An old MiG-15, a Cold War-era jet fighter, languishing in a field somewhere in Latvia
This lonely MiG-15 sits near a private runway in Latvia, a survivor of the Soviet Union's early jet fighter era. Developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich, the aircraft was an early innovator in swept-wing design intended to reach supersonic speeds.
This is also a major issue on Wikipedia at the moment: Russian trolls have been trying to change the birthplaces of Baltic figures to Estonian/Latvian/Lithuanian SSR — which, if successful, means that Wikipedia is recognising an occupation as legitimate (which major Western nations, including the US, did not even do at the time).
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keeps referring to the Baltic states,
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re * | Soviet republics” (“Europe already ‘at
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| banker”, Report, January 18).
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Today in labor History January 17, 1961: The CIA orchestrated a coup that tortured, murdered, and overthrew Congo’s first democratically elected president, Patrice Lumumba. This was after a previous failed coup against him by Mobutu Sese Seku, who would later become dictator from 1971 until 1997.
Congo won independence from Belgium in 1960, after years of brutal colonial rule which slaughtered up to 10 million people, or half its entire population. However, imperial powers continued to exploit the people of Congo, even after independence. President Eisenhower authorized the assassination of Lumumba because of his ties with the Soviet Union. The U.S., and its European allies, wanted control over Congo’s resources, particularly its rich uranium deposits, both to fuel their civilian and military nuclear programs, and, in particular, to keep them out of the hands of the Soviet Union, which was allied with Lumumba.
The wonderful 2024 documentary “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” does a really great job of uncovering the concealed history of the 1961 assassination of Lumumba and the coup d’etat in Congo. But it’s really about so much more: Cold War machinations, propaganda, and covert operations; the superpowers’ jockeying for control of puppet regimes and spheres of influence in the global south; the Pan-African movement; racism in the U.S., the Civil Rights movement, and the repression against it; and, of course, jazz music, including tons of interviews and live footage of Lumumba, Ghanian president and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah, activist and writer Andree Madeleine Blouin, Malcolm X, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Miriam Makeba, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, surrealist artist Rene Magritte. There’s even a “slumber party” with Fidel Castro at Malcolm X’s home, in New York, after the U.S. authorities convince all the hotels in New York to refuse Castro a place to sleep during a UN conference.
One of the people the CIA used in its early attempts to assassinate Lumumba was chemist Sidney Gottlieb, who ran the agency’s secret MKULTRA mind control program. Gottlieb tried, but failed, to kill Lumumba with poisoned toothpaste. He also tried, and failed, to assassinate Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar and with radioactively poisoned shoes. MKULTRA was a continuation of Nazi mind-control experiments, which utilized mescaline against Jews and Soviet prisoners, hoping it could be exploited as a “truth” serum. The program gave hallucinogenic drugs, like LSD and Mescaline, to 7,000 unwitting U.S. war veterans, as well as many Canadian and U.S. civilians.
Lumumba in 1960, with glasses and a bowtie. By unknown photographer / Anefo - http://proxy.handle.net/10648/a9c3a120-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84 Nationaal Archief, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63950207
Lithuania remembers the anniversary of the January Events today. Soviet tanks rolled into Vilnius in 1991 and crushed peaceful protesters at the TV tower. I spoke to some of the victims' friends and relatives for this article a few years ago: while Gorbachev is remembered fondly in the West, the Baltics can't forget the violence.
Today's #Poland minister of foreign affairs Radosław (Radek) Sikorski in 1987-1989 when he was a war correspondent in #Soviet occupied #Afghanistan.
The last one is a photograph of a family killed and mummified in their home as a result of a Soviet Air Force bombing raid for which he received World Press Photo Awards in 1988.
