Yuri Nikolayevich Zhukov (; 22 January 1938 – 3 March 2023) was a Russian historian and researcher at the Institute of Russian History at the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
. Zhukov published several books that glorify
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, such as ''Renaissance of Stalin'' and ''Handbook of a Stalinist''.
Historical views
Zhukov argued that Stalin was not personally responsible for the
Great Purge
The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
and shifted the blame onto Jews and subordinates of Stalin. According to Zhukov, Stalin had conducted liberal reforms in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and launched the purges against real threats to Soviet security. Zhukov has also argued that by assuming sole power, Stalin had "saved the country and the world" from
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev. ( Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Kamenev was a leading figure in the early Soviet government and served as a Deputy Premier ...
,
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
, and
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a close associate of Vladimir Lenin prior to ...
, for in Zhukov's view their revolutionary politics brought the Soviet Union into conflict with the world.
Reception
Russian historian
Oleg Khlevniuk
Oleg Vitalyevich Khlevniuk (; born 7 July 1959 in Vinnytsia, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian historian of the Soviet Union.
Career
He completed his Candidate of Sciences thesis on cultural change among Soviet urban workers between 1926–1939 at ...
described Zhukov as a follower of ideas developed by American revisionist historianArch Getty according to whom Stalin was not a cruel dictator, but a supporter of democracy. In a 2011 article for ''
World Affairs
''World Affairs'' is an American quarterly journal covering international relations. At one time, it was an official publication of the American Peace Society. The magazine has been published since 1837 and was re-launched in January 2008 as a ...
'',
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz (born July 15, 1962) is a Polish-American historian specializing in Central European history of the 19th and 20th centuries.Tomasz Sommer listed Zhukov, among others, as an example of historians which have been embraced by "Stalin apologists". In a 2012 ''
Literaturnaya Gazeta
''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (, ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and was revived in 1929.
Overview
The current newspa ...
'' interview, historian Gennady Kostyrchenko stated that virtually all of Zhukov's most recent historical works have had the moral and political rehabilitation of Stalin as their overriding theme. Writing for ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...
'' in 2013, journalist
Cathy Young
Catherine Alicia Young (born Yekaterina Jung; ; born February 10, 1963) is a Russian-American journalist. Young is primarily known for her writing about feminism and other cultural issues, as well as about Russia and the former Soviet Union. Sh ...
described Zhukov as a "pro-Stalin historian". Zhukov criticized the speech by Krushchev about Stalinism by commenting that "Khrushchev was trying to dump all the blame on Stalin when his own hands were drenched in blood".