According to Russians, the Second World War is the main object of historical distortions.
MOSCOW, May 18, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey devoted to the most common falsifications of Russian history as well as ways to fight against them.
Fifty-four percent of respondents faced intentional history distortion. The main object of falsifications is the Second World War (19%), its outcome, and the contribution of the western countries and the USSR to the victory against fascism (14%). This is followed by the distortions in the pre-revolutionary (4%) and Soviet history of Russia (3%). According to 6% of Russians, Ukrainian politicians intentionally distort the history of Russia (6%). Ambiguous facts can be found in the schoolbooks (4%), in mass media (3%) and cinema productions (1%).
Most of Russians (83%) think it is important to fight against falsification of history; mass media should to let the public know the facts about the Russian history (11%); reasoned debates should be carried out with those who distort historical facts (8%). Others think that the quality of teaching history at schools and universities should be improved (8%). Certain respondents support punishment (8%), prison sentence (7%) and penalties (2%). Nine percent of Russians do not see any need to fight against history falsifications because it is pointless (36%).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted May 2-3, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
In your opinion, what can be regarded as intentional distortion of the Russian history? Cite examples, please. (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who faced the distortion of the Russian history, shown are answers mentioned by at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Distortion of facts about the Second World War | 19 |
USA, Western countries won the Second World War; the Russian role is underestimated | 14 |
Ukrainian historians, politicians | 6 |
Facts in schoolbooks, school programs | 4 |
Facts about pre-revolutionary history of Russia | 4 |
Facts in mass media | 3 |
Facts about the USSR history | 3 |
History of Crimea | 2 |
Facts presented in the movies | 1 |
Stalin`s personality | 1 |
Occupation of Ukraine by the Soviet troops | 1 |
Underestimating the role of Russia in the biggest events of history | 1 |
Revolution of 1917, Civil war | 1 |
Lenin`s personality | 1 |
Territorial disputes | 1 |
Other | 10 |
Don`t know | 43 |
What should be done to combat falsifications of Russian history? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who think that the falsification of Russian history should be combated, shown are answers mentioned by at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Let the public know the truth | 11 |
To improve the quality of teaching history at schools and universities | 8 |
To talk, to prove the truth | 8 |
To punish | 8 |
To imprison, to take repressive actions | 7 |
To prohibit | 3 |
To carry out retaliatory activities | 3 |
To impose death penalty | 2 |
To impose penalty | 2 |
To carry out a strict control | 2 |
To keep watch over the quality of historical literature | 2 |
Patriotic upbringing | 2 |
To introduce legal responsibility | 1 |
To take away posts and ranks | 1 |
To protest, to participate in rallies and demonstrations | 1 |
To reveal falsifications and distortions | 1 |
To deport | 1 |
Other | 5 |
Don`t know | 38 |
Why do you think that the attempts to distort the Russian history should not be combated? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who think that the falsifications of Russian history should not be combated) | |
| Total respondents |
It is pointless | 36 |
Everyone knows that it is not true | 8 |
Everyone has his/her own opinion on history | 5 |
People should be educated, not combated | 4 |
I do not see any harm | 2 |
I do not care | 1 |
Everything will come back to normal | 1 |
Other | 2 |
Don`t know | 40 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!