Is Lenin Heading Out, To Be Replaced By Tsar Nicholas II In Russia?

I recently toured Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery. The most prominently placed paintings in this renowned gallery are those that highlight Russian nationalism and the Orthodox past of the country; these are paintings whose themes are found firmly rooted in Russian schoolbooks and people's minds as well.
Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov (1862-1942) was a Russian painter who used religious symbolism in his works. Nesterov's 1917 painting “Philosophers” is of the two most notable Orthodox philosophers in Russian history, Sergei Bulgakov and Pavel Florensky. Bulgakov (1871-1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher and economist while Florensky (1882-1937) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, mathematician, physicist, electrical engineer and inventor.
Another Nesterov work in the Tretyakov is “Little Fox” (1914), showing affection being showered on a young fox by some older priests outside an Orthodox monastery. In the painting “The Messiah's Appearance,” by artist Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (1806-1858), we see Christ and Judas. The greatest Russian sculptor of the second half of the 19th century, Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky, has his work “Not of This World” (1887) on display at the Tretyakov; there are also many works by artist Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910), whose art nouveau style depicts Russia's Orthodox Christian past.
A new Russia is now being created. It was in 1991, out of the collapsed Soviet Union, that the Russian Federation was born. And since 2010, the New Russia, rising out of this Russian Federation, is emerging. But it is a difficult and somewhat painful process. How will the 100th anniversary of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution in two years be marked? Will it be a mournful marking, or a joyous celebration? The Communist Party is still the second-most powerful party in the country. And to the east of the Ural Mountains, and throughout Asiatic Russia, it is the number one party.
Many of the elite in both Moscow and Saint Petersburg now assert, “The real aim of the 1917 revolution was to eliminate the Russian elite, and Germany allowed the Bolsheviks to succeed in order to see Russia collapse.” This is a viewpoint that tends to also assert that Russia needs to stand up as the protector of the Slavs and Orthodox Christians throughout the world. And people who think this tend to also believe the statues of Vladimir Lenin ought to be replaced by that of former Tsar Nicholas II.
The elite of Saint Petersburg, ever since the nation's tsarist era, have been strong proponents of the idea of Russia uniting with the rest of Europe. Notably, the Vladimir Putin-Dmitry Medvedev leadership does arise from this Saint Petersburg strain of thought. Though the Moscow elite may appear anti-Western, they are not opposed to the idea of uniting with Europe as long as the Russian identity is not ignored or destroyed. Which is why putting all those Lenin statues away into museums and replacing them instead with statues of Tsar Nicholas II might be the easiest path forward.
But would the figurehead of Tsar Nicholas II really help Russia become a superpower again? Russia is not a country with lots of centers; the only real centers are Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Life passes fairly modestly everywhere outside of these two cities. In the meantime, global capitalism has taken root strongly throughout Russia. The oligarchical system is also a defining factor in life. The market dynamics of the global capitalism in Russia are defined by women and youth. At the same time, it is true throughout the world that the transition from childhood to adulthood is getting earlier and earlier. Younger and younger children are being encouraged to act older than their age. This is significant in Russia, because the education, transportation and health systems that helped prop up the Soviet Union are fast collapsing. Industrial production of planes, cars, chemicals, iron, medicines and other health-related products has also collapsed. And despite heavy criticism of the US, the fact is that everywhere you go in Russia these days, you'll see American products and hear its music.

HASAN KANBOLAT (Cihan/Today's Zaman)