The Berlin Wall and Russia's Vertical Power Structure

Thousands-strong columns marched through all major Russian cities on November 7, celebrating the Great Socialist Revolution of 1917, perhaps for the last time. The State Duma is due to approve legislation that would cancel this holiday and introduce another one on November 4, marking the liberation of Moscow from Poles in 1612 and the end of the Time of Troubles. The patriotic significance of that questionable historic date is lost on the majority of Russians (Grani.ru, November 5); opinion polls show that up to 77% of respondents oppose the change of holidays (Izvestiya, November 9; Kommersant, November 8; Gazeta.ru, November 9). In the heat of debates on this identity-centered issue, few Russian media leaders have seen any point in reflecting upon a date that signifies the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe: the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (Grani.ru, November 9).