1830 The Belgian Revolution”.
Given this, it is not at all clear what V. Putin meant when he said that Belgium appeared “mostly thanks to Russia and Russia’s position”.
The only logical explanation possible in this case: Belgium arose because the Russian Empire in 1830. did not find enough strength to destroy it. And then finally had to come to terms with its existence.
A classic propaganda story
Such a strange statement by V. Putin fully complies with the main guidelines of the modern propaganda of the Russian Federation.
In particular, one of her favorite theses is that Russia has repeatedly saved and protected Europe, receiving only treachery and ingratitude in return.
Most often, this concept is applied to the history of the Soviet Union and the Second World War – the USSR is declared a peaceful and loving state that sincerely tried to avoid war, did not take aggressive actions and did not occupy foreign territories.
At that time, the “West” instigated the war, “teased Hitler” and later did not help to fight him, and lendliz (eng. lend-lease) and other support did not play a significant role.
It is clear that in this case this thesis is simply transferred to the 19th century. space.
The main principle is that “our” state always makes peace, always helps and defends, but no one remembers it and never thanks for it.
It was this idea that V. Putin once again announced, without thinking about whether it can be linked to any real historical facts.
Greta Skaraitiene/BNS Photo photo. Vladimir Putin
15min verdict: lie. Distortion of historical facts does not correspond to the truth.
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2024-04-11 03:05:54