On the anniversary Thursday, there were protests against #Orban
Peter Lakits, holding a sign reading "Russians Go Home":
“One thing we have learned from #history is that we have learned nothing from history. Sometimes the tanks that crushed #freedom in #Budapest are the very same ones that are now crushing freedom in #Ukraine"
Today in Labor History October 10, 1980: The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front was founded in El Salvador. The FMLN, which fought a long civil war to overthrow the rightwing dictatorship, was named after Salvadoran revolutionary Farabundo Marti (1893-1932). Marti, a comrade of Augusto Sandino, the Nicaraguan revolutionary leader, helped found the Central American Communist Party. In 1932, he helped lead an uprising that, for ten days, was the first Soviet in the western hemisphere. The rebellion was crushed by the dictator Maximiliano Martinez, who slaughtered over 30,000 peasants, indigenous people and communists in the Matanza. Martinez had once proclaimed, “America is great because it eradicated its Indians. For El Salvador to become great, so must we.” Martinez was also one of the first world leaders to recognize Adolf Hitler. He also believed in the “court of invisible doctors.”
Mural showing Farabundo Marti in a broad brimmed hat, next to a modern indigenous woman, in a blue shawl, and ancient depiction of an indigenous man, with a long-tailed green Quetzal bird in the background.
🏥🇬🇪 A derelict Soviet-era hospital sits hidden in the hills of Georgia.
Files stamped with "Ministry of Health of the USSR" still sit on dusty shelves. Rows of metal-framed baby cribs stand rusty in disused wards.
In the basement below lies something unexpected. A colourful wall mural initially appears to depict a cheerful scene, but a closer look reveals a macabre secret at its centre.
Two rusty hospital cots in a decaying, peeling room. Text overlay announces a show about a Soviet-era mountain hospital in Georgia, airing Saturday 8pm (UK), hosted by Obsidian Urbex.
🆕🛁🇬🇪 New location feature: Bathhouse Number 8, Georgia
Part of a network of spa facilities built in Tskaltubo during the Soviet era. The town became one of the USSR’s leading health resorts, famed for its radon–carbonate springs.
Built as a communal bathhouse, this site was less formal than the grander sanatoriums.
Today in Labor History August 28, 1921: The Soviet Red Army dissolved the stateless Anarchist Free Territory, after driving the Black Army out of Ukraine. The anarchist rebel leader, Nester Makhno, barely escaped, and with serious injuries. The Free Territory within Ukraine, also known as Makhnovia (after Nestor Makhno), lasted from 1918 to 1921. It was a stateless, anarchist society that was defended by Makhno’s Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army (AKA the Black Army). Roughly 7 million people lived in the area. The peasants who lived there refused to pay rent to the landowners and seized the estates and livestock of the church, state and private landowners, setting up local committees to manage them and share them among the various villages and communes of the Free State.
Mahkno and his lieutenants, 1919. By Unknown author - http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/2110190.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11913524
Here is part 2 of "Armenian First Names Through the Ages" from Gesaria #Armenian Research and Academic Services. What do names like Lori, Taline, and Ani have in common? Where do Karlen, Mels, and Ninel come from? (A hint: think #Soviet .) Read on to find out. histodons group#onomastics#anthroponymy
72 years later, this image still seems to resonate.
'In America - At This Restaurant Only One Person Is Served' (Krokodil # 4, 1953) by Yuliy Ganf. The solider at the table being well fed is labeled “war” and the neglected tables are labeled 'Education', 'Health Care', 'Libraries' and 'Art'.
'In America - At This Restaurant Only One Person Is Served' (Krokodil #4, 1953) by Yuliy Ganf. This restaurant scene “…where waiters serve piles of money to a soldier, labeled ‘War’. Judging from the types of money they serve, the four waiters represent four Western countries. The man with the knife slices U.S. dollars, hinting that he is an American, perhaps former U.S. President Harry S. Truman (who was already succeeded by Dwight D. Eisenhower by the time this cartoon was printed in Krokodil). The obese man with monocle serves British pounds and could either be then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill or the British national personification John Bull. The man with a whole plate with money, decorated with smelly cheese, is a Frenchman, possibly French Prime Minister Antoine Pinay. The wrinkly green man with swastika badge is West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer (who ironically was active in the German resistance movement during World War II). While 'War' is fed with delicious Western financial nutrition, four other customers wait in vain for service. Their tables are labeled 'Education', 'Health Care', 'Libraries' and 'Art'” - https://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/ganf_yuliy.htm
It was quite original & had its moments, but it really didn't get going at any point. Granted, the style was not action oriented, but the overall rhythm would've imho worked better with a bit faster tempo. It had this film school artsy feel where even good gags lost their punch.
