Punainen terrori/Bolshevikkien ja kommunistien rikokset. Keskustelu historiasta.
- Viestiketjun aloittaja Maidan
- Aloitus PVM
Maidan
Respected Leader
Minusta näiden ihmisten kohtalo ei eroa millään Hitlerin keskitysleirista. En muita rakensivatko keskitysleirin uhrit Saksassa itse omat parakit, mutta näiden Trofimovkan 400 liettualaisten lapsineen piti rakentaa kaikki itse. Keripukki oli kaikilla, se on sairaus jolloin hampaan murenevat kivutta ja ikeneet vuotavat verta, mutta se oli yksi kärsimys muiden joukossa. Niin, ja perille ei päässyt kovinkaan moni, suurin osa kuoli matkalla.
Viimeksi muokattu:
Erkki
Ylipäällikkö
Kekkosallergiaa tunnustan olevan itsellänikin, mutta ei kai jollekin avattarelle voi kovinkaan kummoista merkitystä antaa. En minullakaan ole mitään tekemistä runonlaulajien kanssa enkä vielä noin valkoparta vanha ukki, kuin kuvatuksessani oleva Petri Shemeikka.Chigeenaa taas kyrsii avattareni, vaikka sitä ei ehkä pitäisi tulkita niin kirjaimellisesti. Rankka kekkosallergia on kroonistunut ajan myötä ja se kiehuttaa välillä. Onko avattareni provokatiivinen? Onhan se ja tarkoin juuri sitä. Joita kuita voi kiehuttaa Chigeenan avattaren vanha ukonkäivänä. Minua ei vanhat kuvat juurikaan kiehuttele, kyllä tahtoo ajatukset askarrella tässä päivässä, KOSKA AMMOISIA EI KANNATA MÄREHTIÄ.
Honcho
SMLNKO M/83
Minusta näiden ihmisten kohtalo ei eroa millään Hitlerin keskitysleirista. En muita rakensivatko keskitysleirin uhrit Saksassa itse omat parakit, mutta näiden Trofimovkan 400 liettualaisten lapsineen piti rakentaa kaikki itse. Keripukki oli kaikilla, se on sairaus jolloin hampaan murenevat kivutta ja ikeneet vuotavat verta, mutta se oli yksi kärsimys muiden joukossa. Niin, ja perille ei päässyt kovinkaan moni, suurin osa kuoli matkalla.
Keskitysleiri tuli itselläkin mieleen. Ja sitähän nuo olivat, osaa voi pitää ihan natsityylisenä tuhoamisleirinä, vaikka Neuvostoliitossa annettiinkin pakkotyön, kroonisen aliravitsemuksen ja tautien usein "hoitaa homma" natsien aktiivisen tappamistehtaan sijaan.
Edit: Oma avattareni on omakuva. Olen nimittäin oikeastikin irtonainen, vihreä possun pää joka tykkää pitää SA-INT barettia päässä. Ette varmaan olis arvanneet...
STI_Tactical9mm
Kenraali
Lyhykäisesti Eestin historiaa. 
http://www.communistcrimes.org/en/Database/Estonia/Estonia-Communist-Era
Estonia: Communist Era
The geopolitical factor in Estonian history
Estonia’s favourable location on the trading routes between the East and the West has played a key role in shaping its history. Since the 13th century, various regional powers have competed over the control of the Estonian territory and the ports of the Eastern Baltic often with devastating effects to the local population.[1] Under the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Russia gained control over Swedish Estonian and Livonian provinces.[2] For the indigenous population, the shift in power was rather distant, as the local German nobility retained its political, economic and social control over the region.[3] The 19th century brought extensive changes for Estonia’s native population as increased educational and social opportunities fostered the formation of Estonian intelligentsia and political elite. Gradually, politics and reform superseded culture as the focus of discourse amongst Estonians, leading to the natives’ social empowerment.[4]
Towards a sovereign state, 1900-1917
At the beginning of the 20th century, Estonia was a country with two thirds of its population being engaged in agriculture. Since 60 per cent of the rural population did not own any land,[5] the shortage was the most urgent problem for the Estonian society of the period. As most of the land was owned by the small Baltic German nobility, the land issue strongly related to Estonian nationalism. Besides the socio-economic inequalities, the Baltic German nobility possessed the monopoly of power in the local politics, denying the natives the right to speak for themselves in their shared home-lands.
The 1905 revolution was the catalyst for change. Like in other parts of the Russian Empire, the killing of the peaceful protesters in St. Petersburg on 22 January 1905 led to sympathy strikes in Estonia. Labour unrest, mostly initiated by socialists, spread throughout Estonia.[6] The Russian army brutally suppressed the rebellions. The bloodiest event of the 1905 revolution took place on 29 October 1905 when the troops opened fire at peaceful protesters in a street market in Tallinn, killing 94 and injuring over 200 people.[7] As a result of punitive actions about 300 people in the rural areas were killed and about another 600 received corporal punishment.[8]
The body convened in Tartu but from the beginning it was divided between reformers and radical revolutionaries.[9] The congress demanded democratic elections, national autonomy, land reform, abolition of censorship, the end of Russification policies, native-language schooling and the abolition of the privileges of the local nobility.[10] However, the tsarist authorities, having regained their confidence, took resolute measures to suppress the revolutionary movement by military force. Many Estonian politicians, both socialists and nationalists, were either arrested or forced to flee the country.[11] Despite the failure, the 1905 Revolution was an important landmark in the development of the Estonian nation. For the first time ever broad sections of the population became involved in the discussion of political and social issues.[12]
The tsarist regime in Estonia, similarly to other territories of the Russian Empire, ceased to exist after the 1917 February Revolution. This provided the Estonian politicians an opportunity to achieve national autonomy, which had so far seemed unreachable. After intense lobbying by Estonian national leaders and a well-organised protest-march by some 40,000 Estonians in Petrograd, on 30 March the Russian provisional government agreed to unify the ethnographical distribution of Estonians of Estonian and Livonian Governates into a single autonomous unit. For the first time, an ethnic Estonian, Jaan Poska, was placed in charge of his country as the commissar of the Governorate of Estonia.[13]
The Bolshevik coup, 1917
On November 7 1917, an armed insurgency in the Bolshevik-dominated Petrograd soviet overthrew the Russian provisional government. In Tallinn, the Bolsheviks seized power on 8 November, as soon as they had news of the success of the revolution in Petrograd. Viktor Kingisepp, the leader of Estonian Bolsheviks, usurped power from the Governorate’s Commissar Jaan Poska.[14] In response to the coup, the Estonian Provisional Assembly declared itself the supreme authority in Estonia, but was dissolved by the Bolsheviks only a day later.[15] Elections to Russia’s Constituent Assembly in November 1917 showed strong support for the Bolsheviks in Estonia with 40 per cent of voters supporting the Bolshevik Party.[16] Support for the Bolsheviks was significantly higher in Estonia than in the now-defunct Russian Empire as a whole where they received one quarter of all votes but more or less comparable to that in Petrograd and Moscow. The secret of their success was that they were well versed in all basic concepts of propaganda, since they were prepared at least superficially, to provide simple solutions to the complex collective problems and necessities of the era.
The Bolsheviks soon abolished private large-scale land ownership by nationalisation.[17] On 7 November 1917, The Council of People’s commissars issued the Decree on Land, which stipulated “the abolition of private ownership of land without compensation and the transfer of all privately owned land to the agricultural committees for redistribution”.[18] In reality this equalled to the takeover of the property of the land-owning gentry and wealthier peasants. Although the seizure of households in Estonia took place in a peaceful manner, on 28 January 1918 the Estonian Bolsheviks arrested 500 members of the local nobility and deported them to Siberia, as a potentially trouble-making group.[19] This was one of the earliest cases of forced internal migration in Soviet Russia, which later became a usual practice for the communist regime.
