Name of Russia.

i believe trotsky was murdered in mexico iirc,did he write anything about his time with stalin,when they was mates.yours,4th wilts.

 

But Putin said and gave him:

“The death of Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn is a heavy loss for the whole of Russia,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wrote in a telegram expressing his regret. Putin, who had political differences with the writer, nonetheless said: “His entire long, thorny life journey will remain for us a model of true devotion, selfless service to the people, motherland, the ideals of freedom, justice and humanism.”

Putin awarded Solzhenitsyn Russia’s highest laurel in June last year in a pomp-filled Kremlin ceremony honouring his devotion to the “motherland.” A day-long memorial vigil was held for Solzhenitsyn at Russia’s prestigious Academy of Sciences, which recognised the once-exiled author as a member in 1997.

Solzhenitsyn is praised even as he is mourned - NEW EUROPE - The European News Source

 

Come on Soviet Man, the information spread by soviet and later governments was generally chock full of propaganda. Not that our media isn't but still. Maybe you would like to explain the decimation of the Kulaks, hardly revolutionaries or traitors, just peasants who had a little more than their peers. He was a mass murderer who actually killed more than Hitler, you can't tell me that all these people were traitors?

Anyhow, you have just nicely shown the kind of feeling I was trying to explain so thanks for that, though have you considered that you are as much of a victim of propaganda as we are.

 

I think you are all missing one very important Russian -- Catharine the Great. She did much to expand the power of Russia, despite living in a politically patriarchal society.

 

Pssst, be carefull she was German

Regards
Kruska

 

OK So English, French, Polish, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Canadian, Mexican, Finish, Norwegian, any other country you care to add's news is all American Propaganda. Doesn't make sense to me
I don't see what those links have to do with Stalin and his murdering of innocent people. A conflict in Georgia that started a couple weeks ago has no link to a discussion about Stalin.(I'm sure someone CAN find a link)

Again no offense but saying Hollywood lies is like telling a little kid Santa Clause has a beard. Common knowledge. The film set out to make money, and succeeded in that regard.

As for the my pick, I would also go with Alexander Nevsky

 

Vlad Putin. He restored Russia's economy and pride.

 

Stefan,

I think you're wasting your time trying to talk sense to Soviet Man. Anybody who honestly believes Stalin was anything but a ruthless, homicidal maniac, quite probably one of the three worst mass murders of all time, is beyond redemption.

But doesn't it strike you as rather odd that Stalin wasn't even a Russian but a Georgian, of all things? I read just the other day that the Russian air force bombed the hell out of his birth place in Georgia. It would be downright ironic if Russia ended up being named after a Georgian! LOL!

 

Sorry DA, actually I can understand his point. I have stood at dinner, had a meal and a drink (lest said about that the better) with Soviet veterans who swore blind Stalin was a hero and nothing less! Honestly I see where they were coming from, a strong leader at a time when he was needed. Now to me that is an alien concept and as I have said I can not see Stalin as less than an evil despot but strangely I understand where they are coming from.

 

From 2004 to 2007, Iworked on a multimedia website and I got to know some very beautiful models from Russia. Since then, I refer to Russia as:"Russia, land of ___" (whatever model I fancy at that time).

 

The comments coming from someone by the name of "Soviet man" comes as no surprise to me. Its nice to see others here though who are not tainted by propaganda from either side. And who do not have to resort to calling a differing view as "propaganda" because they don't agree or want to hear it. But then again quite a few here have lived long enough to reconize "propaganda" when they see it.

 

"Mikebatzel"
All your TV from films to News, all false. I mean films and info about russians. American goverment hate russians cause cold war, though we don't hate them. This videos showed it. Thats why I placed it.
And as for film. When you makes historical film about war, you must ask real fighters of war and only then make film, cause it damage feelings of war veterans. Veterans of real war in Stalingrad called this film Idiocy at the Gate. Down there is a russian's critic answer to this false.


They carry Vasilii at the front how convict - behind bolt and bar and with the lattice on windows.



At director proof belief, that each soviet officer was with blushing flag and "mouthpiece".


You know who is that? This is our grandfathers who bravely fought in Stalingrad and took Berlin.


This girl - soldier, and she, most likely, will tomorrow perish. So today she, on opinion of director, should be engaged unless striptease in local bar, so at least make-up.

Ok, I can show pictures indefinitely. This shows that you hate russians and you want to show that we were brutal, stupid and other.
The same thing is with Stalin! Many inforamation about him false or it is powerfully exaggerated. Of course it were mass feaths but not so many! It was nessesary to keep order in so large country and to avoid revolutions and disorders. Yeah, Stalin has minuses and pluses, but the pluses much more. With him we build nuclear weapon. With him we took Berlin. With him we growed up from weaknes country which was destroyed by revolution in powerful country which desrve status of supercountry like USA. Thats why I choosed him and many others, too. Now he is almost stay on one level with Nevckii. I think Stalin will win.

 

What about Strafbat? That's some pretty good Western propaganda right there Soviet Man

And before you go pointing out inaccuracies, yes I know, I have met vets of the penal units who have seen it. My point is that you don't have to be a westener fed on anti soviet propaganda to think the regieme of Stalin was brutal.

