Tag Archives: history

Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. With a prophetic essay by Fyodor Dostoevsky from 1877.

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On March 3, 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed in a suburb of Constantinople, recording our country’s victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

Under the terms of the Treaty, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro gained full independence, while Bulgaria, which had been under Ottoman rule for nearly 500 years (!), was granted broad autonomy.

The date of the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano became a national holiday in Bulgaria – the Day of Liberation from Ottoman Rule.

The victory of the Russian forces in the war against the Ottoman Empire and the conclusion of the Treaty laid the foundation for future constructive cooperation between Russia and Bulgaria. For a long time, relations between our countries developed steadily and progressively.

History Of Diplomacy: A key role in the conclusion of the Treaty of San Stefano was played by the distinguished Russian diplomat and statesman Nikolai Ignatyev, who for more than ten years served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire, and signed the Treaty on behalf of Russia.

* * *

🇷🇺🇧🇬  Today, Russian-Bulgarian relations have been virtually reduced to zero. The current government is pursuing an openly Russophobic policy, continuing to dismantle the foundations of bilateral cooperation. Unfortunately, this also affects the way historical events are presented in the local media landscape.

Ambassador of Russia to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova:

“In recent years, the chronicle of the Liberation has been ruthlessly rewritten. Alleged ‘imperial ambitions’ of Russia are brought to the forefront, while nothing is said about the truly nationwide movement in defence of our enslaved Bulgarian brothers, which played a decisive role in the decision of Emperor Alexander II to declare war on the Ottoman Empire.”

Excerpts from the congratulatory message by Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova on the occasion of Bulgaria’s national holiday, the Day of Liberation from Ottoman Rule, March 3, 2026.

☝️ We recall that 100,000 Russian soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of the peoples of the Balkans, including Bulgaria.

Source: Russian MFA


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The Myth of the “Stalinist Purges”

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The fairy tale hour of Western historians regarding Stalin has many chapters, much rubbish and black myths have been piled over his name. The period of the purges of 1937 is one such area. It was later inflated by Solzhenicin’s imagination to come up with outlandish numbers of “Stalin’s victims”.

The material in this series, first translated by us at “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”, from ANALYTICS & NEWS will address that trouble period. Troubled, for quite different reasons than what Western historiography is propagating.

Other materials on this topic:
👉 The history of repressions devoid of emotion. Viktor Zemskov’s arguments and facts
👉 Myths about Stalin. Where do legs grow from?

The fairy tale hour of Western historians regarding Stalin has many chapters. After the myth of the “Holodomor”, we will now clear up the next myth.

❗️Throughout this article, crucial questions will arise that apparently 99% of historians have not asked themselves, have refused to ask, or were not allowed to ask.

⚠️ We do not question that these years of “terror” and the subsequent purge took place. However, we will show who was responsible for the first phase and why it became necessary for phase 2, the purge, to be carried out.

🔻First, we would like to begin with two quotes that you should keep in mind:

“This is how I remember encounters, conversations with Stalin, how often about certain topics – all of this fell on deaf ears! When did I start to remember? When they began to heap all kinds of dirt on Stalin. I do not wonder how many people died under him, but how he managed to put an end to it! After all, the general mood was such that they could have destroyed half the country with their own hands. And you think to yourself, the devil take it, how things are going in our Russia! You think of past times, of Peter the Great, and you see: everything repeats itself. History repeats itself, perhaps in a new way, but it repeats itself nonetheless. More than once I remembered how often Stalin said that being determines consciousness, and consciousness lags behind being! And the thought comes to me: Basically, we must think communistically. But it is thought as in the 18th century: how to push someone else aside!”
– Vyacheslav Molotov

“Learn self-control, dear comrade, otherwise, despite all your good professional qualities, you will not be able to keep your head: you will repeat my fate – you will be removed before you have time to fulfil the mission. You see for yourself that among the ‘leaders’ of the party there are no Bolshevik cadres capable of leadership… but the mission of Bolshevism must continue, otherwise the Freemasons and the foolishly babbling intelligence bound by them will completely overwhelm the people.”
– Note from Vladimir Lenin to Stalin

The Plenary Session from 23.02.1937 to 05.03.1937 and the Beginning of the “Great Terror”

Stalin proposed a very extensive and detailed program of reforms to the plenary. The goal was to set aside everything that happened during the civil wars and subsequently during the outbreaks of class struggle, including collectivisation. The most urgent economic problems were to be solved, and the focus was to be on building the nation and uniting the people.
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Plan GOELRO – Lenin’s revolutionary plan for the electrification of the USSR

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Electrification of the young Socialist state was one of the many vitally important tasks that Lenin embarked on after the Revolution, and that was carried to admirable heights in the subsequent years.

