Tag Archives: Russia

Riot in Moscow vs Putin Puppet

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Moscow Police vs Protester

Above: Moscow police try to hold the riot

Riot police arrested protesters on Monday who held an unauthorized rally against the election of Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Medvedev is a known protégé of President Vladimir Putin.

300 riot police wielding batons hauled protesters to their buses (see picture above) – as other protesters light flares while shouting: “Fascists! Fascists!” (see below). Protesters were clearly outnumbered in the clash as it only took a while before the police drove away with two busloads of detainees.

Below: Flares on Moscow riot

Moscow Flares

“It is my duty to come down here and express my opposition after these pre-planned and falsified elections,” says a 50 year old lady named Yelizaveta as riot police arrested other protesters around her. “Now they are dragging us away one by one.”

Some of the detained were Nikita Belykh (one of the leaders of the Union of Right Forces party), and Lev Ponomaryov (a prominent human rights activist).

Russian opposition leaders could not believe that Medvedev won with a record 69.7 percent of the total 109 million votes. They called for action in the streets to protest the election.

One of them was former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who attended another rally St. Petersburg where about 2,000 activists shouted “Revolution, Revolution” and “Russia without Putin.” He was poised to run for office but in December dropped his bid saying authorities were obstructing his campaign.

“We need to ensure that this regime is recognized as illegitimate,” said Kasparov.

“The authorities have stopped paying any attention even to the formalities of democracy,” he said, confirming criticisms by international observers that the election was not fully democratic; other independent opposition candidates like himself were also barred from running.

“We think there is not freedom in this election,” said Andreas Gross of the Western monitoring group. Together with a delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, they cited media bias and the government’s failure to register some candidates as some of the faults in the recent election.

One of the critics, Andrei Buzin, said: “Russia’s new political system, born in 1989, is now in a state of degradation and has been thrown back to Soviet times. We’ve now come to a point whereby it’s not election commissions that prepare and hold elections, but the executive power, as it used to be the Communist Party in Soviet times.”

Even in St. Petersburg where the rally had official permission, opposition leaders were still detained. One of them was Maxim Reznik who headed the Yabloko opposition party in St. Petersburg.

The opposition is planning to combine in an assembly of opposition parties before Medvedev’s presidential inauguration on May 7.

Russia Vows to Fight Back

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Vladimir Putin
Above: Vladimir Putin will not back down

After reports of missile testing, Russian President Vladimir Putin makes another move to empower Russia against possible war threats.

In his statements for the presidential state council in Moscow, he had his say about the “one-way” Western military demands and promised that they will respond to U.S. and NATO military expansion. Russia already closed its bases in Cuba and Vietnam and yet they see no action from the West towards the same cause.

“We have been put in a situation where we have to react,” Putin said, reacting towards U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. According to sources new bases will also be built in Romania and Bulgaria.

“They tried to convince us that all these activities aren’t against Russia, but our concerns have gone unanswered,” Putin said. “Unfortunately our partners use a diplomatic and informational cover to hide their real plans.”

United States has been making moves to install missile defense systems in the eastern parts of Europe, which U.S. officials say is designed to protect allies of NATO and other ally countries from the threat of a possible Iranian missile attack.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the system is too limited to pose a threat to any country, so much so Russia.

But Putin said he sees a competition brewing wherein well-developed countries like the United States invest more on weapons development to produce better firepower than those produced in his homeland. Putin promised that balance would soon shift in this “new turn in the arms race.”

“We have been put in a situation where we have to react. We have been forced to make certain decisions. Russia will always respond to this new challenge,” Putin said.

“In the near future, we will develop new weapons that have the same characteristics, and in some cases better characteristics, as those being built by other countries,” he said.

Russia, Starts Cold War with 2 preemptive missile strike tests

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Russia New Missile Test

Above: Russia Missile Test

It was only a matter of time before we started seeing a response to the American expansionism into the middle east. Now we are going to see the Cold war begin again except now Russia and China and various others have much better bonds and communication formed by the fact that America has close to the population of a small country in troops, manouvering around the middle east. We have seen Iran developing Nuclear “POWER”, China already has some of the most sophisticated missiles developed and have been in discussions with Russia over nuclear power and weapons and various other topics.