Alien costumes were great! Nice photography too. #Soviet angst tour de force!
A half-ton Soviet spacecraft is about to crash into Earth, but don't panic.
NBC News reports: "Kosmos-482 was designed to land on Venus but instead has spent the past 53 years languishing in Earth’s orbit because of a rocket malfunction." It's expected to enter Earth's atmosphere sometime on Saturday.
Anti-Communists and horseshoe-theorists love to tell anyone who will listen that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939) was a military alliance between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. They frame it as a cynical and opportunistic agreement between two totalitarian powers that paved the way for the outbreak of World War II in order to equate Communism with Fascism. They are, of course, missing key context in their effort to uniquely place blame on the USSR.
The loss of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles had a profound effect on the German economy. Signed in 1919, the treaty imposed harsh reparations on the newly formed Weimar Republic (1919-1933), forcing the country to pay billions of dollars in damages to the Allied powers. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the war, required Germany to cede all of its colonial possessions to the Allied powers. This included territories in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, including German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Togoland, Cameroon, and German New Guinea.
With an understanding of Historical Materialism and the role that Imperialism plays in maintaining a liberal democracy, it is clear that the National Bourgeoisie would embrace Fascism under these conditions. (Ask: "What is Imperialism?" and "What is Fascism?" for details)
Judeo-Bolshevism (a conspiracy theory which claimed that Jews were responsible for the Russian Revolution of 1917, and that they have used Communism as a cover to further their own interests) gained significant traction in Nazi Germany, where it became a central part of Nazi propaganda and ideology. Adolf Hitler and other leading members of the Nazi Party frequently used the term to vilify Jews and justify their persecution.
The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was repressed by the Nazi regime soon after they came to power in 1933. In the weeks following the Reichstag Fire, the Nazis arrested and imprisoned thousands of Communists and other political dissidents. This played a significant role in the passage of the Enabling Act of 1933, which granted Hitler and the Nazi Party dictatorial powers and effectively dismantled the Weimar Republic.
Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Great Britain and other Western powers placed strict trade restrictions on the Soviet Union. These restrictions were aimed at isolating the Soviet Union and weakening its economy in an attempt to force the new Communist government to collapse.
In the 1920s, the Soviet Union under Lenin's leadership was sympathetic towards Germany because the two countries shared a common enemy in the form of the Western capitalist powers, particularly France and Great Britain. The Soviet Union and Germany established diplomatic relations and engaged in economic cooperation with each other. The Soviet Union provided technical and economic assistance to Germany and in return, it received access to German industrial and technological expertise, as well as trade opportunities.
However, this cooperation was short-lived, and by the late 1920s, relations between the two countries had deteriorated. The Soviet Union's efforts to export its socialist ideology to Germany were met with resistance from the German government and the rising Nazi Party, which viewed Communism as a threat to its own ideology and ambitions.
The appointment of Hitler as Germany's chancellor general, as well as the rising threat from Japan, led to important changes in Soviet foreign policy. Oriented toward Germany since the treaty of Locarno (1925) and the treaty of Special Relations with Berlin (1926), the Kremlin now moved in the opposite direction by trying to establish closer ties with France and Britain to isolate the growing Nazi threat. This policy became known as "collective security" and was associated with Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet foreign minister at the time. The pursuit of collective security lasted approximately as long as he held that position. Japan's war with China took some pressure off of Russia by allowing it to focus its diplomatic efforts on relations with Europe.