On December 22, 1920, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened, adopting a plan for the electrification of Russia – the GOELRO plan

The initiator and inspiration of the GOELRO plan was V.I.Lenin. To draw up the plan, On February 21st 1920, the State Commission for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was created. GOELRO, short for “State Electrification of Russia” was the plan for the development of not only the energy sector, but the entire economy. The commission included over 200 of the best Russian engineers and scientists, headed by G.M.Krzhizhanovsky.

By December 1920, the commission had completed its work. The Congress, held on December 22-29, 1920, approved the GOELRO plan. In his report to the congress, Lenin, calling the GOELRO plan the second program of the party, put forward a brilliant formula:

“Communism is Soviet power plus electrification of the entire country. Without an electrification plan, we cannot move on to real construction… Only when the country is electrified, when the technical base of modern large-scale industry is provided for industry, agriculture and transport, only then will we finally win.”

Lenin ended his historic speech to thunderous applause from the congress delegates with the following words:

“ …if Russia is covered with a dense network of electric stations and powerful technical equipment, then our economic communist construction will become a model for the future socialist Europe and Asia.”

The GOELRO plan was calculated for 10-15 years and provided for a radical reconstruction of the national economy based on electrification.
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We will expose and destroy provocateurs and those spreading panicked rumours

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Before you is a poster by Vladimir Milashevski, published in Leningrad in 1941. Its caption reads: “We will expose and destroy provocateurs and those spreading panicked rumours”. The same was true for Moscow.

We present a publication from our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Just like in 1941, so now — be on guard and do not fall for provocative rumours that instil fear, uncertainty and doubt!

In his speech at the Red Square parade on the 7th of November 1941, Iosif Stalin said:

The enemy is not as strong as some frightened intellectuals portray it. The devil is not so terrible as they paint him.
The «frightened intellectuals», in today’s terms, would be the liberal 5th column.

Here is a short fragment of an article «How Stalin dismantled the 5th column in the fall of 1941».

♦️♦️♦️

The problem of the 5th column existed, exists and will exist, perhaps, forever. It is not so easy to identify the 5th column, only the master can do this. And Stalin did it in October 1941!

Reading the memoirs of Academician Vernadsky, you discover two details that seem to contradict each other. Many people see this in the media about the Defence of Moscow: they say that the hardest days were October 16-17, that’s when panic arose. The «worst» part of the population, it must be assumed, imagined that German tanks were about to enter Moscow, trampling the streets with their tracks. There were some reasons for this hallucination – first of all, the fact that on the morning of October 16, the Sovinformburo did not give, as always, a summary from the theatre of military operations, and it was briefly reported that the Germans broke through the front. And that’s it.

In addition of the case with the radio, the top management instructed to open industrial goods stores, where everything was distributed for free — take as much as you like. And grocery stores received instructions to dispense food on the food cards up to the end of the month and even gave more than what the card norms provided for — from which many concluded that all food stocks are being liquidated and this can only mean one thing — the end. Even the trams stopped running.

Some strangers called the institutions and shouted at the directors that it was necessary to leave Moscow immediately, leave it as soon as possible. Many directors who had transport at their disposal filled these trucks with food, plus grabbed huge amounts of state money, and tried to leave Moscow, but the population quickly organised themselves into people’s outposts, these cars were stopped and panickers were killed. There is a (very poor) reconstruction of these posts in the 1985 movie “Battle for Moscow”.

By the evening, policemen joined the people’s outposts and also began to participate in the elimination of alarmists.

But not everyone rushed out of the city, obeying the calls of unfamiliar voices on the phone, not all the directors turned out to be cheap panickers — there were many who continued their work. Many people not in high positions remained calm — they formed the backbone of the people’s outposts, which dealt with the alarmists.

♦️♦️♦️

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was in fact in Moscow on November 16-17 and participated as a member of Komsomol in the people’s outposts. She is the epitome of steadfastness! Reportedly, according to her mother’s words, Zoya said about the 5th columnists at that time: «The ship is not yet sinking, but the despicable rats are already running.»

