Most of Russians believe that knowing the Russian history is essential. But not everyone knows the history well.
MOSCOW, September 14, 2017. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) and the Museum of Contemporary Russian History present the data of a study devoted the Russians’ knowledge of history.
Russians are almost absolutely confident that knowing history is important: 96% agree with this statement, however 47% of adults report to have insufficient knowledge of history (42% provide positive answers). Young people are more self-critical (and as the study suggests it is not for nothing).
Failure to give the correct answers to the questions about historical facts and events point to the lack of knowledge about them, especially if those events refer to earlier periods of history (the beginning and the middle of the XX century) but not the recent past (many Russians still remember the last decades of the USSR).
More than half of respondents give the correct answer to the question about the only president of the USSR (59% - Gorbachev), the leader associated with the era of stagnation (51% - Brezhnev). Sixty-two percent of respondents could recall the author of a widely used phrase “to show Kuzka’s mother” addressed to the U.S.A. (Khrushchev). At the same time, few respondents could precise the years of the Russo-Japanese war (9%: 1904-1905), the Civil War (7%: 1917-1922) and point who was overthrown by the Bolsheviks (11% - the Provisional Government) et cet.
More than 130,000 mentions devoted to the Russian history in the Russian media have been analyzed by the Medialogia Company over the recent year. In December 2016, the media reported about Nikita Mikhalkov’s announcement that the Yeltsin Center activities damaged the national indentify of hundreds of children on a daily basis, as it provides unbiased assessments of the Russian history. Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture, gave his comments on it. In February 2017, the head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science Olga Vasilieva declared that the History Uniform State Exam must be compulsory.
The VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide survey was conducted on September 6-7, 2017. The survey involved 1,200 Russians aged 18 and over, and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted for the probability of selection and reflect social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 3.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
The Russian media publications were monitored and analyzed by the Medialogia Company using the company’s media database involving approximately 42,200 media sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, news agencies and online media. The study took place from September 2016 to September 2017.
Can you assess how well do you know the Russian history? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over |
Very well | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Rather well | 39 | 36 | 33 | 40 | 44 | 39 |
Rather poorly | 40 | 43 | 56 | 42 | 34 | 30 |
Very poorly | 7 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
Don’t know | 11 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 20 |
In your opinion, is it important to know the Russian history? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | ||
| 2015 | 2017 |
Rather important | 92 | 96 |
Rather not important | 4 | 3 |
Don’t know | 4 | 1 |
Which Soviet leader promised the United States “to show Kuzka’s mother”? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Khrushchev (correct answer) | 62 | 18 | 42 | 59 | 77 | 81 | 52 | 63 | 71 |
Other answer | 13 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 11 | 10 |
Don’t know | 25 | 64 | 37 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 31 | 26 | 19 |
Can you name the only person to be the president of the USSR? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Gorbachev (correct answer) | 59 | 26 | 44 | 64 | 70 | 67 | 49 | 59 | 69 |
Other answer | 26 | 27 | 31 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 31 | 28 | 19 |
Don’t know | 15 | 47 | 25 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 20 | 13 | 12 |
Which Soviet Union leader’s name is associated with the era of stagnation? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Brezhnev (correct answer) | 51 | 16 | 26 | 47 | 73 | 65 | 46 | 49 | 60 |
Other answer | 20 | 16 | 31 | 21 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 19 |
Don’t know | 29 | 68 | 43 | 32 | 12 | 16 | 34 | 29 | 21 |
Who was the last chairman of the Russian Provisional Government? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Kerensky (correct answer) | 27 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 42 | 43 | 22 | 25 | 36 |
Other answer | 12 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 6 |
Don’t know | 61 | 88 | 83 | 69 | 47 | 43 | 66 | 60 | 58 |
Which candidate for the president during the 1996 Russian presidential elections was Yeltsin's major rival? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Zyuganov (correct answer) | 25 | 6 | 16 | 26 | 34 | 29 | 20 | 23 | 33 |
Other answer | 25 | 26 | 20 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 15 |
Don’t know | 50 | 68 | 64 | 47 | 40 | 44 | 50 | 48 | 52 |
What does the GKChP acronym mean? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
State Committee for the State of Emergency (correct answer) | 15 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 26 |
Other answer | 29 | 9 | 21 | 27 | 38 | 36 | 26 | 30 | 32 |
Don’t know | 56 | 86 | 68 | 57 | 40 | 49 | 62 | 60 | 42 |
What was the main event that sparked the Second World War? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939 (correct answer) | 13 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 21 |
Other answer | 51 | 42 | 47 | 55 | 51 | 56 | 51 | 53 | 49 |
Don’t know | 36 | 48 | 45 | 34 | 32 | 29 | 39 | 38 | 30 |
When did the USSR launch the first man-made earth satellite? (closed-ended, one answer %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
1957 (correct answer) | 13 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
Other answer | 40 | 7 | 29 | 42 | 52 | 49 | 38 | 42 | 42 |
Don’t know | 47 | 88 | 67 | 50 | 33 | 27 | 53 | 46 | 40 |
Who did the Bolsheviks overthrow? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
The Provisional Government headed by Kerensky (correct answer) | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 17 |
Other answer | 65 | 33 | 51 | 68 | 73 | 77 | 62 | 69 | 62 |
Don’t know | 24 | 64 | 48 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 23 | 21 |
When did the Russo-Japanese War take place? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
1904-1905 (correct answer) | 9 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 13 |
Other answer | 34 | 13 | 27 | 35 | 39 | 40 | 29 | 34 | 38 |
Don’t know | 57 | 78 | 69 | 59 | 49 | 47 | 64 | 58 | 49 |
Who is the author of the quotation “They need great upheavals; we need a great Russia!”? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Stolypin (correct answer) | 7 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
Other answer | 10 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
Don’t know | 83 | 93 | 86 | 85 | 75 | 83 | 88 | 82 | 78 |
Can you name the years of the Civil War in Russia? Its start year and end year (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
1917 – 1922 (correct answer) | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
Other answer | 53 | 31 | 31 | 56 | 65 | 64 | 57 | 50 | 53 |
Don’t know | 40 | 63 | 66 | 40 | 24 | 26 | 37 | 42 | 38 |
When did Russia withdraw from World War I? (closed-ended, one answer, %) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | Incomplete secondary/Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher ((not less than three years in a higher education institution), higher education |
March 3, 1918 (completely correct answer) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1918 (partially correct answer) | 13 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 19 |
Other answer | 46 | 35 | 40 | 48 | 50 | 51 | 45 | 43 | 52 |
Don’t know | 41 | 53 | 51 | 40 | 33 | 36 | 49 | 43 | 29 |
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