Ask me anything about the Soviet Union/ Former Soviet States

[naxus]

In your opinion who was the better leader for Russia? Stalin or lenin?

[saxitoxin]

Will Russia ever give Karelia back to Finland?

Will Sweden ever give Finland back to Russia?

LOL - just teasing Natty!

*tickle tickle*

*Saxi tickles Natty*

[Phatscotty]

Will Russia ever give Karelia back to Finland?

Will Sweden ever give Finland back to Russia?

LOL - just teasing Natty!

*tickle tickle*

*Saxi tickles Natty*

[natty dread]

Will Russia ever give Karelia back to Finland?

Will Sweden ever give Finland back to Russia?

LOL - just teasing Natty!

*tickle tickle*

*Saxi tickles Natty*

Oh so it's a tickle war now?

*natty uses this tickle machine on saxi:*

[Baron Von PWN]

In your opinion who was the better leader for Russia? Stalin or lenin?

This is a tough one to answer, as neither of them were all that good for Russia, but which was better? I would say Lenin, because he was much more flexible than Stalin and he did not rely so heavily on state terror to get his way. So Lenin would compromise and listen to popular discontent, and example of that being the NEP. Stalin on the other hand would create mass approval by simply killing anyone who disagreed or criticised a course of action. I believe the extent of the Stalinist terror was overall more damaging than the short term benefits they generated.

Why did the Ruble Crash in the 90's?

It was a pretty similar situation to our most recent financial crisis actually. I don't know all the nitty gritty details but in general what happened was the Asian financial crisis caused foreign investment and lending to dry up. That would be bad enough but the crisis cause allot of Russia's customers to stop buying so Russia got hit with a pretty severe recession. The Government already faced with all the Soviet debt, the new debt they had picked up after the fall and collapsing tax revenue due to the recession and unable to get new loans ended up just printing money which of coursed caused the Rubble to go into hyperinflation. They also took some seriously drastic measures to balance their budget, they cut government services severely(all government services) and simply stopped paying their debts eventually things stabilized and the Russian government became very spend thrifty as a result of the 90's experience. Now they have little or no government debt and large currency reserves, though the current recession hit Russia pretty hard too so that may be different now I'm not sure.

Phatscotty; I see you as a white forces sympathizer, fortunately for you you were smart enough no to be open about it, you hate the Stalinist regime and dream of escaping the Soviet union. You must constantly be on guard that you don't let slip your feelings about the regime and are always keeping your eyes open for an opportunity to emigrate. Chances of survival till Khrushchev; moderate.

I am too lazy to read the whole thread so I will just keep the pace from now on.

Guy, where are you in the RF, geographically speaking? You been to Perm on a visit at all? What oddities did you observe there, if any?

What's your FAV Dima Bilan song? (that's a Q for either you or PWN)

Guy and/or PWN: Have you seen this video of the Choir of the Moscow Military District? This is one reason I love Russians!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RD5ONjv8M

I personally cannot stand Dima Bilan and his type of music. So I hate all his songs.

I hadn't seen that video. I like it though very Russian.

[Phatscotty]

Why did the Ruble Crash in the 90's?

It was a pretty similar situation to our most recent financial crisis actually. I don't know all the nitty gritty details but in general what happened was the Asian financial crisis caused foreign investment and lending to dry up. That would be bad enough but the crisis cause allot of Russia's customers to stop buying so Russia got hit with a pretty severe recession. The Government already faced with all the Soviet debt, the new debt they had picked up after the fall and collapsing tax revenue due to the recession and unable to get new loans ended up just printing money which of coursed caused the Rubble to go into hyperinflation. They also took some seriously drastic measures to balance their budget, they cut government services severely(all government services) and simply stopped paying their debts eventually things stabilized and the Russian government became very spend thrifty as a result of the 90's experience. Now they have little or no government debt and large currency reserves, though the current recession hit Russia pretty hard too so that may be different now I'm not sure.

Phatscotty; I see you as a white forces sympathizer, fortunately for you you were smart enough no to be open about it, you hate the Stalinist regime and dream of escaping the Soviet union. You must constantly be on guard that you don't let slip your feelings about the regime and are always keeping your eyes open for an opportunity to emigrate. Chances of survival till Khrushchev; moderate.