The Declaration of Independence and the German occupation, 1918
In order to accelerate the progress of the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations, Germany and its allies resumed hostilities on February 18, 1918 after a two-month ceasefire. The offensive of the German imperial army in mainland Estonia began on February 19 and by March 3rd, when the Bolshevik delegation in Brest-Litovsk agreed to sign the peace agreement Estonia was entirely under the control of German forces.[20] The retreat of the Bolsheviks (from Estonia), gave Estonian nationalist politicians the opportunity to declare the country’s independence. A new provisional government was created on February 24, 1918, and was headed by Konstantin Päts. This step was not recognized by Imperial Germany, whose troops moved into Tallinn the next day.[21]
Estonia’s occupation by Imperial Germany in February 1918 triggered an outbreak of violence. The people who had violated private property laws during the Bolshevik dictatorship were usually singled out by the Baltic German gentry and local residents wishing to punish them, as well as those who were suspected of sympathising with the “Reds“.[22] According to Soviet historian Siilivask 5,000 people were arrested in Estonia during the German occupation and approximately 400 of them were executed.[23] The nine-month German occupation of Estonia (February 1918 – November 1918) further deteriorated the economic and social situation of the population since Estonia suffered plundering of all resources necessary for waging war. According to later Estonian calculations, the damage caused by Germany reached an estimated 250 million gold roubles, and it was planned to reclaim the sum from the German government.[24]
The Struggle for Self-determination: Estonian War of Independence, 1918-1920
The Soviet government revoked the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty on November 13 and ordered the Red Army to prepare to advance westward so as to exploit the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of the German forces.[25] The Baltic region was targeted alongside Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. The Red Army’s first attempt to invade Estonia was repelled by the Germans at Narva on November 22 but after the collapse of Germany in the World War it was apparent that the German army was about to leave Estonia.[26] On November 14, the representative of the German administration handed over power to the national Provisional Government of Estonia, a “rainbow coalition” in the modern sense, as it combined right-wing parties with socialists.[27]
The recently-formed national government was initially unable to resist the Red Army. On November 28 the Red Army units seized Narva.[28] Estonian historiography considers this the beginning of the War of Independence. The next day, November 29, 1918, the Bolsheviks proclaimed the Workers’ Commune of Estonia in Narva[29] a Soviet republic. Since the Red Army was responsible for military planning, the primary task of Estonia’s Bolshevik government was the reinforcement of the regime in the territories from which the Red Army had driven out the Estonian national forces. According to the Cheka model, commissions for combating counterrevolution and politicized police departments were set up in major towns and counties seized by the Red Army. The situation in the rear of the Red Army in December 1918 and January 1919 can be aptly described as “comissarocracy”, since anyone’s fate after arrest depended on the discretion of the local commissar combating counterrevolution. A total of 2,500 people were arrested by the commissions for combating counterrevolution in the Bolshevik-controlled territory in December 1918 and January 1919. Between 650 and 700 were killed.[30] The Estonian Bolshevik government, which had evacuated to Russia in January, was disbanded on June 5[31] since it had lost its use after the Red Army had been driven out of Estonia’s territory. While the Red Army was repelled from Estonia in the winter of 1919, the violence did not end. The number of people that were killed by the Estonian authorities’ repressions during the War of Independence could be estimated at up to 800.[32]
The violence abated with the strengthening of the state authority and the coming to power of a democratically elected representative body in April 1919. Its vigorous moves towards solving the agrarian problem contributed to the stabilisation of the Estonian society. In late 1919, Estonia introduced one of the most sweeping land reforms in post-World War Eastern Europe as the estates of Baltic nobility were expropriated and redistributed among the peasants.[33] After a successful defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies against the continuous offensives of the Red Army, the Treaty of Tartu was signed between Estonia and Russian SFSR on February 2 1920, ending the Estonian War of Independence. Soviet Russia gave an unconditional recognition to the independence of Estonia and pledged to renounce all the claims to its territory.[34]
The period of liberal democracy, 1920-1934
In order to build a sovereign statehood, Estonia went through many political, economic and social reforms. The most important event in Estonian political life was the adoption of the first constitution in 1920, which established a parliamentary form of government. The Estonian political system up to 1934 could be characterised by a strong legislature, a weak executive power and a proportional representation system in the parliament. The multiparty coalitions proved to be very short-lived, as between 1920 and 1934, Estonia had 21 governments.[35] The Estonian political arena was completely dominated by the right and centre parties.[36] The Social Democrats and the underground Communist Party had support in the urban areas,[37] but as a whole, they lacked the strong social base in an overwhelmingly agrarian Estonia where conservative parties were focussed on resolving agrarian issues.
The Era of Silence, 1934-1939
As global markets crashed in 1929, the Estonian economy slumped and continued to struggle throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, it managed to recover, and by the late 1930s, the living standards in Estonia were higher compared to other Eastern European countries.[38] The main political outcome of the global economic crisis in the 1930s was the rise of the far-right League of the Veterans. The movement used the increased subsistence difficulties to discredit their opponents and promote the establishment of a strong executive power following the contemporary political trends in Europe. The League gained vast popularity and their candidate was expected to win the first presidential election in April 1934.[39] However, on 12 March 1934, the acting head of state Konstantin Päts carried out a pre-emptive military coup and established authoritarian rule. The League of the Veterans was banned and its leaders were arrested.[40] The dictatorship of Päts is characterised in Estonian historiography as the Era of Silence because political parties were banned and the Estonian parliament was not in session between 1934 and 1938.[41] In 1938, the new constitution came into force heavily empowering the newly created institution of the president while marginalising the bicameral parliament. In April 1938, the lower chamber of the parliament elected Päts as the first president of Estonia but Estonia remained an authoritarian country until its loss of independence in 1940.[42]
The Loss of Independence, 1939-1940
As the international situation in the late 1930’s tensed due to German expansion into Eastern Europe, the threat to Estonia’s security became serious. The efforts to build an Anglo-French-Soviet Anti-Nazi coalition reached a stalemate in 1939. The British were against appeasing Moscow by serving the Red Army the right to occupy the Baltic States in case a wide-scale conflict with Germany was to break out.[43] At the same time, the Soviets opened a more fruitful secret dialogue with its main ideological and geographical enemy Germany. The talks between Germany and Russia culminated on 23 August, 1939, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, was signed in Moscow. Its notorious secret protocol divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, creating spheres of conquest.[44]
Estonia ended up in the Soviet sphere of influence. After occupying eastern parts of Poland, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. Soviet Union used the escape of the Polish submarine Orzel from the port of Tallinn on 18 September, where it was interned, as an argument to question Estonia’s ability to sustain its neutrality.[45] A week later, on 24 September, Estonian foreign minister Karl Selter was presented with an ultimatum by Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Vyatcheslav Molotov, demanding the establishment of the Soviet military bases in Estonia and threatening to use force if the demand was not met.[46] Concurrently, a force six times the size of the Estonian army was lined up on the border.[47] As the other Great Powers of Europe were not willing to risk a war over the fate of Baltic countries, Estonian officials were compelled to yield to the ultimatum on 28 September.[48]
According to the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty 25,000 Red Army soldiers were based in Estonia to support the Soviet naval units.[49] Although the Soviet government promised to respect the sovereignty of Estonia, the promise was soon violated. As Finland refused to satisfy the Soviet demands for substantial territory, the bases in Estonia were used during the Soviet aggression against Finland, which began on 30 November 1940.[50]The Estonian foreign minister protested several times against these operations, only to be ignored by the Soviets who did everything possible to cover up the fact that the bomber units used against Finnish cities regularly took off from Estonia.[51]
In summer 1940, as international attention was focused on the Nazi conquest of the Low Countries and the fall of France, the Soviets decided to take advantage of the disorder and occupy the Baltic States. An intense defamation campaign was launched against the Baltic States accusing them of violating the mutual assistance treaties.[52] On 14 June 1940, Lithuania received an ultimatum to form a Soviet-friendly government and ensure the access of the Red Army to the country. Estonia and Latvia received similar demands two days later.[53] The assembly of the Red Army on the border for possible military action against the Baltic States began at the end of May[54] and by mid-June about half a million Soviet troops, along with 3000 tanks and 2500 planes were ready to take military action.[55] By that time, the Balts were completely isolated from the rest of the world because of the on-going Soviet military blockade and thus no foreign military assistance was in sight. On the morning of June 17, General Johan Laidoner, the commander-in-chief of the Estonian army signed an order which permitted the passage of Soviet troops into Estonia. In the next two days Estonia was occupied by 115,000 Red Army soldiers who were garrisoned at the most important strategic locations in Estonia.[56]
After the Soviets had established their military control over Estonia, Andrei Zhdanov, one of Stalin’s closest associates arrived in Tallinn in order to complete the annexation. Zhdanov had a meeting with president Päts on June 19 where he demanded the formation of a new pro-Soviet cabinet.[57] Two days later a demonstration in favour of a new pro-Soviet government took place in the central square of Tallinn under the protection of the Red army. Among the demonstrators were many Russians including Soviet workers imported to the military bases and those living in the border areas.[58] On the evening of the 21 June, president Päts confirmed the new people’s government. This mostly consisted of leftist intellectuals who had opposed Päts’s regime in the 1930’s. The leader of the new cabinet was a doctor and poet, Johannes Vares, who had not been involved in politics earlier.[59]
On July 4, Zhdanov ordered Päts to announce new parliamentary elections within ten days. This action violated the Estonian constitution, which mandated a period of 35 days for election preparations.[60] The Soviet-style elections were rashly organized, and although other candidates were permitted at first, by July 11 only the pro-communist bloc had been approved. All the non-communist candidates were either disqualified or bullied into drawing back their candidature.[61] The elections on 14-15 July took place in a coercive atmosphere and the results were very often falsified.[62] This way, the Communists were able to receive about 93 per cent of the vote.[63]
President Päts remained in office until 22 July when his duties as the head of state were taken over by Vares. On 21-23 July, the new parliament unanimously affirmed the petition to join the Soviet Union disregarding the promises of Prime Minister Vares to maintain the country’s sovereignty.[64] The new parliament also issued initial resolutions on the nationalisation of land, banks and large industries.[65] During the last week of July, much of the country’s former political and economic elite were arrested. The final act of Estonia’s inclusion into the USSR took place in Moscow, on 5 August 1940 when the Supreme Soviet formally agreed to accept Estonia’s petition to join the Soviet Union as its 16th republic.[66] As the Western Powers saw the decisive role of the Soviet Army behind these events, they refused to recognise the Soviet annexation.[67]
After the incorporation, the new regime began the rapid sovietisation of the Estonian society. The Communist Party became the centre of political power despite the fact that according to the Constitution of Soviet Estonia the ultimate political power should have been in the hands of the Supreme Soviet, which was basically the new Soviet model parliament. All land holdings were declared to be “the property of the people“, whereas a maximum of 30 hectares of land could be used by a family, the lands which were acquired by the cuts were mostly distributed to the landless peasants.[68] The Soviet authorities also introduced a plan for compulsory deliveries of agricultural products with fixed low prices, which led to the decrease of living standards.[69] During the first months of the occupation, all social and cultural activities were subordinated to the ideological control of the Communist Party. As such, totalitarian norms and models quickly became visible.
