> What a crock! Someone was receiving the abortions!
I’m just repeating what was told to me. And the orphanages, of which there are many (there are at least 6 in St. Petersburg alone), ARE full. I was there and saw it myself.
Among the reasons for the decline in Russia’s population are the following.
. The famine of 1921-22, whereby 5 million Russians died. The famine was caused mostly by the Bolshevik disruption of agriculture.
. WWII, which reduced the Russian population by at least 10 million. Almost 3 million died as a result of the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). At least another million Russians died in the battle for Stalingrad (Volgograd).
. Stalin’s purges during the 30s and 40s, whereby over 20 million Russians were murdered en masse.
. Emigration: millions of Jews and millions more of persecuted Christians over the last 50 years.
. Birth Control
. Abortion
I don’t know where abortion ranks as a reducer of Russia’s population, but given the other statistics, I don’t think it’s a first order, or even a second order, cause.
> The idea that Russian prostitutes are more moral than
> prostitutes in other countries is touching, but
> laughable.
I was not comparing the morality of Russian prostitutes to prostitues in other countries. I was comparing the morality of Russian prostitutes to that of American politicians.
The ethnic Russians aren't declining because of the Battle of Stalingrad, or Stalin's purges, or because of Communism, which has been gone almost 20 years now. They're dying off because - by the Russian government's own figures - in the time it takes three Russians to be born, four die. That's happening right now, not back in the early-middle 20th Century.
Medvedev and Putin wish to pretend that Russia is still a great power while Russia dies. Whatever they build short term will be swept away by the self-extinction of their own people, and they're doing nothing to stop that.
I take no joy in the Russian people's destruction, because I don't hate them, unlike some people on Free Republic. If it were in my power to stop it I certainly would, but I won't deny the facts.
>. The famine of 1921-22, whereby 5 million Russians died. The famine was caused mostly by the Bolshevik disruption of agriculture.<
Famine of 1921-1922 was caused mostly by total destruction of economy in Russia due to Civil War and occupation and robbing by Western countries.
>. WWII, which reduced the Russian population by at least 10 million. Almost 3 million died as a result of the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). At least another million Russians died in the battle for Stalingrad (Volgograd).<
Military losses of USSR in WWII were 8,5 millions, 20 millions civilians were killed under German occupation.
>. Stalin’s purges during the 30s and 40s, whereby over 20 million Russians were murdered en masse.<
This theory is not supported by reliable sources. Population would not support so bloody regime in WWII. Before WWI population in Russia was about 150 millions, in 1940 it was 180 millions. USSR’s population in 1987 was 270 millions. AFAIK, population’s dynamic in Russia/USSR in XX century is quite comparable to that in European countries
>. Emigration: millions of Jews and millions more of persecuted Christians over the last 50 years.<
Jews emigrated mostly for economic reasons, for life in Russia was not all sugar and honey, while Jews enjoyed opportunity of emigration to USA. Persecution of Christians would be too strong expression, for many Communists were believers. Persecution of Orthodox Church and priests - yes, it has place during 2 decades after Bolshevik’s revolution, for they considered them as ideological rivals. Orthodox Church was destroyed by revolutionary Bolsheviks-internationalists, who were immigrants and not Russians by ethnicity. They were purged in 1930th by Stalin as trotskistes and agents of foreign conspiracy. During WWII attitude of Soviet government to Russian Orthodox Church became sufficiently more positive. Stalin in 1942 helped to organize gathering of Church hierarchs for election of patriarch. He considered Bolshevik’s atheistic books as trash. My grandma and her sister believed in God, my parents were baptized, sough Soviet people in general were not believers. Many of those who are atheists in Russia have dislike to sexual perverts so much revered in Western countries, and consider most commandments of Christ as best suited for people.