RUSSIA TROUBLED WITH COMMUNISM
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs attacked furiously President George Bush, who in his proclamation on Captive Nations Week said that “In the 20th century, the evils of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism were defeated and freedom spread around the world as new democracies emerged”. Russia said that had insulted veterans of World War Two by equating the evils of Soviet communism with Nazi fascism. Ministry was specially angry that by their statement Bush had coupled Nazi fascism and Soviet communism as “a single evil” and thus “hurt the hearts” of World War Two veterans in Russia and allied countries, including the United States. “While condemning the abuse of power and unjustified severity of the Soviet regime’s internal policies, we nevertheless can neither treat indifferently attempts to equate Communism and Nazism nor agree that they were inspired by the same ideas and aims,” the ministry said in a statement.
Actually the Bush statement is correct – there is really no big difference between Hitler Germany and Stalin Russia. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not want to rememeber, that Hitler did not launch II World War alone, but in close cooperation with Stalin via Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The first free major campaigns of the war were Hitler’s attack against Poland 01.09.1939, Stalin’s attack against Poland 17.09.1939 and Stalins agression against Finland on the same year. One third of the all War – 1939-1941 – Stalin was most devoted supporter of Hitler – without Stalin’s help there has been no chance for Hitler to conquer most of Europe. Talking on the really large sacrificies of Russian people afterwards to fight down their former ally, the way how communist and nazis started this terrible war must be also remembered.
This is true it is ineed wrong to equate facism and communism as communism was is and will be much much worse than facism ever was. So in that one regard I agree with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[...] Kray (RUS) presents an alternative view of the matter. Posted by Vilhelm Konnander Print Version ShareThis [...]
The Germans at least show some remorse over what the Nazis did. No German dares carry a poster of Hitler or his goons in public. But you’ll see Russians carrying posters of Stalin and Lenin all the time.
The Estonians should have thrown that Russian statue into the ocean.
I am in complete agreement with the position of your blog entry. It is amazing how Russians have such arrogance as to make void their part in supporting Hitler and their later even greater atrocities. The world needs to be reminded of this. But I doubt it will be made really evident to the west untill Hollywood gets involved.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is sad that national pride in Russia allows for dictators like Putin to not only rule but also to be honored as heros. The Russian psyche long ago was damaged by dictators and czars who convinced the masses that national pride was more important than truth and morality.
Laar’s pseudo-scholarly diatribe, appropriately published by mouthpiece of monopoly capital WSJ, is expectedly selective, distortive, and overstated. Overall, it smacks of foolish revisionism. The attempt to link the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact of August 1939 and the Soviet liberation of the occupied Ukrainian and Byelorussian provinces defies plausibility to the outbreak of the Second World War. Long before the non-aggression agreement was signed, the Nazis had planned the invasion of Poland. The attempt to portray Russia as an active participant in the conflict between September 1939 and June 1941 is disconnected from reality. Except for a small-scale border conflict with Finland lasting a few months, Russia did not become military involved until Operation Barbarossa. Laar says that without Stalin’s help, the Nazis could not have “conquered most of Europe.” But the only trade between Russia and Germany between 1939-41 involving war commodities consisted of oil. The Nazis, of course, received the bulk of their oil from Rumania. Laar focuses on the period from September 1939 to June 1941 when a state of normal relations existed between Russia and Germany even though the Nazis had spent the six years preceding WWII concentrating on the restoration of their military power, which was made possible by the German and international bourgeoisie. There is extensive scholarship in the United States concerning Corporate America’s deals with the Nazis and German bourgeoisie.
Laar’s sycophantic gushing over the murderous war criminal Bush makes it rather difficult for him to even think about making moral judgements. Laar and his sort are nothing but rapacious oligarchs who have unleashed a degree of devestation upon Russia and its neighbors that would have made the Nazis jealous. The economic catastrophe following the restoration of capitalism in the former soviet republics has exceeded that of the immediate post-WWII period. Nearly twenty years after the restoration of capitalism and the economic output of Russia and neighboring countries is still below the 1991 level. It’s hypocritical for Laar and other bourgeois nationalists in Estonia to posture themselves as anti-Nazis in an attempt to maintain a hint of moral consistency when slandering Russia. The fact is that that Laar and his ilk are the same ones who quite willingly betrayed their country during the Second World War and became accomplices to the most heinous crimes. For Laar to link Communists and Nazis while his nation honors Nazi collaborationists could at best be interpreted as some kind attempt at ironic comedy.