Letter to the media from Ambassador Andrey A. Pritsepov – Reblog

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This is a reblog of the publication at the site of the Russian Foreign Ministry, with a condensed version of the article at the Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in Guyana.

Letter to the media from Ambassador Andrey A. Pritsepov

The article was denied publication in Guyanese newspaper “Stabroek News” for political reasons.

Dear Editor,

It was not without interest I read the article “Ukraine in outreach to Guyana” from January 24, 2026 in Stabroek News and acknowledged editor-in-chief’s admiration for the Ukrainian flag as well as for focusing on in-depth analysis of the international events. It makes it easier to comment.

As I wrote before, I remain the strongest supporter of the Maxima by your President H.E. Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali stating that real diplomacy should be based only on truth and the facts. So here, I feel privileged to remind the readers about the truth and the facts on Ukraine.

1. Ukraine is ruled by a neo-fascist, corrupt and illegitimate ex-president. His presidential term expired on May 21, 2024 and according to chapter V of the Ukrainian constitution could not be prolonged. He came to power by promising peace to all Ukrainians and deceived them all by launching the bloodiest war in the history of modern Europe while being sponsored, encouraged and supplied by NATO. Europe spent more than 270 bln USD on Kiev in order to defeat Russia on the battlefield.
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The French-Lithuanian falsification of WWII history by SBS

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On 8 February, SBS aired the film The Anti-Soviet Fighters (French-Lithuanian co-production), which is built entirely on lies and a cynical falsification of history.

Members of the “Forest Brothers” armed gangs are portrayed as heroes who “waged a decade-long fight against Soviet control in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia”.

In fact, the core of this “movement” was composed of former military personnel of the Baltic states belonging to the territorial SS battalions. They were involved in bloody crimes against civilians. The Nuremberg Tribunal designated all persons officially admitted as members of the SS as criminals.

According to official figures, between 1944 and 1956, the “Forest Brothers” killed more than 25’000 people in Lithuania, including over 1’000 children (52 of them were under the age of two), more than 2’000 in Latvia and 800 in Estonia. The overwhelming majority of the victims were local common people who supported the Soviet authorities or simply refused to assist underground bandit formations.

❗️This film is an attempt to brainwash the SBS audience, revise the outcomes of the Nuremberg Tribunal and glorify murderers depicting them as “freedom fighters”.

Rewriting the history of the Second World War is a dangerous path to revival of Nazism and to tragedies which must never be repeated.

From: Russian Embassy in Australia

The Liberation of Krakow

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Below are two fragments from chapter 7 of the book «1945. The Red Army’s Blitzkrieg» by Valentin Aleksandrovich Runov, which we initially presented at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Contrast the following testimony to how Anglo-Americans treated Dortmund, Dresden, Prague, Königsberg, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and more….

Wawel castle and its cathedral

Writer Boris Polevoy shared his impressions of his stay in Krakow on the first day of its liberation:

Yes, it is fortunate that this city was saved. We were driving through medieval streets, and the guide was telling us: the fifteenth century, the sixteenth century, the eighteenth century.

— Please, stop here.

We went out, and the teacher solemnly declared:

— This is the tenth century. The chapel of Felix and Adauctus (https://wawel.krakow.pl/en/exhibition-constant/the-lost-wawel-1). The pearl of Europe.

And indeed, one could admire the example of magnificent architecture. The architecture is strict and at the same time peculiar, unique. The building would definitely be flying, aiming at the sky.

Then the old man took us to some kind of cathedral. We could hear our footsteps somewhere ahead of us, and the echo diligently duplicated our voices, as if responding to us from somewhere under the dome. Excellent sculptures were looking at us, but the guide kept leading us forward, not letting us stop.
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Firebombing of Königsberg by the British Air Force in 1944

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We present a translation of an extensive historiographic article “Why the British bombed Königsberg asunder?” by Stanislav Pahotin. Several fragments from it were first presented last year at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Read also: “Accidental” bombing and sinking of ships with KZ prisoners by the British Royal Air Force. With new testimonies, declassified by the Russian FSB!

On the night of August 27 and 30, 1944, the British Air Force carried out a raid on Königsberg, which resulted in the deaths of over 6,000 civilians and the destruction of the city’s historic center. These raids have sparked much debate among historians and experts, who have raised questions about the effectiveness of the carpet bombing of Königsberg, the Hintertraugheim district, and the Rosgarten district.

