Does anyone else find this period fascinating ?

[15thguardsrifles]

Comrades

The post war years (mainly up until the mid 80's) in Soviet history I've studided for a long while. I don't know what it is either, the power the Soviets had in the post war years, or what. I'm addicted to it. I was but a child when the USSR broke apart, so I don't remember much about the period (except I vaugley remember seeing "Red Dawn" on tv once when I was 5 or so, and my aunt who was a high schooler when it came out said it scared the hell out of her.)

I really find it a shame that there is not as much written on the post war USSR.

Is anyone else weird, or am I the only one ?

Anatoli

[Konstantin]

Actually it is quite fascinating. The whole cold war experience. I remember Reagan calling them the evil empire, and the media's reaction. His radio show joke of bombing the USSR.

The USSR was just as scared of the USA launching a first strike nuclear attack as we were of them. The whole "Star Wars" proposal by the Reaganites was viewed by the USSR not as a defense system. But a way for the USA to launch a first strike with immunity.

The cuban missle crisis, and how close Kennedy got us to being nuked.

So much more.

It's fascinating stuff. You can truly see why there is a movement in the USSR to bring by the USSR and return to the days when it was a world power.

-dave

[temil61747]

I'm sorry I missed this post before. I find this period fascinating too. My own reason is that in August of 1989, I graduated from the Army intel school. From the time I first joined as an infantryman in 1978, 90% of our training focused on the Soviets. Except for a couple of hours spent on low intensity conflict in the Intel school, all we trained for was the Russians pouring through the Fulda Gap. Then, a couple years later, (or was it even that long?) it was all over, and they were tearing down the Berlin Wall! In the 80's we had to improvise "soviet" uniforms for aggressor forces based on photos. Red Dawn-they had to print all the camo for those uniforms. a few years later, and I'm buying this stuff by the truckload! I guess what I'm trying to say, is every time I examine a piece of Russian equipment from this era. I think back to the "Evil Empire" days, and shake my head. We never thought it would all change as quickly as it did! Ed

[woodard]

I just enjoy learning about them now, and how what we thought about them was so similar to what they thought about us. That and I like to have random impressions that no one else does...

[3apkka]

ahh the good old days. i remember in the early 1980's when we were designated "enemy" we decied to put some effort into it -stencilling blue stripes onto white tank tops for our crews and removing the 'dome' from the bone domes to get an ersatz tankers helmet. The c.o. thought that it was amusing but didnt really warm to patrotic slogans on the sides of M113's!
We were designated an armoured recon squadron ( Australian Army) and were told that in contact with a soviet equipped similar unit our life expectancy was 3 mins, did wonders for my morale. All of our training was against a mythical "Mousouria" -soviet equipped (suspiciously like the Indonesian Army)

[bendanov]

They were the enemy. We trained many days to defeat them.

One of my fondest memories, is training for the "friendly" nuclear explosion. I didn't know that nukes could be "freindly" until then. I think that is really the one of the only ways we were gonna survive that onslaught if it happened.

The sure gave you alot of time to live. Ours was 23 seconds and we had to kill at least 11 of them per individual to have a chance.

They were the Chinese and North Koreans of our day. I can't say I miss them.

Martin

[horsesoldier176]

I think that the most interesting aspect of the post Stalinist era, are the "Lost Alternatives".

The possibilities that presented themselves, and for various reasons were lost.

Stalin very clearly took the Soviet Union in a direction that many of the "old Bolsheviks" didn't intend it to go. This led to much bloodshed, and so many lost, or missed opportunities. I honestly believe that had Stalin not had Lenin murdered, and had Bukharin, not Stalin taken the reigns of power, from Lenin, that the history of the Soviet Union would have been VERY different.

All that having been said, it didn't go that way, but....what if?

Boridin

[strangelove]

Well maybe I can help you there!
I am originally from San Diego,but have been living here in Kazan, Russia for 8 years,prior to this I spent my 20 in the Navy as a Sea Bee,and Naval Special Warfare.after I retired I worked at the Russian space center in Baikonor,Kazakhstan

Usually December 1945 is given as the start of the Cold War.From that point on we basically was cut off from any knowledge about what Russia did during WW2,and what was going on after the war.As we had become confrontational.A lot of the information about Russia came from German sources.As the Pentagon did many interviews with German officers after the war and into the 1950,s,about thee experience with the Russian Army.I know as I have read the documents and talked to a guy who interviewed these officers.Hence a lot of pro German sentiment.This was the fault of the US and Soviet Russia.A lot of the projection of the all powerful Soviet Union was a big lie.We are starting realize this now as we peer into the Soviet archives.Time and time again I have spent many a nights talking to people here,and have come to the realization that we totally misunderstood them. Ian

[vsahdneek]

A good book to read about 'what if's' from that period is "Red Army" by former US Intel Colonel Ralph Peters. A very dynamic and informative historical novel.
I served in the US Army in Germany and guarded the Pershing II nukes aimed at the Kremlin and elsewhere and we were very aware of the soviet threat. They were no paper tigers, but also did not have a good logistics chain. They would have had to try for a quick knockout punch because the society as a whole was stretched to the breaking point because it supported a HUGE military/police complex and basically as a nation lived paycheck to meager paycheck... hence when it finally did collapse, it went down HARD.

Volodymyr