I left because a) my visa ran out, and b) I didn't like the restrictions there anyway. Only place as a traveler that I have ever had to register with the police when I stayed in town. Only place where I have ever had a travel companion refused permission to leave a country- because she was Soviet block and her visa only allowed her to leave the country one time, and she had mistakenly throught she had permission to leave- come back and leave again. The U.S. is far from perfect- do you think modern Russia is?
I realize that there is a language issue here- and by the way your English is very good, but I think sometimes I could mistake what you are trying to say. Are you saying that Modern Russia is not as good- i.e. not as perfect as the U.S.S.R.? If I am correct- what is it that you approved of about the U.S.S.R.?
I was quite right saying that modern Russia is not so good as in times of USSR .A lot of good things lost . Changed "Enviroment " people are least friendly for each other .
In September 20 of 2001 in Velikoloozhskom district of Pskov region, was raised from the swamp Soviet tank T-70. [video=youtube;tuKczjmMpfQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuKczjmMpfQ[/video]
Elaborate please. So people were friendlier in the USSR than they are now? Why do you think that is? Is that the only thing that you preferred about the old USSR?
Wow! Hold it! A bit of history, perhaps: To understand what Ukraine is, how it came about and what is going on there now one has to start from the very beginning. I will not bore you with fine details, but will give you a brief breakdown: since the death of Yaroslav the Wise Grand Duke of Kiev Russia was divided between his numerous sons marking the beginning of the demise of Kiev as the political centre of Russia. Lots of squabbles followed which over a period of time resulted in Russia losing Tmutaracan (part of modern day Crimea) and becoming an easy target for Mongols. While Mongols regularly devastated largely open lands of Southern Rus, its forested regions managed to escape the same fate and eventually unite first around Vladimir and then around a new political centre Moscow. But because Kiev was still a RELIGIOUSE centre of Russia, the lands around it were called Great Russia, while Vladimir and Moscow Little Russia (Malorussia). And only since 1299 (when Metropolit Maxim moved religious centre from Kiev to a safer residence first in Vladimir, then in Moscow) the titles Great Russia and Little Russia were swapped. It is interesting to note that the first mention of Little Russia (Malorussia) was made in the 14-th century Byzantium with reference to Galitsko-Volyn (modern day West-Ukraine). In 1349 Polish King Kasimir 3 invaded and captured Galitsky Rus. It became part of Rzeczpospolita (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) but kept its name Galitska Rus until the 16-th century. And so, Galitcia, Volyn and Bukovina were removed from under the influence of their mother-culture and over a period of few hundred years were under a heavy influence of Polish, Germanic, Romanian, Hungarian cultures and religion. Poles always referred to their Russian colonies as ukraina periphery. But Poland itself became divided between Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russian Empire. 19-th century saw a rise in ethnic nationalism throughout Europe. The first ukrainians were highly educated (intellectual elite) Poles, Russians and Ruthenians that were appalled by the treatment of local peasantry by their masters. In protest they associated themselves with the underdog by promoting peasant dialects and wearing peasant clothes They began to call themselves ukrainophiles and were trying to better the lives of poor by educating them, which required they systematise local dialects The idea of helping the oppressed classes was very popular among the intelligentsia. Some of them came to believe that South-Western Russians would have better chance developing themselves if they will be recognised as a separate cultural entity. After the defeat of the Polish uprising of 1863 a large number of Polish and Ruthenian intellectuals from the south-western provinces of Russia ran to Austrian Galitchina. Another defeat caused such hatred for everything Russian, that small group of marginal literary-political separatists ukrainophiles denounced their Ruthenian ethnicity and started calling themselves ukrainians taking course on ethnic separatism. Meanwhile, Polish/Austrian policymakers used ukrainophile intelligencia to forward their own geopolitical plans. Unable to push Russian Empire off geopolitical chessboard they embarked on weakening Russia by breaking it up from within. In 1892 (№ 16, the newspaper of the Lviv Polish gentry «Przeglad» stated on its pages: "If a Malorussian sentiment of the people there is a strong hatred for Russia, then there is hope that in future, with the further development of these feelings it will be possible to play Malorussian trump card against Russia ... We, Poles, should not fear such an evolution, on the contrary, we would be making a mistake if we would bar its way and voluntarily refuse an ally in the fight against Russia. " Russian Empire became flooded with literature that was promoting separatism in Galitchina and Malorussia. Russian ministers responded with a knee-jerk reaction: all literature that originated in Polish provinces and was written in Galitcian and Malorussian dialects was banned! Bad move. It infuriated Malorussian ukrainophiles and they gave their support to the idea of creating a separate ethnos ukrainians, but with the difference: their ukrainians were not meant to be anti-Russian, just separate, thats all Malorussian ukrainophiles (or Ukrainian nationalists) also started to collect and systematise Malorussian dialects in order to make a separate language ukrainian. And so it happened that by the start of the 20-th century the two schools of ukrainian nationalists, Western and Malorussian were born: the first campaigned for ethnic separation from Russian ethnos promoting anti-Russian sentiment, while the second wanted just broader cultural recognition. Both were working on a linguistic project creation of a new uniform language out of multitude of regional dialects. We can only guess as to the result of it if not for an October revolution. Bolsheviks for their reasons took on board the