Read and learn! Professor’s classroom is now in session.
Russia has been an enigma few generations…..you cannot understand what makes Russia tick without understanding geography and history. Once the reader can do that then Russia’s many international moves make sense. Like why Eastern Europe came under that influence of the USSR after World War Two.
But war defined and made Russia the country it is today.
Mother Russia. The largest country in world, by area, is filled with allure, amazing biodiversity, rich history, and beautiful vodka-drinking women. It is also home to about 145 million people that comprise over 150 different ethnic groups, and at least 50 newspapers publish their voice in a language other than Russian. From 1283 to the present-day, Russia has slowly, steadily expanded its initial territory centered at Moscow east, west, north, and south. In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville saw in Russia an alternative to the American democratic model that he observed firsthand in the conclusion of Volume 1 of his magnificent, two-volume book Democracy in America. Tocqueville observed of the Russians and the Americans:
“The American struggles against the natural obstacles which oppose him; the adversaries of the Russian are men; the former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its weapons and its arts: the conquests of the one are therefore gained by the ploughshare; those of the other by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common-sense of the citizens; the Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm: the principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter servitude.”
https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2018/01/18/10_battles_that_shaped_russia_263.html
Russia was forged in the fires of war and it has not forgotten that…..it also helps explain most actions that the country attempts.
Russia was at war with one country or another ever since it was first founded, right through to its incarnation as the Soviet Union, and WW2. It has learned the hard way, that nobody can be trusted.
Best wishes, Pete.
Too many people do not understand the Russian mindset these days…..it is logical if you know their history…..chuq
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
I fully consent to you. But do not forget the european nobility during the history. As long as the are cooperating with Russia the game could be played. Later this group with presence till today played his own game close to the Roman-Catholic Church. (Theory of the two swords). I think Martin Luther was the first trial bringing distance to the church. Why should they finance the Pope, when they had the power itself?
But they dont reached this goal, the needed the church to break down the revolution of the people. The nobility is present today as never seen before, and i think they try to re-build something like Europe under Charles the Great. Could Russia be a partner?
To understand Russia…read, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Tolstoy,War & Peace was not my cup of tea,but it is also there to read along with the excellent Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 200 Years Together : Free Download …
https://archive.org/details/AleksandrSolzhenitsyn200YearsTogether
A History of the Russians and the Jews.
A must for lovers of history.
I am reading “The World Was Going Our Way”…..it is about KGB ops in thh3e 3rd world…fascinating stuff…..chuq
Very Interesting !!