Questions without answers

On the night of August 26-27 and August 29-30, 1944, the British Royal Air Force carried out bombing raids on Königsberg. There are bombings during the Second World War that are known all over the world, such as the bombing of Stalingrad and Dresden. The bombing raids on Königsberg, on the contrary, remain little known to the general public. If you ask the question of why the Royal Air Force bombed Königsberg, then it will not be difficult to answer it. The Second World War was unleashed by Germany. Britain fought against Germany, led by the National Socialists, and was an ally of the Soviet Union, the United States, and other countries. There is no doubt that the struggle was against a misanthropic ideology. Based on this, we can answer the question “Why?”. Because it was a German city, because Germany was under Nazi rule and Britain was fighting against the Nazis.

But why did the British Air Force bomb only the historical center of Königsberg, and not train stations, barracks, port facilities and other military installations? Why were the raids carried out at a time when the Red Army was already on the outskirts of the borders of East Prussia?

480 tons of aerial bombs

Let’s turn to the well-known facts. The first bombing raid on Königsberg took place on the night of August 26-27, targeting the northeastern parts of the city, including Hintertraugheim and Rosgarten. The operation involved 174 four-engine Lancaster bombers from the 5th Squadron of the Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force, led by Major John Woodroffe.

Approximately 480 tons of ammunition were dropped, with one-third being fragmentation bombs and two-thirds being incendiary bombs. The Supreme Commander of Bomber Command, Sir Arthur Harris, considered this ratio necessary in order to arrange a real fire tornado in the city and thus destroy the maximum number of inhabitants. He is often referred to as Bomber Harris, but the pilots nicknamed him differently: Butcher Harris, perhaps because they realised the consequences of his orders.

During the first bombing, about a thousand Königsbergers died. The second raid, which involved 175 Lancaster bombers and dropped 480 tons of ammunition, took place on the night of August 29-30 and resulted in the destruction of the entire central part of Königsberg, including its historic neighbourhoods. These include Altstadt, Kneiphof, and Lebenicht, the Royal Castle, the Cathedral with its Wallenrod Library and many cultural treasures, the old warehouse districts of Lastadie, the beautiful Baroque churches of Königsberg, the old university, its new building on Paradeplatz, the opera house, the famous Grafe und Unzer bookstore, the city’s historical museum, which housed many exhibits related to Kant (displayed in four rooms), and the state library with its valuable first editions. It was all destroyed. About 5,000 people were killed in the raid, but the exact number of deaths has never been determined.

‼️ Konigsberg is just one of 131 German cities that were destroyed by British aircraft in a similar way between March 1942 and April 1945.

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“The World Was Saved By The Soviet Soldier” interactive project

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“The World Was Saved By The Soviet Soldier” is an interactive project that was launched back in 2021 by the “Immortal Regiment” portal.

“As of late, more and more publications, the authors of which reshape historical events of the Second World War, appear in foreign media. We must not forget our common history and must stand together against all attempts to rewrite it. One can only resist with reasoned truth.

Videos created for the project are meant to depict how Europe was liberated from fascism.”

All film-related materials translated by Putinger’s Cat. We present the 30 episodes in the rough chronological order of the events.

Read also:

CHINA

China was attacked by Japan even before the official beginning of WWII, with the war raging between July 7, 1937 and September 9, 1945.


Backup at Rumble
Raw video on YouTube

POLAND (Part 1)

World War II began on September 1st, 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland. After the Red Army liberated Poland in 1945, the Soviet Union took an active part in bringing Poland back from ruin.


Backup at Rumble
Raw video on YouTube

Read also:

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The fig leaf falling off the myth of “Wehrmacht’s purity”

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Georgy Zotov, in his recent Telegram post explains, using a hands-on example, how the history of the Second World War was distorted.

Read also Nazi-gold in the Swiss Banks and Nazi-officers in NATO. Connecting the Dots.

In 1950, a so-called “Himmlerod Memorandum” was created in West Germany. It was signed by top officers of the Wehrmacht, gathered by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in the Himmlerod Abbey.

As is well known, in August 1945 in Potsdam, the USSR, the USA, and the UK decided that the military officers of Hitler’s Germany should be subjected to denazification, and the former Reich should be demilitarised so that it could not create its own army. However, after the start of the Korean War, the Americans changed their opinion: they thought it was time to revive the German army to resist the Soviet Union.

