if they're to expand the soviet union. that's the territory of the soviet union. listed that it's already as the site. in one nine hundred forty you non-aggression pact signed with nazi germany the year before gave stallin a green light to annex the baltic states. having expunged the last nine soviet stain in the north style and now controlled the baltic coast with the annexation of estonia and latvia and lithuania the soviet union was now the largest it would ever be. fifteen soviet republics united by a core culture laid down by moscow the official language was russian from moscow to minsk from vilnius to kiev. slowly the crimean language disappeared for many people found out very painful would everything was done to make us feel like a single perfect torrijos entity. with the conviction that we worst soviet man. from the stitches in the we were proud to belong to the greatest surely the strongest of people to this undefeated country. anybody gimli history in the end. the german attack on the soviet union led to a victory for the empire that gave it a whole new

in the soviet union. the war in afghanistan the gorbachev had inherited it was now in its tenth year. it was very costly and weighed heavily on the soviet economy. above all it ate away at more out. of the soviet army had one hundred fifteen thousand soldiers in afghanistan. more than fifteen thousand officers and soldiers from all the republics of the soviet union lost their lives there and over fifty thousand were wounded. countless others were left traumatized by the fighting. in one nine hundred eighty nine gorbachev ended the war when the troops returned to their homeland they were cheered out of relief not because they were victors. moscow's empire now had its own vietnam. a stalemate the high price in soldiers' money and prestige help to play a role in the soviet union's collapse. glasnost the second pillar of gorbachev's reforms means transparency now people could talk about the open wounds of soviet history the victims of stalinism the low morale in the army the soviet system of values was falter

there is no supreme soviet anymore well the reason that the goal of the soviet idea when those soviet and yet. when he became the first head of state in bell arose in one nine hundred ninety one trish gave each wanted to orient his country westwards and move it from a planned to a free market economy as quickly as possible. as he had learned from the chair noble disaster lies in. illusions do nothing for a country's fortunes. would mostly be what you like we needed a new beginning and took the correct a logical route that poland also took we wanted to privatized our economy everything had to belong to the states and we wanted our citizens to be part of it because they had nothing back then but it's a very difficult process that can never be completely fair it was probably. he quickly found out how difficult it was to broker reform to people who mourned of the soviet union and glorified its memory. the communists in his government blocked his reforms. in one nine hundred ninety three they succeeded in removing him from office through accusations of corruption and it later turned out to

in chechnya for instance the chechens could live with being soviets but after the soviet union's demise they suddenly belong to russia and the chechens had never wanted to be russian. in the first few years following the disintegration of the soviet union more than thirty thousand people were killed in violent civil wars. just conflict the will of those there were many conflicts that we inherited from the soviet union. i mean the conflicts and to take a stand about. south ossetia and a growing car about. and we had internal fighting in chechnya. there was a transit history a conflict. everywhere russia intervened as a peacemaker with the aim of resolving these conflicts conflict that he should meet a new but you only get the book the book you propose it was as if a battered giant like gulliver gave one side a weapon then provide the other and gave support to yet another set that they would all fight against each other on the giant looked down from above also hungry and wounded but yet still stronger than all the rest of the fellows to make you feel that. it meant the so called wars or f

but even in moscow people were wistfully looking back to soviet times. business down to appeared in many forms for example in the restaurant of the famous department store. are canteen is designed according to the traditional soviet model the cashiers wear bonnets and there are tablecloths and flowers on the tables. of. what this is the famous vending machine that stood on the streets in soviet times you could buy normal water for one hope back or water with syrup for three. the generation that knew the old soviet union still exists that's why this place is so popular the atmosphere here is familiar to everyone many young people also like to come here they were interested in finding out how their grandmothers mothers and fathers lived. that in reporting picked up on his countryman's longing for a new national pride soviet symbols and traditions were dug out again red army banners the melody of the soviet national anthem military parades on red square after an eighteen year interruption on may ninth two thousand and eight a grand parade was staged at the