We are going to see an increase in the bonds of the middle eastern countries who have not already been invaded by the States with Russia. Russia have no problem with this as they will buy these countries resources and stockpile them for when the winter of the new Cold war hits.

RUSSO-JAPANESE War (1904-05)

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Map of Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

Above: Map of Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/05 a victorious Japan forced Russia to give up its policy of expansion towards the Far East. Thus Japan became the first Asian country to humble a European country.

Japanese Combat Canon

Above: Japanese combat canon deployed at Port Arthur

The seeds of the war originated from competition between the two countries to dominate Korea and Manchuria. In 1898 China had been forced to grant to Russia a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur (now Lu-Shun). It was at the tip of Liaotung Peninsula in southern Manchuria. Thereby Russia occupied the region. Ironically Russia in concert with other European powers had forced Japan to give up such a right after China lost to Japan the war of 1894/95. An alliance made with China against Japan gave Russia rights to extend the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Manchuria (then in China) to the Russian seaport of Vladivostok. By it a large portion of Manchuria came under Russian control.

Russian Ground Troops

Above: Russian ground troops in Manchuria marching to war

Russia constructed the railroad (1891/1904) but it still did not have the facilities to transport men and supplies to its armed forces in Manchuria. On the other hand the Japanese army had expanded since Sino-Japanese war of 1894. By 1904 its ground troops far outnumbered those of Russia in the Far East. Japan picked up an excuse to attack when Russia failed in 1903 to withdraw its troops from Manchuria as per previous agreement.

Destroyed battleship in Port Arthur

Above: Destroyed vessel in the port of Port Arthur (1904)

On 8th February 1904 the main Japanese fleet suddenly attacked a Russian naval squadron in Port Arthur. In March Japan landed an army in Korea and quickly overran it. In May another Japanese unit landed on the Liaotung Peninsula and by 26th May Port Arthur was cut off from its links with the mainland. As Japan advanced the Russians began to retreat to Mukden (now Shen-Yang) after being defeated, south of Mukden, at the two battles at Fu-Hsien on 14th June and Lia-Yang on August 25th. After getting some reinforcements Russia again took up the offensive but due to poor military leadership, the advantage could not be followed up.

When several costly routine assaults on Port Arthur failed, the Japanese opted for a long drawn siege. There was enough provision inside the fort for it to hold out another three months but chaos reigned inside the fort. Corruption and incompetence was rampant. The Russian commander surrendered without consulting his officers.

Russian Army Retreat

Above: Picture of Russian army retreating after the war in Mukden

In late February and early March of 1905 the final battle was fought at Mukden. 270,000 Japanese defeated 330,000 Russians. There were heavy casualties on both sides – 89,000 Russians and 71,000 Japanese. Russian General Kuropatkin interrupted the fighting and withdrew north from Mukden. The latte fell into the hands of Japan.

Naval War of Tsushima

Above: Naval war scene of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

It was the naval battle of Tsushima, which finally gave Japan the upper hand. However they had failed to get undisputed command of the sea. On this depended their plans on land. But Russian forces kept somewhat active both in Port Arthur and Vladivostok. In May 27th and 29th 1905, Admiral Togo’s main Japanese fleet destroyed the Baltic fleet of Russia. This had sailed under the command of Rozhestvensky in October 1904 from the Baltic port of Liepaja to come to the help of Port Arthur. Financially Japan had become exhausted but the decisive victory at Tsushima coupled with Russia’s internal unrest, forced the European power to agree to peace.

Picture of Tsar Nicholas II

Above: Picture of Tsar Nicholas II

President Roosevelt of USA was the mediator at the talks, held in Portsmouth USA from 9thAugust to 5th September 1905. Japan got control of Liaotung Peninsula with Port Arthur as well as the Southern Manchurian railroad and half of Sakhlin Island. Russia was to withdraw from southern Manchuria and restore it to China. Japan’s Korean conquest was recognized. Just within two months of signing the treaty a revolution in Russia compelled Tsar Nicholas II to agree to a Constitutional Charter framed in the October Manifesto.

