Very good points beth. Even if the baltic countries are now in NATO and Finland also wrote somekind of contract with them i believe small countries are just pawns to the giant countries (USA&Russia) if the things get really heated. Just remember Chechoslovakia, Poland, Baltic countries and Finland some 75 yrs ago......I really hope it dont get that far this time. USA and all the big NATO countries can help but if the situation goes to the extreme and they have to sacrifice something who knows.....As i said before the situation is not really bad yet but Im still wondering why somebody can be indifferent towards Putin....unbelieveable!
Chickens are coming home to roost. The tragic undermining and destruction of the Soviet Union, support of Israel, support and training of Bin Laden and his cronies, support of ISIS and the Syrian opposition, **** stirring with the fascists in Kiev and innumerable crimes in Latin America and throughout the world. It was only a matter of time before the perfect storm arrived and now it has they are still trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Of course, the ex-soviet countries are all desperate to reform under the hammer and sickle, and the East Germans are demanding that the Berlin wall be rebuilt. Glad to see you've still got your sense of humour, Imaz!
Putin looks good on a horse⦠surely that's enough to let him host a game of football It takes very little today to influence the masses in this country⦠why? we think we are so very clever with out technologies. The truth is we talk too much about crap and haven't got the balls to do anything about it. The culture is that just of words and millions would be frozen to the spot if a conflict hit our shores. We are ants in individual nests of one and i doubt could agree anything much with your immediate neighbour and if you did you would both find yourself moaning about the same thing ⦠Just words please log in to view this image
There's more nostalgia for the DDR by those who grew up there than you might imagine. As for the Soviet Union the fall in living standards and life expetency of the working class has been been significant since the arrival of the keptocrats (Putin included). Baltic states are of course a case apart due to their virulant russophobia and history of collaboration in the Holocaust. No sense of humour, the dissolution of the USSR was certainly a tragedy for tens of millions.
Putin and his mates are kleptocrats alright. I suspect those who mourn the death of the Soviet Bloc are mostly Russian, having lost their empire.
Soviet Bloc? What is that, do you mean Comecon or the Warsaw Pact? Face facts, if it wasn't for the heroic sacrifices of the people of the Soviet Union and the Red Army you'ld probably be speaking German and be a Nazi by now. Of course ever more are becoming the latter but that's a by product of feral capitalism. Gorbachev & Yeltsin, traitors the both: [video=youtube;22lPAQ3MTcI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22lPAQ3MTcI[/video]
Soviet bloc, Eastern bloc, call it what you want. Enslaved countries such as Poland, East Germany and the Czech Republic that are now healthy democracies. Russia did not come to Western Europe's aid during WW2. Hitler made the mistake of making war on two fronts. Russia, nonaggression pact partners with the Nazis, were dragged in kicking and screaming.
After the German/Soviet non-aggression pact over Poland was broken and war commenced on the Eastern Front, my Dad was involved with the training of Russian tank crews at Bovingdon Camp, Dorset and afterwards they were then shipped back to Russia with British tanks (not the best) over the northern sea route so they could fight on that front. I remember Dad saying the Russian tank crews were great guys to work with and socialize with, but they were always extremely cognisant of the accompanying political Commisars who were always around to make sure the men didn't fall out of line or say something they were not meant to.
Agreed the Russians won WW2 and since then have been portrayed by the USA and UK as those sneaky **** To the day we are fed a line of mafia corruption or online beauties . It's a cold place and people get sent to Siberia They drive rubbish cars and spend all their money on tanks and missiles It's the culture in this country that is warped to **** Just think if SWP was Russian? Hughes is a nazi Bosingwa is North Korean Adel is Taliban Open your minds we are the sick ****s of the world . Owe it to yourself to get better
I think what a lot of contributors on here are missing is the here is the sanctions that are being imposed on Russia are really beginning to bite and, in time will hit home with serious financial implications. Putin will push it to the limit but he's not that stupid, he'll posture and threaten, show the odd bit of military 'superiority' but will not go beyond that. It's the classic 'Cold War' scenario being re-enacted to boost his vanity but there would be no winners if he went further...
We're regressing, we have learned nothing. Fighting about territory, linguistic groups, inter and intra faith arcane technicalities. It's like the 16th century. Beheading and crucifixion back in vogue. As long as we think "I am British/ Lativian/Israeli" or "I am Muslim (Sunni/Shia)/Christian (Catholic/Mormon....)/ Buddhist (Big Wheel/Small Wheel)" , "I am capitalist/ socialist/ nationalist" before "I am human" we will always be stuck in this cycle of ignorance and violence. We are not ants. Ants are much better than us. But thankfully the majority of us are still decent, if passive.
Thanks guys, glad you liked it and found it was thought provoking. On the Russian ww2 thing. They did give huge sacrifice in what they call the great patriotic war in regards to the number of lives lost. Couple of things that need to be remembered about that though. Firstly, the average infantryman was told that when the charge was called, if they didn't get up and join the attack, they would be shot on the spot by their own officers. (In the first big counter attack at Stalingrad it is known to have happened and strongly suspected in many of the early engagements.) You've only got to shoot a few to get the message to the rest. Hardly the accepted way for a heroic army to behave. (I just feel sorry for the rank and file having to live with double the fear. But fear is how Stalin's army operated as did Hitler's.) Secondly, the Russians had huge assistance from Hitler himself as it is widely known he was starting to go mad from syphilis. Had he listened to his general staff, the outcome in the east would have been much different. The Russians never faced the Germans when they were at their most effective. One final point, is that the number of dead on both sides of the eastern front was massively swelled by the fact that both sides had a scorched earth policy that meant there was little time for taking prisoners. Something that both side did as a matter of course anyway. Now for the Russians winning the war. It could be argued that without Britain's continuance to resist, the number if Germans that would have been available to fight in the east would have been much greater. It's impossible to know what the outcomes would have been as history is what it is. But for any of the major allies to say they won the war on their own is just wrong.
Its the same with every Country Goldie. Self interest and preservation is the sole objective when any conflict emerges. The US didn't join until she herself was attacked. The UK and France because they themselves were threatened. Had the Germans tried to initially expand east instead of west, the western powers wouldn't have come to Russia's aid either unless their own interests were directly under threat.