After the discussions from October 5 to 9, 1950 in Himmlerod, the following was established:

  • It was necessary to “let off steam” on the criminal cases of military criminals.
  • To stop the “slander” against German soldiers in the media.
  • To take measures to change public opinion about the Reich army.

The Return of Hans Speidel
A biting caricature by the Soviet art collective “Kukryniksy”, drawn in 1957, depicts Hans Speidel, who has medals for “War against France” and “War against England” on his chest.
He is the perfect candidate for the hat of NATO’s European Army with these allegiances: German Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, West Germany, NATO

In January 1951, Dwight Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Europe, held a meeting with former Wehrmacht generals – Heusinger and Speidel, saying:

“I learned that there was a real difference between the German soldier and Hitler’s criminals. And I don’t think the German soldier lost his honour.”

Soon, many Wehrmacht officers were granted pensions, and Adenauer declared in the Bundestag – “The Germans fought honestly”.
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“Их традиции” – Илья Эренбург, 1944

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Илья Эренбург был военным корреспондентом и публицистом, и его слова стали одним из самых мощных интеллектуальных орудий в борьбе с нацизмом. Его тексты укрепляли волю к сопротивлению, вселяли надежду и формировали нравственное самосознание того времени. Его вклад в победу до сих пор считается неотъемлемой частью исторического и культурного наследия.

Казалось бы, все статьи, написанные Ильей Эренбургом, должны быть известны и описаны. Действительно, на сайте Военной Литературы есть хронологический список его произведений военного времени.

И все же в датском издании произведений Ильи Эренбурга от 1944 года мы наткнулись на название, которого не было в списке. Да и основной текст (переведенный с датского на русский) не появился бы ни в одной антологии. Мыыпедставляем вашему вниманию: “Их традиции”, переведенные с датского обратно на русский.

По-фашистки – “победитель”, а по-нашему – грабитель
Карикатура Дмитрия Моора на военную тематику, одна из многих, представленных на цифровой выставке библиотеки имени Некрасова “Художники победы”.

Их традиции

Передо мной письмо, написанное лейтенантом Рудольфом Шакертом. Посмотрите, что хочет сказать этот немецкий офицер, который находится в госпитале за линией фронта:

“Ты поймешь меня, дорогой Эрнст, моё сердце вот-вот разорвется. Пока ты сидел на крайнем севере, я сражался за Крым. Там погибли мои лучшие друзья. Со школьных лет мы помним, что земля, которая пила немецкую кровь, – это немецкая земля, но, по-видимому, Крым скоро будет эвакуирован. Ханс Тильт говорит только об одном — он не может вынести эвакуации Житомира. Я утешаю себя одним: мы завоевали эти земли своей кровью, кровью лучших, и даже если из-за предательских действий плутократов мы проиграем эту войну, Германия никогда не забудет, что ее дети были на Украине и в Севастополе. Волгу можно назвать походом, но Украина и Крым – это завоевания. Если я пройду через это, я расскажу Отто о садах Крыма, и он будет мечтать о том времени, когда вырастет и сможет вернуть утраченное. У меня такое чувство, что началась столетняя война; возможно, будут паузы, но мы добьемся своего…”

Я прошу читателей задуматься над письмом Шакерта. Он не одинок в мечтах о новых войнах: таких немцев много. Недостаточно того, что мы прогоним немцев. Мы также должны отправиться в Германию. Это необходимо для судьбы будущих поколений. Мы должны отучить немцев от многого — и этого не добьёшься проповедями и речами.
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“Their Traditions” – By Ilya Ehrenburg, 1944

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Ilya Ehrenburg, as a war correspondent and publicist, his words became one of the most powerful intellectual weapons in the fight against Nazism. His texts strengthened the will to resist, gave hope, and shaped the moral self-understanding of the time. His contribution to the victory is still considered an indispensable part of the historical and cultural heritage.

It would seem that all the articles, written by Ilya Ehrenburg would be known and annotated. Indeed, there is a chronological list of his War-time works at the Military Literature site.

And yet, in a Danish edition of Ilya Ehrenburg’s works from 1944 we came across a title, not listed anywhere. Nor would the body of the text (translated to Russian) would come up in any anthologies. so here it is: “Their Traditions”, translated by BATS to English from Danish, and first published at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”. In the next post we will also re-translate the publication back to Russian, to bring back this lost, but found article.