Japanese ships in Tsushima

Above: Japanese ships in operation during the war of Tsushima

BATTLE OF TSUSHIMA (MAY 27-29, 1905):

Japan failed to get complete supremacy over the sea because of Russian naval sorties from its bases in Port Arthur and Vladivostok. Both sides suffered. Russia decided to send its Baltic fleet to the Far East under Admiral Rozhestvensky to coordinate naval operations. Preparations took up the whole of summer and the sailing took place on 15th October 1904. The first blunder was when the Russians fired on British trawlers, mistaking them to be Japanese torpedo boats, off the Dogger Bank in the North Sea. It was a costly mistake. Immediate war could have broken out with the British had not the Russians unconditionally apologized with promises of compensation. When Rozhestvensky came to know of the surrender of Port Arthur near Madagascar, he at first planned to return to Russia. But when he learnt of reinforcements being sent, in March 1905, via the Suez Canal he decided to go ahead. He was joined by the naval reinforcements at Camranh Bay in Vietnam. Although the armada looked formidable it consisted of poorly captained war weary ships. In May the cumbersome fleet reached China Sea and tried to reach Vladivostok through the straits of Tsushima. Japan’s Admiral Togo ambushed him with faster and better-armored ships at Pusan off the southern coast of Korea on 27th May. Within two days, only one third of the Russian fleet remained. It was a swift, decisive, crushing humiliating, hopeless defeat after having taken seven months to reach destination.

Below: A table showing the Fleet Sequence in Tsushami War (click table to enlarge)

Fleet Sequence in Tsushami War

The Two Great Chechen Wars for Chechnya

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Map of Chechnya

Above: Map showing the location of Chechnya

The Chechen war has been fought for a long time. It started even before the Russian Union broke in December 1991; this led to division of the union into many smaller countries. The Chechen Republic was at war ever since September 1991 in order to gain status as an independent state.

Chechnya was finally recognized as an independent state in the year 1995. There were two wars the first one from 1991 to 1993, the second war for independence, thought majority of states had recognized Chechnya as an independent state, started in 1994 to 1995.

Rebels corpse

Above: Soldier passing through rebels dead bodies

There was am attempt to crush this fight for a free state by Russia. In December 1991, The then President Yelstin ordered a dispatch of military to the Chechen province, but the Chechen rebels did not let their aircraft to be airborne. However, Moscow was called in by help by the Opposition; Russia then provided the opposition with required finance as well as with the troops.

Action Scene of the War

Above: War scene during the battle in Chechnya

Russia played on the mindsets of people, since Chechnya was known as a crime centre in the country, other countrymen were led to believing that attacking Chechnya was to reduce crime in the country.

Rebel Playing Balloon

Above: Rebel troop playing with his son’s balloon

Finally, after issuing of several warnings to the Chechen rebels, Russia invaded Chechnya on December 11 1994, it carried out heavy aerial bombardment of the area. Later, however there were protests about these attack from the side of the Russians, where Major General of the Russian Army as well as Colonel Generals resigned, the reason was that they were opposed to attacking fellow Russians in a war like fashion.

Deaths in Aerial Bombardment

Above: Few victims of Russian’s Aerial Bombardment operation in Chechnya

There was a lot of loss of life due to the aerial bombardment. Even the loss of life of soldiers was no less, it is estimated that 1000-2000 soldiers died from the first attack alone. This further boosted low morale among the fighting troops.

Russian Missile Attack

Above: Russian army attacking Chechnya using multiple rocket launcher

Russian troops attacked the ethnic town in Chechnya, and there were several casualties. They bombarded towns with surface-to-surface missiles and with aerial attacks. The troops also prevented escape of harmless civilians from the danger area. The troops went on a looting spree, often indulging in acts of systematic tortures.

In order to gain recognition for their cause, Chechen separatists went on a hostage taking spree, where they took international ships, airliners, hospitals as hostages so that Russian public and the Government would know of their cause.

Violence in Chechnya

Above: Dead bodies, victims of tortures and violence happening in Chechnya

Tortures and violence carried out by Russian troops on Chechen rebels were not appreciated and were looked upon by contempt by the other ethnic groups of Russia. This led to a heavy downfall to Boris Yeltsin’s fame in the country. As time passed by and violence persisted, any hopes of ceasefire diminished. This also led to prediction that several volunteers would join the Chechen movement as Jihad. This also led to fear about escalation in violence and it spreading to more regions than ever before. The Chechen war was brutal and civilians suffered the most in this war. The was however, resulted in creation of Chechnya as an independent state.

