Sunday 10 May 2015

V-Day in Moscow

Today’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow mark a turning point in Russian history



Ceremonial unit soldiers at the military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. (RIA Novosti/Maksim Blinov)

9 May, 2015

Today is truly a historical day.  For the first time ever the West has boycotted the Victory Day Parade in Moscow and, also for the first time ever, Chinese forces have marched on the Beautiful Square (“Red” square is a mistranslation – the “Red Square” ought be called the “Beautiful Square”) with the Russians.  I believe that this is a profoundly symbolic shift and one which makes perfectly good sense.

The past
For one thing, Russia and China suffered more from WWII than any other country.  See for yourself:
WWII casualties
Now take a look at the casualties suffered by the “boycotting countries” and everything becomes clear (the only exception to this rule is Poland, which lost a huge proportion of its population).  The fact is that for all the Hollywood movies produced about WWII, the Anglo countries suffered very little when compared to the huge losses of Russia (25+ million) and China (15+ million).  For details, see here andhere.  As for continental Europe, it’s resistance to the Nazis, while very real and heroic, was a feat of the few, not a true national resistance (like in the Soviet Union, Poland or Yugoslavia).  But there is much more to this than just numbers.
The real reason why the US/NATO/EU countries have boycotted the celebrations in Moscow is, of course, not their very modest contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany, but their unconditional support for Nazi Ukraine: the “country” which considers Stepan Bandera a national hero, the OUN-UPA death squads as a “heroic liberation movement” and the liberation of the Ukraine as a “Soviet occupation”.  It is also a fact the the Anglos have always shared these feelings and that had developed several plans for total war against the USSR were considered right at the end of the war which  I have already mentioned them in the past:
Plan Totality (1945): earmarked 20 Soviet cities for obliteration in a first strike: Moscow, Gorki, Kuybyshev, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Saratov, Kazan, Leningrad, Baku, Tashkent, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Magnitogorsk, Molotov, Tbilisi, Stalinsk, Grozny, Irkutsk, and Yaroslavl.
Operation Unthinkable (1945) assumed a surprise attack by up to 47 British and American divisions in the area of Dresden, in the middle of Soviet lines.This represented almost a half of roughly 100 divisions (ca. 2.5 million men) available to the British, American and Canadian headquarters at that time. (…) The majority of any offensive operation would have been undertaken by American and British forces, as well as Polish forces and up to 100,000 German Wehrmacht soldiers.
Operation Dropshot (1949): included mission profiles that would have used 300 nuclear bombs and 29,000 high-explosive bombs on 200 targets in 100 cities and towns to wipe out 85% of the Soviet Union’s industrial potential at a single stroke. Between 75 and 100 of the 300 nuclear weapons were targeted to destroy Soviet combat aircraft on the ground.
Ask yourself a simple question: why were these plans never actually implemented?  The answer is both simple and obvious: because the West feared the Red Army.  And since the West was terrified of the Red Army, what do you think the western guests felt each time they watched the Victory Day parade in Moscow?  Were they thinking about how the Soviet Army defeated the Nazis, or about how the Russian Army kept them in check?  Again, the answer is obvious.
The reality is that while western people very much belong on the Beautiful Square for the Victory Day parade, the western leaders do not: not only did the Anglos carefully nurture and promote Hitler, they always saw him as “their SOB” whom they hoped to unleash against the Soviet Union.  Their plan failed, of course, but that only increased their russophobia (“phobia” in the double sense of “fear” and “hate”).  To see the western leaders “missing” today is, therefore, a very good thing and I personally hope that they never get invited again (I know, they will, but I wish they weren’t).

The present

The AngloZionist Empire and Russia are at war.  Of course, the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides makes this a special kind of war.  It is roughly 80% informational, 15% economic and 5% military.  But it is a very real war nonetheless, if only because the outcome of this war will decide the future of the planet.  The Donbass or the Ukraine are, of course, of exactly zero interest to the West.  What is really at stake here is the survival of one of two different models:

AngloZionist Unipolar Imperial Model

Russian Multipolar Model
One world Hegemon
Collaborative development
Might makes right (national and international)
Rule of law (national and international)
Single societal model
Each country has its own societal model
Ad hoc “coalitions of the willing”
Respect for international law
Secularism and relativism
Central role for religions and traditions
Military violence as preferred solution
Military violence as option of last resort
Rule of the 1%
Rule of the 99%
Ideological monism
Ideological pluralism
White supremacism
Multi-culturalism

