Poll lauds Stalin on anniversary

[Strengthandhonour]

Poll lauds Stalin on anniversary

AP in Moscow
Saturday March 5, 2005
The Guardian

As today marks the 52nd anniversary of the death of Josef Stalin, a poll has found that one in two Russians views the Soviet dictator in a positive light.



In a nationwide poll by the VTsIOM agency, 50% said that their view of the role Stalin played in Russian history was undoubtedly positive or probably positive; 37% said they viewed Stalin's role as undoubtedly or probably negative; and 13% were undecided. Some 42% of the 1,600 respondents said they wanted or would not object to having a leader like Stalin today. A total of 52% objected to the idea; the rest were undecided. Under the rule of the Communist party, Stalin helped turn the Soviet Union into an industrialised superpower, and rallied the Soviet Union to defeat Hitler's invasion, but was responsible for the deaths of millions of his citizens, and those of east European countries, through starvation, execution, forced labour, and war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/art...431072,00.html