Is Russia Doomed to Dictatorship?

Tamara Natanovna Eidelman, a historian, lecturer, writer, educator, and author of a popular YouTube channel with an audience of over 1.5 million subscribers, will present a new historical lecture titled "Is Russia Doomed to Dictatorship?" in Lisbon on August 30 at 7:00 PM.

In this lecture, Tamara Eidelman will explore the pressing issues of freedom and dictatorship in Russia. Recently, there have been frequent opinions that Russia has never experienced freedom and that Russian people are historically, and sometimes even biologically, inclined towards slavery or cruelty. From this, it is concluded that there will always be a dictatorship in Russia, and the people will accept it. Such assertions are made by politicians and journalists, written about on social media, and discussed on YouTube.

Tamara Natanovna will not claim that a democratic regime will be established in Russia in the coming years or that the current government is on the brink of collapse. Instead, she proposes to look at the accusations made against Russia's history and attempt to understand them.

As early as the 19th century, historians and philosophers — some with horror and others with satisfaction — emphasized that the entire historical path of Russia led to autocracy. "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality" was the foundation of Russian life according to Count Uvarov, Minister of Public Education. Orthodoxy, the Tatar-Mongol yoke, serfdom, autocracy — these are the elements that deprive Russia of its present and future, thought Chaadayev. Essentially the same statement, just with different assessments.

Can centuries of history be considered defining for our present? Did Ivan the Terrible give rise to Stalin and Putin? Did today's veneration of the leader grow out of the relationships of Russian princes with the Horde?

However, Russian history can also be viewed differently. It can reveal not only oppression and humiliation but also freedom, active citizens, and independent thinking. But again, the question arises: can the elective institutions of the 17th century or the traditions of Russian entrepreneurship influence our lives today and ensure the creation of a happy Russia in the future?

Perhaps the sources of our troubles and the foundations for hope should be sought in more recent times — in the tragedies of the 20th century, in our own values, in functioning or non-functioning institutions? And then it may turn out that another attempt is worth making.

This is a new lecture that has never been presented before, and this meeting will be its premiere. The lecture will be held in Russian. After the lecture, all attendees will have the opportunity to ask Tamara Natanovna questions, take photos with her, and get her book signed.

The lecture will take place on August 30 at 7:00 PM, at Leap 7RIOS - Centro de Escritórios, Auditorium Hall, located at R. de Campolide 351 0.05, 1070-034 Lisboa, Portugal.

Doors will open at 6:30 PM.