Both Russians and Americans are quite aware of what is at stake and neither side can back down.  On one hand, if the US/NATO/EU prevail, they will have succeeded in breaking the Russian “back” and Russia will rapidly be submitted.  Should that happen, all the BRICS countries will soon follow, including China.  On the other hand, if Russia prevails in the Ukraine, then the US grip on the EU will soon be weakened and, possibly, lost altogether and the entire world will see that the Empire is crumbling.  Should that happen, the entire international financial system will escape from the AngloZionst control and liquidate the petrodollar.  The consequences of such a collapse will be felt worldwide.
Xi and Putin together on Vday
Xi , Putin and Nazarbaev together on Vday

The presence of Xi Jinpin next to Putin on this historic day, the participation of the Chinese military in the parade and the presence of PLA Navy ships alongside the Russian Black Sea Fleet is a direct and powerful message to the world: in this titanic struggle, China is fully throwing her weight behind Russia.
[Sidebar: Notice on the photo of Xi and Putin that there is one more absolutely crucial figure sitting next to the war veteran: Nursultan Nazarbaev, the President of Kazakhstan.  The crucial role this man has played to shape today’s world has not been recognized, but with time I am sure it will.  Long before Putin, it was Nazarbaev who did everything in his power to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union, the creation and strengthening of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union.  I would note that Putin has, on several occasions, expressed his deep admiration for, and gratitude to, Nazarbaev whom he has explicitly described as the “father” of the new Eurasian union.]
This is the “new Russia” – one literally flanked by her two allies, China and Kazakhstan.  It is hard to over-estimate the importance of this event: for the first time in 400 years Russia has finally fully turned her face to her natural ecosphere – the East.
Many languages and culture have an expression which basically says that you recognize your true friends in times of hardship.  I believe that this is true.  This is even more true in international politics.  And if you apply this criterion to the history of Russia you come to a simple but inevitable conclusion: the West hasnever been Russia’s friend (of course, I am talking about the ruling class, not the common people!).  By turning towards Asia Russia is finally “coming home”.
Chinese units have never marched on the Beautiful Square before, and to see them there today also sends a clear message to the West: we are standing with Russia!
Chinese Forces in Moscow for Vday
Chinese forces on the Beautiful Square
PLA Navy in Novorosiisk
Chinese Navy in Novorossiik
The future

Today’s Victory Day parade in Moscow marks a turning point in Russian history: now, for the first time ever, there is a consensus in Russia that instead of looking West, Russia must look North (Siberia the Arctic), East (Asia) and South (Latin America, Africa).  There will be no “big break” with the West, however, as Russia will continue to hope for the decolonization of Europe.  In part, this process has already begun in Greece and Hungary, and it is simmering in Serbia, France, Italy and even Germany. The potential for a European decolonization is definitely there and Russia should not, and will not, give up on Europe.
Another major priority of Russia will be to try to facilitate a rapprochement between the two other BRICS “heavyweights”: China and India.  Tensions between these two giants are an inherent risk for all the BRICS members and cannot be allowed to remain.
Russia will also try to strengthen her informal but still very real alliance with Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.  These three are natural allies for Russia and while it is too early to include Iran or Syria in the BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Iran already has an observer status, eventually this should happen.  Iran could also become the first non ex-Soviet country to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Still, the single most important development in the future will be the deepening of the symbiotic relationship between China and Russia I call the “China-Russia Strategic Alliance” which Larchmonter445 has so brilliantly analyzed in his Vineyard of the Saker White Paper: the China-Russia Double Helix“: while remaining externally two separate countries, Russia and China will form a single economic, political and military entity, fully integrated and fully dependent on each other (Xi and Putin have again signed a list of mega-contracts between the two countries).
Unless of course, a full-scale war break out between the Empire and Russia.
I personally have no hope for a peaceful solution for the Ukrainian civil war.  There is nothing which could be meaningfully negotiated between Russia and the Nazi regime in Kiev.  Besides, all the indicators and warnings seem to agree on the fact that an Ukronazi attack on Novorussia is all but inevitable.  At that point, there are only two possible outcomes: either the Novorussians are defeated and Russia has to openly intervene, or the Ukronazis are defeated and the Novorussians go on the offensive and liberate most, or even all, of Novorussia and the Donetsk region.  I am cautiously optimistic and my sense is that the Urkonazis will be defeated for a third time.  When that happens the regime in Kiev will most likely rapidly collapse.
Conclusion
I am under no illusion that the end of World War II brought happiness and freedom to all of mankind, even less so in eastern Europe.  In reality, it brought an untold number of horrors and suffering to many nations, especially the Germans.   I don’t see Victory Day as a celebration of Communism or of the Soviet regime but as a victory over one of the most abhorrent regime in history.  It was the victory of all the people who fought against the Nazis and not of one specific political ideology or order.  But by the same token, I don’t think that it makes sense to deny that Stalin and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union played a key role in this victory.  The notion that the Russian people prevailed “in spite of Stalin” really makes no sense as he, and his commanders, played a key role in every single major battle of this war, just has Hitler and his commanders did on the other side.  As I said, this victory belongs to all those who helped defeating the Nazis and that very much includes Stalin, his commanders and the CPSU.  Hence the Red banners do belong to this parade.
Finally, this day is also a day of celebration for all those who today are still resisting the true “heir” of the Nazi regime – the AngloZionist Empire with its global hegemonic ambitions and never ending colonial wars.  Thus today is a day of celebration for all of us in the Saker community, our brothers (and sisters!) in arms and all our friends and allies in this global resistance to global Empire.
I congratulate you and and wish you a joy-filled and peaceful Victory Day!
The Saker

