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A Forgotten Colonial War
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why does such imperial hubris bring Shelley's lines to my mind, almost ringing in my ears?

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
�My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!�
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
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Qaaolchoura



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sashadroogie wrote:
Why does such imperial hubris bring Shelley's lines to my mind, almost ringing in my ears?

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
�My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!�
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Maybe because you live in the remnants of a pitiful rump of a great empire that was destroyed twice in part by imperial hubris, and a country that seems to be striving to make it an even three?

~Q


Last edited by Qaaolchoura on Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No, no, no. I live in the glorious Motherland. Which stands defiant against imperialism of all stripes and stars.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j606QqqRIEc
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Qaaolchoura



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sashadroogie wrote:
Look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j606QqqRIEc

1941... that was about the time that Stalin failed so miserably at conquering backwards little Finland that Hitler decided big, bad, industrial Germany should have a cake-walk in Russia, wasn't it?
It was also about two years after the Soviet deal with Germany to partition Central Europe.

That said, why isn't that video playing the Soviet National Anthem? That song is the one thing the Soviets got right, and I probably would have forgotten all about Molotov, Ribbentrop, and the Winter War if it had been playing.

~Q
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tsk tsk. The Soviet Anthem wasn't adopted until 1944. The Internationale had been used up till that.

And the peace-loving peoples of the Soviet Union didn't partition anywhere: they liberated their fraternal neighbours from the grip of the warmongers in the west.

Finland is an interesting case. Again, 'conquering' is not the correct word as this land was part of Russia for many years, and was happily so. In the confusion of the Civil War, the Finns strayed from the fold, though admittedly with the Great Lenin's blessing. However, when the Fascist beast started rearing his ugly head and sniffing around Leningrad, the Leadership had no choice but to take action against the threat to the birthplace of the Revolution. In this objective, the operation was a success - the Finnish frontier was pushed away from the city, as was to prove vital during the siege later on.

The Finns were not at all 'backward', though. They were plucky fighters and earned the respect of the Glorious Red Army. Sadly, there were many instances of sabotage and wrecking within the Red Army's ranks, which accounted for many of the initial setbacks. But the culprits were all shipped off east, and then things improved on the frontline.

All well before 1941, by the way. You seem to have been reading badly skewed propaganda full of misinformation. Misinformed even about the anthem...

It is not easy fending off the forces of imperialism. Stuff happens. But our boys got there in the end.
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Qaaolchoura



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sashadroogie wrote:
Tsk tsk. The Soviet Anthem wasn't adopted until 1944. The Internationale had been used up till that.

<-snip apologia for imperialism->

Eh, I thought it was the 1930s for some reason, but suppose it's my fault for not checking.

Any rate, the "Internationale" is still a decent song. Nowhere near as good as its replacement of course, but sometimes when I'm alone I sing Billy Bragg's version, even despite disagreeing with the underlying sentiment of the original. (Bragg's version is less bloodthirsty and easier to remember, but the original is fun too.)

~Q
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I often sing the Internationale in the shower. While lesson-planning too. Marking scripts. And especially whilst posting here. I wish I could somehow attach it to my avatar. Just for completeness' sake.
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah! Couldn't resist - had to post it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFibtD3H_k

The perfect antidote to colonialism. Lots of 'antidotal' evidence for that : )
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pasternak's melodrama couldn't resist the heroism of it either:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LhWwYPCgvE

They did sing in tune after the revolution too. Very much so...
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Qaaolchoura wrote:

Maybe because you live in the remnants of a pitiful rump of a great empire that was destroyed twice in part by imperial hubris, and a country that seems to be striving to make it an even three?

~Q


Ah, steady! This latest edit is even more 'disinformed' than the original post.
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Qaaolchoura



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sashadroogie wrote:
Qaaolchoura wrote:

Maybe because you live in the remnants of a pitiful rump of a great empire that was destroyed twice in part by imperial hubris, and a country that seems to be striving to make it an even three?

~Q


Ah, steady! This latest edit is even more 'disinformed' than the original post.

But more accurate, though in keeping with the subject I did leave out mention the inept policies and autocratic tendencies of all three Muscovite entities. Foreign wars were merely the catalyst. Someday Putin or one of his successors will test his "the near abroad" theory in the wrong country and make it a trifecta.

And for the record, if you look at my timestamps you'll note that I made that edit right after posting it, and hit "submit" the same minute you responded. Damn your un-communist efficiency!

~Q
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johnslat



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This quote, by John Green, seems to fit in here:

�Nostalgia is inevitably a yearning for a past that never existed, and when I'm writing, there are no bees to sting me out of my sentimentality. For me at least, fiction is the only way I can even begin to twist my lying memories into something true.�

Regards,
John
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Johnslat

But, as a literary man such as you will surely know, the term nostalgia has a slippery meaning. In Russian it means love of the homeland more than of the past - as much in keeping with its Greek roots as the English meaning.


Daddy Nostalgia Sasha
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Sashadroogie



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise

PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A terrific Tarkovsky film also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a00N9fU1Mk
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