as the writer said that the first hundred soviet writers. first layer of scaffolding had been taken down from the house of socialism. only the most nearsighted people failed to see its necessity. we are all witnesses to the fact that the soviet people have been written by a powerful union of physical points. that's why the top soviet officials moved into their new building. >> when they did, most of the men were in their 40s or 50s, most of the women were in their early 30s or most of the children were between the ages of five and 10 and most of the examiners. >> they were young men, women in their early 20s. refugees from grist farms that they matched as recently . now, the apartments younger people elected the family hierarchy. the full extent of every apartment in the largest room was the private space. >>with walls , covered with dark oval bookcases from floor to ceiling, most of the books combinations or the massive gold leather edition of bogus of running encyclopedia. which he said what you see from other tenia publishers and collecte

soviet helicopters circled above the masses dropping leaflets. but the propaganda no longer work it merely united the people and if you will there . yes. on august twenty third one thousand nine hundred nine exactly fifty years after the hitler stalin pact and robbed them of their independence around two million people formed a six hundred kilometer human chain from tallinn to riga to vilnius. members of the c.p.s.u. were resigning from the party. and finally because gorbachev went to lithuania himself but it was too late even his charm didn't work. the baltic countries were heading for the door and it was the first time a soviet leader had ever visited lithuania and the last. time. on march eleventh one thousand nine hundred with the way any is supreme soviet declared independence the first of the three baltic states to do so. estonia followed on march the thirtieth of latvia five weeks later they didn't ask whether they could leave the kremlin's empire they just did it. but moscow wasn't prepared to relinquish its hold over the three baltic sta

using soviet symbols they pay tribute to a period of history they themselves never experienced. based on the stories of our grandparents i know things are better in the soviet union people were kinder to one another life was better back then in every way. although our country has taken a giant step backwards i'm certain that socialism will triumph in the end and that it is our country's only future. so you swim in the soviet union as only temporarily cease to exist if you've got the current russian flag won't be flying much longer red communist flags will wave again but the organizers that. reaction and his friends have no time for the waving red flags of communism. they see the u.s.s.r. as a state that oppressed the people just as the putin led government does now. nonetheless they see their home city of st petersburg as a source of inspiration and they dream of a true democracy in russia. and i thought when i look out over my city it is clear to me that talented people live here who can build such beautiful cities with people who can make their lives better. so the hopes of th

the country was soviet union. anybody else who adopts this -- which helped the chinese revolutionaries on the left -- as the army moved into eastern europe [indiscernible] of the allies, they were occupiers. among the people they liquidated in the baltics, in poland, in areas that had been occupied by the germans, were those who were in the resistance against the germans. the polish army was fighting with the british heroically in places like italy and sometimes on the eastern front at times. they liquidated because they made the mistake of being democratic versions of socialists and they were not communists. they used their power to liquidate. i remember being a child and reading about the coup in czechoslovakia. i remember as a freshman at harvard. i think there was only one person in that entire faculty who spoke out against the soviet suppression with tanks of the hungarian revolution. republish october, which was parallel. he did not quite understand the uprising in east germany in 1953, the polish and hungar

so, soviet collectivism. the point was from the latter to the former. as a final solution to the problem. in this case the question [inaudible] all of those public spaces that virtually no one used except for the children. some critics argued that it is functioning similar to the dakota building in new york city but they realized when it had been built and that is what started it at the end of the first plan. the 1930s were about this expectation of the inevitable. they said that the first soviet writers it hasn't been done from the house of socialism. only the most fail to see its beauty. we are all weaknesses to the fact that they've been gripped by a powerful feeling of physical joy. that's why the top officials moved into their new building. when they did, most of the men were in their early 40s, 50s, the women in their 30s and children between five and ten in each family had a made. refugees that their masters had recently collectivized. the other is hierarchy. if a symbolic center was to study and was covered with bookcases from floor to ceiling a

