The march of the world

Putin, between the lines of his speech to enter the war against Ukraine

Audio 48:30

In this image taken from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, February 24, 2022. Russian Presidential Press Service

By: Véronique Gaymard Follow

1 min

While the war launched by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine has been raging for a month, a look back at the speech of the Russian President of February 24, 2022 by which he justifies his offensive: a rereading of history with external enemy, internal enemy, where it highlights Russia's place in the world and vis-à-vis its immediate neighbours.

Historians shed light on this speech at the start of the war, and on how Vladimir Putin developed a national narrative by revisiting history.

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Guests:

- Nicolas Werth, historian, great specialist in the history of the Soviet Union, director of research at the CNRS Institute of Present History, president of Memorial France

- Emilia Koustova

, historian, lecturer in Russian civilization and director of the Department of Slavic Studies at the University of Strasbourg, associate member of the Center for Studies of the Russian, Caucasian and European Worlds.

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To read also: Vladimir Putin launches a "military operation" in Ukraine, explosions in Kiev

BOOKS :

Nicholas Werth:

-

History of the Soviet Union

(PUF) 2021

-

The Great Soviet Famines

(Que sais-je / PUF) 2020

-

Gulag, a Soviet story

(Threshold) 2020

-

The Drunkard and the Flower Girl, Autopsy of Mass Murder 1937-1938

(Points) 2011

-

The road to Kolyma – journey in the footsteps of the Gulag

(Belin) 2012.

Emilia Kustova:

-

Fight, Survive, Witness - Soviet Experiences of World War II

(Strasbourg University Press, 2020)

-

The spectacle of the Revolution.

The visual culture of the October commemorations, Lausanne

, / J.-F. Fayet, V. Gorin, G. Haver, E. Koustova (eds.), (Antipodes, 2017).  

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