The Soviet repressions in 1940-1941
In 1940-1941, the new regime executed about 2,500[70] and deported approximately 19,000 people.[71] About 9,300 of them were rounded up and forcibly taken to Siberia on 14 June 1941.[72] This procedure of eliminating counterrevolutionary, anti-Soviet elements was approved by Ivan Serov, deputy head of NKVD: the men were sent to the labour camps and the women with children were exiled to under-populated remote areas of the Soviet Union. According to modern estimations, 11,500 people, who were deported in 1940-1941, perished in the Soviet Union.[73] The Soviet deportations were aimed against the Estonian elite: against former civil servants and high ranking state officials, military officers, landowners and businessmen, members of the clergy, and the family members of all the above.[74]
The German occupation, 1941-1944
The Soviet rule in Estonia came to an end when Nazi Germany began its attack on the Soviet Union. The German troops reached Estonia on 5 July 1941.[75] As in other areas which were occupied by the Soviets in 1939-1940, the German army was widely greeted as liberators, especially after the mass deportation in mid-June. At the same time, similarly to Latvia and Lithuania, a pro-independence partisan movement emerged engaging the retreating Red Army and Soviet paramilitary forces.[76] The Germans captured Tallinn on August 28 and by the October 1941 the last Soviet strongholds on Estonian islands were evacuated on the orders of their High Command.[77]
Estonia, among the other Baltic States and much of Belarus, constituted the Reichskomissariat Ostland, which was administrated by German civilian officials. A puppet government, the Estonian Self-Administration, was set up to serve as their local counterpart. The goodwill towards Germans dissipated within first months; it became clear that the Nazis had no intention of restoring Estonia’s independence. Instead, the Germans sought to exploit local resources to support their military production. Like in other occupied territories, the Nazis put their racial policies into practice. Virtually all the Estonian Jews who had not used the opportunity to escape to the Soviet Union (up to 1,000 people) were killed by the German killing squad Einsatzgruppe A and its local collaborators before the end of 1941.[78] In total, about 7800 Estonian citizens, most of them Jews, Gypsies, Communists or alleged Communists, were either executed or perished in concentration camps.[79] Further Nazi plans envisaged the Germanisation of the occupied territories: 50 per cent of Estonians were deemed racially worthy to be mixed with the German colonists, while the other half would be deported eastwards to Russian territory.[80] However, these plans were never realised.
Return of the Soviet regime, 1944-1945
By January 1944, the German situation on the Eastern Front worsened and the Red Army began to move towards the Estonian border. With the help of new recruits, including tens of thousands of Estonian draftees, the Soviet advance was successfully halted for about half a year. However, as the Soviets broke through the German front in Belorussia in late July 1944, the German High Command decided to draw back from Estonia in September.[81] On September 21, a day before the Red Army reached Tallinn, Estonian national leaders proclaimed independence, a national government led by Otto Tief was formed and Estonian soldiers had clashes with the retreating German forces.[82] Nonetheless, as Red Army units captured Tallinn, the hopes to restore independence did not materialise. Up to 75,000 people, who were afraid of the return of the Soviet terror, fled from Estonia, becoming war refugees in Sweden and Germany.[83]
The new wave of Stalinist repressions, 1944-1953
The end of the Second World War did not mark the end of violence. On the contrary, the return of the Soviet regime marked the beginning of a new brutal era in Estonian history. According to various estimations, about 25,000-30,000 people were imprisoned in 1944-1953, of whom 11,000 perished in prisons and countless labour camps.[84] The return of the Stalinist terror also sparked the Anti-Soviet partisan war in Estonia during 1944–1953. Up to 15,000 Estonians took part in this desperate fight.[85] The Soviet regime answered with harsh repressions. In order to eliminate the insurgency, on January 29 1949, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Union approved a new mass deportation from the Baltics. The operation later received the codename “Priboj”-“Beachcomber”.[86] The Soviets planned to force the rural households, which were seen as the main supporters of the anti-Soviet insurgency, to work in remote collective farms. On 25 March 1949, more than 20,000 people were deported to far-flung parts of the Soviet Union, mostly to Siberia.[87] From the Soviet point of view, the operation was a success, as most individual farmers in Estonia joined the collective farms during the next months in the fear of further deportations.[88] The resistance movement lost its bases and was disbanded in the early 1950s.[89] However, the collectivisation had negative effects for agricultural production: it decreased by 9.3 per cent between 1951 and 1955, compared to 1946-1950.[90]
Soviet Estonia, 1953-late 1980’s
In 1953, the future of Estonia looked glum. However, the death of Joseph Stalin and the Kruschev Thaw brought some relief. The repressions in Soviet Union were reversed in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.[91] Still, the country’s economy and everyday life continued under the strict control of the ruling communist party. The Stalinist terror had created an atmosphere of fear for decades, though the open campaigns of repression and persecution ceased. Under the communist rule, Estonia was economically more developed than other parts of Soviet Union. However Soviet-style economy management, which was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production and central planning, had negative effects on Estonian economy. This can been seen when comparing living standards in Finland (market economy) and Estonia (command economy), which were more or less the same in 1950s. However, in 1989 the Finns enjoyed incomes almost 8 times higher than their southern neighbors and Finnish GDP per capita was at least four times that of Estonia.[92]
The Soviet regime also posed serious cultural threat to such a small nation. In the late 1970s, during the so-called Brezhnev Stagnation, Estonian society grew increasingly concerned about the threat of Russification. In 1944 Estonians made up 90 per cent of the population but by 1989 their percentage had dropped to 62.[93] In the 1970s, the Soviet regime also launched a systematic campaign of Russification of Estonian culture in order to eradicate the national consciousness. The growing pressure led to general resentment towards Soviet policies.
The National Awakening and the re-establishment of independence, 1987-1991
Through the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of openness and restructuring led to greater political freedom in the Soviet Union. The National Awakening started with environmental demonstrations against the plans of the central government to mine phosphate in northern Estonia. This step would have meant the arrival of tens of thousands of new immigrants and great damage to the local environment. Consequently, the phosphate-mining plans were abandoned.[94]
However, the environmental protests had galvanised the Estonian masses. On 23 August 1987, up to 5,000 people protested against the consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This event, organised by Estonian dissidents, emboldened the local society.[95] On the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on 23 August 1987, more than million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians linked hands in a human chain that stretched from Tallinn to Vilnius. This action was condemned by the central government but solidified the efforts for Estonian and Baltic independence.[96]
In 1988, the massive protests led to removal of the unpopular leader of the local Communist Party, Karl Vaino who during the 1970’s had become the symbol of the Russification policies. The new general secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia, Vaino Väljas, was greeted by a mass demonstration, attended by 300,000 Estonians, who sang national songs and hymns, which not so long ago had been strictly forbidden.[97] These kinds of gatherings mixing the political speeches with mass singing of popular and traditional songs shaped the image of the so called Singing Revolution.
On 16 November 1988, despite the condemnation from Moscow, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration.[98] In 1989, the public opinion moved towards complete political independence. After the first free >Supreme Soviet elections in 1990, the new government declared a transition period to independence.[99]
These moves were rejected by Gorbachev, who in January 1991 gave permission to use force against the peaceful demonstrators in Riga and Vilnius. Protesters in Tallinn pre-emptively set up barricades to resist the attacks of the Soviet Army. However, Gorbachev withdrew because of the pressure from the Russian democrats.[100] During the communist coup in Moscow on 18-22 August 1991, the Estonian Supreme Soviet together with the Congress of Estonia proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Estonia on 20 August 1991.[101] People acted as human shields to protect radio and TV stations from the Soviet armoured fighting vehicles. Through these actions Estonia regained its independence without any bloodshed. On 22 August 1991, Iceland and Lithuania became the first nations to recognise the newly restored independence of Estonia and were soon followed by other Western governments.[102] On 6 September 1991, Estonia’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union and on 17 September Estonia and its Baltic neighbours were admitted to the United Nations.[103]
Since regaining independence Estonia has embraced a multi-party democracy and shifted to a free market economy. Through the last two decades Estonia has become integrated with the social, economic and political institutions of Western Europe. The Estonian Government achieved its long-term aim of joining the European Union and NATO in 2004.[104]
http://www.communistcrimes.org/en/Database/Estonia/Estonia-Communist-Era
Estonia: Communist Era
The geopolitical factor in Estonian history
Estonia’s favourable location on the trading routes between the East and the West has played a key role in shaping its history. Since the 13th century, various regional powers have competed over the control of the Estonian territory and the ports of the Eastern Baltic often with devastating effects to the local population.[1] Under the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Russia gained control over Swedish Estonian and Livonian provinces.[2] For the indigenous population, the shift in power was rather distant, as the local German nobility retained its political, economic and social control over the region.[3] The 19th century brought extensive changes for Estonia’s native population as increased educational and social opportunities fostered the formation of Estonian intelligentsia and political elite. Gradually, politics and reform superseded culture as the focus of discourse amongst Estonians, leading to the natives’ social empowerment.[4]
Towards a sovereign state, 1900-1917
At the beginning of the 20th century, Estonia was a country with two thirds of its population being engaged in agriculture. Since 60 per cent of the rural population did not own any land,[5] the shortage was the most urgent problem for the Estonian society of the period. As most of the land was owned by the small Baltic German nobility, the land issue strongly related to Estonian nationalism. Besides the socio-economic inequalities, the Baltic German nobility possessed the monopoly of power in the local politics, denying the natives the right to speak for themselves in their shared home-lands.
The 1905 revolution was the catalyst for change. Like in other parts of the Russian Empire, the killing of the peaceful protesters in St. Petersburg on 22 January 1905 led to sympathy strikes in Estonia. Labour unrest, mostly initiated by socialists, spread throughout Estonia.[6] The Russian army brutally suppressed the rebellions. The bloodiest event of the 1905 revolution took place on 29 October 1905 when the troops opened fire at peaceful protesters in a street market in Tallinn, killing 94 and injuring over 200 people.[7] As a result of punitive actions about 300 people in the rural areas were killed and about another 600 received corporal punishment.[8]
The body convened in Tartu but from the beginning it was divided between reformers and radical revolutionaries.[9] The congress demanded democratic elections, national autonomy, land reform, abolition of censorship, the end of Russification policies, native-language schooling and the abolition of the privileges of the local nobility.[10] However, the tsarist authorities, having regained their confidence, took resolute measures to suppress the revolutionary movement by military force. Many Estonian politicians, both socialists and nationalists, were either arrested or forced to flee the country.[11] Despite the failure, the 1905 Revolution was an important landmark in the development of the Estonian nation. For the first time ever broad sections of the population became involved in the discussion of political and social issues.[12]
The tsarist regime in Estonia, similarly to other territories of the Russian Empire, ceased to exist after the 1917 February Revolution. This provided the Estonian politicians an opportunity to achieve national autonomy, which had so far seemed unreachable. After intense lobbying by Estonian national leaders and a well-organised protest-march by some 40,000 Estonians in Petrograd, on 30 March the Russian provisional government agreed to unify the ethnographical distribution of Estonians of Estonian and Livonian Governates into a single autonomous unit. For the first time, an ethnic Estonian, Jaan Poska, was placed in charge of his country as the commissar of the Governorate of Estonia.[13]
The Bolshevik coup, 1917
On November 7 1917, an armed insurgency in the Bolshevik-dominated Petrograd soviet overthrew the Russian provisional government. In Tallinn, the Bolsheviks seized power on 8 November, as soon as they had news of the success of the revolution in Petrograd. Viktor Kingisepp, the leader of Estonian Bolsheviks, usurped power from the Governorate’s Commissar Jaan Poska.[14] In response to the coup, the Estonian Provisional Assembly declared itself the supreme authority in Estonia, but was dissolved by the Bolsheviks only a day later.[15] Elections to Russia’s Constituent Assembly in November 1917 showed strong support for the Bolsheviks in Estonia with 40 per cent of voters supporting the Bolshevik Party.[16] Support for the Bolsheviks was significantly higher in Estonia than in the now-defunct Russian Empire as a whole where they received one quarter of all votes but more or less comparable to that in Petrograd and Moscow. The secret of their success was that they were well versed in all basic concepts of propaganda, since they were prepared at least superficially, to provide simple solutions to the complex collective problems and necessities of the era.
