December 26th: End of the Soviet Union

Today in 1991, the Supreme Soviet (Parlament) approved the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and dissolved itself as well. The day before, Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned his powers in Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation. Since the August coup, the cohesion of the USSR was weak and in December 8th the residents of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine had already declared the Union dissolved and formed the alternative Commonwealth of Independent States. This act of the Supreme Soviet, that we remeber today, only formally ratified what was already a fact: the soviet Union was dead.


The last USSR Premier and the first President of independent Russia

Other events that happened today:

• 1620 - a group of Puritan pilgrims, known as the Pilgrim Fathers, arrive to Massachsusetts, founding the first European settlement of New England.
• 1790 - Louis XVI of France signs the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, that abolishes monacate and places the priests under Revolutionary rule.
• 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of a new element: radium.

Marie Curie

• 1925 - The Communist Party of India is founded, it played some role during indpendence struggle and today it is yet an important minor party with strong presence in Kerala and other states.
  
• 2003 - A major earthquake deastates the city of Bam, Iran.
• 2004 - A major tsunami breaks havoc in the coasts of the Indian Ocean, affecting Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldivas and Thailand. The effect of the wave reached even to East Africa.

Full list: Wikipedia.

Credit? socialist society? I say "Kill the reds!". All the reds and with no mercy! Good Red is a dead one. Kill their mothers, wifes and children!

I dont know why so much people hate the USSR.It wasnt soo bad state as usualy have been represent.It is soo sad for me that it no longer exist

Not only that but it has one of the coolest national athems

Not really Maju. Im far from being ultranationalist. I would rather say that we Poles know the Reds better than anyone else so we got no "romantic viev" on those massmurderers. Socialism and Communism was a system which was introduced in Poland in 1945 by force with the bloody hands of NKVD and the Red Army, 25 years after we have kicked out of their red arses the ideas of world wide revolution (polish-soviet war 1920). The list of the crimes commited by the Reds has almost no end, the number of their victims untill today is unknow (all we know is that it were many millions). And when someone isint internationalist, socialist and communist it doesnt make him ultranationalist. Consider it Maju.

 

Every state has its sins.Some have more sins than others.Also everey state has its achievmant, some are bigger than others.None has sad that Soviets are pure good, but are they pure evil.

I don't want to enter in a deep discussion on USSR merits and demerits but, after browsing your link, it's evident that the peak of deaths in labor camps happened in the midst of WWII and we also know that Stalin was unable (or unwilling or whatever) to kill even a fraction of what the Nazis killed in the same ammount of time. The comparison is only limitedly justifiable and an be made only by people that politically hate socialism or Russia as nation or Stalin as individual (the latter can be more justified, I believe). The USSR, even in its worst period, can't even remotely compare with the atrocities of Nazi Germany and I'm sure that Poles also suffered more at the hands of Nazis than at those of the Soviets. Said this, I agree that all that gulag policy is totally rejectable.

Another thing that can't compare between Nazi Germany and Stalin's USSR is that, while Nazis didn't have the slightest humanist ideal, the Soviets did, even if it only served to justify atrocities in many cases.

If you know what the Soviets did to Poles, I also know what the Nazis and their Italian and Spanish allies did to Spaniards and specially to Basques, with the passive conformity of all western democracies since 1936. I must remind you that Franco, Pinochet and all the other criminal tyrannies in the Mediterranean and Latin America (and other regions as well) would have never survived without the explicit support of the USA and its European allies.

I am also sure that Poland suffered more under Nazi rule than under Soviet one. Remember that a 10% of Poles then were Jews and there's virtually no one now. Nazis also didn't have the slightest respect for ethnic Poles either.

Look, Subotai is Bulgarian, he must also know what Soviet domination means, yet he doesn't have that acritude. That's why I said that you are an "ultranationalist", meaning that you are a fierce Polish nationalist of conservative ideas, as your avatar shows. No offense meant.

This link is only about Kolyma which was known as Arctic Aushwitz. In fact in Kolyma died much more people than in Aushwitz. But Kolyma was only a little part of the Gulag Empire. The small one but the worst one. In other gulag camps one if was lucky could have survive 10 years or even more. In the mines of Kolyma people were not able to survive longer than 2 years. And as my link shows Poles made only little percent of Kolyma victims. If you read this work guys you will find this picture:

 

Saying that :"Another thing that can't compare between Nazi Germany and Stalin's USSR is that, while Nazis didn't have the slightest humanist ideal, the Soviets did, even if it only served to justify atrocities in many cases" is for me a total BS. Is like saying that before Nazists build concentration camps they were cool. Dont forget that Hitler was a socialist too. He had great ideals. He didnt want even a single german to live in poverty. He wanted to give every german job, good social conditions and Volkswagen (the difference between him and Mussolini was that in Italy it would have been Fiat). Hitler build highways and really improved living conditions of the Germans. The fact that Reds were hiding their genocides behind nice sounding words and widespreaded propaganda which seems to be still effective doesnt change the fact that millions died because of well planned hunger in Ukraine, millions died in Kolyma in such conditions that one who havent seen it wont belive or realise it because its unbelivable. Soviet Socialism or communism, call it however you want, was sponsored by the work of millions slaves who were digging jewels, gold, uranium and other sources in Siberia. It was also (what if often forgotten) sponsored by the slave work of Russian paesants who were producing food and living in the conditions which can be compared to those of the black slaves in the southern states of USA before the civil war.

