- Putin plans to restore statues of Soviet tyrant and other Communist leaders more than two decades after they were toppled
ByPaul Harris 18:41 EST, 19 December 2013
One was a puritan who unseated a monarch in the name of parliamentary democracy.
The other was a Communist tyrant whose citizens died by the million during his reign of terror.
But yesterday Russian leader Vladimir Putin branded both men dictators – and made the extraordinary claim that there was no real difference between Oliver Cromwell and Joseph Stalin.
Asked which Soviet leader he would most like to honour with a statue, Putin stunned his audience by comparing Stalin to Cromwell.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has made the extraordinary claim that there was no real difference between Oliver Cromwell (left) and Joseph Stalin (right)
‘How in particular is Cromwell so different from Stalin?’ he asked. ‘Can you tell me? Not in any way at all. From the point of view of liberals, he is the same bloody dictator.’
Mr Putin was speaking at a press conference on plans to restore statues of the Soviet tyrant and other Communist leaders more than two decades after they were toppled.
Russian hardliners want to see a monument to Stalin brought back to Moscow.
Putin compared the move to the existence of a statue of Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament.
Mr Putin was speaking at a press conference on plans to restore statues of the Soviet tyrant and other Communist leaders more than two decades after they were toppled. File picture
Of Cromwell – a soldier and statesman who signed Charles I’s death warrant before becoming England’s Protector – he said:
‘He was quite a treacherous dude, one has to say.
‘And the role he played for Britain was ambiguous. But the monument of him stands there – and no one knocks it down.’
He urged Russians: ‘You know, the point is not in these symbols.
‘The point is that we should treat each period of our history with respect.
‘Cromwell lived there some time back. For us, this is all very raw.
‘So we have to treat each period of our history with care.’
Although some historians dispute the figures, it is widely believed that up to 40 million perished under Stalin, half through starvation or imprisonment, the other half helping to defeat Hitler during the Second World War.
Around 300,000 are believed to have died during the English Civil War and during Cromwell’s brutal campaigns in Ireland.
Putin’s comments came when he was lamenting the break up of the Soviet Union which he described as ‘a tragedy of the 20th Century’.
He was talking about plans to restore statues of the Soviet tyrant and other Communist leaders more than two decades after they were toppled.
One contentious plan backed by hardliners would see monuments to Stalin and the feared founder of the Soviet secret services Felix Dzerzhinsky brought back in Moscow.
Sir William Thornycroft’s statue of Cromwell stands outside the Commons.
It was erected in 1899 and has divided opinion, both before and since.
Sir William Thornycroft’s statue of Cromwell stands outside the Commons
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2526756/Cromwell-He-no-better-Stalin-insists-Putin-Russian-leader-brands-men-dictators.html#ixzz2nzcn8CFP Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Cromwell came to Ireland with a promise to carry on “the great work against the barbarous and blood-thirsty Irish [Catholics].” He chose an assault on Drogheda, north of Dublin , as a useful lesson to all of Ireland that if they resist his assertion of English control of Ireland there would be an “effusion of blood.” Cromwell carried out his promise, so much so that there’s a street in Drogheda called Scarlett Street, called as such, because Irish blood gushed through the street like torrents of a water overflow. Captured soldiers were sent to Barbados as slaves, and those brought to Dublin as prisoners were assigned backbreaking and dangerous work with scant rations, no shoes, no shelter, and tattered clothes in the freezing cold who rarely survived. The lucky ones were sent to the West Indies. By 1652 Cromwell controlled all of Ireland and passed “The Settling of Ireland Act”. Under this act, the entire Irish nation was deemed guilty of treason… then it got even worse.
This complete conquering of Ireland by the English established two central themes in future Irish history – subordination of the country to London based governments and sectarian animosity between Catholics and English/Scottish transplanted Protestants. It became a centralised, monarchical, and extremely biased state governed society, much like those in Continental Europe…Anyway, one now knows why there’s a street in Drogheda called Scarlett Street thus named since Cromwell’s murderous onslaught in Drogheda on September 11, 1649.
As for Putin’s statement, a full Irish history of Cromwell’s bloody journey through Ireland unveils many deadly reasons as to why Cromwell was one of the most hated creatures to have ever to set foot in Ireland. The King Billy of Orange a close second.
Bottomline: There’s no difference between Stalin and Cromwell since both were evil blood-thirsty inhumane killing machine dictators. Stalin’s close collaborators called him “Genghis Khan with a telephone”. Genghis Khan killed 11% of the world population of his time. Cromwell killed over one fifth of the Irish population, a lesser known fact is that Cromwell sold tens of thousands of indigent Irish into slavery – “To Hell or Barbados” by Sean O Callaghan….will post on Cromwell shortly.
