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1-Page Summary of The Road to Unfreedom

Overview

Russia has drifted towards a state of dystopia, and it is because of the philosophy of fascist philosopher Ivan Ilyin. He believed in the politics of eternity; his ideas have been implemented by Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout his presidency. One example was when he blamed Ukraine for Russia’s problems, which led to an attempt to stop them from joining the European Union. Another example was when he influenced Brexit and got Donald Trump elected into office.

The author believes that we live in uncertain times. The last few years have seen the rise of extreme political groups and Brexit, while Donald Trump’s election as US president is a sign of things to come.

In the past, people believed that tomorrow would be like today. They thought it was inevitable that things would stay the same. Now we’re experiencing uncertainty and moving towards a new era of politics called eternity. In this time, people expect little from their government and are afraid of enemies both real and imagined.

In this essay, we’ll highlight a few of Snyder’s key points about the politics of eternity. One country that has been driven by these politics is Russia and one man who has led them is Vladimir Putin.

The European Union is being destroyed from within with help from Russia. Putin saw himself as the true victim in the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 disaster and was integral to Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States.

Big Idea #1: The philosophy of Ivan Ilyin was the key to a shift in Russia from politics based on time to one based on eternity.

On March 26, 2000, the Russian Federation held presidential elections. The winner was Vladimir Putin, who would go on to rule and transform the world’s largest country.

Although Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin was dead for many years, his ideas were revived by Vladimir Putin in the new administration. Ilyin lived through the 1917 Russian Revolution and he was not a communist because he admired Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini instead of Lenin or Stalin. He spent most of his life outside Russia but when he returned to Russia in 1922, he began conceptualizing an ideal version of a right-wing Christian country that would follow the inevitable collapse of communism. His vision included glorifying violence over reason and propaganda over rational discourse.

Ilyin, unlike other fascist leaders at the time, believed that even one party was too many. He thought it best to have a multi-party system in order to justify holding elections and give the illusion of choice. All real power should be invested in one person with control over all three branches of government and military forces.

Ilyin’s writings on his ideal Russian fascism were banned and dormant for decades. But after Putin was elected in 2000, they began to circulate again, especially once the media became more liberalized. Putin even arranged the transport of Ilyin’s body from Switzerland for reburial in Moscow in 2005.

Putin’s vision for Russia is similar to Ilyin’s. Putin has been very successful in implementing that vision, but we must go back to the tragic events of September 1999, three months before he became acting president of Russia upon Boris Yeltsin’s resignation.

Big Idea #2: Putin was very influenced by Ilyin’s views of Russia. He used the ideas to help him run his country for many years.

In September 1999, a series of bombs went off all over Russia. The bombings culminated in 293 deaths. At the time, Putin had only been Prime Minister for one month. However, he responded swiftly to this crisis by ordering troops to attack Chechnya and terrorists who were responsible for these attacks.