Thank you. One follow up question please. What could the Russians have done to prevent that crisis? What could the people have done, the media, individuals, to prevent/prepare/survive that crisis.

Stalinist Nirvana....4th in the bread line with a slight drizzle

[Baron Von PWN]

Thank you. One follow up question please. What could the Russians have done to prevent that crisis? What could the people have done, the media, individuals, to prevent/prepare/survive that crisis.

Stalinist Nirvana....4th in the bread line with a slight drizzle

This is a difficult question to answer. The Russian state in the 90's was not very strong and had no real experience dealing with capitalist systems, at the time any major political unrest could have brought back some sort of Communist order. One thing that would have helped would be the Russian state not selling off their assets at such low prices and in such a shady manner. Other post communist states established politically open systems to accomplish the same thing, and got better prices as a result. In Russia they basically sold off the accumulated industrial and economic capital of 70 years, in back room deals and for very low prices. The people were also given paltry compensation for all this.

As a result of coming off of one of the most centrally planned economies very few people had the capital to buy or start up businesses. This is why they had such high levels of debt they frantically wanted to catch up to the west and pursued very risky lending policies as a result. So maybe they should have taken the transition slower, borrowed less, cut fewer government services(some other former communist countries did this and had much more successful transitions).

Another problem was political freedom was not exactly all that extensive, when opposition politicians occupied parliament (peacefully) in protest Yeltsin sent in the tanks. Also Russians had spent their whole lives being conditioned to keep their political opinions to themselves and that politics is outside the realm of the people. So this had a very strong damper on any political mobilization. They also did not truly understand the concepts of free market economics or lending they simply had no experience of it so many may not have realized the trouble they were in. Media was fairly free at the time, but again people simply weren't all that interested or felt they could do nothing to change things. So they probably should have done the opposite of all that.

When considering Russian actions in the 90's you really have to bear in mind they had been in a heavily state controlled economy for a very long time as well as not being used to political activism. The result was a heavily Darwinian process of sink or swim in the 90's which resulted in the corporatist/hyper-capitalist Russia we have today.

[Joodoo]

Is it true that the Soviet government discouraged people from studying/researching about biology?

[Baron Von PWN]

Is it true that the Soviet government discouraged people from studying/researching about biology?

Hmm I've never heard that. I do know that while Stalin was the boss he would pressure scientists to find certain results. He was also susceptible to taking favorites in terms of Scientists sometimes to disastrous results. There was one guy who claimed he could make vegetables and plants grow in any climate, Stalin of course loved this idea so he gave him all kinds of funding, anyone who disagreed with or criticized the research was suppressed.

That doesn't really account for all of the Soviet Union though so I can only guess the State didn't see it as a priority they tended to favor military and heavy industrial research. Again I've never looked into Soviet research culture it could be something to look into more.

[KoolBak]

25 years ago, my girlfriend at the time visited Russia during a school exchange thing.....she indicated the natives were crazy about American stuff like Levis, sneakers, t-shirts and odds and ends....she traded some clothes for some very cool Russian made stuff - is this true now? Do you think it was true then or was that a story she made up to explain her loss of clothing while there? lol

Real question though - thanks

[muy_thaiguy]

Is it true; "in Soviet Russia, you don't shoot gun, gun shoot you?"

[Baron Von PWN]

25 years ago, my girlfriend at the time visited Russia during a school exchange thing.....she indicated the natives were crazy about American stuff like Levis, sneakers, t-shirts and odds and ends....she traded some clothes for some very cool Russian made stuff - is this true now? Do you think it was true then or was that a story she made up to explain her loss of clothing while there? lol

Real question though - thanks

This was definitely true during the late Soviet Union(when they started allowing western tourists in) and early 90's. In general a westerner could get some awesome deals trading almost any western consumer product. This isn't really true anymore though the market is open enough that Russians have easy access to jeans(though they are much more expensive here) and consumer goods are now of equivalent quality.

