the reason why we're doing this we're doing our series here on cross talk on the collapse of the soviet union twenty years ago and twenty years ago on june twelfth one thousand anyone else who came the first popularly elected president of the russian soviet federated socialist republic would basically the beginning of the demise of the soviet union that would follow her in the year dimitri bondage let's look at that time twenty years ago and how the soviet union unraveled how much was yeltsin involved with that unraveling of the soviet union people talk a lot about going to much of what about yeltsin at this time but i think there are two parallel process that's going on which should not be mixed up there was the process of democratization and i think it was yeltsin starro for the first time in russian history and man came to power while honest election against the will of the government that was an achievement i asked for the collapse of the soviet union it

to look always wanted to invade the soviet union the reason he gave out was that the soviet union would actually attack germany i think the evidence for that in nineteen forty one slight underneath that justification to his military were two main factors the first was hitler's hatred of communism of bolshevism and that was what he really put out to your that it was a crusade against bolshevism bolshevism was a man that needed to be destroyed but underneath the real truth about this war was race hatred and if one reads my hitler's book it's clear that he always wanted to carve out a living space. and do so expansive the people he regarded as racially inferior and when he announced operation barbarossa he told his staff that it was a war of annihilation didn't he he he thought in terms of a war of survival. it was going to be the survival of the fittest and it didn't take einstein to realize the consequences and thought that there would be horrific losses. and that was and. how unexpected was the invasion i mean hitler and stalin had signs the molotov ribbentrop pact making them allies on

what motivated there's decision to invade the soviet union seventy years ago and what helped the soviet troops win the war. today marks the seventieth anniversary of the start of operation barbarossa hitler's code name for germany's invasion all to save the union it became the largest ever military operation both in terms of sheer resources deployed and also in casualties and michael jones's new book tells the story of the red zone major in the second world war dr james thank you for talking to our see today let's start from the beginning of operation barbarossa why did decide to invade the look always wanted to invade the soviet union the reason he gave out was that the soviet union would actually attack germany i think the evidence for that in nineteen forty one flights underneath that justification to his military were two main factors the first was hitler's hatred of communism bolshevism and that was what he really put out to europe that it was a crusade against bolshevism bolshevism was a menace that needed to be destroyed but underneath the real truth about this war was race hatre

the soviet union. to reverse the trend of. these twenty four hours a day you're watching our. ten year old child pulled from the wreckage of the passenger plane that crashed in northwest russia. bringing the death toll to forty five spend two days fighting to save the boy's knife. the. investigation. into terrible time for editors. the will of the relatives of. the survivors some of them have already made their way here saw bars still on the way. a ten year old boy had passed away at the hospital injuries so his family definitely going through an emotional time now it will be a tough day for their families because we have the task for those family members have been killed they have the task of identifying the bodies the borg we were told that several have been identified but still quite a large number still have to be identified they were still. body parts from the wreckage so again an emotional day for them and as for the locals here they also have been going through. grief the friends of those who have died most of them. had already come here bringing flowers offering prayer

seven republics out of fifteen did not take part in the referendum on the reform of the soviet union so the process has already gone very very much forward and yeltsin of course of the soviet union was just virtually collapse and in some one thousand nine hundred one he didn't shed tears you started build in the russian federation and you think that's the entire point of john vines go to you in washington from a russian perspective in two thousand and eleven that was the good yeltsin ok the else and they did the right thing ok because right now in two thousand and eleven most people in this country are very pleased that the soviet union is gone there's still a small minority that regret it but yeltsin was seen as a great banner to bring the end of a system that wasn't working for the people anymore so yeltsin twenty years ago what kind of character do you so some to be. i said some looking back i'm very contradictory figure both i would almost say heroic but certainly someone who displayed tremendous political courage and i would note in passing about i agree with the most comments a

