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Why is Russia isolating itself from the rest of Europe?
Is it all about Putin's ego, or does Russia simply not care that practically no country in Europe (except maybe Belarus) approves of Russia's imperialist ambitions?
Because Russia feels threatened from the West again. There is a joke in Russia that united Europe attacks Russia once every 100 years. The last time was 80 years ago.
For hundreds of years, Russia struggled to show that it was a Western country, not a "backward" Eastern one.
Hm. Can you explain in more detail? Before the Mongol invasion, the rulers of Russia were the descendants of the Vikings, who had a close relationship with the European kings (Ruriks). After the Mongols, there were no problems with integration with Europe either (grandmother of Ivan the Terrible Sophia Paleolog from the Byzantine dynasty). In the Russian Empire, there were also no problems with kinship in Europe (Nicholas II was a cousin of the King of Great Britain George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany). Reflections on Europe were from Peter I and... from Gorbachev. The Bolsheviks did not suffer from this.
Worked "genetic" memory. The Cold War ended with the victory of the United States, but when the United States (NATO) came to Ukraine, it was a red rag for Russians. Shevchuk cannot understand this, because he is from "Soviet rock".
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
We were multiplying Visotsky's songs and spreading them around.
btw, I recently had an interesting discussion about what Vysotsky would do today. And the opinion of the majority is that Vysotsky would support the military operation in Ukraine.
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
But you wrote that Russian people are not interested in human rights groups that were shut down in Russia. What are they interested in then?
Russian people simply do not trust these organizations. They don't trust anyone at all, even Putin.
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
When I see clips on Telegram or watch YouTube videos - I think it cannot be - they are all a pranks.
But there are so many of them. It gives me a feeling of negative selection or reverse evolution is happening over there. People don't think anymore. The critical thinking is absent.
It's like watching Idiocracy movie - Russian style.
The same picture if Russians watch your videos. This is propaganda.
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
I liked this sad song a lot. It reminded me - when I saw clear sky with the golden wheat field at the end - about one Russian poet - Zinaida Gippius :
" Ona ne pogibnet - znaite!
Ona ne pogibnet, Rossiya.
Oni vskolosyatsya, - verte!
Polya yeyo zolotiye.
I mi ne pogibnem- verte!
No chto nam nashe spaseniye:
Rossiya spasyotsya, - znaite!
I blizko eyo voskresen'ye" year - 1918
It was written more than 100 years ago and we are still waiting for it.
What exactly are you waiting for? These lines were written about the Bolsheviks. Putin, in fact, revived the Russian Empire, with Orthodoxy and Russian Tsar. And with the only allies: army and navy. (About the only allies, these are the words of one of the Russian emperors.)
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
Russia deserves so much better.
It could be a beautiful democratic country that lives in peace with it's neighbors and where conflicts are solved with diplomacy. Like Finland or Germany.
No, it can't be. Because in the 90s the United States did not include Russia in its security system. And now it's too late.
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Originally Posted by Straight Arrow
Presently though, your government is your enemy.
I wish Putin would shoot himself after what he is done to Ukraine (and Russia).
But, unfortunately, he is too much of a coward.
As for Prigozhin - yes, he will be bad. He needs to continue to "lepit kotleti".
Free political prisoners - you will find one or two brave people who is suit to be a president.
No, there are no such people among political prisoners. Prigozhin may become president if there is no successor left after Putin's departure. Because he is a friend of Putin and the head of the most efficient private army in the world. And his character is not the character of "mother's revolutionaries" like Navalny, his character is the character of real Bolshevik revolutionaries, like Stalin. But without ideology.
Because Russia feels threatened from the West again. There is a joke in Russia that united Europe attacks Russia once every 100 years. The last time was 80 years ago.
I understand the sentiment, but when reviewing the history that has rarely been the case. Russia usually had at least 1 or 2 allies in the west. The only times I can think of when the west was genuinely united against Russia was during the Cold War and the Crimean War, other times not really. During WWII the Soviet Union fought alongside the UK and the US and don’t forget about the land-lease act and all the monetary and material support the US provided (not so dissimilar to what the US is currently doing with Ukraine).
“The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended on September 20, 1945. A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $719 billion in 2021) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S.[2] In all, $31.4 billion went to the United Kingdom, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, $1.6 billion to China, and the remaining $2.6 billion to other Allies.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
During the Civil war the west was united against the Bolsheviks, but that doesn’t exactly count because they were supporting the whites so that’s a complicated war with many factions.
During WWI Russia fought alongside the UK and France
During the Ruso-Japanese war the west didn’t intervene and the US mediated a peace deal that was biased towards Russia, Japan could’ve taken a lot more land if US allowed it.
During the Boxer Rebellion Russia fought along side the UK, US, France, Germany, Austria-Hungry, Italy and Japan against China
During the napoleonic wars Russia ended up fighting alongside the UK, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Spain and a bunch of others against France.