 

Zagros said:

That man in your avatar was a mass murderer, he ordered the gassing of Kurds in the 20s.

I must admit that im not an expert of Iranian or Kurd history. Altough i learn it here in AE forum thanks to Cyrus and other Iranian members.

I dont know anything about the episode in Churchill's life when he ordered to murder Kurd people. I have serious doubts if he did it. But if my avatar really hurts your feelings and if you really insist im ready to change it.

Nazis weren't socialists: they were far-right nationalists. Theirs may be a patriotic ideal but not a humanist ideal: something that spreads beyond the borders of a nation without distinction of ethnicity. Soviets killed people because they considered them political opponents, Nazis killed people because they considered them subhuman. In any case the USSR, despite being so badly affected by the war, didn't commit but a small fraction of the atrocities of Hitler and his German patriots (in the same period). This issue has been discussed in other topics, btw. 

Nazists were national socialists. Thats what nazism means, it is national socialism. And nazists had socialist economic program and were introducing it in Germany.

Soviets killed people because they considered them political opponents, Nazis killed people because they considered them subhuman.

Whats the difference why someone kills millions of people. What is the difference for the victim if he is named "political opponent" or "subhuman". Words are not important. Most of those "political opponents" didnt even realised that they are political opponents. Communists needed millions of slave labours in Siberia and everyone could have become "political opponent". Stalin said that death of one person is a tragedy but death of million people is a statistic fact.

Look, Subotai is Bulgarian, he must also know what Soviet domination means, yet he doesn't have that acritude.

Some slaves kiss the arses of their masters, others not. Different nations in eastern block were treated in different way. You wont find Bulgarians on the list of nationals that were  being sent to Siberia. Affcourse it doesnt change the fact that Russians and Ukrainians made the most of victims.

Another thing that can't compare between Nazi Germany and Stalin's USSR is that, while Nazis didn't have the slightest humanist ideal, the Soviets did, even if it only served to justify atrocities in many cases.

Maju imagine yourself being sent to the mines of Kolyma. It is really cold, arctic weather, you dont have really warm cloth, last time when you were eating well was before they arrested you. So you are really really hungry and you feel really cold. It is not that type of hunger or cold that you can imagine Maju but just try. You are forced to work 12 hours a day in that terrible snow and cold. You are also dirty, last hot shower you had months ago, since you were send here you didnt wash yourself. Your teeth are moving, i mean your remaining teeth because untill now you have only few. Guards are forcing you to work hard. If you wont satisfy them they will beat you or even worse, they wont give you any food and you are really hungry. You have no hope. The only hope you can have is that you wont live too long because life is incredible suffering. Everywhere around you people are sick or dieing. You already saw most of the people who arrived here with you dieing. The guards are treating you in the way that you see not much difference between being "political opponent" or "subhuman". In fact they treat and feed their own dogs much better than you. Sometimes for fun they kill prisoner, just to show the rest that they can. But you dont really notice such event, You can think only about that terrible cold, food and sleep. You are only happy that you are not woman. Women are in worse situation. They are being raped by the criminals who are the henchmen of the guards. You have no chance to become one of them because your a political prisoner and only criminal prisoners recive functions from guards and a little bit more food. Anyway, somtimes there is even no  need to rape them because they are ready to do everything for a little piece of bread.

Now Maju try walking in their shoes and keep talking about humanist ideals of Soviet Union. Death in the nazi gas chamber would be your wish. Treating 1 person in this way, forcing to such suffering is barbarian. What about preparing such hell for millions?

Subotai said: Overaly this site represent the soviets as some baby-eating monsters who care nothing but gold and support ideas like Stalin starved the russians wich make no sense.

Who says that Soviet Union had sence? The sad thing is that this site is unable to show even small part of the terrible truth. You dont know what is hell until find it.

I want you guys to understand only one thing. You wont build paradise on earth by making hell for millions of people. You wont make paradise on earth by murdering millions of people. Totalitarian states of Germany and Soviet Union proved it better than anything else. Maybe im only a stupid conservative ultranationalist but i belive that every ideals will hit the bottom if they will be based on the suffering and death of people and if they wont respect basic moral or ethic rules.

Both Nazi Germany and Soviet Union didnt respect any of such rules. German ubermansh was over any rules. Communists came to destroy the old rules and to replace them with new. But they replaced them with nothing but pain and blood of innocent people. Both Nazists and Communists brought only suffering and death to millions. And thatswhy Constitution of Poland treats communism, fascism and nazism as similar criminal systems. And in Polish criminal law trying to widespread nazi, comunist or fascist ideology is the same crime.