Russia and Eastern Europe

[Laying flowers at the monument of the servicemen of the 6th Paratroop Company killed in action]

With Russia's second invasion of the Ukraine now well into its third year, it is no surprise that a lot of background stuff is appearing in print. Like the notice of two books to be found today at reference 1 - but for the avoidance of doubt I should say I have done no more than glance at the article and I have not even seen the books.

This more by way of a progress report on reference 3, a chance find advertised at reference 2.

It seems that what is now Russia got started roughly a thousand years ago, at that time one of a number of entities in eastern Europe and in what are now the Baltic states (particularly Lithuania), Belarus (aka White Russia), Poland, the Ukraine (aka Little Russia) and the western part of Russia proper. Mongols to the east. Snow to the north.

Entities defined by a mixture of history, race, religion and language. Such natural borders as there were were mainly rivers.

Then, very roughly speaking, Russia spent the next thousand years trying to absorb Lithuania, Belarus, Poland and the Ukraine. Not to mention its east-bound efforts, where the first peoples were not such a serious barrier. At least, not until they reached the Amur River.

It failed with Poland, certainly for now, but it is still trying with the other three.

I very much associate to England's efforts over roughly the same period to absorb the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish. Which has cost a lot of blood and treasure over the centuries, but at least now, for the most part at least, we settle our differences peacefully. The Irish might have had to go to war to get to leave the Union a century ago, but if there were ever to be a clear vote from the Scots to leave now, then leave they would. All those windmills and Faslane notwithstanding.

About a third of the way through the 350 pages of text now and going strong.

PS: looking again at reference 2, I found my way to reference 5, from where I got to the image above. Yet another older male leader who has never served making a big production of military matters. While this afternoon, I associate to Orwell's tale of one Winston cooking up a tale of a heroic pilot killed in combat over the Indian Ocean to fill a gap in an old copy of the Times which had arisen during a spot of retrospective revision. Winston being a servant of another regime which liked to keep its records up to date.

References

Reference 1: Mapping the shifting mental boundaries of Europe: Two books look at how so much central and eastern Europe identity has long been defined by an animosity to Moscow - Magdalena Miecznicka, Financial Times - 2025.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/10/sorokin.html.

Reference 3: Lost Kingdom: A history of Russian nationalism from Ivan the Great to Vladimir Putin - Serhii Plokhy - 2017.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/11/a-trip-along-amur.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/12/75th-anniversary-of-great-victory.html.