But few know that it was with the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty, who are not without reason considered henchmen of the West, that they began to rewrite Russian history in Russia. Paradoxically, but true: this process continues to this day.
Our contemporaries are familiar with the confrontation (USSR) between Russia and the West - at least formally, at the level of trifles. Who knows that this ethnopolitical antagonism has been going on for over 300 years?
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The influence of foreigners in Russia began even before the accession to the kingdom of the Romanov dynasty - during the Great Troubles, which lasted until 1613. But as soon as the coronation of the first tsar from this dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich (1613), took place, the vicious foreign influence on Russian history took concrete forms.
There are still debates as to why then there was a need to rewrite the past of Ancient Russia. One of the most probable and understandable versions is that the then rulers of the most powerful state in the world simply "caved in" (was it free of charge?) In front of Western headphones, went on about a foreign interpretation of Russian history.
This is what the documents say about the thorough cleaning of the Russian information space since the beginning of the 17th century. Since 1616, in Russia, by order of the tsar, they began to collect everywhere monastic documents of importance - these were papers in which the chronicle information was reflected. Then book depositories, libraries, archives were requisitioned … At the same time, some documents were simply destroyed.
When Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered in the middle of the 17th century to deliver all the books on the history of Russia in the capital, none of the "central" Russian libraries of the Russian state found even the most overwhelming historical book - everything was cleaned up at that time.
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Why "cleaned up" the history of Russia?
Karamzin also noted that in the written sources of the 17th century, which told about the past of Russia, there are factual inconsistencies and obvious contradictions, which are not difficult to establish with a careful analysis of written evidence. Some scholars even consider the famous correspondence between Ivan the Terrible and Prince Kurbsky to be a literary work written by a certain S. Shakhovsky in the 17th century, at a time when the manipulation of Russian history was especially fashionable.
Even Peter I, who "opened a window to Europe", during his reign ordered the ancient manuscripts to be brought to the capital "to write a true story."
History since the reign of the Romanovs was ruled in order to please Western ideologists to show the initial inferiority of our state and the people inhabiting it.
Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, foreigners began to dominate in all spheres in Russia. With their submission, the theory quickly prevailed that initially the "wild" Russians were civilized by foreigners - allegedly, in a short time, the Normans turned "dark" Russia "into a powerful state. At the same time, the introduction into the consciousness of the people of the idea began that before and during the Tatar-Mongol "yoke" the Russians were a worthless, slavish nation that did not play any significant role in world social and political life.
Such an interpretation of Russian history was (and still remains) into the hands of Western ideologists. But not all Western scholars of the past were biased. A foreigner, a Dominican abbot, Mavro Orbini, at the beginning of the 17th century, published a book (by the way, Peter I became interested in her), in which the author convincingly, on the basis of historical documents, proves: the Slavs in ancient times, in fact, owned the entire civilized world, and in this regard, they should not be underestimated - in every sense.
Why Lomonosov was arrested
The Russian "Leonardo da Vinci" Mikhail Lomonosov, the most talented and versatile representative of his time, was distinguished by independence in his judgments, and was not afraid to defend them if he was sure that he was right. Mikhail Vasilyevich reacted sharply to deliberate distortions of history, and was not afraid to publicly declare this. But even a scientist of this level was “put in his place”: “… for repeated disrespectful, dishonorable and disgusting actions both in relation to the Academy and to the commission, and to German soil, he is subject to the death penalty, or, in extreme cases, punishment with lashes and deprivation rights and states … ". And this is because the Russian scientist tried to defend his opinion about the historical greatness of the nation.
As a result, of course, they were not killed or flogged, but Lomonosov spent almost seven months under arrest. And after all, by the decree of Empress Elizabeth, he was nevertheless found guilty. But they did not punish them - they made them ask for forgiveness from the "correct" professors. " Lomonosov humiliated himself and signed this "repentance" composed (not even by him!).
The centuries-old violent confrontation between the supporters of the Western interpretation of Russian history and the domestic champions of independence is unique in itself - it is already a given part of Russian history. Was Russia in an alliance with the Mongol-Tatars the ruler of the world or her, "dark", after the "yoke" had to be rediscovered and enlightened from the outside - these are the questions that, centuries after the radical rewriting of the history of the "Russian state" by the Romanov dynasty, we are still looking for answers.