Does Russia really need Monarchy?

[Emperor Wilhelm IX]

Just jumping in here with my $.02. I have not read the entire thread but skimmed it.

I think at this point any country wishing to restore a monarchy, including Russia, the restoration would need to be practical and serve a purpose which would meet the needs of the country. But I wonder if in the general population if the minds of many people view monarchy as outdated and irrelevant? I don't see it that way, but I wonder if others do?

[BorisRom]

The Russian Church believes Nicholas II should set a pattern for nowadays Russian politicians

Moscow, June 18, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church urges to unveil the myth about Emperor Nicholas II as a weak-willed politician and believes that today political leaders have a lot to learn from him, Interfax-Religion has reported.
"Emperor Nicholas II was an example for politicians of his time and I believe he should set the pattern for politicians nowadays," Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg and Verkhniaya Tura said in his interview to the Yekaterinburgskaya Initsiativa website.
"When we study his state activity, we see that he applied Christian values he had been educated in at his policy. He tried to implant these values to the leaders of other states he was communicating with," the archbishop said.
According to him, organizing an international court in The Hague was the effective result of the last Russian emperor's activity.
"Many states of the world use his good idea and other international institutes such as the United Nations emerged later and on its base. It proves that Emperor Nicholas II was an important world political figure as he was an appeaser of all states and a peacemaker," the archbishop stressed.
He also noted that population increase exceeded 3 million a year under Nicholas II and "if we had kept on, we would have had 600 million of Russians today."
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4805
More see:
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=radio&div=885 (in Russian)

[Michael HR]

Having a Tsar would allow Russia to link with it's past and act as a figure head for the future while remaining outside politics. HM Queen Elizabeth II or Queen Beatrix are good examples of this. They tie the country together in a broad way and give it an identity to look towards.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by Michael HR

Having a Tsar would allow Russia to link with it's past and act as a figure head for the future while remaining outside politics. HM Queen Elizabeth II or Queen Beatrix are good examples of this. They tie the country together in a broad way and give it an identity to look towards.

That's an interesting way of looking at it because they have, IMO, a bit of a thuggy reputation right now.

[BorisRom]

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4944

Nicholas II still leading in suspended famous Russians poll

Moscow, July 16, Interfax - Anyone wishing to vote for a particular outstanding Russian figure in the contest called "Russia's Name. Historical choice-2008" will now have to wait: the voting on the official website has been suspended.
"Dear visitors, the poll has been temporarily suspended for technical reasons," the website said on Wednesday, on the page of the contest conducted by the Rossiya TV channel, the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Russian History and the Public Opinion center.

Read the entire article here.

[NotAPretender]

My Russian-based colleagues feel that any monarchy restoration or rejuvenation there is simply absurd; it is "unwarranted" and "foolish." They're not fervent revolutionists or anything of the like; I occupy a financial universe, and so do they. They enjoy capitalism at its best.

One cracked to me during a visit that even the wealth flowing in Russia now might not be enough to feed M.V. and her son, tracing fingers in the air for, er, roundness. So it's not as though they find the pretenders all that impressive either.

No, like France, done is done on the royal end in Russia, methinks. I can't see there being any benefit to a Russian royal family. It would not be unifying (there already *is* Russian unity,) and a "royal" family is not going to advance the reputation of the nation internationally. Those would be the only reasons to even think about restoring a monarchy. Russia certainly has had stable leadership, economically it continues to advance, it has a strong monetary system.

A royal family would be dilutive, not accretive. So why bother?

[Michael HR]

I suppose the only way for this to be decided is to put it to the Russian people as a vote. If no thats the end of it. If yes they would then have to decide which familly to elevate, one assumes the Romonoff's, and which member to be Tsar/Tsarina along with which form the Crown takes, as one assumes autocrat would not be brought back.

[Al_bina]

Russia is no pressing need of any societal transformations. As noted by NotAPretender, current Russians- young westernized professionals- do not embrace an idea of restoration. What can a newly restored Tzar do those can not be done by the current government? Additionally, restoration is fraught with some complicated issues (e.g., property redistribution and reparations to former nobles and rich people, who lost everything during nationalization of 1917). I am sure that new rich people do not wish to share their newly acquired property.