They typically still like western styles though. However the styles they like look like stuff from the 90's small mullet's are also in fashion which is just ridiculous.

[Baron Von PWN]

Is it true; "in Soviet Russia, you don't shoot gun, gun shoot you?"

Sort-of almost nobody other than State security had guns, so the average citizen wouldn't be doing much shooting.

[Joodoo]

How much longer do you think the Russian Empire would last if it didn't involve itself in World War I?

[Baron Von PWN]

How much longer do you think the Russian Empire would last if it didn't involve itself in World War I?

As an absolute monarchy? not very long, the modern era was showing the tsarist system could not keep up. There was widespread desire for reform and the Tsar was a bungler something would have come up to at the very least force political reform. Its very difficult to imagine the Tsarist system withstanding the pressures of nationalism. This is all what if history though so everything is just a wild guess.

[ViperOverLord]

In your opinion who was the better leader for Russia? Stalin or lenin?

This is a tough one to answer, as neither of them were all that good for Russia, but which was better? I would say Lenin, because he was much more flexible than Stalin and he did not rely so heavily on state terror to get his way. So Lenin would compromise and listen to popular discontent, and example of that being the NEP. Stalin on the other hand would create mass approval by simply killing anyone who disagreed or criticised a course of action. I believe the extent of the Stalinist terror was overall more damaging than the short term benefits they generated.

Lenin mass murdered for the sake of gaining political power. Stalin mass murdered to create more power. In a way I see no difference. I will give you this though, Stalin was more blood thirsty and I believe he derived pleasure from murder wheras Lenin rationalized it more for the sake of political expediency. Also, Lenin did not engage in genocide like Stalin did.

[saxitoxin]

I personally cannot stand Dima Bilan and his type of music. So I hate all his songs.

He's so much more talented and so much hotter than J-Bieb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMpWKNKX_w

It's just weird that, with all his success, he's never been able to afford anything other than a white sleeveless t-shirt.

[Pedronicus]

Is it true that even after Russia gave back all those countries that end with a Stan or beckystan, it's still bigger than Northern Ireland?

[Baron Von PWN]

I personally cannot stand Dima Bilan and his type of music. So I hate all his songs.

He's so much more talented and so much hotter than J-Bieb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMpWKNKX_w

It's just weird that, with all his success, he's never been able to afford anything other than a white sleeveless t-shirt.

Well sure, but I hate J-beib too. I admit he has signing ability and so on, it is simply completely against my tastes.

[Baron Von PWN]

Is it true that even after Russia gave back all those countries that end with a Stan or beckystan, it's still bigger than Northern Ireland?

ಠ_ಠ

...... yes. In fact Russia makes up about a 7th of the earths surface. Also every single one of the former soviet republics is bigger than northern Ireland.

[2dimes]

How does it compare in size to Canader?

[Joodoo]

What's your view on future Sino-Russian relations?

[Baron Von PWN]

How does it compare in size to Canader?

Canada (a rounded 10 million Km) is a bit less than two thirds the size of Russia (a Rounded 17 million km). Before looking it up I would have guessed Canada was about half the size of Russia.

What's your view on future Sino-Russian relations?

I thin they will continue to improve. They have already largely resolved their previous disagreements(had to do with the border which they have demarcated). They have been engaging in military co-operation through the SCO and Russia has resources China needs for industry and they are both eager for trade .

Where there could be problems are in Chinese laborers going to eastern Russia and Illegal Chinese exploitation of Russian resources.

[2dimes]

Ok I really want to go see the north east pacific coast of Ruskiland in the summer. I also want to ride that train. I should wait until after I take my Dad to Scotland. I need $7billion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_Yakutsk_Mainline

[Baron Von PWN]

Ok I really want to go see the north east pacific coast of Ruskiland in the summer. I also want to ride that train. I should wait until after I take my Dad to Scotland. I need $7billion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_Yakutsk_Mainline

A cool trip would be to land in Moscow spend a day or two there, take the Transiberian and visit the pacific coast of Russia. The region is still pretty wild so I hope you like wilderness tourism. You'll definitely want to get a guide book if you ever end going.