It’s nice to be tsar! Russian President Vladimir Putin literally changed history with a few comments to mine workers during a meeting recently.
A Weekend in Moscow…ooh, la, la!
Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible famously murdered his own son by striking him in the head during an argument. This came after Ivan beat his son’s wife over the clothes she wore and she miscarried. Ivan had a bad habit of frying people in huge frying pans he didn’t like. He caused the deaths of tens of thousands. The murder of his son deprived Russia of his heir and power went to his weaker child who was an ineffective and weak leader.
However, it seems Putin has changed all of that history.
Putin declared a Vatican emissary made up the story to discredit Russia and turn it Catholic. He made a point of saying Westerners throughout history have been frightened of Russia’s vast territory and have made up lies to tarnish its reputation and that of its people.
“Many researchers think that [Ivan] didn’t kill anyone at all,” Putin said, “and that this [story] was concocted by the Papal emissary who came to Russia for negotiations and wanted to turn Orthodox Russia into Catholic Russia.”
“But after Ivan refused and told him to get lost — several legends began to spring up,” Putin continued. “They began to label him `Ivan the Terrible’ — the super cruel person.”
“What concerns the distortion of our history? This has been a trend throughout the entirety of our history. Why? Because, as Alexander III wrote, ‘our vastness is feared by everyone,’” reported The Moscow Times.
Video: Putin changes history at meeting with workers of the Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Company
Perhaps these comments are a window into the viewpoint of a very powerful leader and his quest to make Russia great again.