with that unraveling of the soviet union people talk a lot about going to charge what about yeltsin at this time well i think there are two parallel process that's going on which should not be mixed up there was the process of democratization and i think it was yeltsin storrow for the first time in russian history and man came to power on us to election against the will of the government that was an achievement as for that collapse of the soviet union it had begun long before that it's been. back in one thousand eight hundred nine already there was a lot of talk about it and by one thousand nine hundred the the process was almost complete i would remind you of that in march two months before the election. seven republics out of fifteen did not take part in the referendum on the reform of the soviet union so the process has already gone very very much fault and yeltsin of course when the soviet union was just virtually collapse and in some one thousand one thousand vonne he didn't shed dius he started building the russian federation of the new states they attempting to. go to you in

pact making them allies on easy allies of course but allies nonetheless they were allies and the soviet union was caught by surprise and this was stalin's great. stalin was not naive but he thought that germany would not attack in nine hundred forty one he thought the attack would come late and he believed that he could use this pact to develop the soviet union's and sphere of influence and at the same time. the radhasoami and transfer industry was beyond your own mountains but in fact he got it very very badly wrong and of course the red army was caught deeply unprepared in nine hundred forty one your book is about the sort of human story behind the how did it develop militarily during the conflict in the beginning and nine hundred forty one the red army was. by the autumn of one nine hundred forty one the last between two and three million tons of killed missing and captured. i think few in the world could you sustain that level of punishment and still carried on fighting and it was not from this high come on to believe at that point the soviet union. and what was it that kept the red army

armenia is a republic situated in the trans caucuses enjoin the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred twenty two when the republic won independence in september one thousand nine hundred ninety one this was the most troubled region in the post soviet space the country was at war with neighboring azerbaijan over nagorno-karabakh. bleach up the world for the winter. this was and this is are. no use or my grandchildren doing their homework. because that is our story of it and we made it their selves because there is no other source of leading india out of your news from the issue and his house in azerbaijan's capital of baquba was larger and more comfortable they had to leave their native city in a hurry already there was gunfire in the corner kind of block as in by johnny's fleeing that area meanwhile the situation for armenians living. in azerbaijan was becoming increasingly dangerous. when for quite a good deal for instance my husband had an aunt with a dark complexion it was easy to see that she was a median she was attacked several times under natural. the conflicts root cause stems

when azerbaijan and armenia joined the soviet union big only care about a territory where armenians had been a predominant population from time immemorial was placed under azerbaijan's control they didn't matter much you controlled nagorno-karabakh back then the soviet republics were part of an integrated country by the time bomb eventually went off and violence erupted between the two in the late one nine hundred eighty s. . the soviet government showed signs of weakness at the start of perestroika when people were told they could speak up without running the risk of being imprisoned oryx a curator of the group of people across the soviet union began talking about their concerns a means in a golden color buck started dozen questions i wanted to know why the old part of azerbaijan even though armenia was next door to a country populated by people of the same nationality and culture when you put your most of the girls with her. back who flatly rejected the advance demands the nagorno-karabakh be handed over to armenians control. meanwhile the first major interethnic conflict was gatherin

that they underestimated the red army and they underestimated the soviet union and was that a turning point or was it just onset of the winter when the weather they just weren't prepared for well the germans blame the weather. again and you could just pop seen that one coming but they were caught by surprise and they said the weather rolled them but in fact i think the weather was part of the story and the other part that was much harder for them to acknowledge was that an army that seemed defeated demoralized and lost in a matter of weeks and days turned itself around and started fighting and resisting with stupendous power and the first turning point was outside moscow the germans expected to take the capital they were later than they thought but they still thought that would end the war and it was the strength and determination of resistance that caught me by surprise ahead of the campaign hit was repeatedly advised taking western russia would in fact be more of a drain on germany's economic resources than it would be beneficial why did he go ahead with the campaign anyway. was mot

always wanted to invade the soviet union the reason he gave

from across the soviet union at that time armenia was part of it. the powerful earthquake affected all of armenia's northern areas as well as spectacular. the scale of the disaster only became apparent after several days just a handful of people had survived under the rubble the earthquake has claimed twenty five thousand lives. such as the each the door when the smoke cleared away three or four hours after the earthquake became clear the town had been razed to the ground where they'd begin arriving towards leaving because there were no regrets about. some of the aid came from numerous diasporas in foreign countries. this footage shows charles elson a voice a french singer of armenian origin after a visit to devastated spitz attack he vowed to do his best to help armenia. but there's so much that i was really shocked by what i saw in st ut. i couldn't imagine their polling scale of that disaster. because so many people were killed here because. the french cinema set up a fund for the earthquake struck country the money was used to restore dozens of

