Jim D: The old USSR was imperialist, though its imperialism (like that of ancient Rome) was of a different style. The USSR treated E. Europe primarily as military pawns, as a military/cultural/political buffer zone. It wasn't a matter of (narrowly-defined) economic exploitation.
^^^^ CB: But "Eastern" Europe had been part of the German invasion of the USSR that was the biggest invasion in the history of the world. The Soviets had good reason and right to put "Eastern" Europe on ice. What were the Soviets supposed to do ? Just leave them to their own devices, which only ten years earlier had resulted in the rise of fascist regimes that slaughtered and destroyed the SU , as I say , more than any invasion ever had before. It would have been totally irresponsible to the Soviet people , who suffered from the Eastern European invasion of the SU, to just fight the Eastern European fascists back to their own countries , and then leave them there to do who knew what. It is really unfair to term the SU's relation to Eastern Europe as imperialism. With due respect, it totally ignores what the Eastern Europeans had done before. It was a necessary self-protective, defensive rehabilitation, in the true sense of "defense". This message has been scanned for malware by SurfControl plc. www.surfcontrol.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