The Bolsheviks soon abolished private large-scale land ownership by nationalisation.[17] On 7 November 1917, The Council of People’s commissars issued the Decree on Land, which stipulated “the abolition of private ownership of land without compensation and the transfer of all privately owned land to the agricultural committees for redistribution”.[18] In reality this equalled to the takeover of the property of the land-owning gentry and wealthier peasants. Although the seizure of households in Estonia took place in a peaceful manner, on 28 January 1918 the Estonian Bolsheviks arrested 500 members of the local nobility and deported them to Siberia, as a potentially trouble-making group.[19] This was one of the earliest cases of forced internal migration in Soviet Russia, which later became a usual practice for the communist regime.
The Declaration of Independence and the German occupation, 1918
In order to accelerate the progress of the Brest-Litovsk peace negotiations, Germany and its allies resumed hostilities on February 18, 1918 after a two-month ceasefire. The offensive of the German imperial army in mainland Estonia began on February 19 and by March 3rd, when the Bolshevik delegation in Brest-Litovsk agreed to sign the peace agreement Estonia was entirely under the control of German forces.[20] The retreat of the Bolsheviks (from Estonia), gave Estonian nationalist politicians the opportunity to declare the country’s independence. A new provisional government was created on February 24, 1918, and was headed by Konstantin Päts. This step was not recognized by Imperial Germany, whose troops moved into Tallinn the next day.[21]
Estonia’s occupation by Imperial Germany in February 1918 triggered an outbreak of violence. The people who had violated private property laws during the Bolshevik dictatorship were usually singled out by the Baltic German gentry and local residents wishing to punish them, as well as those who were suspected of sympathising with the “Reds“.[22] According to Soviet historian Siilivask 5,000 people were arrested in Estonia during the German occupation and approximately 400 of them were executed.[23] The nine-month German occupation of Estonia (February 1918 – November 1918) further deteriorated the economic and social situation of the population since Estonia suffered plundering of all resources necessary for waging war. According to later Estonian calculations, the damage caused by Germany reached an estimated 250 million gold roubles, and it was planned to reclaim the sum from the German government.[24]
The Struggle for Self-determination: Estonian War of Independence, 1918-1920
The Soviet government revoked the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty on November 13 and ordered the Red Army to prepare to advance westward so as to exploit the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of the German forces.[25] The Baltic region was targeted alongside Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. The Red Army’s first attempt to invade Estonia was repelled by the Germans at Narva on November 22 but after the collapse of Germany in the World War it was apparent that the German army was about to leave Estonia.[26] On November 14, the representative of the German administration handed over power to the national Provisional Government of Estonia, a “rainbow coalition” in the modern sense, as it combined right-wing parties with socialists.[27]
The recently-formed national government was initially unable to resist the Red Army. On November 28 the Red Army units seized Narva.[28] Estonian historiography considers this the beginning of the War of Independence. The next day, November 29, 1918, the Bolsheviks proclaimed the Workers’ Commune of Estonia in Narva[29] a Soviet republic. Since the Red Army was responsible for military planning, the primary task of Estonia’s Bolshevik government was the reinforcement of the regime in the territories from which the Red Army had driven out the Estonian national forces. According to the Cheka model, commissions for combating counterrevolution and politicized police departments were set up in major towns and counties seized by the Red Army. The situation in the rear of the Red Army in December 1918 and January 1919 can be aptly described as “comissarocracy”, since anyone’s fate after arrest depended on the discretion of the local commissar combating counterrevolution. A total of 2,500 people were arrested by the commissions for combating counterrevolution in the Bolshevik-controlled territory in December 1918 and January 1919. Between 650 and 700 were killed.[30] The Estonian Bolshevik government, which had evacuated to Russia in January, was disbanded on June 5[31] since it had lost its use after the Red Army had been driven out of Estonia’s territory. While the Red Army was repelled from Estonia in the winter of 1919, the violence did not end. The number of people that were killed by the Estonian authorities’ repressions during the War of Independence could be estimated at up to 800.[32]
The violence abated with the strengthening of the state authority and the coming to power of a democratically elected representative body in April 1919. Its vigorous moves towards solving the agrarian problem contributed to the stabilisation of the Estonian society. In late 1919, Estonia introduced one of the most sweeping land reforms in post-World War Eastern Europe as the estates of Baltic nobility were expropriated and redistributed among the peasants.[33] After a successful defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies against the continuous offensives of the Red Army, the Treaty of Tartu was signed between Estonia and Russian SFSR on February 2 1920, ending the Estonian War of Independence. Soviet Russia gave an unconditional recognition to the independence of Estonia and pledged to renounce all the claims to its territory.[34]
The period of liberal democracy, 1920-1934
In order to build a sovereign statehood, Estonia went through many political, economic and social reforms. The most important event in Estonian political life was the adoption of the first constitution in 1920, which established a parliamentary form of government. The Estonian political system up to 1934 could be characterised by a strong legislature, a weak executive power and a proportional representation system in the parliament. The multiparty coalitions proved to be very short-lived, as between 1920 and 1934, Estonia had 21 governments.[35] The Estonian political arena was completely dominated by the right and centre parties.[36] The Social Democrats and the underground Communist Party had support in the urban areas,[37] but as a whole, they lacked the strong social base in an overwhelmingly agrarian Estonia where conservative parties were focussed on resolving agrarian issues.
The Era of Silence, 1934-1939
As global markets crashed in 1929, the Estonian economy slumped and continued to struggle throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, it managed to recover, and by the late 1930s, the living standards in Estonia were higher compared to other Eastern European countries.[38] The main political outcome of the global economic crisis in the 1930s was the rise of the far-right League of the Veterans. The movement used the increased subsistence difficulties to discredit their opponents and promote the establishment of a strong executive power following the contemporary political trends in Europe. The League gained vast popularity and their candidate was expected to win the first presidential election in April 1934.[39] However, on 12 March 1934, the acting head of state Konstantin Päts carried out a pre-emptive military coup and established authoritarian rule. The League of the Veterans was banned and its leaders were arrested.[40] The dictatorship of Päts is characterised in Estonian historiography as the Era of Silence because political parties were banned and the Estonian parliament was not in session between 1934 and 1938.[41] In 1938, the new constitution came into force heavily empowering the newly created institution of the president while marginalising the bicameral parliament. In April 1938, the lower chamber of the parliament elected Päts as the first president of Estonia but Estonia remained an authoritarian country until its loss of independence in 1940.[42]
The Loss of Independence, 1939-1940
As the international situation in the late 1930’s tensed due to German expansion into Eastern Europe, the threat to Estonia’s security became serious. The efforts to build an Anglo-French-Soviet Anti-Nazi coalition reached a stalemate in 1939. The British were against appeasing Moscow by serving the Red Army the right to occupy the Baltic States in case a wide-scale conflict with Germany was to break out.[43] At the same time, the Soviets opened a more fruitful secret dialogue with its main ideological and geographical enemy Germany. The talks between Germany and Russia culminated on 23 August, 1939, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, was signed in Moscow. Its notorious secret protocol divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, creating spheres of conquest.[44]
Estonia ended up in the Soviet sphere of influence. After occupying eastern parts of Poland, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. Soviet Union used the escape of the Polish submarine Orzel from the port of Tallinn on 18 September, where it was interned, as an argument to question Estonia’s ability to sustain its neutrality.[45] A week later, on 24 September, Estonian foreign minister Karl Selter was presented with an ultimatum by Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Vyatcheslav Molotov, demanding the establishment of the Soviet military bases in Estonia and threatening to use force if the demand was not met.[46] Concurrently, a force six times the size of the Estonian army was lined up on the border.[47] As the other Great Powers of Europe were not willing to risk a war over the fate of Baltic countries, Estonian officials were compelled to yield to the ultimatum on 28 September.[48]
According to the Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty 25,000 Red Army soldiers were based in Estonia to support the Soviet naval units.[49] Although the Soviet government promised to respect the sovereignty of Estonia, the promise was soon violated. As Finland refused to satisfy the Soviet demands for substantial territory, the bases in Estonia were used during the Soviet aggression against Finland, which began on 30 November 1940.[50]The Estonian foreign minister protested several times against these operations, only to be ignored by the Soviets who did everything possible to cover up the fact that the bomber units used against Finnish cities regularly took off from Estonia.[51]
In summer 1940, as international attention was focused on the Nazi conquest of the Low Countries and the fall of France, the Soviets decided to take advantage of the disorder and occupy the Baltic States. An intense defamation campaign was launched against the Baltic States accusing them of violating the mutual assistance treaties.[52] On 14 June 1940, Lithuania received an ultimatum to form a Soviet-friendly government and ensure the access of the Red Army to the country. Estonia and Latvia received similar demands two days later.[53] The assembly of the Red Army on the border for possible military action against the Baltic States began at the end of May[54] and by mid-June about half a million Soviet troops, along with 3000 tanks and 2500 planes were ready to take military action.[55] By that time, the Balts were completely isolated from the rest of the world because of the on-going Soviet military blockade and thus no foreign military assistance was in sight. On the morning of June 17, General Johan Laidoner, the commander-in-chief of the Estonian army signed an order which permitted the passage of Soviet troops into Estonia. In the next two days Estonia was occupied by 115,000 Red Army soldiers who were garrisoned at the most important strategic locations in Estonia.[56]