I understand the sentiment, but when reviewing the history that has rarely been the case. Russia usually had at least 1 or 2 allies in the west. The only times I can think of when the west was genuinely united against Russia was during the Cold War and the Crimean War, other times not really. During WWII the Soviet Union fought alongside the UK and the US and don’t forget about the land-lease act and all the monetary and material support the US provided (not so dissimilar to what the US is currently doing with Ukraine).
“The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended on September 20, 1945. A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $719 billion in 2021) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S.[2] In all, $31.4 billion went to the United Kingdom, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, $1.6 billion to China, and the remaining $2.6 billion to other Allies.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease
During the Civil war the west was united against the Bolsheviks, but that doesn’t exactly count because they were supporting the whites so that’s a complicated war with many factions.
During WWI Russia fought alongside the UK and France
During the Ruso-Japanese war the west didn’t intervene and the US mediated a peace deal that was biased towards Russia, Japan could’ve taken a lot more land if US allowed it.
During the Boxer Rebellion Russia fought along side the UK, US, France, Germany, Austria-Hungry, Italy and Japan against China
During the napoleonic wars Russia ended up fighting alongside the UK, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Spain and a bunch of others against France.
The Land-Lease Act of $11.3 billion to the SV was a loan right?
Unlike Germany and Japan who benefited from the more generous Marshall Plan, UK and France were in better financial standing and did not lose nearly all their able body men. Had SV not involved in those wars, the eastern bloc would have fared better today.
The Land-Lease Act of $11.3 billion to the SV was a loan right?
Unlike Germany and Japan who benefited from the more generous Marshall Plan, UK and France were in better financial standing and did not lose nearly all their able body men. Had SV not involved in those wars, the eastern bloc would have fared better today.
Well it was an interest free loan and the US didn’t even expect for it to be fully repaid, which it didn’t. The Soviet Union only repaid 25% of it’s debt by 1971, the rest was written off.
I’m not sure what you mean by that last point? If the Soviet Union didn’t get involved, then it’s very likely that they would’ve continued to sell raw materials to Nazi Germany which means they could’ve had the resources to win the war and wouldn’t have had their army tied down in the eastern front, meaning the US and UK would’ve failed to liberate France.
It’s hard to predict what a fascist Europe post Hitler would look like, for all we know they could’ve had their own Khrushchev like leader who would’ve denounced Hitler and rolled back many of his totalitarian policies, but by then Hitler could’ve done way more damage than Stalin ever did, which is saying a lot, ultimately we don’t know.
Well it was an interest free loan and the US didn’t even expect for it to be fully repaid, which it didn’t. The Soviet Union only repaid 25% of it’s debt by 1971, the rest was written off.
I’m not sure what you mean by that last point? If the Soviet Union didn’t get involved, then it’s very likely that they would’ve continued to sell raw materials to Nazi Germany which means they could’ve had the resources to win the war and wouldn’t have had their army tied down in the eastern front, meaning the US and UK would’ve failed to liberate France.
It’s hard to predict what a fascist Europe post Hitler would look like, for all we know they could’ve had their own Khrushchev like leader who would’ve denounced Hitler and rolled back many of his totalitarian policies, but by then Hitler could’ve done way more damage than Stalin ever did, which is saying a lot, ultimately we don’t know.
Thanks for the insights, grega94.
Just learned that one country is leaving Nato according to a US source but I have not found the link yet. Wonder which country is that, Turkeye? France?
Thanks for the insights, grega94.
Just learned that one country is leaving Nato according to a US source but I have not found the link yet. Wonder which country is that, Turkeye? France?
Thanks for asking the questions, as I end up learning new things as well
But a country leaving NATO? That is news to me, I’ve heard speculations that Turkeye might get kicked out of NATO if they continue to block Sweden and Finland from joining, but as far as I’m aware there is no legal framework built in to kick countries out. So if a country did actually leave NATO it would have done so on it’s own accord, and I don’t know of any country that is currently that displeased with NATO?
Because Russia feels threatened from the West again. There is a joke in Russia that united Europe attacks Russia once every 100 years. The last time was 80 years ago.
Thanks for asking the questions, as I end up learning new things as well
But a country leaving NATO? That is news to me, I’ve heard speculations that Turkeye might get kicked out of NATO if they continue to block Sweden and Finland from joining, but as far as I’m aware there is no legal framework built in to kick countries out. So if a country did actually leave NATO it would have done so on it’s own accord, and I don’t know of any country that is currently that displeased with NATO?
The process for leaving NATO takes time. It's outlined in Article 13 of the NATO treaty. A country wishing to leave sends an announcement to the US, the US circulates it to the other members, and there's a 1-year waiting period before the member nation can leave.
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