The fricking USSR....were they "The waist of the earth" or what?

[gera]

For those who want to have a fairly quicky history lesson of the "fricking USSR" do check the episodes of the series "The Cold War" on Youtube...I lived many of those years and the Fricking or whatever USSR were a pain in neck and everywhere else, those "animals" were really the scum of the earth........Oooops!!!! the title should say "The waste of the earth" some finger mixing there....

[Skittles]

There were two (major) countries in the cold war.

[wombat666]

For those who want to have a fairly quicky history lesson of the "fricking USSR" do check the episodes of the series "The Cold War" on Youtube...I lived many of those years and the Fricking or whatever USSR were a pain in neck and everywhere else, those "animals" were really the scum of the earth........Oooops!!!! the title should say "The waste of the earth" some finger mixing there....

Thin ice sport, just plain old USSR or Soviet Russia will do thank you.

[Lionheart]

Russia used to be a very Germanic and almost Victorian like country until the revolt of Red October. They went into a very bad spiral from there.

I think Gorbachef did an amazing job with his country. It was good to see the wall come down.

Thank the Lord the cold war is over.



Bill

[deathfromafar]

Those were tumultuous times. Those of us who lived through it all were no doubt glad to see the Cold War go. Looking back at history and mulling over formerly classified information, some have questioned how much of the worst parts of the Cold War could have been avoided. I have long concluded had the Soviet Union maintained it's large defense posture and expenditure within it's own borders or neighboring states who voluntarily wanted to be under their defensive umbrella, then perhaps things could have been kept at a lower level so to speak. But that was never the CPSU's intention from the beginning. They did everything they could to spread Communism and their outreaching tentacles around the world. The invasions and brutal authoritarian crackdowns the Soviets imposed on the people and countries of Easter Europe was horrific. Without exception, there were the satellite programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin/Central America where aid was given to some pretty awful governments and movements which committed many human rights atrocities as well as installed dictatorships. There were plenty of covert and direct means done to thwart these outreaching efforts by the Soviets, many were successful, some were not. In the end, the Soviet's plans failed but the debris and damage left over and human cost will last for decades to come.

At the end of the day, there were some Soviets/Russians who were brave enough to roll back or outright terminate many of those goals and programs and not to mention change the way things where done in the Soviet Union towards the end. I have nothing but admiration for Mikhail Gorbachev. I think he was the right leader at the right time in both to Soviet Union and in the World. He is a good and brave man and he deserves credit for helping to turn back the tide of the Cold War shoulder to shoulder with other great World Leaders of the time.

[Moparmike]

I believe that many of the same things were said by many US folk about "the Hun" during WWI...did they really eat babies?, those pesky "krauts" during WWII...were they all "evil Nazis"?, and many other peoples throughout the years. Was it actually the people of the country or just the then-current leadership on both sides? Propagandism...
It would be interesting to learn of some of the cold war propaganda from the other side as well...I'm sure many of us in the US would cry foul at some of what was said about us too.

Yes, there were some real nasty things done during the cold war but thank goodness that that period of history is behind us now! No need to continue to carry on the ill feelings.

[Cees Donker]

This first post has a definite political message. We don't do politics in the Newshawks. These qualifications are uncalled for here at the OH. We have a common hobby: flightsimming.



Cees

[Gramps]

No we don't