Thread: Local people comment what happened in Mariupol at 9th May (video) + related

Thanks for that. The USSR is very confusing and what I still don't get is how it could be the Ukrainian SSR when it wasn't even a country yet. Unless it became a country after it joined the USSR.

Originally Posted by UhOhXplode

Thanks for that. The USSR is very confusing and what I still don't get is how it could be the Ukrainian SSR when it wasn't even a country yet. Unless it became a country after it joined the USSR.

Well, it's a large place, far away from you, and you weren't even born when it existed. So no worries. You could understand modern day Russia and other ex USSR republics better from knowing that though. PS - I edit the article and added more info!


Also, it's kind of nice to show off my knowledge about this!
Finally some use for otherwise useless info.
Anything else you want to know?

I had to learn TONS about the USSR in school. What city makes tractors, cars, cotton, lamps or grew different crops..... What different dams, railroads, canals etc were built, why and by whom. How was the USSR governed, etc. Oh, and "what's the difference between a kolkhoz and a sovkhoz?". Missing that, cost me a grade. I still don't know it.

Then just as I left school, the USSR was history!

Then I went to uni and one of the subjects I took was Political science. The hot topic du jour was all the new ex USSR countries. Re-learn everything, including cities which I previously memorized, but now had new names!

I wrote a rather long paper (assigned topic) about harassment and mistreatment of women in Uzbekistan after Uzbek independence. It was very odd to AGAIN come across the same stuff, but now from the perspective of it being a new country and totally different conditions.
Central Asia was suddenly dirt poor, and extreme islam flourished.

The glimpses you got regarding the ethnical situation in the USSR was always mulitultural, happy-clappy bliss with folk costumes, cute songs and primitive people enlightened and educated. The reality might not have been quite that romantic though, and in reality there were probably lots of conflicts brewing under the lid. As the USSR dissolved and broke up, all of this came to the surface, with countries like Saudi Arabia and the US and probably others adding fuel to the flames via "humanitarian" and religious organisations.

And if this was confusing for ME, imagine for the people living through it, for real, while criminality, corruption and shortages were making every day a struggle.
Respect to those who came through all that with their heads still held high!