A leader of Russia who was not an absolute bastard to either his own people or neighbouring countries has passed away.Mikhail Gorbachev, born in 1931, became head of state of the Soviet Union in 1985 and ended the war in Afghanistan, ended the Cold War, and allowed Eastern Bloc countries to govern themselves, for which modern Russians view him as a traitor.
Historian Helen Archer said: “Previous Russian leaders include Brezhnev, Stalin and Ivan the Terrible, so Gorbachev was a real break from the norm.
“His policies of letting people criticise the government, letting Eastern Europe have leaders who weren’t dictators, and not threatening to nuke the world were refreshing, different, and saw him overthrown within three years.
“Following which the Soviet Union collapsed, the economy collapsed, the world looted the remains and first a hopeless pisshead then a KGB strongman took power and started doing all the bastard stuff again.
“Now we face a Russia invading Eastern Europe, backing dictators in vicious civil wars, threatening nuclear conflict and imprisoning any Russians who dare challenge it. So pretty much everything Gorbachev achieved is gone.
“It seems either Russia likes a bastard or bastards like Russia. Either way, farewell Gorbachev. It was nice while it lasted.”
Of course.
I think Russia thinks of themselves as warriors and outcasts. So they bully others. That's the only way they know to achieve anything... cheat, bully, conquer, divide, hate... it's one place I will never visit. I just don't need that mentality in my life.
ReplyDeleteCenturies and centuries of paranoia and lying about their place in history [as one academic pointed out, Russia itself began in Kiev, so Ukraine has more claim to their purported empire than Moscow does] has corrupted the minds of those in power. Gorbachev himself believed the hype - and was caught out when "loosening the reigns" actually led to every state under its yoke declaring independence, one-by-one. He actually believed that everyone loved "Mother Russia" and would want to stick around as part of that federation. Putin and his allies never forgave him. The West loved him more. Jx
DeleteGorbachev offered a glimmer of hope, I thought.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame he didn't get to stay the course and complete the job. Yeltsin's great "sale of the century" of the country's assets, and the rise of the oligarchs, dashed any hoped that they would continue down the road to success, and, like all fledgling democracies in dire economic turmoil, a dictator-in-waiting seized his chance... Jx
DeleteHe achieved a lot in his short time in power, imagine the world now if he was able to hang on to it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a damn sight more peaceful! Jx
DeleteThose of us who lived through these times will (I hope!) remember Gorbechov as one tried to change things for the better of Russia and , thereby, the rest of Europe and its Western allies. I still wont vote for clods like BoJo!
ReplyDeleteBoris is the least of evils where the Ukraine situation's concerned. His last act in office was to go to Kiev again to show solidarity.
DeleteI agree that if Gorby hadn't been destabilised by that attempted coup, Russia and the world would be a much better place. Jx