“People lived as if in hiding.” Putin is following in the footsteps of Nicholas I, but where does this path lead?
Putin is often compared to Nicholas I. The 30-year reign, the conservative tightening of the screws, the failed Crimean War. If we take a closer look at the last years of Nicholas's rule, the so-called “grim seven years,” the parallels become even clearer: the tightening of censorship, the persecution of the universities, threats to confiscate property from immigrants, and the struggle against Western influence.