Who Cares? Russian Public Opinion during Medvedev’s Presidency on the Importance and Politicization of History

Russia’s leaders have sought to craft a narrative about the Soviet period that fosters national solidarity and regime support. How have Russians felt about the enterprise of promoting historical knowledge for political purposes? We provide answers from a survey conducted for Dmitry Medvedev’s presidency, a benchmark moment in the trajectory of Russia’s policies on history. Russian society was then quite divided regarding the importance of knowing history, whether historical facts are knowable (versus inevitably politicized), whether facts or pride should guide historical education and research, and what responsibilities their government has regarding history in general and the Soviet-era repressions specifically.