After the Soviets had established their military control over Estonia, Andrei Zhdanov, one of Stalin’s closest associates arrived in Tallinn in order to complete the annexation. Zhdanov had a meeting with president Päts on June 19 where he demanded the formation of a new pro-Soviet cabinet.[57] Two days later a demonstration in favour of a new pro-Soviet government took place in the central square of Tallinn under the protection of the Red army. Among the demonstrators were many Russians including Soviet workers imported to the military bases and those living in the border areas.[58] On the evening of the 21 June, president Päts confirmed the new people’s government. This mostly consisted of leftist intellectuals who had opposed Päts’s regime in the 1930’s. The leader of the new cabinet was a doctor and poet, Johannes Vares, who had not been involved in politics earlier.[59]
On July 4, Zhdanov ordered Päts to announce new parliamentary elections within ten days. This action violated the Estonian constitution, which mandated a period of 35 days for election preparations.[60] The Soviet-style elections were rashly organized, and although other candidates were permitted at first, by July 11 only the pro-communist bloc had been approved. All the non-communist candidates were either disqualified or bullied into drawing back their candidature.[61] The elections on 14-15 July took place in a coercive atmosphere and the results were very often falsified.[62] This way, the Communists were able to receive about 93 per cent of the vote.[63]
President Päts remained in office until 22 July when his duties as the head of state were taken over by Vares. On 21-23 July, the new parliament unanimously affirmed the petition to join the Soviet Union disregarding the promises of Prime Minister Vares to maintain the country’s sovereignty.[64] The new parliament also issued initial resolutions on the nationalisation of land, banks and large industries.[65] During the last week of July, much of the country’s former political and economic elite were arrested. The final act of Estonia’s inclusion into the USSR took place in Moscow, on 5 August 1940 when the Supreme Soviet formally agreed to accept Estonia’s petition to join the Soviet Union as its 16th republic.[66] As the Western Powers saw the decisive role of the Soviet Army behind these events, they refused to recognise the Soviet annexation.[67]
After the incorporation, the new regime began the rapid sovietisation of the Estonian society. The Communist Party became the centre of political power despite the fact that according to the Constitution of Soviet Estonia the ultimate political power should have been in the hands of the Supreme Soviet, which was basically the new Soviet model parliament. All land holdings were declared to be “the property of the people“, whereas a maximum of 30 hectares of land could be used by a family, the lands which were acquired by the cuts were mostly distributed to the landless peasants.[68] The Soviet authorities also introduced a plan for compulsory deliveries of agricultural products with fixed low prices, which led to the decrease of living standards.[69] During the first months of the occupation, all social and cultural activities were subordinated to the ideological control of the Communist Party. As such, totalitarian norms and models quickly became visible.
The Soviet repressions in 1940-1941
In 1940-1941, the new regime executed about 2,500[70] and deported approximately 19,000 people.[71] About 9,300 of them were rounded up and forcibly taken to Siberia on 14 June 1941.[72] This procedure of eliminating counterrevolutionary, anti-Soviet elements was approved by Ivan Serov, deputy head of NKVD: the men were sent to the labour camps and the women with children were exiled to under-populated remote areas of the Soviet Union. According to modern estimations, 11,500 people, who were deported in 1940-1941, perished in the Soviet Union.[73] The Soviet deportations were aimed against the Estonian elite: against former civil servants and high ranking state officials, military officers, landowners and businessmen, members of the clergy, and the family members of all the above.[74]
The German occupation, 1941-1944
The Soviet rule in Estonia came to an end when Nazi Germany began its attack on the Soviet Union. The German troops reached Estonia on 5 July 1941.[75] As in other areas which were occupied by the Soviets in 1939-1940, the German army was widely greeted as liberators, especially after the mass deportation in mid-June. At the same time, similarly to Latvia and Lithuania, a pro-independence partisan movement emerged engaging the retreating Red Army and Soviet paramilitary forces.[76] The Germans captured Tallinn on August 28 and by the October 1941 the last Soviet strongholds on Estonian islands were evacuated on the orders of their High Command.[77]
Estonia, among the other Baltic States and much of Belarus, constituted the Reichskomissariat Ostland, which was administrated by German civilian officials. A puppet government, the Estonian Self-Administration, was set up to serve as their local counterpart. The goodwill towards Germans dissipated within first months; it became clear that the Nazis had no intention of restoring Estonia’s independence. Instead, the Germans sought to exploit local resources to support their military production. Like in other occupied territories, the Nazis put their racial policies into practice. Virtually all the Estonian Jews who had not used the opportunity to escape to the Soviet Union (up to 1,000 people) were killed by the German killing squad Einsatzgruppe A and its local collaborators before the end of 1941.[78] In total, about 7800 Estonian citizens, most of them Jews, Gypsies, Communists or alleged Communists, were either executed or perished in concentration camps.[79] Further Nazi plans envisaged the Germanisation of the occupied territories: 50 per cent of Estonians were deemed racially worthy to be mixed with the German colonists, while the other half would be deported eastwards to Russian territory.[80] However, these plans were never realised.
Return of the Soviet regime, 1944-1945
By January 1944, the German situation on the Eastern Front worsened and the Red Army began to move towards the Estonian border. With the help of new recruits, including tens of thousands of Estonian draftees, the Soviet advance was successfully halted for about half a year. However, as the Soviets broke through the German front in Belorussia in late July 1944, the German High Command decided to draw back from Estonia in September.[81] On September 21, a day before the Red Army reached Tallinn, Estonian national leaders proclaimed independence, a national government led by Otto Tief was formed and Estonian soldiers had clashes with the retreating German forces.[82] Nonetheless, as Red Army units captured Tallinn, the hopes to restore independence did not materialise. Up to 75,000 people, who were afraid of the return of the Soviet terror, fled from Estonia, becoming war refugees in Sweden and Germany.[83]
The new wave of Stalinist repressions, 1944-1953
The end of the Second World War did not mark the end of violence. On the contrary, the return of the Soviet regime marked the beginning of a new brutal era in Estonian history. According to various estimations, about 25,000-30,000 people were imprisoned in 1944-1953, of whom 11,000 perished in prisons and countless labour camps.[84] The return of the Stalinist terror also sparked the Anti-Soviet partisan war in Estonia during 1944–1953. Up to 15,000 Estonians took part in this desperate fight.[85] The Soviet regime answered with harsh repressions. In order to eliminate the insurgency, on January 29 1949, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Union approved a new mass deportation from the Baltics. The operation later received the codename “Priboj”-“Beachcomber”.[86] The Soviets planned to force the rural households, which were seen as the main supporters of the anti-Soviet insurgency, to work in remote collective farms. On 25 March 1949, more than 20,000 people were deported to far-flung parts of the Soviet Union, mostly to Siberia.[87] From the Soviet point of view, the operation was a success, as most individual farmers in Estonia joined the collective farms during the next months in the fear of further deportations.[88] The resistance movement lost its bases and was disbanded in the early 1950s.[89] However, the collectivisation had negative effects for agricultural production: it decreased by 9.3 per cent between 1951 and 1955, compared to 1946-1950.[90]
Soviet Estonia, 1953-late 1980’s
In 1953, the future of Estonia looked glum. However, the death of Joseph Stalin and the Kruschev Thaw brought some relief. The repressions in Soviet Union were reversed in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.[91] Still, the country’s economy and everyday life continued under the strict control of the ruling communist party. The Stalinist terror had created an atmosphere of fear for decades, though the open campaigns of repression and persecution ceased. Under the communist rule, Estonia was economically more developed than other parts of Soviet Union. However Soviet-style economy management, which was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production and central planning, had negative effects on Estonian economy. This can been seen when comparing living standards in Finland (market economy) and Estonia (command economy), which were more or less the same in 1950s. However, in 1989 the Finns enjoyed incomes almost 8 times higher than their southern neighbors and Finnish GDP per capita was at least four times that of Estonia.[92]
The Soviet regime also posed serious cultural threat to such a small nation. In the late 1970s, during the so-called Brezhnev Stagnation, Estonian society grew increasingly concerned about the threat of Russification. In 1944 Estonians made up 90 per cent of the population but by 1989 their percentage had dropped to 62.[93] In the 1970s, the Soviet regime also launched a systematic campaign of Russification of Estonian culture in order to eradicate the national consciousness. The growing pressure led to general resentment towards Soviet policies.
The National Awakening and the re-establishment of independence, 1987-1991
Through the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of openness and restructuring led to greater political freedom in the Soviet Union. The National Awakening started with environmental demonstrations against the plans of the central government to mine phosphate in northern Estonia. This step would have meant the arrival of tens of thousands of new immigrants and great damage to the local environment. Consequently, the phosphate-mining plans were abandoned.[94]
However, the environmental protests had galvanised the Estonian masses. On 23 August 1987, up to 5,000 people protested against the consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This event, organised by Estonian dissidents, emboldened the local society.[95] On the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on 23 August 1987, more than million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians linked hands in a human chain that stretched from Tallinn to Vilnius. This action was condemned by the central government but solidified the efforts for Estonian and Baltic independence.[96]
In 1988, the massive protests led to removal of the unpopular leader of the local Communist Party, Karl Vaino who during the 1970’s had become the symbol of the Russification policies. The new general secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia, Vaino Väljas, was greeted by a mass demonstration, attended by 300,000 Estonians, who sang national songs and hymns, which not so long ago had been strictly forbidden.[97] These kinds of gatherings mixing the political speeches with mass singing of popular and traditional songs shaped the image of the so called Singing Revolution.
