I can't believe this! The Stalin statute in his hometown of Gori, the only one to remain in place at the centre of a main city anyway in the world, has been removed by order of the city authorities under the cover of darkness. The statute will be replaced with a monument dedicated to the 'Victims of Russian Aggression from 2008'. For more, here is the BBC link
Josif Vissarionovich Djugashvili (later Stalin) was born in Gori in 1879. Despite Stalin's less than glorious track record, many people in Gori adore the local boy, especially for his image of being a strong and disciplined leader. Stalin however was not popular with Saakashvili's anti-Russian government in Tbilisi , who are quick and correct to point out that it was Stalin who was responsible for destroying Georgia's brief period of independence from Russia in 1918 to 1921, when he led Red Army operations in the Caucasus to regain the region. It was almost like history repeating itself in 2008 when Gori was even briefly occupied by Russian forces after Georgia tried to regain control of the breakway region of South Ossetia. Obviously, Gori's authorities were under a lot of pressure from Saakashvili's government to remove this symbol of underlying but forcefully-imposed Russian domination over Georgia. It remains to be seen what the local backlash will be like. However, as Georgia, like most other Eastern European countries, really is still going through democratisation, I suspect that most of the local populace will collectively know that it's best to just shut up and not cause problems.
On another level, this removal of one symbol of the past, discredited regime, is being hastily replaced with a symbol of the new regime. The fact that Saakashvili is now creating new myths (that the 2008 victims were the result of 'Russian aggression' when Georgia was the one that launched the brief conflict) proves that the same tactics employed by the past Communist leaders are still being used. So much for being a Western-style democrat. And what is the irony of having a new monument ultimately designed to promote hatred towards Russia? That most Georgians, especially those that are educated and urban-dwelling, still maintain a high level of Russian cultural sense. Many Georgians still speak Russian, listen to Russian music, watch Russian TV, read Russian newspapers. Georgia is part of the post-USSR cultural Sovietsphere. Even many young Georgian popstars, who were born after the fall of the USSR, will include at least one pop song in Russian on their albums. There are large numbers of Georgians living in Russia and other ex-USSR republics. Ethnic Georgian singers such as Valerii Meladze and Grigorii Leps, sing exclusively in Russian and are huge stars in Russia. Even Eduard Shevernadze's granddaughter Sofia is a presenter on Russia's government-run 24-hour news channel Russia Today. It makes you wonder then why did they fight in 2008?
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