The Estonian Liberation War

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Map of Estonia

Above: Map of Estonia and her neighboring countries (click map to enlarge)

Estonia fought for her independence from Soviet Russia. The war dragged on from November 1928 to January 1929. After the fall of Germany in November 1918, concluding World War I, the temporary government of Estonia started to operate again. It got the support of the Kaitseliit. The latter was a military alliance, which had come into existence during the time of German occupation.

Estonian Infantry Unit

Above: Estonian Infantry Unit during the war of liberation

On November 16th the Temporary Government of Estonia, gave out the call for voluntary mobilization and soon army units began to be formed. War Minister Pats, General Larka and Major Tonisson were behind this move.

Kaitseliit Members Training

Above: Picture during the training of Kaitseliit members

Events moved at a fast pace. On 22nd November the retreating Germans checked the offensive of the Red Army trying to reach Narva. But by 28th November the Reds had got ready for another onslaught. The hurriedly recruited Estonian Kaitseliit was no match for the better-trained and well-equipped Soviet forces. When the Soviets began to reinforce themselves at one point the Estonians found themselves faced with the danger of being surrounded. Seeing the grave danger the Estonian leaders gave the orders for abandoning Narva and retreating. By the end of the year the Soviets had taken over with ease Valga, Tartu and Tapa. In January the Reds neared Tallinn, Paide, Poltsamaa, Viljandi and Parnu.

Battle Map during Estonian War of Independence

Above: Battle Map during Estonian War of Independence, showing military advance and movement (click map to enlarge)

On each of the conquered regions the Communists set up puppet governments known as The Estonian Workers Commune. Terror tactics subdued local feelings. Many hundreds were either killed or deported to Russia.

Estonian Army Entrenched

Above: Estonian army in the trench waiting for the enemy

Estonia however did not take things lying low. Slowly it began to stand up. In December Laidoner became Army Chief and asked Soots to be his assistant. Their energetic efforts were directed towards breathing new life into the armed forces. Territorial defense units consisting of volunteers and special strike units were also formed emulating the special forces of USA. South Estonian troops came under a separate command, under Puskar, so as to distribute power and responsibility.

Finnish Volunteers

Above: Finnish volunteers marching to war

Political moves were simultaneously taken to strengthen themselves. The Temporary Government reached out to Britain and Finland. The Fins responded with arms and ammunitions as well as nearly 3,500 volunteers. The Fins grouped under the Swedish Major Ekstrom and the Estonian Kalm. They called themselves Pohja Pujad or Sons of the North. Britain sent a naval squadron to Tallinn harbour. This move not only gave protection to the shoreline but also opened up the sea route with Europe. As a token Britain captured two Russian destroyers and handed them over to Estonia! Britain too came forward with help in the form of arms and supplies.

Pohja Pojad Armor-Car

Ab0ve: Picture of Armor-Car ‘Pohjan Paika‘ with a white polar bear head painting, symbolizes Pohja Pojad Regiment

The rejuvenated Estonian army could now stop the advance of the Communists by the end of 1918. The first month of the New Year saw the break out of skirmishes all along the frontline. By the first week began an offensive on the Viru front under Captain Irv. This was followed by liberation of Tapa, Tartu and Narva in the following weeks. While this group rested on the Narva River, fighting now shifted to the south. Under Lieutenant Kuperjanov, the partisans and Pohja Pojad conquered Paju mansion after a fierce battle. It was the last outpost before Valga. The incident took the life of the brave Kuperjanov. Valga, Voru and Petseri were liberated in February and the border with Russia became secure in favour of the nationalist Estonians.

Estonian Military Depot

Above: Guns and canons stored in one of Estonian depots

The Estonian army in terms of men, arms and ammunition was far behind the Reds. By March 1919, 80,000 Reds with 200 cannons and 1100 machine guns were up against 19,400 Estonians backed by 70 cannons and only 230 machine guns. The major scene of fighting was in the south where the Reds made an all out effort to crack Estonian defenses. But Estonia withstood the assault. In spring Estonians themselves took the initiative and attacked the Russians on three fronts – in the east near Narva-Petrograd, on the Petser-Pihkva line and in northern Latvia. Podder was in overall command. The Intgrians, Russian Whites and Latvians formed a buffer zone behind the front lines. For this objective to become a reality the Estonian government formed the Ingrian regiment, Russian North Corps and North Latvian Brigade. The numbers in the army now swelled to 74,500 men. Although the Fins had left by this time, other volunteers arrived from Denmark and Sweden.

