u/jsonism - originally from r/GenZhou
Today's discussion of Ukraine is unusually enthusiastic. In fact, Ukraine is definitely a country that deserves our serious attention because it is a textbook of color revolutions, an all-around, flawless, and comprehensive three-dimensional control group. After understanding the situation in Ukraine, you can basically understand the general operation of color revolutions.
- Ukraine had a fantastic start
Why is that? Because Ukraine has too good of a foundation.
There are many backward countries in the world, but the key is knowing how you are backward.
For example, in some small countries in Africa, the natural environment are poor, land resources are low, more than 90% of their territory are desert, and they also don’t have any shorelines for transportation, so they might have a hard time developing their country, it is easy to understand, isn’t it?
Also, some countries in the Middle East, stuck in the geopolitical crossroads, plagued with civil and foreign wars, intermingled with multiple forces, their resources and industries can not be developed, with their internal and external difficulties, it is not difficult to understand they would have a hard time developing too.
Furthermore, some countries in Asia are far from war, but for historical reasons, they have poor infrastructure, and most people are illiterate, so they can not be quickly developed for now, but as late-developing countries, they are also trying their best, right?
And there comes Ukraine, which was not the same as all the countries above.
To begin with, In terms of the size of the country, Ukraine is as large as Britain, France, Germany, and other European countries, and its population is 50 million.
Next, In terms of resources, Ukraine is the third-largest exporter of food in the world, along with the Northeast of China and the Mississippi of the United States. There are more than 80 kinds of rich minerals that can be mined, including coal, iron, manganese, nickel, titanium, mercury, graphite, and so on.
At the same time, there is the Black Sea which is to the south of Ukraine, which has both fishing resources and good transportation conditions. The Danube River, which is familiar to many people, flows through nine countries and is eventually flowing into the Black Sea in Ukraine.
Basically, they have all the necessary resources as a nation.
It is important to note that Ukraine is not an agricultural country with resources, but an industrial country with a very advanced industrial system and a system of universal education, which was also established as a production center in the former Soviet Union. With a literacy rate of 99.7%, Ukraine probably had the fourth-highest level of education in the world at that time, and had a large number of universities.
Moreover, Ukraine inherited a bunch of highly sophisticated factories from the Soviet era.
For example, the Nikolaev Shipyard - better known to the Chinese as the Black Sea Shipyard - was the largest shipyard in Europe at the time and built nine aircraft carriers for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the predecessor of China's Liaoning aircraft carrier “The Varyag” the predecessor of China's Liaoning aircraft carrier, was nearly 70% completed here.
Kharkiv Morozov Mechanical Design Bureau, where the famous T34 was designed and developed.
Antonov Design Bureau - in the 1980s the world's largest aircraft was built - the An-225 transport aircraft.
Motor Sich - the world's largest aero-engine research and manufacturing company, specializing in the supply of engines for all types of aircraft, known as the "power tsar"
Ukraine inherited 3,594 Soviet military-industrial enterprises, with 3 million workers, capable of producing aircraft, tanks, aircraft carriers, rockets, large transport aircraft, and land, maritime, aero equipment, and they were all at the top of the world at the time.
The most important thing is that Ukraine is not a fat sheep, it directly inherited 700,000 Soviet troops, more than 6,000 tanks, 1,500 aircraft, 300 ships, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and -- 2,500 tactical nuclear weapons.
Yup, the thing countless countries have been dreaming of, countless powers have been thinking about, topping the sanctions while taking their belt in pawn would want to build – the nuclear weapon. Ukraine directly inherited a bunch that year.
Overall, during the Soviet period, Ukraine ranked second in the Soviet Union in terms of industrial level, the military industry was particularly developed, and it was also ranked first in agriculture, culture, and education, and was second only to Russia in terms of overall strength, and was thus jokingly called by us Chinese the "Second hairy". (Big hairy Russia two hairy Ukraine three hairy Belarus, the hairy bear, of course, is the Soviet Union)
Therefore, it may be difficult for Ukraine to surpass the United Kingdom and catch up with the United States, but it has no problem developing into a small, rich regional power.
However, Ukraine did not become a strong country, it even fell into a weak and poor country.
In 1989, Ukraine's GDP per capita was 1598$, Romania's GDP per capita was 1818$, Russia's GDP per capita was 3429$, and China's GDP per capita was only 311$. Ukraine was five times larger than us.
Then twenty years passed
In 2016, Ukraine's GDP per capita is still only $2186$, Romania's GDP per capita is $9520$, Russia's GDP per capita is $8748$, and China's GDP per capita has come to $8123$ (source IMF official website)
As a matter of fact, at present, Ukraine has an even lower GDP per capita than Vietnam
There are many reasons why Ukraine has gone from a quasi-developed power to what it is today
For instance, the side effect of the planned economy, the famous quote by Makarov, the captain of the Black Sea Shipyard back then, is actually a side effect of this problem.
"The construction of an aircraft carrier requires a state planning commission and an industrial-military commission, nine defense industry departments, more than 600 related professions and more than 8,000 supporting manufacturers, in short, a great nation to complete"
The Soviet industrial system was built on a planned economy with a detailed division of labor, where some develop light industry and others develop heavy industry and eventually integrated.
And after the dissolution of any single individual does not have the same capacity as before, Ukraine can indeed still produce aircraft and tanks, but there is no market to support him, without a large number of orders from the Soviet Union, empty factory workshops can only be vacant.
