Posted on 08/24/2022 3:42:45 AM PDT by FarCenter
Surrounded by dozens of men in chainmail and helmets playing dead in a field, an impersonator of mediaeval Russian prince Alexander Nevsky raises his sword and roars.
"This land is Russian, always has been, and always will be!"
It was on this spot near Lake Peipus on Russia's border with Estonia that eight centuries ago Nevsky repelled a force of Teutonic Knights who wanted to convert Russia to Catholicism.
Known as the Battle of the Ice because it was fought largely on the frozen lake, the clash in April 1242 is celebrated as a great victory against efforts to turn Russia away from Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
For the hundreds of history enthusiasts re-enacting the battle on a recent August day, that victory is especially resonant today, as Russian forces wage an offensive in Ukraine framed by the Kremlin as part of an enduring conflict with the West.
"We are fighting against Europe just like our ancestors did," says Oleg Yakontov, a 56-year-old retired paratrooper, holding a sword and shield as sweat drips off his face.
Historical re-enactments are a popular pastime in Russia, whether of mediaeval battles, Napoleonic-era clashes or the fierce fighting of World War II.
Drawing parallels with that history -- and with President Vladimir Putin as a kind of successor to figures like Nevsky -- is part of the messaging put forward by the Kremlin and Russian state media in support of Moscow's campaign in Ukraine.
"To me, Nevsky symbolises the defence of the Motherland and victory," says 23-year-old Vladislav Vasilyev, still out of breath after taking part in the re-enactment.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
Did they reenact the part where he accepted the overlordship of the Mongols?
Can’t blame the Russians for not wanting to be swallowed-up into a one-world, EU and American based system; but they need to realize that the real menace is ideological, rather than ethnic and geographical.
Eisenstein was unfair to the Teutons. Their music sounded horrible, and they barely fought back.
So he combats one horrible ideology with a worse one. Truth is, I don’t think Ukraine will be happy as part of the EU world of homogenized dog sh!t, but it’s what they want for now. You can talk them out of it, they can learn the hard way how much it sucks, but preventing them by force and mass murder is wrong.
The 1938 film is well worth watching. I studied it in school as an example of superb film-making.
Prokofiev’s film score is likewise outstanding. I listen to it often.
So long as the Russians paid tribute, the Mongols had little interest in changing Russian religion and culture.
The Teutonic Knights, on the other hand, wanted to convert them to Catholicism, resulting in possible eternal damnation.
Truth is, I don’t think Ukraine will be happy as part of the EU world of homogenized dog sh!t, but it’s what they want for now. You can talk them out of it, they can learn the hard way how much it sucks, but preventing them by force and mass murder is wrong.
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1. Once Ukraine joins the one-world system, it won’t be able to vote itself out. It’ll be another California.
2. Russia is fighting to keep a hostile power off its border, just as we would have done if Mexico had joined the Warsaw Pact during the cold war era. That’s an ordinary war, not “mass murder”. And Zelensky is complicit in the killing by demanding a total victory.
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