The Lake Peipus

Above: Photo shot of Lake Peipus taken from a satellite

Estonia now went on the offensive from Narva and captured the forts of Kroonlinn on 13th May. Simultaneously began operations in the south, which ensured the southern coastline. Pskov was taken on 25th May. Joined by the Poles the Estonian army now reached a formidable figure including regulars and volunteers. Apart from men and munitions there were 24 military and 11 support ships waiting on Lake Peipus.

The German Monachist

Above: Painting of German Monarchist gathering

Estonian politics on the home front was not without its share of trouble. The German monarchists supported the Baltic Germans leading to insurgency. But the Estonian government came down with a firm hand.

Germans Fled

Above: Picture of Germans fleeing away

The Reds began to retreat. The Estonian navy set up a blockade of Riga forcing the Germans to flee. It paved the way for the return of the legal Latvian government. Since the latter was still militarily weak, Estonia took the responsibility of defending its 100 km border till late autumn.

The Reds, finding that their fortunes were fluctuating and the going getting more and more tough, gave up all plans of occupying Estonia. Meanwhile the puppet regime of Estonian Workers Commune was dismissed. All this led Russia to make a peace offer on 31st August. But the first round of talks remained barren.

Estonian Soldiers of the 9th Regiment

Above: Picture of Estonian soldiers of the 9th regiment

Events took another turn when the defeated Russian White Guards tried to fall back into Estonia but were prevented from doing so by the Estonian army high command. The rag tag of the North Western army was interned. The Reds decided to stake another offensive, which continued for another two months. With the loss of 35,000 men and others being wounded the demoralized Reds finally decided to seriously talk about peace.

Location of Tartu

Above: Map showing the location of Tartu (click map to enlarge)

The peace talks in Tartu continued from 5th December 1919 to 3rd January 1920, when an armistice came into effect. The Peace of Tartu followed this on 2nd February.

Estonia won her independence. At the Peace of Tartu this was given recognition by Soviet Russia. Also Russia did not dispute the borderline. On both sides the loss was heavy taking into account the dead, maimed and wounded. Estonia had a heavy price to pay for her freedom. All along Britain stood by her side. USA helped not only in terms of military aid but in other ways also.

WORLD WAR I: THE RISE AND FALL

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{mosimage}World War I also called the, “Great War”, began July 28th 1914. It began with a joint treaty between Austria and Hungary which declared war on Serbia. World War I became a global war which involved many nations.

It began in Europe and swiftly spread all over the world. Many countries joined the war during its first months and others joined in subsequent months or years later. On July 19th 1918 Honduras and Germany joined in the war effort. The fundamental cause of World War I was the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Austrian-Hungarian, the inheritor of Habsburg throne, on the 28th of June n 1914. The Austria-Hungarians opted to grab the prospect in an attempt to stamp its influence upon the Serbians. Devastating the nationalist protest movement there and reinforcing Austria-Hungary’s authority in the Balkans. An ultimatum was issued which demanded the assassins be passed with judicial integrity which was strongly disregarded by the Serbian government. Rejection of judicial integrity ultimately leads, to the start of the civil war. Serbia which had good relations with Russia called to them for aid in the squirmish. Russia came forward to assist Serbia as was expected. Austrian-Hungarian government sought the help from their supporter Germany, which enraged Russia to declare war on Austria-Hungary. It was at this time that France, Britain, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, the United States, Japan, and Italy came forward to take a serious part in the war.{mosimage}

World War I included almost every European country and each one took an active part in this historical point in time. Germany was the most responsible for initiating World War I. Germany enraged alliances and militarism in Europe. Germany always felt they were superior to any other nations.

World War I changed the face of the world forever. What started out as a squirmish between to fractions became an event which was globally devastating. Some nations remained unaffected and unharmed by the War involvement and others were completely devastated. With millions of soldiers and civilians from all nations involved lost a lesson should have been learnt. With that in mind it is said my many that history repeats itself unless those involved learn a valuable lesson. It has also been proven that World War I educated the world about nothing because a more devastating war broke out in 1940 which was called World War II.