This survey took place between March 21-27, 2019 and was conducted throughout all of Russia in both urban and rural settings. The survey was carried out among 1600 people over the age of 18 in 137 localities of 50 of the country’s regions. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as a percentage of the number of participants.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
IN GENERAL, WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS STALIN? (respondents were presented with a card with a list of possible answers from which they could choose only one)
| Apr. 01 |
Apr. 06 |
Oct. 08 |
Feb. 10 |
Oct. 12 |
Mar. 14 |
Mar. 15 |
Mar. 16 |
Jan. 17 |
Mar. 18 |
Mar. 19 |
|
| Admiration | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Respect | 27 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 32 | 29 | 41 |
| Affection, fondness | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 6 |
| Indifference | 12 | 19 | 37 | 38 | 33 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 22 | 31 | 26 |
| Enmity, irritation | 18 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 6 |
| Fear | 16 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| Revulsion, hatred | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| I don’t know who Stalin is | -* | -* | -* | -* | 1 | 1 | -* | 1 | -* | 1 | 1 |
| It is difficult to say/no answer | 6 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 7 |
-* This option was not selected.
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ROLE DID STALIN PLAY IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA? (one answer)
| Mar. 03 | Dec. 06 | Feb. 08 | Oct. 08 | Dec. 09 | Dec. 10 | Mar. 11 | Feb. 13 | Dec. 14 | Mar. 16 | Mar.19 | |
| Entirely positive | 18 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 18 |
| Mostly positive | 35 | 33 | 29 | 33 | 39 | 40 | 37 | 40 | 36 | 46 | 52 |
| Mostly negative | 21 | 26 | 25 | 27 | 23 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 14 |
| Very negative | 12 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| It is difficult to say | 14 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 11 |
Table 1. Political preferences and respondents’ age
| Total | Respondents’ votes in the elections on March 18, 2018** | Age | ||||||
| Pavel Grudinin | Vladimir Zhirinovsky | Vladimir Putin |
18-24 | 25-39 | 40-54 | 55+ | ||
| Number of survey participants | 1638 | 168 | 128 | 1167 | 147 | 498 | 412 | 582 |
| IN GENERAL, WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS STALIN? | ||||||||
| Admiration | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Respect | 41 | 36 | 54 | 42 | 27 | 39 | 43 | 47 |
| Affection, fondness | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Indifference | 26 | 28 | 18 | 27 | 39 | 29 | 25 | 22 |
| Enmity, irritation | 6 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Fear | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Revulsion, hatred | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| I don’t know who Stalin is | 1 | – | – | 1 | 2 | 2 | <1 | <1 |
| It is difficult to say/no answer | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ROLE DID STALIN PLAY IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA? | ||||||||
| Entirely positive | 18 | 16 | 25 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| Mostly positive | 52 | 52 | 55 | 52 | 49 | 51 | 56 | 51 |
| Mostly negative | 14 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 |
| Very negative | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| It is difficult to say | 11 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
-** The tables only include the candidates that were voted for by a sufficient number of respondents.
IN YOUR OPINION, DO THE LOFTY GOALS AND RESULTS ACHIEVED IN A SHORT TIME JUSTIFY THE HUMAN COST BORNE BY SOVIET PEOPLE DURING THE STALIN ERA?
| Apr. 17 | Mar. 19 | |
| Definitely yes | 7 | 13 |
| To some extent yes | 29 | 33 |
| No, it cannot be justified in any way | 49 | 45 |
| It is difficult to say | 14 | 9 |
IN YOUR OPINION, DO THE LOFTY GOALS AND RESULTS ACHIEVED IN A SHORT TIME JUSTIFY THE COST BORNE BY SOVIET PEOPLE DURING THE STALIN ERA?
| Oct. 08 | Feb. 10 | Apr. 11 | Nov. 12 | Mar. 15 | |
| Definitely yes | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Yes, to some extent | 24 | 29 | 26 | 21 | 38 |
| No, it cannot be justified in any way | 60 | 58 | 61 | 60 | 42 |
| It is difficult to say/no answer | 13 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 13 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
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