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Politics and the Cold War
Politics and the Cold War
Politics and the Cold War
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Looking at Russia-Estonia bilateral relations and the political use of history, one cannot start before examining the Soviet occupations in Estonia and how the two parties see that history.
Developments such as the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, and the re-emergence there of pre-Communist and pre-Soviet conflicts, as shown by Karlsson (n.d.), have certainly stimulated historical consciousness since 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Russian population faced a comprehensive identity crisis (Bagger, 2007, p. 109) and like Estonia, also began searching for its identity and roots. In the public domain the crisis gave rise to a lively debate that to a large degree revolved around the nation’s past which according to Scherrer (as cited in Bagger, 2007) was a wave of nostalgia, called “the longing for history” and that there was actually talk of a “worship” of the past. Additionally, Scherrer also found that Putin, more clearly than Yeltsin, later stressed the tradition of the powerful state, and that he had abandoned his predecessor’s anti-communist position. The Soviet national anthem had been reintroduced with a new text, and the army’s banner was once again red. Instead of allowing the Soviet period to be a culde-sac leading away from the main road of Russian history Putin had sought to place this period within a power-political continuum, focusing on its positive aspects – first and foremost the heroic achievements of “the Great Patriotic War” (p. 115).
It is a well known fact that Estonia has a totally different understanding of the Soviet era and has difficulties finding something positive about this time. While Estonia sees that the Soviet Union occupied and forcibly annexed Estonia,...
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... and therefore, although the boarder treaty is signed, Russia refuses to ratify it. One of the later issues involves the Russian-German gas pipeline project, which Estonian officials, together with their Lithuanian counterparts, have criticized, and Poles initially even called it a new Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Latvian criticism in this case has been muted (p. 50). In addition, during the 20-years of regained independence, there hasn’t been a clear change in the coalition and opposition parties in Estonia. The center right parties have always been in power with the only exception in 1995. Likewise, the annual commemoration of the Estonian soldiers, who fought in the German army during WWII, by Estonian nationalist, also the citizenship policy and the recent school reform concerning Russian minorities, continue to preserve tensions between Russia-Estonia relations.
Crockatt, Richard. The fifty years war : the United States and the Soviet Union in world politics, 1941-1991. London; New York; Routledge, 1995.
This was, of course, only a humorous exaggeration, a case of political satire. Yet beneath the humor, there lies a very profound testament to the belief that Russia's political culture has been inherited from its czarist days and manifested throughout its subsequent development. The traditions from the pre-Revolution and pre-1921 Russia, it seems, had left its brand on the 70-years of Communist rule. The Soviet communism system was at once a foreign import from Germany and a Russian creation: "on the one hand it is international and a world phenomenon; on the other hand it is national and Russian…it was Russian history which determined its limits and shaped its character." (Berdyaev, "Origin")
In conclusion, many soviets citizens appeared to believe that Stalin’s positive contributions to the U.S.S.R. far outweigh his monstrous acts. These crimes have been down played by many of Stalin’s successors as they stress his achievements as collectivizer, industrializer, and war leader. Among those citizens who harbor feelings of nostalgia, Stalin’s strength, authority , and achievement contrast sharply with the pain and suffering of post-revolutionary Russia.
The U.S. and Russia have cold war history and ideology still strong among their constituents. The Cold War was also never really over, hence why assuming geopolitics were no longer relevant was a mistake on behalf of Fukuyama’s The End of History. The history of the U.S. and the Soviet Union are described through international proxy wars heavily relying on strategic locations, geopolitics is imbedded in their relationship. They both are always competing for spheres of influence, now not only in regards to Crimea in Ukraine, but also in Syria. Russia will not forget the financial build up of Western states after WW II, the integration of Warsaw Pact states and the Baltic Republics into NATO (Mead, 2), and the containment policy of states around the world that lead to the dissembling of the Soviet
When Russians talk about the war of 1812 they do not mean the war in which Washington was burned by the British, but the war in which, apparently, the Russians burned Moscow. This war between the French republican empire and the Russian Tsarist Empire was as remarkable a high - spot in the history of the latter as it was a low - spot in the history of Napoleon. For Russia, it was one of those rare moments in history when almost all people, serfs and lords, merchants and bureaucrats, put aside their enmities and realized that they were all Russians. Russia, sometimes called ‘a state without a people’, seemed to become, for a few precious months, one people, and never quite forgot the experience.