In fascist-speak it’s ‘a victor’, while in ours, it’s ‘a robber’
A War-time caricature by Dmitry Moor, one of many on display at the digital exhibition of the Nekrasov library, “The Artists of Victory”.

Their Traditions

In front of me is a letter written by Lieutenant Rudolf Schackert. See here what this German officer, who is in a hospital behind the front, has to say:

“You will understand me, dear Ernst, my heart is about to burst. While you were sitting in the high north, I was fighting for the Crimea. My best friends were killed there. We remember from school days that land that has drunk German blood is German land, but apparently the Crimea will soon be evacuated. Hans Tilt speaks of only one thing — he cannot bear the evacuation of Zhitomir. I console myself with one thing: we have claimed these lands with our blood, the blood of the best, and even if the treacherous actions of the plutocrats should cause us to lose this war, Germany will never forget that her children were in Ukraine and Sevastopol. The Volga can be described as a campaign, but Ukraine and Crimea are conquests. If I get through it, I’ll tell Otto about the gardens of Crimea, and he will dream of the time when he grows up and can win back what was lost. I have a feeling that a 100 Years’ War has begun; there’ll probably be pauses, but we’ll get there…”

I ask readers to think about Schackert’s letter. He’s not alone in dreaming of new wars: there are many such Germans. It is not enough that we chase the Germans out. We must also go to Germany. It is necessary for the fate of future generations. We must wean the Germans off a lot — and that will not be achieved with sermons and speeches.
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The anniversary of Ilya Ehrenburg

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135 years ago, on January 26, 1891, the Russian and Soviet poet Ilya Ehrenburg was born. We translated at out Telegram channel a commemorative post by the Russian Embassy in Germany.

Ilya Ehrenburg among army newspaper staff, August 1, 1943. Photo by Sergey Loskutov

🖋 Ilya Ehrenburg has gone down in Russian and Soviet history as a writer, poet, journalist, war reporter, and photographer. His words became one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against Nazism. His contribution to the victory is rightly considered an inseparable part of the heroic heritage of our people.

🖋 Ehrenburg was born in Kiev in 1891 and spent part of his youth between Russia and Europe. He lived, among other places, in Paris and Berlin, where he exchanged ideas with artists and writers of European modernism.

🖋 As a writer, Ehrenburg created novels, essays, and memoirs that became important testimonies of their era. Works such as “The Unusual Adventures of Julio Jurenito,” which paints a multifaceted, mosaic-like picture of life in Europe and Russia during the First World War and the Revolution, or his autobiographical memoirs “People, Years, Life” combine literary form with political analysis and personal experience.

🖋 Particularly influential was Ehrenburg’s role during the Second World War. As a war correspondent and publicist, his words became one of the most powerful intellectual weapons in the fight against Nazism. His texts strengthened the will to resist, gave hope, and shaped the moral self-understanding of the time. His contribution to the victory is still considered an indispensable part of the historical and cultural heritage.

🖋 After the war, Ehrenburg advocated for understanding, peace, and cultural dialogue. He was a voice against antisemitism, against new enemy images, and for the right to remember. Of particular significance was the “Black Book” about the genocide of Soviet Jews, which he co-edited with Vasily Grossman and was the first major documentation of the Shoah.

🖋 In 1954, Ehrenburg also wrote the story “Thaw,” which was published in the magazine “Znamya” and gave its name to an entire era of Soviet history.

Debunking the myth that “The West industrialised the USSR”

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“The West industrialised the USSR” – another propaganda slogan that confuses trade with exploitation. Russian Baza Telegram channel scrutinises it and breaks it down.

Concessions had nothing to do with Stalin’s industrialisation!

👉 Concessions were deals where foreign companies came into the USSR, used its resources, like fish, forests, and gold, made big money, and gave the country almost nothing in return.

Foreign concessions were a product of the New economic Policy (NEP) era of the early-to-mid 1920s, under Lenin.

But when Stalin came to power and recognised them for what they were – legalised looting – he shut them down fast.

By 1931, nearly all foreign concessions were terminated or nationalised.

Because they were predatory, unprofitable, and violated national sovereignty.

Still think it wasn’t legalised looting? Take a look:

‼️ Fishing concessions – Foreign companies fished in Soviet waters, exported the catch, and kept up to 85% of the profits. The USSR got scraps in return.