On 16 November 1988, despite the condemnation from Moscow, the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration.[98] In 1989, the public opinion moved towards complete political independence. After the first free >Supreme Soviet elections in 1990, the new government declared a transition period to independence.[99]
These moves were rejected by Gorbachev, who in January 1991 gave permission to use force against the peaceful demonstrators in Riga and Vilnius. Protesters in Tallinn pre-emptively set up barricades to resist the attacks of the Soviet Army. However, Gorbachev withdrew because of the pressure from the Russian democrats.[100] During the communist coup in Moscow on 18-22 August 1991, the Estonian Supreme Soviet together with the Congress of Estonia proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Estonia on 20 August 1991.[101] People acted as human shields to protect radio and TV stations from the Soviet armoured fighting vehicles. Through these actions Estonia regained its independence without any bloodshed. On 22 August 1991, Iceland and Lithuania became the first nations to recognise the newly restored independence of Estonia and were soon followed by other Western governments.[102] On 6 September 1991, Estonia’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union and on 17 September Estonia and its Baltic neighbours were admitted to the United Nations.[103]
Since regaining independence Estonia has embraced a multi-party democracy and shifted to a free market economy. Through the last two decades Estonia has become integrated with the social, economic and political institutions of Western Europe. The Estonian Government achieved its long-term aim of joining the European Union and NATO in 2004.[104]
vlad
Respected Leader
Laisinkaan väheksymättä gulagin uhreja - kuolleidenkin määrä liene miljoonissa kaikkiaan kun lasketaan leirien vuosikymmenten mittainen käyttöaika huomioon - mutta näen keskitysleirin ja tuhoamisleirin välillä muutakin kuin semanttisia eroja. Täsmennetään sen verran, että natsien keskitysleiri saattoi olla samanaikaisesti myös tuhoamisleiri, mutta oli runsaasti keskitysleirejä jotka eivät olleet tuhoamisleirejä.
Se miksi en pidä gulag-leirejä varsinaisina tuhoamisleirenä johtuu yksinkertaisesti siitä syystä, ettei leirien itsetarkoitus ollut leirille saapuneiden järjestelmällinen joukkotuhonta, kuten se esim. oli Auschwitz-Birkenaussa eli Auschwitz II* - sen sijaan Auschwitz I ja Auschwitz III eli Auschwitz-Monowitz eivät olleet tuhoamisleirejä vaikka niidenkin alaisuudessa kuoli tuhansia ja taas tuhansia vankeja eri kansallisuuksista. Auschwitz I (eli pääleiri) ja Monowitz olivat toiminnaltaan lähinnä verrattavissa gulag-tyyppisiin leireihin joissa väkeä näännytettiin työllä ja todella ankaralla kurilla ja jossa väkivalta vartijoiden ja apulaisten osalta oli osa päivittäistä elämää.
Tuhoamisleirin eräänää määräävänä tekijänä pidän sitä, että leirin päätarkoitus tai merkittävä tarkoitus on juuri järjestelmällinen tehdasmainen joukkotuhonta, jollaista Auschiwtz-Birkenaussa harjoitettiin (*: toki sielläkin oli leirivankeja orjatyössä ja kiduttavissa oloissa, mutta leirin olemassa olon kannalta joukkotuhonnalla oli suuri
merkitys). Tällainen toiminta oli loppujen lopuksi hyvin harvinaista Neuvosto-Venäjällä tai Neuvostoliitossa gulageilla tai niiden edeltäjillä tai seuraajilla, sen sijaan järjestelmällistä joukkotuhontaakin harjoitettiin esim. holomodorin aikana ja eräitä pakkosiirtojen kohdepaikkoja voidaan pitää sellaisina, että tarkoitus oli myös kokonaisten yhteisöiden tuhonta mutta ei tehdasmaisesti vaan esim. antamalla luonnon hoitaa asia (tuhansia ja taas tuhansia karkotettaiksi määritettyjä kansoja ajettiin leireille talvipakkasella eikä leireillä ollut muuta kuin piikkilanka-aidat, vartiotornit ja maakuoppia - jos niitäkään, läheskään kaikilla leireillä ei ollut edes puutavaraa tai metsää, jota hyödyntää asumusten rakentamisessa, oli todellakin vain maakuopat arolla).Yleisesti en kuitenkaan Neuvosto-Venäjän tai Neuvostoliiton kohdalla puhuisi tuhoamisleireistä, koska tuolloin syntyy olennaisesti merkitykseltään toinen mielikuva. Sen sijaan joukkotuhontaa alueella harjoitettiin, kuin myös ns. kansanmurhia (tai niiden yrityksiä), joista holomodor on jälleen uhriluvultaan suurin.
vlad.
Keskustelu natsien tuhoamisleireistä ja neukkujen keskitysleireistä menee vähän harhaan, kun alamme vertailla niitä keskenään. Molemmat vaihtoehdot olivat "tarpeeksi" näyttäviä lopputuloksen kannalta tai kun katsotaan niihin joutuneiden kokemuksia...molempien vaihtoehtojen parissa kärsittiin helvetisti. Ja kun halutaan oikein monimutkaisia keskusteluja, niin milten mitataan inhimillistä kärsimystä Länsi-Liittoutuneiden mattopommitusten alla, kyllä saksalainen siviilikin kärsi oman osansa....tai millä tavoin mitataan pohjois-vietnamilaisten kärsimyksiä amerikkalaisten rauhanpommitusten parissa? Entäs ne olot, joissa alkuasukkaat pääsivät riemuitsemaan siirtomaa-aikoina? Belgia, Britannia ja Ranska etunenässä veivät sivistystä sellaisilla metodeilla, että kyllä ne tulokset ihmisten kannalta olivat aika karmeita. Tai japanilaisten touhut Aasiassa alkaen -30-luvulla?
Hirmutekojen niputtaminen jonkin tai joidenkin ideologioiden kylttien alle on masentavan epä-älyllistä ja - rehellistä. Natsit ja kommarit....muiden teot ovat sitten olleet kevyttä kamaa vai? Näinköhän. Laajemmissa silmänaloissa erilaisia inhimillisiä syntejä on kyllä tehty roppakaupalla jo ennen kommareita ja natseja ja niitä tullaan todennäköisesti tekemään jatkossakin. Otsikot vaihtuvat, teot pysyvät.
Ihmisenä minua rietoo esim. se, että lennokilla pömäytetään ohjustimet terroristien niskaan. Oheistappiot kuitataan nykyään mediassa jo sivulauseessa. Oheistappiot ovat silti oikeasti siviiliuhreja, eikä niitä pitäisi kenenkään kuitata yhtään millään, eikä koskaan. Mutta niin tehdään, eikä niitä voida kommareiden ja natsien niskaan enää sälyttää.......
Keskustelusta voidaan tehdä monimutkaista, niin että eiköhän pysytellä tässä vitjassa tiukasti punaisten hirmujen töissä. Jokainen hirmuisuus on vitjansa arvoinen.
Hirmutekojen niputtaminen jonkin tai joidenkin ideologioiden kylttien alle on masentavan epä-älyllistä ja - rehellistä. Natsit ja kommarit....muiden teot ovat sitten olleet kevyttä kamaa vai? Näinköhän. Laajemmissa silmänaloissa erilaisia inhimillisiä syntejä on kyllä tehty roppakaupalla jo ennen kommareita ja natseja ja niitä tullaan todennäköisesti tekemään jatkossakin. Otsikot vaihtuvat, teot pysyvät.
Ihmisenä minua rietoo esim. se, että lennokilla pömäytetään ohjustimet terroristien niskaan. Oheistappiot kuitataan nykyään mediassa jo sivulauseessa. Oheistappiot ovat silti oikeasti siviiliuhreja, eikä niitä pitäisi kenenkään kuitata yhtään millään, eikä koskaan. Mutta niin tehdään, eikä niitä voida kommareiden ja natsien niskaan enää sälyttää.......
Keskustelusta voidaan tehdä monimutkaista, niin että eiköhän pysytellä tässä vitjassa tiukasti punaisten hirmujen töissä. Jokainen hirmuisuus on vitjansa arvoinen.
vlad
Respected Leader
Sitähän se on, älyllistä epärehellisyyttä nostaa esille vain ja ainoastaan natsien ja kommunistien hirmuteot vaikka ne toki 1900-luvulla merkittävimpiä olivatkin (tai ainakin organisoiduimpia ja laajamittaisimpia mutta toki niitä miljoonia siviileitä kuoli muidenkin yhteenottojen "oheistutteena" tai diktaattoreiden/hallitsijoiden toiminnan tuloksena). Oikeastaan samalla tapaa älyllisesti epärehellistä ja lyhytnäköistä on tietenkin käsitellä vain 1900-lukua ja sen myötä unohtaa "kaikkien kongolaisten ystävä" Leopold II, jonka Kongon vapaavaltiossa tapettiin omistajansa kaudella miljoonia orjuutettuja neekereitä. Puhumattakaan sitten lukemattomista muista menneiden vuosisatojen hirmuhallitsijoista tai valloittajista joista Tšingis-kaani seuraajineen on ollut mestarillinen tapattamaan piirittämiensä ja valloittamiensa kaupunkien asukkaita ja päätyen löytöretkien ja siirtomaavallan ynnä orjakaupan aikojen kautta Pohjois-Amerikan intiaanisotiin ja lukuisiin tuhottuihin kulttuureihin ja siitä onkin sitten oivallista tehdä loikka menneelle vuosisadalle ja tarkastella tämän ketjun aihetta (jonka alkutahdit toki luotiin jo 1800-luvun puolella jos oikein tarkkoja ollaan).
