-Caveat Lector-
World: Putin approves new Russian national anthem
The new lyrics for Russia's national anthem
By DAVID McHUGH, Associated Press
MOSCOW (December 30, 2000 12:41 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) -
Russia's revived Soviet-era national anthem, which once praised the atheist
Communist Party and dictator Josef Stalin, now has new lyrics that celebrate
Russia as a "holy country" that is "protected by God."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday approved the new version,
written by the same person who co-authored the old lyrics, poet Sergei
Mikhalkov.
"Russia, our holy country!" the new anthem begins. It goes on to praise the
country's vast "forests and fields ... from the southern seas to the polar
region."
The Soviet-era music was revived earlier this month by the Russian
parliament, replacing the wordless anthem by 19th-century composer Mikhail
Glinka that had been in use since the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly a
decade ago.
Putin and the legislature agreed to revive the old anthem, saying the Glinka
tune didn't have any words and was too hard to sing anyway.
But they needed new lyrics, because the old Soviet anthem's praise for the
Communist Party was no longer considered appropriate after the 1991 collapse
of communism.
Putin accepted the recommendation of an advisory committee, which favored
new words from the 87-year-old Mikhalkov. The new hymn and words are
expected to be played publicly for the first time on New Year's Eve.
Mikhalkov co-wrote the first version praising Stalin, Soviet founder
Vladimir Lenin and the Communist Party. He later did another version
removing Stalin's name after the dictator's memory became politically
unpalatable. Stalin, who died in 1953, carried out political repressions
that historians say killed tens of millions of people.
The new lyrics' reference to God would have been unthinkable under the
Communists, who enforced a policy of official atheism and persecuted
religious believers. The last anthem to mention God was "God Save the Czar,"
used by the regime that collapsed in 1917.
But unlike "God Save The Czar," which refers to the "Orthodox czar," the
anthem doesn't specify any particular faith. Russia's dominant religion is
Orthodox Christianity, but religious minorities include Muslims, Jews,
Buddhists, Catholics, and Protestants.
One line offers something to those nostalgic for the Soviet Union. It refers
to Russia as an "eternal union of fraternal peoples," words similar to the
old version, which refers to "an unbreakable union" of "peoples in
brotherhood strong."
Liberal politicians and some cultural figures have assailed the
reinstatement of the Soviet music, saying it invokes the memory of
totalitarian rule and political repression. Former President Boris Yeltsin
blocked Communist attempts to bring back the old tune, written by Alexander
Alexandrov in 1944.
Putin, elected March 26, has been more willing to accept symbols of the
Soviet past. He agreed on a compromise under which the old anthem would be
restored, while Russia would keep the post-Soviet tricolor flag and the
state coat of arms with the czarist double-headed eagle.
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