the soviet union and its heroes belong in the past. not a fan of the communist revolution. you can draw is the idea of popular rebellion. of course i'm a little fearful but i try not to think about that. we have to be courageous that's the only way we'll achieve our goals. according to surveys almost half of russia's young people agree with me and don't regret the breakdown of the soviet union but not everyone shares that view young communist staged a celebration in st petersburg to mark the anniversary of the revolution they to gather on a cold october evening to make political demands they too want political change at the top. using soviet symbols they paid tribute to a period of history they themselves never experienced. based on the stories of our grandparents i know things are better in the soviet union people were kinder to one another life was better back then in every way. although our country has taken a giant step backwards i'm certain that socialism will triumph in the end and that it is our country's only future. so you saw him in the soviet union has only tempo

there are no fewer than ten streets named soviet sky. or field of mars is the sign of a memorial to the victims of the russian revolution. was a victim of state persecution in today's russia a few weeks ago he was arrested at a demonstration which took place here he's accused of injuring a police officer if convicted he could face up to ten years in prison the trial is ongoing he denies any wrongdoing. against violence and i don't want to see people who. are in ukraine we want to change the system through democratic means. don't listen to us protests in russia could get more radical. russia isn't making a big production out of the one hundredth anniversary of the revolution one reason may be that the state doesn't want to inspire any ideas in its critics. in one nine hundred seventeen the warship fired a blank shot that's at the october revolution in motion today it's a museum that attracts few visitors. the soviet union and its heroes belong in the past. not a fan of the communist revolution. you can draw is the idea of popular rebellio

for myakshin, the soviet union and its heroes belong in the past.mitry: i'm not a fan of the communist revolution. the only parallel you can draw is the idea of popular rebellion. of course i'm a little fearful, but i try not to think about that. we have to be courageous. that's the only way we'll achieve our goals. reporter: according to surveys, almost half of russia's young people agree with myakshin and don't regret the breakdown of the soviet union. but not everyone shares that view. young communists staged a celebration in st. petersburg to mark the anniversary of the revolution. they, too, gather on a cold october evening to make political demands. they, too, want political change at the top. using soviet symbols, they pay tribute to a period of history they themselves never experienced. >> based on the stories of our grandparents, i know things were better in the soviet union. people were kinder to one another. life was better back then in every way. >> although our country has taken a giant step backwards, i'm certain that socialism will tr

the international relations level what the soviet union meant to the world it meant the end of western colonialism and imperialism without the soviet union the ability of the third world to achieve independence certainly within the time frame it did it simply wouldn't have been work you could make the same argument to the end of the first world war saw the end of the western empires the russian the end. the seeds of it eventually decades later we just had the collapse of the russian empire one cannot say that that was necessarily part of the same process that when they were in the eighty's nelson mandela who was supported by the soviet union and himself was a communist of sorts was still opposed by western governments the united states the united kingdom up until he succeeded and then suddenly he's become you know the hero rather that's the whole point that's the whole point it's not just about the soviet union it's about ideology and that is the biggest outcome of that political transformation you can use revolution you can use who data whatever you choose but the fact of the matter i

even ukraine the bread basket of the former soviet union was still suffering from the breakup. the gradual privatization of the economy had been happening as urd and half hearted president leonid kuchma was negotiating with both russia and the west but like boris yeltsin he was only in power thanks to financial support from some oligarchy. in two thousand and one tape recordings surfaced suggesting that coachman had instigated the murder of a journalist. voice can be heard on the tape giving the order to silence godsick a sharp critic of the government. deal with. people brasil is the original is. i asked the president's office for an analysis of the recordings were the conversations genuine or were they fake you know he didn't have to convince me because i'd heard who was speaking and what was said but could we prove it look as i said that the alexander mottos was chairman of the socialist party of ukraine for almost twenty years and twice the president of parliament yes because they said it was all correct. only then did i stand up in parliament. i merely published eight frag

using soviet symbols they pay tribute to a period of history they themselves never experienced. as. based on the stories of our grandparents i know things are better in the soviet union people were kinder to one another life was better back then in every way. although our country has taken a giant step backwards i'm certain that socialism will triumph in the end and that it is our country's only future. so you put him in the soviet union as only temporarily ceased to exist the current russian flag won't be flying much longer red communist flags will wave again but the. reaction and his friends have no time for the waving red flags of communism. they see the u.s.s.r. as a state that oppressed the people just as the protein led government does now but. nonetheless they see their home city of st petersburg as a source of inspiration and they dream of a true democracy in russia. and i thought when i look out over my city it is clear to me that talented people live here who can build such beautiful cities with people who can make their lives better. so the hopes of the past do live on in

