INTERVIEW - From tsars to Putin, an autocratic Russian power

2024-03-15T04:15:22.241Z

Highlights: With the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, power in Russia took on an autocratic dimension. How has this personal practice of power crossed the centuries, up to Vladimir Putin? Virginie Girod receives Pierre Gonneau, professor at Sorbonne University and director of studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. According to the historian, contemporary Russia has moved away from presidential rule and returned to a form of autocracy. “The Russian tsar is the heir of the Byzantine emperor. It is a single universal monarch who has the vocation to rule all Christians, in particular Orthodox Christians”

With the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, power in Russia took on an autocratic dimension. One person holds absolute power. How has this personal practice of power crossed the centuries, up to Vladimir Putin? To talk about it, Virginie Girod receives Pierre Gonneau, professor at Sorbonne University and director of studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, specialist in the Russian-speaking world and author of The Russian War or the Price of the Empire. From Ivan the Terrible to Putin (Tallandier). In 1453, the fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. Muscovite Russia takes up the imperial torch. “The Russian tsar is the heir of the Byzantine emperor. It is a single universal monarch who has the vocation to rule all Christians, in particular Orthodox Christians” explains Pierre Gonneau. Russia is not yet the immense territory we know today. Wedged between the Volga and its tributary the Oka, Moscow must first carry out a “reunification of Russian lands” divided into principalities, a prelude to its expansion. The reign of Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), the first to be officially crowned tsar, was a break in Russian history: “he became the absolute monarch, the autocrat. (...) All power comes from him and can only be delegated. There is no counterbalance”. The tsars and tsarinas reigned over Russia for more than 350 years, gradually establishing the idea of ​​a popular monarchy in which the sovereign displayed his closeness to the people. The empire leaves a deep mark in Russian history. In the Soviet Union that succeeded it, autocracy continued. Even if in principle power is collegial, “in reality, both Lenin and Stalin will govern as autocrats” underlines Pierre Gonneau. According to the historian, contemporary Russia has moved away from presidential rule and returned to a form of autocracy. Vladimir Putin, heir to the power of the tsars? “There is the fear of decline which acts as a reflex, to say that we must avoid anything that is fragmentation. (...) This is one of Putin's arguments to re-establish the vertical of power”. Themes covered: Russia, USSR, Vladimir Putin, Tsar, Genghis Khan, Orthodox religion