PS: we all probably have our own favorite iconic photo for World War 2.  Mine is this one:
Сергей Макарович Корольков
Sergei Makarovich Korolkov minutes before his execution by the Germans
It shows a Russian solider, Sergei Makarovich Korolkov, who has just been captured by a German unit and is about to be executed.  I love his look of self-confident defiance which, to me, symbolizes the real “ultimate weapon” of the Russian people: an unbreakable willpower, even in the face of defeat or death.

PPS: check out the excellent article To be Russian” by Andre Vltchek

Something truly amazing happened today


the Vineyard of the Saker,
9 May, 2015

Today will go down in Russia history as a truly historical celebration of the victory over Nazi Germany.  The parade – by far the most beautiful I have seen (alas, only on video, not in person) – was superb and for the first time included the Chinese PLA.  Clearly, we see history in the making.  But something else no less amazing also happened today: Defense Minister Shoigu made the sign of the Cross before the beginning of the celebrations:

Шойгу крестится
This is an absolutely momentous moment for Russia.  Never in the past history had any Russian Minister of Defense done anything like it.  True, the old tradition was to make the sign of the Cross when passing under the Kremlin’s Savior Tower, if only because there is an icon of the Savior right over the gate.  However, everybody in Russia immediately understood that there was much more to this gesture than an external compliance to an ancient tradition.
758px-Spas_Smolensky2010-11-19
Icon of the Savior

The Russian journalist Victor Baranets put is very well when he wrote:”At that moment I felt that with his simple gesture Shoigu brought all of Russia to his feet.  There was so much kindness, so much hope, so much of our Russian sense of the sacred [in this gesture]“.  He is absolutely correct.  To see this Tuvan Buddhist make the sign of the Cross in the Orthodox manner sent an electric shock through the Russian blogosphere: everybody felt that something amazing had happened.

For one thing, nobody in his right mind would suspect Shoigu of ever doing anything just “for show”.  The man has an immense capital of popularity and credibility in Russia and he as no need to for political hypocrisy.  Furthermore, those who saw the footage will immediately see that Shoigu was very concentrated, very solemn, when he did this.  Personally, I believe that Shoigu quite literally asked for God’s help in one of the most dangerous moment in Russian history in which he, the Russian Minister of Defense, might be called to take momentous decisions from which the future of the planet might depend.

For centuries Russian soldiers have knelt and asked for God’s blessing before going into battle and this is, I believe, what Shoigu did today.  He knows that 2015 will be the year of the big war between Russia and the Empire (even if, due to the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides, this war will remain 80% informational, 15% economic and 5% military)

Does that mean that Shoigu converted to Orthodoxy?  Not necessarily.  Buddhism is very accepting of other religions and I don’t see much of a contradiction here.  But the fact that the first Russian government official to begin the historical Victory Day parade by making the sign of the Cross and appealing for God’s help is a Buddhist is, in itself, quite amazing (even if it shames his nominally “Orthodox” predecessors who never did so).

I can only imagine the horror, outrage and despair Shoigu’s gesture will trigger in the pro-Western Russian “liberal intelligentsia” and in the western capitals.  In placing himself and all of Russia in God’s hands Shoigu declared a spiritual, cultural and civilizational war on the Empire.  And just for that, he will go down in history as one of Russia’s greatest men.
The Saker


From RT

70 for Victory: Armata tanks, nuclear bombers, intl boots in Moscow for V-Day


'Immortal Regiment' march: Putin joins huge crowd paying tribute to WW2 soldiers





V-Day in St Petersburg (Nevsky Prospekt)


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