Nostalgia reigns as Russians vote for Peter the Greatest

Our Majesty


The idea of holding a poll on the Best Ruler of Russia was a logical conclusion after the Elite of Russia poll. While choosing the most outstanding ruler of the last 1000 years, our respondents also chose the best time in Russia's history. The poll favorites were the period at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century and Czar Peter the II.


The best ruler of our country (which changed names a few times over the last millennium, not even mentioning the changing of its borders) was elected by Kommersant web site readers. Of course our average reader is not an average Russian, but we still chose this way of doing it. Because the rating based on this poll results is still a choice of Russia, even though represented here were not all population segments. The Russia represented in this poll is young, educated and thinking.
Another characteristic of our readers is their sense of humor. At the last minute some voters felt sorry for candidates lacking just one vote to get into the rating, and gave their votes to them: infant Ioann Antonovich, the victim of the court plots during the time empresses ruled the nation, eleventh-thirteenth century princes of Vladimir and Kiev, other unpopular rulers like Dmitry Mikhailovich Terrible Eyes or countless heirs of Prince Vsevolod. Even Konstantin Chernenko received five votes (while Grishka Otrepyev (Pseudo Dmitri I) got thirteen).

It was obvious who would top the list during the first hours of voting. Almost every sixth voter supported Peter the Great the first "St. Petersburg ruler," to take control of Russia, and turning it into an empire by the end of his rule. Peter the Great's victory in our rating can be interpreted as a sign of nostalgia for times of Imperial Russia and the time of "great deeds." It turns out that the ideal of our state is wars, dictatorship and great undertakings combined with a fashion on different European wonders such as shaving, smoking and nude paintings.

Another ruler offering dictatorship, wars and great undertakings, but excluding cosmopolitan outlook on the West rated third. As many as 7.75 percent of Kommersant readers thought Joseph Stalin was the one who disposed of the power over his fellow countrymen in the most effective way.

It was rather surprising to see the liberator Czar Alexander II edge his way between Peter the Great and Stalin. Unlike his neighbors in the rating the emperor demonstrated an unheard-of humane treatment of his subjects and even terrorists, who multiplied largely during his reign (so much that the Czar himself was bombed by one of those scumbags).

The third ruler of the Russian Empire to appear on our rating was Catherine the Great born Princess Sophia August Frederika (fourth place in the rating). By the way, she is the only female of the ten best rulers of the millennium. The Empress was recognized for strengthening the power vertical (by reorganizing the provinces), and for "Potemkin Villages" denoting any pretentious facade designed to cover up a shabby or undesirable condition artificial villages erected by army officer and statesman Potemkin to be seen by the empress in passing. Catherine loved literature, this love shared by the ruler following her in rating.

Dear Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev is fifth in our rating. It seems like many internet users were quite young or had not been born yet during the time when comrade Brezhnev headed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, yet Russia still remembers its five-star General Secretary. The vodka costing 3 ruble and 62 kopeks, free medical care and education (quite comparable in quality with the cost), the opera on Brezhnev's epic "Malaya Zemlya" and other achievements of the developed socialism. Brezhnev's successor and faithful associate comrade Andropov, whose 90th anniversary was celebrated this year with a monument erection did not make it into the top ten, or even top twenty. Only 0.89 percent thought him the ideal ruler. He was passed by Khrushchev, emperors Nicholas II, Alexander I and Alexander II, czars Ivan II, and Ivan IV the Terrible, princes Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan Kalita, Alexander Nevsky, Vladimir Monomakh, and Yaroslav the Wise.

However, let us return to our general secretaries. Mikhail Gorbachev, rating sixth, was able to pass only those who came to power after him. The last General Secretary, the first and the last president of the USSR received 5.37 percent votes.

Rating seventh is Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir the Great. Thousand years after his rule Russia remembers him for introducing it to Christianity. However, Vladimir could not imagine that Kiev, the mother city of all Russian cities would cease to be Russian

Two RF presidents fought hard for the eighth place. Finally, the successor surpassed the predecessor only by 0.23 percent. The final candidate for ten best rulers of Russia is the one who destroyed it to the foundation - Vladimir Ulyanov Lenin.

To analyze the results of the rating from a historical perspective, the golden ages of our country's history are as follows: the Baptizing of Russia, the founding of the Russian Empire, reorganization of provinces, abolishment of serfdom, the fall of the Russian Empire, the founding of the Soviet Empire, zastoi (stagnation period), the fall of the Soviet Empire and finally our times.


Our Country's Best Rulers in the Last 1000 Years. Top-10

Place in the Rating - Name and Title (Position) - Years of Rule - Percent Votes Given to the Ruler*

1 Peter I, Emperor of All Russia** 1682-1725 16.78
2 Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia 1855-1881 9.19
3 Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili), General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union*** 1924-1953 7.75
4 Catherine II, Empress of All Russia 1762-1796 6.68
5 Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union **** 1964-1982 6.13
6 Mikhail Gorbachev, USSR President*****, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1985-1991 5.37
7 Vladimir The Great, Grand Prince of Kiev 980-1015 5.26
8 Vladimir Putin , RF President 2000- 4.21
9 Boris Yeltsin, RF President 1991-2000 3.98
10 Vladimir Lenin (Ulyanov), Chairman of the Council of People's Comissars


*Results are based on the poll held at www.kommersant.ru on November 26 to December 3. As many as 3820 voters participated in the poll.

**Since 1721, before that - the Czar of All Russia.

***Since 1952 года, Before that - General Secretary of the Central Committee of All Soviet Communist Bolshevik Party, before 1925 General Secretary of Central Committee of All Russia Communist Bolshevik Party.

****In 1964-1966 - First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union.

*****In 1990-1991.

The sum of percent of votes is less than 100, because part of votes was given to the candidates, which did not get into the final ten

Few Russians See Gorbachev as Outstanding LeaderPolling Data

In the west, Mikhail Gorbachev is considered one of the 20th Century's outstanding political leaders. Do you share this view?

Yes 17%
No 68%
Hard to answer 15%

Generally speaking, would you say Gorbachev did more good or more harm to the nation?

More good 11%
Good and harm in equal measure 23%
More harm 52%
Hard to answer 14%

Source: Public Opinion Foundation
Methodology: Interviews with 1,500 Russian adults, conducted on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 3.6 per cent.


How do you relate to Mikhail Gorbachev now?

Unimportant 49%

With hostility 11%
With irritation 9%
With respect 8%
With sympathy 8%
With aversion 5%
With contempt 3%
With gratitude 2%
Hard to answer 5%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Feb. 10 to Feb. 13, 2006. No margin of error was provided.

For his part, Gorbachev doesn't appear bothered by his lack of fans in Russia. Asked by an interviewer for the German magazine Stern why he was so unpopular at home, he responded: "Do you know a reformer who's loved?"