well that looking back seventy years since germany's invasion of the soviet union leading british historian dr michael jones tells r t it was the great patrick ism of the soviet people that helped win the war. i believe there was just the science or the technical side germany could very well have won it either a nine hundred forty one or nine hundred forty two but it was love of the model and it was this extraordinary determination to carry on fighting that the germans underestimated it was a. profound patcher to them that the red army recovered from the initial crisis realized it was a battle for survival and what was at stake was not just the communist system but russia as a country and the soviet union was in the boardroom and it really did become a lot it will the germans they were carried away by their own success their previous successes blitzkrieg lightning war and they believe that if they hammered the route on the front here it would all be. that they underestimated the red army and they underestimated the soviet union. and you can see the full interview with dr michael johns in tw

to look for ways wanted to invade the soviet union the reason he gave out was that the soviet union would actually attack germany i think the evidence for that in nine hundred forty one slight underneath that justification to his military were two main factors the first was hitler's hatred of communism bolshevism but underneath the real truth about this war was race hatred i believe that if it was just the science or the technical side. germany could very well have want to either a nine hundred forty one on nine hundred forty two but it with love of the motherland it was this extraordinary determination to carry on fighting that the germans underestimated and. you can see the full interview with dr michael johns in ten minutes ahead l.t. . u.s. is tightening financial sanctions on the libyan government some members of congress call for a one year extension of america's military role in the country meanwhile the intervention has been hit by continuing criticism over a number of civilian deaths historian loans davidson says the u.s. and nato have made themselves hostages to conflicts. what

as high come on to believe at that point the soviet union. and what was it that kept the red army fighting that's the sixty four thousand. question an extraordinary mix of. brutal leadership tough leadership from stalin but it was necessary to be tough and new autumn of nineteen forty one and stalin result would be defended and they would keep fighting but it was a. profound truth that the red army recovered from the initial crisis realized it was a battle for the survival and what was at stake was not just a communist system but russia as a country in the soviet union in the boardroom so it's not and it really did become a part of it war it was unusual time in the red army did develop quite a lot during a time of. what do you think explains the marked difference in its effectiveness from say nine hundred forty one to for example the battle of stalingrad in which it secured a stunning victory one of course that technical reasons to the red army in the midst of war is retraining. that's the worst possible time to do it but they are doing it an

always wanted to invade the soviet union the reason he gave out was that the soviet union would actually attack germany underneath that justification to his military with two main factors the first was hitler's hatred of communism bolshevism but underneath and the real truth about this war was race hatred and if one reads mind hitler's book it's clear that you always want to carve out living space in the east and do so the expanse of the people he regarded as racially inferior he he thort in terms of a war of survival and it was going to be the survival of the fittest and it didn't take and started to realize the consequences and of course the red army was caught deeply unprepared in nine hundred forty one your book is about the sort of human stories. how did it develop militarily. when at the beginning in one nine hundred forty one the red army was hunted. by the autumn of one nine hundred forty one the last between two and three million tons of killed in this thing and cops should. i think few of them is in the world to sustain that level of punishment and still carried on fighting and

offensive against the soviet union was to place. rest fortress today it's on the territory of the sovereign republic of belarus formerly the soviet republic of belarus a fortress was once the western most outpost of the soviet empire each day schoolchildren in the town of brest take part in a ceremony by a local monument to commemorate what happened there. on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty one german fascist forces invaded the soviet union without a declaration of war the defenders of the breast fortress found themselves in a dead end situation it is here that the myth about the invincibility of the german army was broken after the end of the war and the rest fortress as a name became synonymous to perseverance courage and belief in victory for years to come. the early hours of june twenty second nineteen forty one german artillery unleashes a massive barrage from the breast garrisoned. german warplanes some ultimately dropped hundreds of bombs on the fortress soon after infantry assault groups launched the initia