International politics as one may imagine includes foreign affairs. This is why the topic and focus of this paper revolves around the current event within Eastern Europe. It will focus on both Russia, Ukraine, and the world, and from it, it will be analyzed by using the resources provided within class. After all it is a International Politics course, and one of the best ways to effectively put the skills and knowledge to use is to focus on an event or current event. The paper will attempt to go over in a chronological order of the events that has happened, and what is happening currently over in Ukraine. Afterwards, an analyzed input will be implemented providing reasoning behind Russia's actions, and actions of the world, and potentially some solutions.
The Cold War subsisted as a forty year, or in light of alternate perspectives- perpetuating, conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. Following the conclusion of World War II, the capitali...
Lafeber, W. (2002), America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-2000. 9th edn. New-York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
The cold war was failed by the Soviet Union for many reasons, including the sudden collapse of communism (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This sudden collapse of communism was brought on ultimately by internal factors. The soviet unions president Gorbachev’s reforms: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (political reconstructering) ultimately caused the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev’s basics for glasnost were the promotion of principles of freedom to criticize; the loosening of controls on media and publishing; and the freedom of worship. His essentials of perestroika were, a new legislature; creation of an executive presidency; ending of the ‘leading role’ of the communist party; allowing state enterprises to sell part of their product on the open market; lastly, allowing foreign companies to own Soviet enterprises (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) Gorbachev believed his reforms would benefit his country, but the Soviet Union was ultimately held together by the soviet tradition he was trying to change. The Soviet Union was none the less held together by “…powerful central institutions, pressure for ideological conformity, and the threat of force.
The Web. 5 May 2015. Franklin, Simon and Emma Widdis, eds. National Identity in Russian Culture: An Introduction.
...E. The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Millions of people have gone great lengths to record every part of the past. We may not know much about the future but we have more than enough information about the past. The knowledge about our past has helped us in many ways. Historians, teachers, doctors, students, lawyers and many more have relied on history books and researches on significant events in history to prove their point. The question why history matters has been asked many times. It has been asked by students, teachers and parents sometimes. Some people may see this question as ridiculously easy but I see it as one of the hardest ones yet asked. Does History matter? This question can’t be answered in one sentence. Try asking people why history is important and the answer is usually “It’s to learn from our mistakes”. It’s not right to summarize over 4 billion years of history in one sentence. This question can be easily answered in numerous ways. I would side with the numerous historians who say history holds huge significance. History is older than any object or human being we have ever come across. History has proved itself significance with the help of human beings. We, the people have used history and made it one the most significant thing in present. History holds itself significant because it has helped us understand human behaviors, change in societies, mistakes influential figures have made in past, the past events occurrence and many other reasons. The most important reason is that history protects us by preparing us for the incoming. This essay would analyze the importance of history today by using the past events for evidence.
What is history? History is the analysis and interpretation of the past. History allows us to study both continuity and change over time. It helps to explain how we have changed throughout time. Part of history is using pieces of evidence to interpret and revisit the past. Examples of evidence include written documents, photographs, buildings, paintings, and artifacts. Is history important? When looking at what the definition of history entails, it is clear to see history is in fact, important.
international politics (politics in general) are objective to be interpreted by one's own understanding of
Furthermore, the Ukraine and Russia have always shared a history; as both states are embodiments of the process of transformation, that have risen from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War. The Ukraine’s material legacy is demographically and territorially close to Russia, thereby, tying the Ukraine to Russia.