Mutta ehkäpä tässä ketjussa on todellakin parasta keskittyä kommunismin ja sosialismin ja siitä johdettujen aatteiden (esim. marxilais-leninistinen juche) nimissä suoritettuihin hirmutekoihin ja olla unohtamatta näitä reilua sataa miljoonaa suoraa uhria ja miljoonia ja taas miljoonia välillisiä uhreja. Toisaalta haasteensa on siinäkin, kuinka osata tarkastella ja ymmärtää tämän aatteen nimissä tehtyjä hirmutekoja kun yksilön kannalta jokainen hirmuteko on inhimillinen katastrofi mutta sitten yhteiskunnallisesti Maon, Stalinin ja Leninin että Pol Potin hirmuteot ovat sellaisia joissa uhriluku on miljoonia ja melkoiset osat väestöstä kärsivät konreettisella tapaa niistä, heidän rinnalla sosialistisessa leirissä kapinallisenakin pidetty Nicolae Ceaușescu siinä mielessä vähäinen tekijä ettei suoranaisia uhreja ollut miljoonittain mutta vastaavasti parikymmenmiljoonainen kansa joutui kärsimään tämän diktaattorin politiikan tähden enemmän kuin tarpeeksi - eikä ihme, että tämä alkoholistin poika sitten aikanaan menetti henkensä kivääriryhmän edessä vaimonsa kanssa. (Ansaitusti!)
Suhtautuminen 70- ja 80-luvuilla Ceaușescun Romaniaan oli sikäli mielenkiintoista, että häntä pidettiin sosialistisen leirin kapinallisena ja Moskovan vallan vastustajana - näin lännessäkin moni oli valmis ohittamaan häneen kohdistuvat syytökset diktatuurisesta hallinnasta ja vallan keskittämisestä ja lähipiirin suosimisesta etc. Mutta sitten kun Gorbatshov tuli valtaan ja aloitti perestroikan ja glasnostin ja itäblokki alkoi hiljalleen ensin muuttua ja sitten murentua, suhtautuminen Romaniaan ja sen johtoon muuttui hyvinkin radikaalisti ja sosialistisen leirin kapinallinen muuttuikin länsimaiden silmissä hylkiöksi ja sitten esille alkoivat tulla kuvat ihmisten kaltoinkohtelusta, orpokodeista joissa lapset olivat hirvittävissä oloissa ja joissa lasten henkinen tila oli kehnompi johtuen olemattomasta hoidosta, samoin maan abortiin kielteisesti suhtautuvat ohjelma sai tilaa ja siinä sivussa nostettiin esille Ceaușescun ajatukset romialaisen kansan syntyvyyden lisäämisestä ja propagandasta, jonka mukaan äitien oli tehtävä viisi tai enemmän lapsia etc. Se kuinka suhtautuminen muuttui Ceaușescuun 80-luvun lopulla kuvastaa oikeastaan oivallisesti sitä millainen ilmapiiri oli kylmän sodan aikana ollut - lännessä suhtauduttiin diktaattoreihinkin suurella myötämielisyydellä jos hän edes tavalla tai toisella oli kivenä Kremlin kengässä. Sama näkyi Afganistanin sodassa ja siitäpä niitetään viljaa edelleen.
Cristian Mungiun oivallinen elokuva 4 kuukautta, 3 viikkoa, 2 päivää (4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile) kuvaa hienosti menoa sen ajan Romaniassa aborttia haluavan nuoren äidin näkökulmasta.
vlad.
vlad.
Erkki
Ylipäällikkö
Siviiliuhrit ovat kaikkien sotien valitettava sivutuote, jonka määrä riippunee paljolti sotilaiden asenteista. Kuitenkaan niiden synnyttäminen ei ole yleensä sotilaiden tavoite, vaan ovat nimensä mukaisesti sotatoimien ohessa syntyvää ylimääräistä tuhoa. Kommunisteilla ja natseilla sensijaan aatteen määräämä käytäntö tuomitsi tietyt ihmisryhmät tuhottaviksi, kommareilla yleensä yhteiskuntaluokan ja natseilla rodun perusteella.
Maidan
Respected Leader
Kommareilla yhteiskunnanluokan tuhoamista oli vain sanahälinä. Kyllä se vaikutti siltä kun he meni ryöstämään kaikkia, joita olivat heitä vähänkin parempiosaisia, jotka hankkineet sitä omalla työllään, mutta ne väkisin ottaneet omaisuus heiltä itselleen ja halusi lisää, tappoi ja varasti taas, eli toimineet kun tyyppiliset varkaat ja roistot, kriminaalit. Mutta ennen kaikkea ne tuhosi parhaita ihmisia. Pienikin merkki kunnollisuudesta, rehellisyydestä ja älystä oli jo heidän mielestään vaarallista heille, juuri nämä ominaisuudet herättivät siinä roskaväessä, josta kertaheitolla tuli kaikenvoipia ja herroja - verenhimoa, siksi kommareiden aate oli niin petomainen, sen lähtökohtana oli VIHA kehittyneimpia ihmisiä kohtaan ja siellä nyky-Venäjällä edelleen jatkuu sama kehitys ja sama terrori.
Myös Venäjän kansasta kyllä huomaa tämän, kansa voi köyhtyä ei ainoastan aineellisesti. Sivistyneessa maailmassa arvostetaan ahkeruutta, tunnollisuutta, hyvätapaisuutta, jos tähän kuuluu vielä hoidettu olemus, vaikkapa vaikka taiteellisuus yms. sivistyneisyys ylipäänsä. Mutta jos tälläiset ihmiset alkavat olla vihan lähde ja joku päättää tuhota sellaisia ihmisia jo näiden ominaisuuksien takia, se on kehityksessa sadan vuoden taaksen menoa ja vähintäin sadan vuoden. Punikit/kommarit vihasi nimenomaan ja ennen kaikkea hyviä, kunnon ihmisiä, vasta sitten oli heidän luokan kuuluvuus ja vaarallisuus. Siellä jokainen kateelinen paskiainen sai vapaasti ilminantaa kaikkia, joita ei voinut sietää jo vaikkapa paremman olemuksen takia.
Tiesitteko että putinin fasistit ja Ukrainaa vihaava Ukrainassa asuvaa väestö haukkunut ukrainalaisia jo useita vuosia "svidomye", mitä tarkoittaa yksinkertaisesti "tiedostava" ihmistä (!). Se on aika yleinen haukkuma nimi ukrainalsille. Kuulostaa minusta järkyttävältä, mutta mistä se on historiassa lähtöisin voi arvata helposti.
Kommareiden idea on mahdollistanut erittäin huonojen piirteiden ihmisissä "jalostumisen" ja se on tosiasia. Sitä on turha kiistaa.
vlad
Respected Leader
Mielenkiintoista on myös se, että millaisen merkityksen kommunismin/sosialismin ja neuvostovallan aika loi Neuvostoliitossa ja sen liittolaismaissa sanalle "intelligentsija" - se oli lopulta halventava ja halveerava sana, verrattavissa "tiedostavaan" ja nähdäkseni lähinnä juuri sen tähden, koska "intelligentsija" oli todellinen kommunismin vihollinen. Hän oli älykäs, sivistynyt, usein tiedostava ja ymmärtävä - hänellä oli visoita ja oma-alotteisuutta ja halua toimia, kaikkea mitä ei juurikaan arvostettu kollektiivisessa kurinalaisuuteen (!) tähtäävässä neuvostosysteemissä. Siellä valtion suurin vihollinen oli intelligentsija, koska se oli todellinen uhka, se kritisoi systeemiä ja oli täten uhka valtiojohtoisuudelle, joka vastaavasty pyrki tukahduttamaan älymystön ja ihmisten halun omaan ajatteluun ja omaehtoiseen toimintaan.
vlad.
Honcho
SMLNKO M/83
Hieman off-topic, mutta niin tärkeä pointti että pakko tarttua hetkeksi.
Kyllä se näin on. Viime kädessä jokainen joutuu itse elämään omantuntonsa kanssa. Paljon on maailmassa asioita joita joku voi "saada" tehdä ilman että joutuu siitä varsinaisesti edesvastuuseen, tai edes minkäänlaisen paheksunnan kohteeksi. En itse näe maailmaa niin polarisoituneena, että pitäisin tätä laveasti määriteltyä "länttä" mitenkään puhtoisena, vaikka Venäjä & Co. tekeekin parhaansa peittääkseen muiden synnit omalla teutaroinnillaan.
Meinasi mennä kahvit väärään kurkkuun, kun vuosia sitten katsoin jotain Taru Sormusten Herrasta -elokuvan lisämateriaalia jossa herra ohjaaja sanoi, miten 2. maailmansotaa pitävät kaikki "hyvänä sotana", että se piti käydä. Mielestäni esitti tuon jotenkin paksuun sävyyn, kun ajattelee että juuri kyseinen sota oli myös 'puhtoisempien' länsiliittoutuneiden osalta sellaisen magnitudin pahantekoa, että OLKOONKIN että sekä "itäliittoutuneet" että Natsi-Saksa syyllistyivät jos jonkinlaiseen vieläkin pahempaan, niin kyllä kun asioista päättävien joukossa lännessä oli esim. uskonnollisia ihmisiä niin ainakin itseä olisi aivan loppuun saakka pelottanut ajatus niistä melodramaattisista helvetin lieskoista. Hillittömät määrät japanilaissiviilejä palopommittanut Curtiss LeMay teki oikein parhaansa vielä Kuuban Kriisin aikaankin että olisi saatu provosoitua ydinsota päälle, kun koki sen väistämättömäksi ja USAn vielä silloin vahvemmaksi osapuoleksi. Jälkikäteen voitaneen sanoa, että Curtiss LeMay oli väärässä ja Kennedy oikeassa.
Lainatakseni taannoista pukutelinettä... ei vaan pääministeriä, oli aivan FANTASTINEN asia että toinen maailmanpalo meni Suomen osalta niin kuin se meni (no tietysti olisin mieluusti pitänyt rajat Tarton rauhan tasolla tai vaikka vähän heimoalueitakin ja Kuolan niemimaa vaivan palkaksi, heh), hyytää vain ajatellakin miten olisi lopulta käynyt jos Natsi-Saksa olisi voittanut sodan. Mannerheim ja muut Saksan suhteen varaukselliset eivät mitenkään olisi loputtomiin pystyneet pitämään saksa-mielisempää siipeä aisoissa, vaan Suomi olisi lähtenyt all-in Saksan kelkkaan joko vapaaehtoisesti tai sitten ennen pitkää olisi seurannut miehitys. Hitler joskus oli tuon Suomen miehityksen idean tyrmännyt, mutta Hitlerin lupauksiin voi luottaa jotakuinkin yhtä paljon kuin Stalinin lupauksiin. Kun asiat menivät miten menivät, Suomen osalta omatunto säilyi kuitenkin verrattain puhtaana (esim. juutalaisten luovuttamattomuus) vaikka onhan siellä Itä-Karjalassa luonnollisesti tapahtunut kaikenlaista, ei sota ikinä aivan puhtoisesti mene. Neuvostovallan ekspansio Eurooppaan oli inhottava, vastenmielinen asia, sekä Suomen pitkä alisteinen asema, mutta luulen että se silti oli meille parempi huonoista vaihtoehdoista.