idea of dismemberment of Russia. In 1921-1922 a new republic -- Ukraine, was created out of Russian regions and all Russians born on those territories were written into official census as Ukrainians. New ethnicity needed a new language. Bolsheviks needed new nation to be as far removed from its Russian roots as possible and for that purpose Malorussian school of Ukrainian nationalism was pushed aside and Galitchian school (and personally Grushevsky) was given full support by Stalin. The slogan of the day was Away from Moscow! Ukrainian language created by Grushevsky out of Galitchian dialects and Polish language was alien to Malorussia and prompted fierce criticism from Malorussian Ukrainian nationalists. Nechuy-Levytsky was writing: Grushevsky is mocking the language of the Ukrainian Writers All these countless Polish words shoved in from Galitchian books at random, all these Galichian strange words, all of these Galichian grammar, all of it is like guns and cannons with which the newspaper writers keep the country's broad audience off Ukrainian Literature Nechuy-Levytsky I.S. False mirror of ukrainian language. K. 1912 Gorlenko: «What is passing now for malorussian language doesnt look like anything. Of course, these gentlemen (Grushevsky & C0) are not to blame for the fact that there are no words for abstract and new concepts, but they are guilty of taking upon themselves a creation of a language while being deeply talentless. I get Poltavsky «Our Region» and almost can not read it!» Doroshkevich A. Estet and landlord / / Life and revolution. 1925. Number 11. - P.66. Y. Shevelev: «Ukrainization actually relied only on the Ukrainian Communist intelligentsia, very thin layer of society. Working and middle classes were at best indifferent. I do not have any information about any enthusiasm among the peasants ». Little wonder Stalin methods were needed to force Ukrainians to learn their native language. But, back to 1900-s... Following the policy of support for anti-Russian ukrainophiles Austro-Hungarians oppressed russophiles of Galitchina, and by the start of WW1 built the first concentration camps in Europe Terezin and Tallergoph specifically for Orthodox, Russians, Ruthenians and rusophiles. Locals were encouraged to give away anyone Russian or pro-Russian. Hundreds of thousands were murdered; many more fled leaving Galitchina to anti-Russian ukrainophiles and their ideas. In 1922 Poland took over Galitchina. And while Poles continued encouraging anti-Russian sentiment in locals they no longer relied on Ukrainians in a standoff with now the Soviet Union. Thus Polish attitude and treatment of their Ukrainians: by 1939 in the whole of what is now Western Ukraine there were only about 300 elementary schools, needless to say Ukrainian language was not part of high education; there were restrictions on the number of Ukrainians living in Lviv: 7.8% of Lviv population were Ukrainians mainly employed as servants and manual labourers (by comparison in 1989 population of the city was 79.1% Ukrainian). Ukrainians were regarded by Poles as peasants and often referred to as "budlo" in the sense of working animals. This treatment fuelled Ukrainian nationalism to epic proportions, and there is nothing more hideous then yesterday's slave turned master, hence, in 1941 Ukrainian nationalists sided with Hitler and started cleansing "their land" of all non-Ukrainians and those Ukrainians who disagreed with them. Galitchian nationalists under German protection burned Belorussian and Slovak villages (with their inhabitants), took part in suppression of Warsaw uprising, committed mass murder of Kievans in Baby Yar, mass murder of Jews in Lviv, genocide of Poles in Volyn, etc. After the war many of them ended up in US, Canada and Western Germany shaping up the so called Ukrainian Diaspora; their hatred for Russia and the Soviet Union became useful for the purpose of the Cold War. Meanwhile, in the USSR government went to considerable length to tone down the crimes committed by Galitchian nationalists. Propaganda machine was working overtime promoting feelings of brotherhood between West-Ukrainians and East-Ukrainians, and at the same time feeding ideas of ethnic and cultural separatism from anything Russian the basis of Galitchian nationalism! While science and industry were left alone and continued developing in Russian (East-Ukrainian) sphere, ideology, culture, media were given to Galitchian intelligencia that promoted Ukrainian nationalism. That is why in 1992 Ukraine ended up in Galitchian ideological field. Without anti-Russian Galitchian nationalism Ukraine is just Southern Russia. You take Galitchina out of Ukraine and it will become what it always was a Russian province, because the sole meaning of the existence of Ukraine is to be anti-Russian. And now we have it: Ruthenians hate Galitchians and a year ago (or two years ago? the time fly...) declared their independence from Ukraine... Crimea consideres itself under temporary Ukrainian occupation (hates Galitchians)... East of Ukraine wants reunification with Russia (hates Galitchians)... Center wants closer economic ties with Russia (don't hate Galitchians, but don't want them nearby either)... West-Ukraine (three districts, including Galitchina) hate Russia, hate the rest of Ukraine, but don't want to separate either because are concerned Poland and Romania will absorb them...
May be sometime i will make a topic with headline "Why Russians want back in the USSR" . But this topic only about The Unknown War.
Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out They leave the West behind And Moscow girls make me sing and shout That Georgia's always on my my my my my my my my my mind Oh, come on Hu hey hu, hey, ah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm back in the USSR You don't know how lucky you are, boys Back in the USSR
The rise of the Soviet T-34 tanks from swamp. [video=youtube;uaiCMpS0Lco]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaiCMpS0Lco[/video]
Artifacts of the Second World War. [video=youtube;n4Mu_ci6fuY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Mu_ci6fuY[/video]
The Last Battle of the Unknown War [video=youtube;XTzLM6lInK0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTzLM6lInK0[/video]
"Had the Germans come east as liberators, they probably would have won the war in the east." Taxcutter agrees 100%
