Conclusion. Trauma, Imperialism, and the Russia of Tomorrow

Summary

In the last two centuries or more, the Middle Ages, whether Russian or Byzantine, have become a powerful tool of propaganda and identity discourse for Russia. At crucial moments of crisis, medieval heritage has been used both visually and intellectually to affirm the country's imperial rights and to fight the external enemy. During the reign of the last Romanovs this situation seemed in some ways logical, and Russian rhetoric was essentially no different from that of other contemporary empires, but it was even more surprising (and complex) to uncover the (mis)use of the past in the Soviet years, when Stalin created a unique synthesis between the two seemingly contradictory trends of communism and clericalism. In the last two decades, then, it is possible to see a seeming return to the patterns that developed during the nineteenth century.

I hope I have been able to show that in each of the stages examined it is not so much the past itself that is interesting, but rather its use for the needs of the present. In this framework we can now return to the very beginning of this text, to Moscow's Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. All of the visual and material tools mentioned above and used therein tell a story of Russian identity. The building refers to the medieval past, but also to its reuse in the mid-twentieth century. This is evident not only in the architectural design but also in the iconography of the decoration. It is a celebration of medieval and modern warlords, with a strong reference to the decoration of the Stalinist underground, and to an idealized image of the national past. In light of the current situation, the 2020 construction can be seen as one of the crucial preparatory steps in the expansionist, imperial ambitions of the Russian Federation, which culminated in the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Visually and conceptually, the regime is following the rhetoric conveyed to the public by the mass media: that Moscow is the Third Rome, the last standard-bearer of Orthodoxy, and under its leader, it has a moral obligation to intervene, even with military force, against the evil that is rampant in the “fascist” West. It is clear, however, that something else is the goal of this huge propaganda effort.