Leopold 2 on lempiesimerkkini verisestä massamurhaajasta, jonka teot menevät valovuoden tavallista sodankäyntiä pidemmälle, mutta joka on edelleen sotkematta virallisesti siihen lokaan joka moiselle ihmissaastalle kuuluisi. Samoin Ottomaanien toimet armenialaisten kanssa ovat aika hurja juttu, vaikka ovatkin saaneet paljon enemmänkin julkisuutta jo.
Kotimaisia esimerkkejä löytyy kyllä myös, meidän "sankarikuninkaat" kuten Kustaa II Adolf ja Kaarle X syyllistyivät aivan hirvittäviin asioihin sankaruutta ja suuruutta tavoitellessaan. Maakuntasarjan resursseilla mestaruussarjassa pelaava protestanttinen uskonsankari Kustaa II Adolf keksi viedä ajatuksen "sota elättäköön itsensä" aika hiton pitkälle tuhoten Keski-Euroopasta väestöä aivan hirvittävään tahtiin. Meidänkin sällit siellä ihan oman osansa verran loistivat ryöstössä, kidutuksessa ja raiskauksissa. Kaarle X taas reippaili Puolassa siihen malliin että on vain Puolan surkean maantieteellisen aseman ansiota, etteivät verenperintönä vihaa skandeja koska maa on tuhottu ja hävitetty sen jälkeen niin monen muunkin toimesta. Ja ei, en väitä että Puolan aateliset sen puhtaampia olisivat olleet. Teot ovat silti tekoja vaikka eettinen koodisto oli silloin erilainen.
Intelligentsija ei ole vaan yleensä minkäänlaisia kumouksia saanut aikaiseksi. Pelkkä tiedostavuus on kuin löysät lahkeet. Minusta eräs parhaita esimerkkejä on Puola -79. Intelligentsija uskalsi porhaltaa framille vasta, kun telakoiden sitkeät pirulaiset olivat panneet NLn kovan eteen ja lopulta kävi selväksi, ettei Nl ollut enää halukas eikä kykeneväkään ajamaan tankkeja Varsovaan. Liian usein tiedostavaisto on antanut ns. rahvaan tapella ja tullut vähän niinkuin valmiille.....tokitoki, selityksiä tähän löytyy, mutta tiedostavaiston löysät lahkeet ovat tosiasia. Ja itseasiassa vähän ihmettelen Moskovan ainaista pelkoa intelligentsiaa kohtaan. Punkkaritytöt tästä esimerkkinä, tosin olen vähän epäillyt heidänkin rooliaan.....joskus näitä tällaisia jupakoita tulee kuin tilauksesta????? Intelligentsia löysät lahkeet pelaavat liian usein vallanpitäjän pussiin, tahtomattaan ja joskus, ikävä kyllä, syvästi tahtoen. Intelligentsiasta on löytynyt tosin aina poikkeuksiakin, mm. edelleen Puola - 79: opettajia, lääkäreita, pappeja ja jopa piispa, toimittajia jne. mutta pieni, kovin pieni oli se tiedostavaiston lkm tässäkin kohtaa. Mutta annahan, kun etulinjan taistelu oli käyty ja voitto häämötti, sitten alkoi löytyä tekijöitä.....
Putinin voi kaataa käsittääkseni vain asevoimien ja keskiluokan koalitio. Kyllä se muilta jää kaatamatta. Ilman jotakuta voimaministeriötä jää Voimamies kaatamatta...mutta turhia ei kannata kuvitella. Kenraalit ja marsalkat haluavat varmasti oman ryöstövuoronsa, mutta ehkä juuri tämä ryhmä tarvitsee sen "kansan" tuen johtuen rakenteista. Muut voimaministeriöt ovat liian lujia kaadettavaksi - ilman asevoimien tukea kaatopuuhissa.
Minä en haaveile mistään Putin-kaadoista, koska pelkään aidosti sitä, että tilalle pukkaa vaan kahta pahempaa.
Teoriassa ja juhlapuheissa näin. Mutta siltikin hämmentävän moni yläluokan suku selvisi kuin koira veräjästä ja hankki käsittämättömän lujan aseman kommunistisessakin Onnelassa. Kauppa kannatti ja kilpailijat oli vallankumous syönyt veks. Erilaiset teollisuuden ja kaupan korporaatiot ja monopolit puhkesivat kukkaan ja jopa Stalikka silitti myötäsukaan päätä, rahantuloa ei voinut mikään estää, kun antoi myös vallankumouksen kastaa nokkaansa saaliista. Kommunistinen vallankumous on tutkimuksessa jätetty "liian vähälle", siitä on kerrottu helppoa tarinaa, eikä ole kyetty nostamaan framille seikkoja, jotka tekisivät selityksestä niin vaikean, ettei sitä ainakaan suurelle yleisölle voisi edes esittää. Jos pääsette tiettyjen venäläisten kanssa sopiviin väleihin, niin maailmankatsomus kyllä avartuu, toisaalta mieli ahdistuu, kun tajuaa, että Idän Kolossi on järjestelmänä meidän näkökulmastamme täysin käsittämätön, toteuttipa se millaista järjestelmää tahansa. Tuo kynällä piirretty raja kartassa on paitsi valtioiden välinen, se on myös kahden täysin erilaisen maailman raja. Toivottavasti se myös pysyy.
Maidan on esittänyt monta kertaa, että Venäjä yrittää uittaa oman järjestelmänsä menettelytavat myös kumppaneidensa käytäntöihin. Minusta Maidan on tässä oikeassa. Ydinvoimalapäätös on tästä varoittava esimerkki.
Muttei niiden omasta mielestä. Nehän vain pelastivat maailmaa pahalta fasistilta.
Sitäpaitsi suuri isänmaan sota kesti 1941-45. Ja WWII alkoi 1939 jotein eihän NL;lla voi olla mitään osaa eikä arpaa sen aloittamisessa.
Aivan. Baltia ja Puola saivat tuta sitä ensilämpöä, jota oli tarjolla. Suomi oli sitten jo hankalampi rasti. Ja valmisteleva propaganda alkoi hyvissä ajoin - 30-lukua, jotkut sanovat, että - 35 Stalikka käytännössä alkoi asettamaan NLa sota-asentoon. Niin tai näin, NL toimi hyökkääjän tavoin - 39 täysin kiistämättä. No, katsotaan nyt sitten tänään missä asennossa tietyt valtiot ovat? Ei sitä uskoisi, että Saksa oli lyöty asentoon nolla - 45. NL oli voittaja. Voitti sodan ja hävisi kirkkaasti rauhan.
vlad
Respected Leader
Todellisuudessa juuri näin ja todellisuuteen verrattuna on mielenkiintoista se millaisen roolin sana "intelligentsija" sai ja millaisena valtiovihollisena ja aatteen vihollisena sitä pidettiin vaikka todellisuudessa ne intelligentsijan edustajat olivat usein hyvinkin sopeutuvaisia ja harvoin olivat seisomassa siellä eturintamassa - etenkään neuvostovallan viimeisinä vuosikymmeninä.
Kommunismin alkuaikoina ja Stalinin puhdistusten aikaan intelligentsijan ja heidän jotka tavalla tai toisella voitiin liittää tähän ryhmään - sidos saattoi olla löyhäkin - asema oli ehkäpä toinen ja tuolloin se saattoi olla konkreettisesti otettava uhka ja se saattoi jopa olla valmis toimimaan, mutta kovin ottein nujerrettuna, karkotettuna ja murhattuna sen muuttui lopulta olennaisesti merkityksettömämmäksi mutta sanana intelligentsija jäi elämään ja se pysyi kirosanana ja pelotteena aina 80-luvulle saakka. Ja nyt Venäjällä terminologia alkaa olla samansuuntainen, joistain sanoista muodostuu kirosanoja ja joihinkin sanoihin liitetään negatiivinen arvolataus valtiollisessa propagandassa - fasisti nyt on voimakkain sana, mutta sen jälkeen nousevat sanat, jotka ilmaisevat jollain tapaa halukkuutta omaehtoiseen ajatteluun, kuten tiedostava, intelligentsija, älykkö tms. Ja toisaalta samalla tapaa kuin neuvostovallan aikana, tämä ryhmä on lopulta suhteellisen hiljaa tai sitten lähtee maasta ja lähtee, koska he tietävät, että tavalla tai toisella kykenevät elättämään itsensä lännessä - demokraattisessa maailmassa, Moskovan vihollisten keskuudessa.
Lopulta jäljelle jää, kuten @Maidan on todennut, suuri massa ihmisiä jotka ovat - usein - monella tapaa helposti ohjailtavissa ja voi todellakin kestää aikansa kunnes tämän kymmenien miljoonien ihmisten joukon kriittinen piste on ylitetty ja se lähtee kadulle. Tältä kantilta katsoen kovin lohduttomalta näyttää Venäjän tulevaisuus - vai onko jopa puhuttava käänteisestä termistä eli "tulevaisuudettomuudesta". Onko Venäjä menneisyytensä vanki?
vlad.
Maidan
Respected Leader
Alas vajoaminen on nopeampaa kun ylös kipeäminen. Rikkoaminen tai hajottaminen yleensä nopempaa, kun rakentaminen. Kansan parhaimiston joukkotuhoaminen on kuin repisi metsät ja jättäisi errosion maahaan. Jotain sinne kyllä kasvaisi kyllä ajan mukaan, mutta samassa suhteessa kuin alkulausessa, luulen.