One of the sure signs of dictatorship is an attempt to re-write history. It loves like the soviets Russia is again moving in that direction:
Mr Shoigu also issued a veiled threat to leaders in eastern and central Europe. Most of them regard the advance of Soviet forces into German- occupied Europe as a second occupation, and Estonia sparked outrage in Russia a few years ago when it relocated a statue of a Soviet soldier from the centre of the capital, Tallinn, an event not lost on Mr Shoigu.
“Our parliament should pass a law that would envisage liability for the denial of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War],” the minister said.
“The presidents of several countries who deny this would not be able to come to our country and remain unpunished, and the mayors of several towns would think twice before they dismantle monuments to Soviet warriors.”
Some clarification is necessary here. There is no question that the Soviets did defeat the Nazi’s and pushed them back to Berlin etc, the problem here is the inconvenient fact that the advancing army replaced one conquering dictatorship with another that oppressed them for decades.
Mr Shoigu’s suggestion, which has popular support in the Russian parliament, has added to concerns that Russia is promoting a version of history that has changed little since it emerged from the Stalinist propaganda machine as a means of bolstering support for Mr Putin and his government.
Russia inferiority complex is centuries old and it looks like it hasn’t gotten over it yet. The Obama retreat in foreign policy is nasty sign to eastern Europe that we aren’t going to be helping. It’s still early and this can change just like Iraq but when you retreat someone else advances. If we make a power vacuum someone else is going to step into it.
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