Posted on 09/27/2023 3:11:08 AM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
The Russian nation is more dependent on an autocrat and security state than any other European nation, and it has been for centuries — even before the Soviet era — whether it was the streltsy, Preobrazhensky Guard, Okhrana, Cheka, KGB, or siloviki. The wealthy aristocrats, now called oligarchs (previously boyars) never made a serious bid to circumscribe the autocrats’ power, unlike in most European nations; the Russian Orthodox Church has been dependent on the state since at least 1700; and, as for the masses, they have always been viewed as an instrument of the state or a resource to be exploited. Russia Has Always Paved Its Own Way
Russia has been expansionist since its days as Muscovy, with only military defeat stunting its growth. Russian expansionism (or imperialism) has always been opportunistic and has primarily involved feasting on smaller, weaker nations.
Through the mid-19th century, Russia expanded in all directions, defeating the decaying Ottoman Empire and seizing Polish and Swedish territories with considerable assistance from Austria and Prussia. Its sweep east toward the Pacific faced weak opposition from feudal khanates and primitive Siberian peoples. Only when Russia finally faced a significant foe in China’s Qing dynasty (1689) did it stop. Russia’s great coup de grâce was ejecting Napoleon (1812), but the final defeat (1813) only happened with a British-Austrian-Prussian coalition.
Russia’s westward expansion ended with the Crimean defeat (1856), at which point it pivoted east. From 1864 to 1884, Russia crushed the central Asian khanates (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan). In 1860, Russia took advantage of China’s weakness after the Opium Wars to grab what is now the Russian Far East.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Yes. And JimRob already stated this was unacceptable. If you believe JimRob is wrong in issuing this rule, and wish to call him out on it, please let us know.
‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’
Poor Russia. Never did nothin' to nobody.
My latest reports from both Russia and Ukraine.
People go out to dinner and their lives are 95% back to normal.
Additionally we must remember that the Russian revolution was financed in Western Europe as well. Specifically Prussia/Germany was it not? Only to have those folks later invade where the most deaths during WWII occurred.
Heck that was not even 100 years ago - there are people still alive who remember it! Culturally they certainly do.
Not to say that can justify current actions but you certainly need to know where they are coming from when dealing with them.
Not terribly different from the behavior of other empires throughout history. Expansion drives aren’t active all the time. Whether they express themselves or not depends on whether or not there are restraining forces and whether or not they pursue wise policies. Talk of expanding NATO triggered this invasion, as it triggered the earlier Russia-Georgia War. We are not innocent bystanders or the virtuous heroes of the story.
Poster AABEST to me this very morning:
"Stick something in your moronic, disgusting, globaloid face-hole and just go choke."
Maybe you'd have a word with your fellow-traveller? Wouldn't want to be violating policy now, would we?
It’s hard to take the complaints seriously when your compatriots have made death threats against me. Alter Kaker said I needed to hang from a lamppost and MeganC was praying to “God” that death paid me a visit. The difference is that they merely have their posts removed (I never asked them to be struck from the record, by the way - I wanted them to stay up), they were not suspended or zotted.
Conversely, if I or my side were to issue such threats, we would be suspended and zotted without a moment’s regret on the part of management. I’ve had countless posts removed for merely criticizing or comically lampooning the stances of your compatriots, for which they were considered the EQUAL of the death threats in the eyes of the Admin Mods.
So, as I said, the unequal treatment, when your side is given enormous latitude in what it gets away with, is hard for me to get worked over in sympathy.
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