Posted on 02/14/2024 8:32:49 AM PST by MeganC
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century." This documentary from 2021 shows the path Russian foreign policy has followed under Putin.
[This documentary was originally released in 2021. In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.]
On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. Along with it came hope for the end of the Cold War, for independence and freedom for the former Soviet republics. But for many it also brought poverty and war. What remains of the dreams of that time? The documentary includes contemporary witnesses and politicians of the decisive years and shows what has become of the legacy of a world power.
@heartsofiron1115 1 year ago Having Russian connection, I’d say this video is quite accurate and well balanced. Thank you for making this.
@ak4good 1 year ago (edited) As someone who grew up in the USSR in an ethnically mixed family, I thought this was a very good documentary, presented in a balanced neutral voice. Covered a lot of ground in 53 min! One oversight, I feel, was to present only the Armenian side of the conflict with Azerbaijan. I've always felt very sympathetic to the Armenian people and their suffering, but know very little about the Azerbaijani point of view. Perhaps you could make more of these focusing on the different regions of the former USSR and how they're doing. I've been living in the US for the past 30 yrs and detest polarization and misinformation that exists here and everywhere else. DW Documentary is one of my favorite sources of thoughtful and entertaining content. Thank you!
@alipm4941 1 year ago Thank you so much for the inspirational and so informative documentary on the `USSR `and the independence of neighboring countries , it was well illustrated and covered , Deeply Appreciated the time and sincere Efforts !
@heyyou2104 1 year ago Pretty soon this will need a part 2
@georgehollingsworth2428 1 year ago It is worth noting that this documentary was written long before the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it should probably be watched with that in mind.
The perspective of this documentary from before the waves of wartime propaganda is rather refreshing and I thought it would give a decent perspective into current events and where the different players were prior to the events of two years ago.
Russians see the ‘liberation’ of Russia as a time of chaos. Basically the West came in and bought everything up for cheap and used a bunch of gopnik gangsters to administer the change.
Bkmrk
Freedom is chaotic. Dictatorship is orderly.
The Russians would seem to have made their choice.
Russia’s upper middle classes in the late 19th century had become agnostic, decadent and openly supported the “revolutionaries”. When the Bolsheviks came to power they were among the first to be liquidated or emigrated. Communism ultimately rotted Russian culture and resulted in the loss of Russia’s genetic best. It is no wonder that the “Soviet Union” collapsed and its aftermath is a mess despite the incredible wealth of land and natural resources. Americans should not gloat . History seems to be repeating right here.
When I was a kid during the Cold War, we hated the Soviet Union because they were atheists and oppressed Christians and Jews....
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 was a truly joyful and hopeful event.... but instead of uniting USA, Europe and Russia in Christendom and Western Civilization, the Bush family and other neoCON / leftist scum created their ‘new world order’ with Russia as a never ending boogeyman to help them institute their nefarious schemes.
Now, Russia is building churches, while America has fags butt ###### each other in our capitol building while we import millions and millions of non-Christians and we have the religion of “diversity” shoved in our faces non-stop by the neoCON globalists who are in reality working for the implementation of a one-world, borderless government to be led by the antichrist.
Trump is the only American politician standing in their way, and that is why he drives them insane. The globalists could care less if romney or hillary or mccain or obama is president. It’s all the same to them. But Trump? That can not be allowed.
I’d say the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century was the collapse of Imperial Germany. The nation was modern, tolerant, and well-run. The monarch had power, but not absolute power.
Sure, Imperial Germany had, well, imperial ambitions. But so did every nation at the time, including the United States.
Very salient observation indeed.
The Soviet Union was a flash in the pan as far as history goes—70 years, that’s it.
Ideological rigidity was one cause, that is dogged adherence to an economic model that didn’t work.
Most nations last about 250 years give or take.
We are at year 248.
Agree!
Also, in some ways more “democratic” than even the UK.
I would agree with you on this. World War One was a disaster all the way around but in particular the end of Imperial Germany via the Versailles Treaty directly led to World War Two and the subsequent forty-five year long enslavement of Eastern Europe by Russia.
Robert Massey called WW1 a ‘family squabble’ since all the royal families were related. And he was right.
If dictatorships are orderly, it is that order which stifles innovation, creativity, and ultimately, prosperity. Likewise, if freedom is chaotic, that chaos inspires individuals, giving them the freedom to innovate in ways that creates wealth for our universal benefit. There are brief periods when it would seem that the reverse is true. Certainly, some of the greatest art ever created occurred during the counter-reformation when the church imposed discipline and order with a heavy hand. Likewise, Hitler's Germany was certainly more prosperious than the poreceeeding Wiemar Republic, probably precisiely because it impose order on the preceeding chaos. China would be another example of a counrty's standared of living being raised as a result of distatorship. However, I would argue that these are examples of a temporary reversals, which did not or will not persist for very long.
I gotta agree with you there. The collapse of the USSR presented a great opportunity to permanently end the Cold War, and unite the West. It wouldn’t have been easy, given the history of the region. But France and Germany are now good friends. So it could have been done.
But instead of reaching out to Russia, the West provoked Russia. And so the opportunity was lost.
Was that provocation deliberate? Was it necessary? I have my opinions, but I’ll leave them to another thread. The main point here is that a great opportunity was lost.
Putin is not a communist.
He likes power and likes the Tzarist Russia.
Basically, he would like to be the next Tzar, the founder of the next Putinids dynasty.
That how one must read his worlds. He does not lament the end of communism, but the disintegration of an empire.
And since he took over Russia, he is trying to reestablish such an empire. (See wars in Chechnya, Georgia and Ukraine, among others.)
Imperial Germany facilitated Lenin’s rise in Russia.
The left LOVED them some Russia when it was Communist.
I would agree with this. Putin is likely not a communist but he is definitely a New Soviet Man in terms of his view of the world and Russia’s place as dominating it.
> Imperial Germany facilitated Lenin’s rise in Russia. <
Yes, indeed. It was a classic case of not thinking things through. Helping Lenin get back to Russia hastened the collapse of the tsar. And since the tsar was Germany’s enemy, it seemed like a good move.
What the Germans didn’t care to realize was that Lenin’s political philosophy was one of universal revolution. Lenin was much worse than the tsar.
As a desperate means to end the war in their favor not as a means to establish communism somewhere as you seem to imply.
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