However, the memories of the Russian Revolution and the fear of Communism were still fresh in the minds of many Western leaders, and there was a reluctance to enter into an alliance with the Soviet Union. They believed that Hitler was a bulwark against Communism and that a strong Germany could act as a buffer against Soviet expansion.
Instead of joining the USSR in a collective security alliance against Nazi Germany, the Western leaders decided to try appeasing Nazi Germany. As part of the policy of appeasement, several territories were ceded to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s:
Rhineland: In March 1936, Nazi Germany remilitarized the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone along the border between Germany and France. This move violated the Treaty of Versailles and marked the beginning of Nazi Germany's aggressive territorial expansion.
Austria: In March 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria in what is known as the Anschluss. This move violated the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which had established Austria as a separate state following World War I.
Sudetenland: In September 1938, the leaders of Great Britain, France, and Italy signed the Munich Agreement, which allowed Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a region in western Czechoslovakia with a large ethnic German population.
Memel: In March 1939, Nazi Germany annexed the Memel region of Lithuania, which had been under French administration since World War I.
Bohemia and Moravia: In March 1939, Nazi Germany annexed Bohemia and Moravia, the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia that had not been annexed following the Munich Agreement.
However, instead of appeasing Nazi Germany by giving in to their territorial demands, these concessions only emboldened them and ultimately led to the outbreak of World War II.
The Four-Power Pact (1933): An agreement between Britain, France, Italy, and Germany.
The Pilsudski Pact (1934): The German–Polish declaration of non-aggression normalised relations and the parties agreed to forgo armed conflict for a period of 10 years. Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Juliabkommen (1936): A gentleman's agreement between Austria and Germany, in which Germany recognized Austria's "full sovereignty". Germany annexed Austria in 1938 in the Anschluss.
Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935): This agreement with the British allowed Germany the right to build a navy beyond the limits set by the Treaty of Versailles.
Munich Agreement (September 1938): The British, French, and Italy agreed to concede the Sudetenland to Germany in exchange for a pledge of peace. WWII began one year later, when Germany invaded Poland.
German-French Non-Aggression Pact (December 1938): A treaty between Germany and France, ensuring mutual non-aggression and peaceful relations. Germany invaded France in 1940.
German-Romanian Economic Treaty (March 1939): This agreement established German control over most aspects of Romanian economy. Romania became an Axis power in 1943 and was liberated by the Soviets in 1945.
German-Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact (March 1939): This ultimatum issued by Germany demanded Lithuania return the Klaipėda Region (Memel) which it lost in WWI in exchange for a non-aggression pact. Germany occupied Lithuania in 1941.
Denmark Non-Aggression Pact (May 1939): An agreement between Germany and Denmark, ensuring non-aggression and peaceful coexistence. Germany invaded Denmark in 1940.
USSR Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939): Known as the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, this was a non-aggression treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, also including secret protocols dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Germany invaded the USSR in 1941.
And this, of course, ignores all the pacts and treaties that Germany made with its Axis allies: Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, and Thailand.
Papers which were kept secret for almost 70 years show that the Soviet Union proposed sending a powerful military force in an effort to entice Britain and France into an anti-Nazi alliance.
Such an agreement could have changed the course of 20th century history...
The offer of a military force to help contain Hitler was made by a senior Soviet military delegation at a Kremlin meeting with senior British and French officers, two weeks before war broke out in 1939.
The new documents... show the vast numbers of infantry, artillery and airborne forces which Stalin's general
"Insurrection Must Be Treated as an Art" ( socialismforall.substack.com )
Human-read Marxist audiobook + discussion of V. I. Lenin’s Marxism and Insurrection (1917), read by Socialism for All ...
From General Strike to Uprising, Part 1 ( socialismforall.substack.com )
Human-read Marxist audiobook + discussion of V. I. Lenin’s Lessons of the Moscow Uprising (1906), read by Socialism for All ...
The Cold War Illustrated