Who is the greatest leader Russia has had

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Hands down, Peter the III. The modern Russia we know today probably wouldn't even exist if Peter the III hadn't taken the throne.

Also, a Nitpick, but Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev and to a lesser extent Vladimir Putin were Soviet not Russian.

Russia threw a tantrum back in 1917 and for some unknown reason just up and disappeared from the room of nations then just as suddenly to magically reappear again in 1991, shocked by why everyone keep asking where it had been and gone. Everyone keeps blaming Germany on both occurrences for some unknown reason.

Most people consider "Russia" interchangeable with "Soviet Union" since it was the Russian SSR which basically ran things within the USSR.

[Albion Rhodesia]

Definitely a tough question as many of the men presented can be said to have been the greatest Russian leader, and though Peter the Great and Alexander II rank up as being Great Russians and to a lesser extent Khrushchev and Putin, it has to be stated though that the Greatest Russian is in reality himself not even Russian but instead Georgian and that man is Joseph Stalin.

Stalin turned a backwards nation into a superpower and in effect for the first time in its history made Russia (The USSR) a leading world power, and though we cannot deny that Stalin ruled with an iron fist and millions met their deaths due to his actions, we must acknowledge the fact that he also brought Russia to its highest point in the nation's long history.

[Baltenstein]

Also, a Nitpick, but Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev and to a lesser extent Vladimir Putin were Soviet not Russian.

Well, they were all leaders of Russia, and with the exception of Stalin, were all ethnically Russian.

And to call Putin "Soviet not Russian" is simply wrong.

[Old Tyrannia]

Definitely a tough question as many of the men presented can be said to have been the greatest Russian leader, and though Peter the Great and Alexander II rank up as being Great Russians and to a lesser extent Khrushchev and Putin, it has to be stated though that the Greatest Russian is in reality himself not even Russian but instead Georgian and that man is Joseph Stalin.

Stalin turned a backwards nation into a superpower and in effect for the first time in its history made Russia (The USSR) a leading world power, and though we cannot deny that Stalin ruled with an iron fist and millions met their deaths due to his actions, we must acknowledge the fact that he also brought Russia to its highest point in the nation's long history.

Only if you happen to believe that the most important measure of a leader's "greatness" is the military and economic power of their country under their rule. Although a rather common point of view, I don't happen to accept that.

[United Earthlings]

Most people consider "Russia" interchangeable with "Soviet Union" since it was the Russian SSR which basically ran things within the USSR.

Best not let these people know that.

A.Well, they were all leaders of Russia, and with the exception of Stalin, were all ethnically Russian.

B.And to call Putin "Soviet not Russian" is simply wrong.

1. Some disagreement concerning Leonid Brezhnev
2. If you get the mainstream media to stop saying Putin is trying to rebuild the Soviet Union, I'll admit I was completely wrong.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Most people consider "Russia" interchangeable with "Soviet Union" since it was the Russian SSR which basically ran things within the USSR.

Best not let these people know that.

I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here. I'm not denying that the other SSRs existed, but that in terms of the internal politics of the Soviet Union, they were effectively colonies of the Russian SSR up until at least the mi 1980s when Gorby's reforms started taking effect.

[United Earthlings]

I'm not sure what you're trying to prove here. I'm not denying that the other SSRs existed, but that in terms of the internal politics of the Soviet Union, they were effectively colonies of the Russian SSR up until at least the mi 1980s when Gorby's reforms started taking effect.

Using the Ukraine as a case study: Quite a bit of the Soviet Union's military and economic power was concentrated within the borders of the Ukrainian SSR. Concentrated military and economic power generally leads to political power. There was between 30 and 55 million people that lived in the Ukrainian SSR between 1922 and 1991. To say that all those people played no role in the internal politics of the Soviet Union is a little bit disingenuous. Granted they had little to no role in foreign affairs, but all governments operate under some type of bureaucracy and the Soviet Union was no different.

Another point that connects to issues of the present that Ukraine was more then just considered a colony was a large population of ethnic Russians located within the borders of the Ukrainian SSR.

[Dejanic]

Lenin or Gorby, every other option is just...

If Gorby had actually succeeded in his goal in turning Russia into a Nordic style Social Democracy he'd probably be my favourite leader of all time.

[Confederate Ramenia]

Vladimir Putin

All the Soviet leaders were either horrible, or didn't improve Russia nearly as greatly as Putin did
The early monarchs were good, but they fell to decadence and revolution
Putin came into power at Russia's darkest time, while it was recovering from the collapse of the USSR, and turned it into a great nation

You can say Putin's a horrible person, he's an enemy of America, he's a serious threat, but he is not a bad president.

[Geilinor]

Hands down, Peter the III. The modern Russia we know today probably wouldn't even exist if Peter the III hadn't taken the throne.

Also, a Nitpick, but Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev and to a lesser extent Vladimir Putin were Soviet not Russian.

Soviet was never an ethnicity.