Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:davidbanner99@ wrote:It always strikes me as odd, though, that Germany killed millions…and today seems to have gained status. Russia lost 20 million fighting Hitler and still many people live in poverty.
Do you believe the generation of today owes the debts of the generation that committed those acts roughly 80 years ago? You think the German youth should be held accountable and the Russian youth should be seen as heroes? That strikes me as odd.
Maybe it has nothing to do with the sins or bravery of generations past and more to do with how each government has evolved over the last 80 years.
I agree with you that modern Russia will be very different to WW2 Russia. A little better, perhaps?
Nobody knows if Stalin agreed to appease Hitler. Hitler's decision to invade Russia totally surprised him. At that point, Russia was in the war, willing or not. For Russia it was a war of survival. Some 20 million Soviets died or starved.
Most people (including Russians) agree Stalin repressed thousands in gulags and via deportations. Even so, what Germany did was far worse. Jews rounded up in Poland (Roman Polanski was there). We all know the story. Germany lost the war and was divided by the allies.
The way I see it is this: Russia needed support and cooperation to embrace democracy in 1990 but there was a rush to push NATO alliances in the East and encircle Russia. Trump understood this well enough. All that led to gradual erosion of democracy in Russia.
Germany meantime - in my view - has caused tension in Ukraine by pushing the E.U. interests to the point of provoking ethnic conflict. As well as championing obligatory vaccination in the E.U.
I don't agree with Putin's politics but - in his place - I'd be damned angry. Even if modern day Russians go in for piercings and nightclubs I think those who fought in Betlin would have wanted a future of stability.
Theresa May recently said something spot on. Lack of democracy isn't just affecting Russia - it's dying globally.