a soviet shrine to the russian revolutionary., there is a quotation that says, "the october revolution opened a new era in world history." and the signature? lenin. but communism did more than cast statues of him. it preserved his body, and put it on display. "lenin is more alive than the living," declared one soviet slogan. but they had to create a whole scientific institute to maintain the corpse. over the years, it has replaced some of lenin's skin and flesh with plastics and other material. his mausoleum on red square was a place of pilgrimage in the ussr. vladimir lenin quite literally cult viewing. vladimir lenin had not wanted this. before his death he expressed a wish to be buried alongside his mother in st petersburg. it is one of the ironies of russia's revolution, that the man who led it, who waged war on the church, who once said that there can be nothing more abominable than religion — that this man, lenin, ended up the closest thing communists had to god — put on display here in the mausoleum and deified like a sovi

is a soviet marsh drowning the regime along with its mentors. and. bella racine writer of bloody munich leon is one of the few political activists in the country. that the wash our society has not taken one step towards democratization and. we have had neither economic nor political reforms. instead began to replace reality with fairy tales. during the construction of this make believe world he didn't give any thought to what people were actually to eat in this fairy tale. in fact has nothing to do with a socialist paradise. thus the social model that alexander lukashenko has built up is in severe economic crisis. while bella roofs was stagnating but the mere putin was becoming increasingly popular. his pithy words and robust crackdown in the second chechen war met with the approval of an anxious russian population after four sealed scenes resignation he was sworn in as president of the russian federation. but i see you. don't. let him or putin's aim was a strong russia and the revival of the empire. he ensured stability for the country and for a new

we have to remember that the soviet union was was born not only in internal struggle but it was from the moment of its creation it was attacked. under siege it wasn't this is left out of a lot of western history books that in one thousand nine hundred eighteen the western powers and in japan. most european countries the united states they invaded the nost and soviet union in the middle of the civil war to try to strangle the village in the cradle in a primitive and i mean we're talking one little incident that you know just in the past few years been recognized by the british press the weapons on russian pounds attacks from outside help solidify the support of the russian people with the threats with the reds the bold is still forward terrence i want to if he was never just the father of some power in the pursuit of utopia and it's really important to understand you know the radical utopian of the revolution the saudi approach and. say that was a dangerous goal to have utopia so i think that that's one of the. lessons of course. you know idealism is not practical politics revolutions

soviet logy giant panoramic painting.—communist white army deservedly crushed. in songs and poems, in paintings and propaganda, the message was clear. the reds were on the right side of history. but this version of history is crumbling. just like the battle memorial to the reds heroes here. and that is because as russia today interprets its history in any view, the official view of the past is changing. and other changes, communist heroes become fallen idols. the tsar, a saint. and the russian revolution, a dark chapter in the history of russia. in this museum open to the public they display guns and bayonets unearthed from the forest. they try not to ta ke from the forest. they try not to take sides, red or white. but not eve ryo ne welco m es take sides, red or white. but not everyone welcomes that. backin back in his flat, this man shows me the commendation he got from josef stalin. at the age of 100, his view of history is unlikely to change. for me, this has been a journey not just across russia, it has been a journe

hays: a soviet power in russia is one thing. a soviet power in the united states does not exist. frank: you do admit that there are americans who want to make russia more powerful. mr. hays: yes, but very few in number. frank: don't you think that 500,000 americans led by stalinist labor leaders are a menace, especially in the heart of our defense industry? americansthe 500,000 -- members of trade the communists were strong in the cio and then they started playing politics. they were thrown out of the union. frank: don't you think that the organized conspiracies of american stalinism represents a threat to american civil liberties? mr. hays: no. i do not. i think those people are under the surveillance of the fbi. i do not think they are potential spies. i trust the fbi and i trust the law. what you are telling me is we have the right to violate the laws in order to get communists. what you are saying is a totalitarian government would be safer than a democratic government. frank: i want to say, i am for decency. let's make that clear. mr. hays: i know you are. >> unlike you are