‼️Timber deals – Western firms were given access to vast Russian forests. They clear-cut massive areas, caused environmental damage, and left behind only token fixed payments.

‼️Lena Goldfields concession – A British company ran gold mines in Siberia, made millions, and treated Soviet workers as cheap, expendable labour.

‼️Oil concessions – Foreign companies were allowed to drill and export Soviet oil with little oversight, often paying far less than market value while shipping profits abroad.

‼️Mining rights in the Urals and Central Asia – Western firms extracted coal, copper, and rare metals under contracts that gave them near-complete control of operations and revenue. Local workers endured the risks; foreigners took the profits.

By the early 1930s, Stalin had seen enough – most were shut down or nationalised.

Stalin’s industrialisation was built through trade, not concessions.

In the 1930s, the USSR bought what it needed: Equipment, designs, factory blueprints from the U.S. (Ford, Albert Kahn), Germany, Britain, Italy, and others. It paid in gold, grain, and hard currency.

These were strict commercial contracts, not Western gifts.

No one “helped” the USSR. It paid dearly, often for outdated or overpriced tech.
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The Forgotten Victory Parade of the Allies on September 7, 1945

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The allied forces of the Anti-Hitler Coalition held a parade in honour of the end of the Second World War. Parade taken by Soviet troops in Chief Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the commander of the 3rd U.S. Army General George Patton, the British General Robertson and French General Marie-Pierre Kœnig.

The parade was almost cancelled due to General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery declining the invitations shortly before the parade, but at Iosif Stalin’s insistence, took place anyway.

It is known as a “forgotten parade”, as it was mentioned in only a few Western sources, and only showed once in the USSR. The forces of four Allies also participated in another Berlin parade several months later, on the Charlottenburger Chaussee, in front of the Brandenburg Gate, on the first anniversary of the German surrender on 8 May 1946, in the Berlin Victory Parade of 1946. This parade was connected to the inauguration of the Soviet War Memorial at Tiergarten. Soviet troops were not present at the much more widely known in the West London Victory Celebrations of 1946.


Backup at Rumble.
Raw video source on YouTube.
We presented this translation first at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

Word to Georgy Zhukov, “Recollections and Reflections”, volume 2, 1974 edition, translation from 1985, page 427-428

By common agreement the salute was to be taken by the Commanders-in-Chief of the Soviet, US, British and French Forces.

All arms of the land forces participated in the Berlin Parade. It was decided not to call in the air forces and navies as they were considerable distances away from Berlin.

The appointed date was approaching. The Soviet troops carried out a thorough preparation. We sought to invite to this parade primarily those soldiers, NCOs, officers and generals who had displayed particular gallantry in the storming of Berlin and particularly its main strongholds of resistance — the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery. Everything was going on according to our agreement with the Allies.

But on the very eve of the parade, we were suddenly informed that for a number of reasons the Commanders-in-Chief of the Allied Forces could not come to Berlin for the Victory Parade, and had authorised their generals to attend.

I immediately put a telephone call through to Stalin. He heard my report and said:

“They want to belittle the political importance of the parade of troops of the anti-Hitler coalition countries. Just wait, they’ll be up to something else next. Ignore the refusal of the Allies and take the salute yourself, all the more so, as we have more rights to do it than they.”

The parade of troops in Berlin was held on September 7, 1945, exactly at the appointed time. Participating were the Soviet troops which had stormed Berlin, and American, British and French troops which were stationed in Berlin in order to carry out occupation duties in the western sectors of Berlin set aside for them.

After reviewing the troops drawn up for the march-past, I made a speech noting the historic merits of the Soviet forces and the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

The Soviet infantry, tanks and artillery marched in impeccable order. A particularly memorable impression was made by our tanks and self-propelled artillery. Among the Allied troops the best-drilled were the British.

About 20,000 Berliners gathered to see the Parade. It was a ceremony symbolising the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition over the bloodthirsty fascist aggression.

And so, the parade became forgotten, pushed out of mind.

In the West, because celebrating the Victory on September 7 drove home the point that it was Socialism that won the battle over its mortal enemy — Fascism, the tool of Imperialism. As Zhukov had said, the West would not forgive USSR for liberating it — it already commenced a new war on the USSR, and this reminder did not fit into the plans.

As for the USSR, it chose to forget that parade for different reasons, one of them being the contempt that the West showed.