(CNN) -- Vladimir Putin's gala address before Russian parliamentarians and officials Tuesday surprised no one when he announced Russia's annexation of Crimea. The interesting part was his distorted view of Russian history, and his proclamation that a bizarre kind of simultaneously aggrieved and aggressive hyper-nationalism is now Russia's official ideology. In discussing Ukraine, however, Putin seemed to go out of his way to suggest he had no aggressive intentions and was not planning to divide the rest of the country. Listening to Putin, one could easily forget that Russia is and for many centuries has been the largest country in the world and that it acquired its territories by imperialist expansion often accompanied by genocide and ethnic cleansing.
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Alexander J. Motyl: Putin describes both an aggrieved and aggressive Russia
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Motyl: He rewrites history, portraying Russia as a victim of the West and Communists
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Motyl: Putin says Russia has the right to be a bully, dismisses its previous abuses
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Motyl: West must hold him to his statements that he wants peace with Ukraine
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Instead, Putin primarily explains why Crimea matters to Russia: "The graves of Russian soldiers whose bravery brought Crimea into the Russian empire are also in @placeholder.
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This @placeholder, the new Russia, is both victim and bully:
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This Russia, the new @placeholder, is both victim and bully:
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And then, remarkably, Putin adopts a conciliatory tone with respect to @placeholder.
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Naturally, he first denounces the new democratic government as illegitimate and in the thrall of imaginary fascists and asserts Russia's obligation to help defend @placeholder and Russian speakers from their supposed assaults and predations.
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Naturally, he first denounces the new democratic government as illegitimate and in the thrall of imaginary fascists and asserts Russia's obligation to help defend Russians and @placeholder speakers from their supposed assaults and predations.
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We have always respected the territorial integrity of the @placeholder state.
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"Don't believe those who terrify you with @placeholder, who shout that other regions will follow Crimea.
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But I repeat: Only the citizens of @placeholder are able to bring order to their own home."
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If these words were sincere, then they may mark a significant departure from the war-mongering rhetoric Putin employed at his March 4 press conference, where he stated he "wasn't worried" by war with @placeholder.