Comments on: America’s Part in Soviet Engineering Triumphs http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/12/americas-part-in-soviet-engineering-triumphs/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:57:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Blurgle http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/12/americas-part-in-soviet-engineering-triumphs/#comment-319987 Blurgle Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:13:04 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/12/americas-part-in-soviet-engineering-triumphs/#comment-319987 relaxing, many of the famines at that time were actually deliberate actions by the Stalinist government and had nothing to do with weather. Stalin meant to break the Ukrainian people from their hatred of collective farming, and murdered (to use the correct word) six million Ukrainians in the attempt. Government apparatchiks appropriated harvests (including the seed crop for the following years) and in many areas deliberately poisoned the soil to make the food grown in the soil inedible. They sabotaged irrigation systems, tore up roads to prevent migration, and watched in glee as millions starved. In fact, one of the reasons why the Nazis did as well as they did against the Soviets at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa was that many Ukrainians saw the Nazis as liberators and aided them. This is also one of the reasons why the Ukrainian horrors aren't well-known to the outside world (news blackouts being the other): after the war, Ukrainians were seen as having collaborated with the Nazis and were vilified. In many parts of Russia in the postwar era, "Ukrainian" was a synonym for "quisling" or "traitor". relaxing, many of the famines at that time were actually deliberate actions by the Stalinist government and had nothing to do with weather. Stalin meant to break the Ukrainian people from their hatred of collective farming, and murdered (to use the correct word) six million Ukrainians in the attempt. Government apparatchiks appropriated harvests (including the seed crop for the following years) and in many areas deliberately poisoned the soil to make the food grown in the soil inedible. They sabotaged irrigation systems, tore up roads to prevent migration, and watched in glee as millions starved.

In fact, one of the reasons why the Nazis did as well as they did against the Soviets at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa was that many Ukrainians saw the Nazis as liberators and aided them. This is also one of the reasons why the Ukrainian horrors aren’t well-known to the outside world (news blackouts being the other): after the war, Ukrainians were seen as having collaborated with the Nazis and were vilified. In many parts of Russia in the postwar era, “Ukrainian” was a synonym for “quisling” or “traitor”.

]]> By: relaxing http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/12/americas-part-in-soviet-engineering-triumphs/#comment-319836 relaxing Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:18:54 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/07/12/americas-part-in-soviet-engineering-triumphs/#comment-319836 Of course what party central wasn't letting out is that most of these projects were spectacular failures, completed at huge cost and without regard to human life. (See Graham's "The Ghost of the Executed Engineer".) 100,000's died building Magnitogorsk, Dnieper River dam, White Sea canal. I wonder were the famines of that time because of, or despite the aerial seed-sowing? Of course what party central wasn’t letting out is that most of these projects were spectacular failures, completed at huge cost and without regard to human life. (See Graham’s “The Ghost of the Executed Engineer”.) 100,000’s died building Magnitogorsk, Dnieper River dam, White Sea canal. I wonder were the famines of that time because of, or despite the aerial seed-sowing?

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