kind of cruising the former soviet union to look for opportunities. we realize that turkmenistan had a huge world's last gas reserves which were produced by the soviet union but after breaking up they were not produced any longer because russia had his own gas supplies to bring to market from siberia so mr john was stock was reserves and no market. unocal wanted to build two pipelines one for oil and one for gas the pipelines would go from to many stunned through afghanistan pakistan and india a distance of well over seventeen hundred kilometers construction costs would be close to ten billion dollars. of john is done could earn four hundred million dollars per year in transportation costs which would more than double the afghan government's income at that time the whole area is just and in turmoil you know the pakistanis don't like the afghans afghans don't like the fact stan is the turkmen are skeptical of both of them and then you've got india and pakistan all is just a mess and there. was a case there was a power vacuum after the withdrawal of sov

is a soviet marsh drowning the regime along with its mentors. and. bella racine writer of the munich leon is one of the few political activists in the country. that the wash our society has not taken one step towards democratization and. we have had neither economic nor political reforms. instead began to replace reality with fairytales. during the construction of this make believe world he didn't give any thought to what people were actually to eat and this fairy tale . in fact has nothing to do with a socialist paradise. the social model that alexander lukashenko has built up is in severe economic crisis. while bella roofs was stagnating putin was becoming increasingly popular. his pithy words and robust crackdown in the second chechen war met with the approval of an anxious russian population after morsy out seems resignation he was sworn in as president of the russian federation. and i see you. don't. you just blow but he. doesn't. let him in put things aim was a strong russia and the revival of the empire. he ensured stability for the country an

soviet cinema would portray it as russia's bastille moment.d by the bolsheviks storming into the palace and creating the world's first communist state. the reality was rather different. for a start, many of the red guard revolutionaries that got into the building that night slipped in through a back door which had not been locked. there was no dramatic storming of the palace. as for claims of a mass uprising of workers and peasants and shoulders, today that might be referred to as fake news. this had been a coup, one party, the bolsheviks had seized power in russia. the palace today is the state hermitage museum and to mark the centenary of the revolution they are put on display a portrait previously hidden away. this is saar alexander ii. russian revolutionaries stabbed their bayonets into his face when they ran in. it was a sign of the hatred for the old russia. it is only a painting, just oil and canvas, but to me it conveys the drama of 1917 so powerfully, as if russia is warning the world of the damage revolution can do. we are giving les

narrator: citizens of the soviet union still vote.ot since november, 1917, has more than one name for office appeared on the ballot. the assembly never reconvenes. power passes to the soviets which lenin controls and from there to the council of commissars where lenin's power is absolute. >> this is the dictatorship of the proletariat. power thataintains , is unrestricted by any law. resting directly on order. keep this well in mind. narrator: lenin makes peace with the germans, and then a genuine civil war breaks out. before it ends, the white russians rebel against the red. allied troops fight to keep russia in the war. cossacks fight for both sides to czarists try to restore the monarchy. the czar and his family are executed. the first of many soviet police groups become active. arrested without charge, imprisonment without trial disappearance without , explanation becomes routine. but lenin complains. >> there is still too little ruthlessness. not because we lack determination but because we do , not know how to capture enough pro

in august 1949, the american atomic monopoly ended when the a soviet union -- when the soviet union tested its first nuclear bomb. here it is. in the west as well, there was alarm and anxiety and fear occasioned by this soviet atomic breakthrough. in january 1950, the united states responded. president truman announced that the united states would forge ahead with developing the hydrogen bomb, the super, it was nicknamed. a thermonuclear weapon. a monstrous device, potentially 1000 times as powerful as the puny things used against japan. this was a serious, serious weapon, if it could be made. now against, this backdrop, there was a general election. an election in february 1950. in the midst of that election, churchill calls for an east-west summit. the first time apparently the word summit had been used to describe a meeting of the leaders of great power. he calls for an east-west summit to see if relations can now be regulated, so the cold war does not escalate into a hot war with its nuclear menaces. labour immediately accused churchill of exploiting the nuclear anxieties of voters, an