A new book titled Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin takes a critical look at the rise of Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin (70). It was written by American Russia expert Andrew S. Weiss.
At the center of the comic novel are events that shaped Putin: a fight that had a major impact on his career in the KGB and his stay abroad in the German city of Dresden. The Eastern European researcher also explains how pollsters helped Putin to power.
It wasn’t enough for the James Bond career
In his youth, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was a noisy one. He often fought with peers. His teacher Vera Gurevich reported that at the age of 14 he broke a classmate’s leg. Putin’s succinct justification: “Some understand only violence.”
But the current ruler in the Kremlin also received a beating. As a young man he fought on the tram and broke his arm.
His employer, the KGB, did not appreciate Putin’s behavior at all. He was demoted in the hierarchy. End of the James Bond career, a boring desk job was announced.
Putin’s heroic stories – often embellished
The second bitter moment in the career of the St. Petersburg resident was his stay abroad in the German city of Dresden during the Cold War.
Putin was not deployed to the West, including at KGB headquarters in East Berlin, but the officer did his duty in a KGB villa in Dresden. Half a dozen KGB men were stationed there, not much was happening.
In the fall of 1989, the Wall fell – something finally happened in front of the KGB villa – some civil rights activists demonstrated peacefully in front of the building. However, the group quickly dispersed when the army finally arrived.
Putin later turned it into a heroic story: he alone stopped the angry mob from storming the villa. According to his own statements, he pretended to be an interpreter.
Yeltsin’s successor should inspire the Russians
How did the low profile KGB man become Russia’s most powerful man? Putin probably owes his ascension to opinion polls.
The popularity ratings of Putin’s predecessor Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) plummeted towards the end of his term. His people were desperate for a person who would inspire the Russians.
From KGB man to president
A few decades earlier, in the 1970s, the character “Stierlitz” was very popular. A fictional Soviet agent who went on wild adventures disguised as a Nazi in a TV series. “Stierlitz” was played by actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov.
So the search was on for a former KGB man who could play the role of “Stierlitz” on the political scene. Vladimir Putin seemed the best choice for that.