{"id":10253,"date":"2017-10-19T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T09:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10253"},"modified":"2017-10-19T09:00:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T09:00:23","slug":"why-russia-thinks-its-exceptional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-russia-thinks-its-exceptional\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Russia thinks it’s exceptional"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gregory Carleton<\/a>, Tufts University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Destiny calls upon Russia once more to face the West \u2013 or so Russians might believe.<\/p>\n

America is not alone in projecting itself as an exceptional power and indispensable force for good in the world. Russia makes the same claim. That sentiment is built upon centuries of defeating invaders, as I explore in \u201cRussia: The Story of War<\/a>.\u201d And it plays a key role in how Russia sees itself in its increasingly tense relationship with NATO and the West.<\/p>\n

The birth of Russian exceptionalism<\/h2>\n

For Russia, its triumph over Nazi Germany in the Second World War is a pillar of national identity. Yet outsiders don\u2019t often realize that Russians\u2019 belief in their special role in saving civilization from history\u2019s villains actually predates the war.<\/p>\n

In 1812, Napoleon, a tyrant bent on world domination, invaded Russia only to see his army destroyed. It was a tremendous victory and propelled Russia to lead a coalition of allies to liberate Europe from his grip. That campaign ended in 1814 with their occupation of Paris. While Napoleon\u2019s final defeat came at Waterloo in 1815, Russians insisted that they had inflicted the mortal wound.<\/p>\n

After the Napoleonic Wars, a volcano of patriotism erupted across Russian society. At its center was the widely shared belief that Russia had saved Europe. Moreover, no other country on its own had repelled an invasion by Napoleon or crushed his army, which had once seemed invincible. Commonly disparaged by Western Europeans as savages or barbarians, Russians could now turn their reputation on its head. As Denis Davidov, a flamboyant leader of partisans, declared<\/a>: \u201cAt last, with head lifted proudly, one can say: \u2018I am a Russian.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Such pride caused many writers and intellectuals in the 19th century to look deeper into history for more evidence of this exceptionalism.<\/p>\n

Roll call of invaders<\/h2>\n

That search led back to the 13th century, when the Mongols invaded Europe. Known as<\/a> \u201cGod\u2019s scourge,\u201d their forces advanced no farther than Eastern Europe, allowing Russians centuries later to claim that they had shed their blood to protect the rest of Europe from this dire threat.<\/p>\n