As for the pictures of EATG, a pretty terrible movie from a historical point of view, just entertains me that the pictures you pic aren't that big a problem. Soldiers being transported in cattle trucks? It happened. Officers with flags and speaking horns? Well, if you look he is wearing the uniform of an infantry officer with the badge of a political officer on his cuff suggesting he is a Battallion level infantry political officer circa 1942, their role was to encourage the men, be that through inspirational speeches or other means. We all know that it wasn't unheard of for soviet troops to advance with flags either in order to inspire and motivate men. Uncomfortable men on a boat wearing greatcoats, doesn't seem like a problem to me, hate to tell you this but many of your heroic forbears were probably as scared as hell at the time (much like everyone else's were, mine included). As for the last one, well a couple of years back I was sitting with my girlfriend talking to several female soviet veterans, she was asking them various 'girly' questions and one point they brought out was that if possible they did get hold of home comforts like makeup, etc and tried to do their hair and so on. It's not so different from the male soldiers I talked to who 'modified' pilotka's (hats) or shirts to make them look better. Soldiers can be vain I guess.

 

Soviet Man, it's understandable that coming from a different educational system with different traditions your views are different from what is seen in other countries further west. Perhaps you should travel more, or if that is not possible - yes, Ufa in Bashkortostan is a remote place (to be gentle about it) - read more, read further and wider. At least you should be able to keep an open mind while talking to us, listening to what is being said here, as most members are of a very high culture level and normally (with exceptions ) know what they say.

I don't understand how you thought our minds were made up by things as "Enemy at Gates". For us that's only a film, an illustrated story. It's not History. This film was made for one purpose only: making money for those who made it, if it has any resemblance to history it's coincidence. It was never made up to be serious, same as "Saving Private Ryan": it's only a story, it's full of incorrect details. And please do not mention "Pearl Harbour", that one takes the prize of the worst WW2 film for the latest 20 years.

So relax, and please bear with us when we say things here that do not conform to your stereotypes. Do not jump and hit the ceiling every time we say things unexpected to you. As said countless times here, the achievements of the Soviet peoples are well respected, Stalin became a great commander after he learned to take advice (the opposite of Adolf), but how shall I put it, Stalinism wasn't a perfect system and we'll leave it at that.

 

Well, as for Strafbat - its stupid film which made by anti-communists and anti-stalinists! I will say you next! Conscious slanderers - these the most authors of film "Strafbat". Accusing Josef Stalin in creation of penal battalions and picturing flours of strafbats, they on purpose concealed truth about creation of battalions in red army.
After all in that famous order N227 from 28 july 1942 year "Not step back!" it is written to intelligible that, creating the penal battalions, we take example from germans, at which penal battalions were created still in beginning of 1942 years. Well, and by the way! Are all those prisoners were good mans? No they don't. My grand-grandfathers fought in this war and they were't taking to jail! Why? Cause they do all orders and they do what they must do. And those millions "inocents" people were not all inocents! Almost all of them were traitors. Inocents people were at real but not so many as anti-stalinists and anti-communists said! If you ask old population of Russia - they almost all said that Stalin safed country and he was very good man!
As for Enemy at the Gates. I can show you more of this pictures. Look:


Nikita Hrushev - member of Military Advice of front, general above generals, (Danilov chapping vodka with some remote lieutenant- political instructor).


You know who is that? No, this not is paparazzi from yellow press, this is soviet front correspondents!


And in houses, and in the streets in winter severe cold Sasha walked about in short. Haha.


Double agent Sasha. City lays in ruins, where myriads of corpses decay. What net and well-fad face at this boy!

And here and lock on doors of heated freight car used to carry people.
It is rendered, locked our soldiers, so that nobody stole them on the way at the front! When this see veterans of Stalingrad they were so really shocked!

Feast in time plague. Soviet soldiers evil dance after mortal fights under "month Shines, clear shines". lol.
Well this is just film as many of you thinks, but there are amny of Western people who thinks that this was at real!
Here is rating of soviet veterans of Stalingrad.
-Simple russian soldier is shown with pettiness.
-Soviet army is shown to insignificant (Words of commander (At germans tanks planes)) at us except ill of armed infantry there is nothing.
-no history validity
-officers and commanders: they are shown by cruel murderers of the soldiers and their families.

Films about war must be showed as real soldiers want it, I think! Well, you know, many our veterans were really shocked when they saw this film. BTW! American film "Saving private Ryan" was showed heroics of americans who fought there and "Enemy at the gates" showed that soviet soldiers where brutal morons and nothing more! I heard that usual american pupil thinks that only USA and UK fought in world war 2. They even don't know that USSR fought in war, though its our soldiers deafeat the main fascists forces.
And at last! All this shows how West lies about us. It hurts me in this to look and to listen this! Either as my great-grandfathers veterans. And Stalin, you think is was the same like Gitler, though people who lived in his era respect him. Even Putin respect him. He was bad and good in same. But he have more good than bad!

 

Soviet Man, thank you very much but it would be a help if your read other people's posts. More than one have told you that we don't recognize "Enemy at Gates" as History, there is no need to bombard us with filme stills. Besides, people here are already aware of Valeri Potapov's comments on his Russian Battlefied site here, so no need to keep beating the same dead horse.