But if it is limited to this, it can only be said that Ukraine is difficult to continue the previous level of development, but this starting line is still better than the vast majority of countries.
- The Textbook of Color revolution
So how did Ukraine end up where it is today? Ukraine is a textbook of color revolutions on all fronts, because it is really hard to imagine a country that has bought into the evil of the other side like this
First, there was shock therapy for the economy.
After Ukraine's independence in 1991, Kravchuk became president, and in order to bring Ukraine's economy out of stagnation and quickly transform from a planned economy to a market economy, he believed in "shock therapy" as did Yeltsin in Russia at the time. As you may have guessed, like Russia, the Ukrainian economy went from stagnation to chaos, with prices soaring and the currency devalued, while some senior officials took the opportunity to use their power to acquire state property and become oligarchs.
But there is still something to say, after all, no one had the experience back then, the problem is the rest of the operations.
Then, there was the disarmament of nuclear weapons for the military
When Ukraine wanted to join the European NATO after USSR's dissolution, in order to convince the west as soon as possible that it was not a threat, it believed in the promises of Europe and the United States and destroyed its nuclear weapons. On the surface, for Ukraine at the time, this step was profitable both in terms of reducing the funds for maintaining nuclear weapons and in exchange for Western assistance.
But realistically speaking, only a company can discuss whether it makes money or not, a country cannot just consider whether it makes money or not, nuclear and non-nuclear countries are completely different things in terms of discourse.
Why did they attack Iraq? Because it was suspected of having weapons of mass destruction
So why not go after North Korea? Because it really does have weapons of mass destruction.
Ukraine could negotiate terms with Europe and the United States back then, not because Europe and the United States were kind-hearted, but because you really had thousands of nuclear warheads in your nuclear arsenal. After Ukraine destroyed its own nuclear weapons, Europe and the United States not only did not fulfill their promises, but even the previously promised loans started to come with conditions.
In addition to nuclear weapons, Europe and the United States also coerced and lured Ukraine into giving up a whole bunch of military equipment.
For example, when Ukraine had already built the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk, a Norwegian company offered Ukraine's help to build six ships, but to build them on Platform 0, where the Ulyanovsk carrier was located, and another American steel company took the opportunity to offer a high price for the steel used in the carrier's construction.
Ukraine had an idea: wouldn't it be a good move to kill two birds with one stone? So Ukraine dismantled the Ulyanovsk carrier and prepared to sell it, freeing up the shipyard for the orders of new ships.
But when the carrier was dismantled, the US company refused to buy it on the pretext that the contract was invalid, and then the Norwegian shipbuilding contract was canceled for some reason.
After your economy and military, the next is your whole industrial chain.
The famous "aviation power tsar" Motor Sich company CEO Boguslaev once told reporters that when he took his products to the French exhibition, Western aviation manufacturers unceremoniously told him, "'Your engine is very good, but we don't want it '. Why? Because "your product does not meet the standards."
And what are the standards? The standard is that 24 ways of cutting environment-friendly humanitarian diamond and if you don't buy it then you don't love it. The standard is that the only champagne is the wine produced in the Champagne region of France.
If you can produce diamonds in West Africa, then I will emphasize the cut, diamonds are important, but a good cut is equally important, only diamonds that are produced in the city of London by a "century-old master", with hyperbolic 4C technique are the precious ones, you understand that thing which is called an artisan spirit!
If you have the cut, I will then emphasize the brightness, only bright diamonds are worthwhile, your dim ones are inferior!
As a result, when China's artificial diamond technology exploded, and they have all the brightness and cut, but…
Guess what the opposite side said?
Only those with flaws are natural! And only natural ones are truly valuable!
Your Xinjiang cotton is cheap and good, I will just say that you used slave labor, the standards are in my hands and can change at any time, how do you play with it?
So many people in reference to the decline of Ukraine's industry have not understood one point, even if it declines tremendously, Ukraine was also able to produce aircraft and tanks, it would still be very much an advanced industrial country, how did it become “not even able to afford to eat?”
The answer is that if there is no market and no right to speak in production then it would be meaningless. You work so hard on R&D to engage in upgrading, no matter how good is the product, how world-renowned it is, and then how it hangs other's competitors, ultimately still you need a market. For them at the market level, they will do anti-dumping, tax increases, and even directly say to you that you do not meet the standards, there are 10,000 ways to deal with you. Without the motherland, as the backing of the enterprise, it would be at the mercy of others (Zhang Yiming upvoted with tear(the CEO of byte dance which owns TicTok, it is sarcasm))
Ukraine wants to go all-in in Europe and the United States, so it did not do well in the Russian market, and how about Europe and the United States? “You are, after all, the second hair, how can I really believe you? I just want to use you as the front line to disgust Russia, the more chaotic you are the happier I am.”
Therefore, repeatedly teased by the west, Ukraine came to its own realization. Ukraine wasn't stupid, of course, they also reacted to the good old "freedom and democracy." Everything will become better they said, turns out that's not true at all, is it?
In 2004, the Ukrainian public felt that they had to change their mindset, not what the west said, so they elected a pro-Russian Yanukovych and tried to move closer to Russia.
Then the final form of the color revolution emerged when the pro-Western Yushchenko, after losing the presidential election, called on his supporters to hold peaceful demonstrations in major cities across the country on the basis of "massive election fraud by Yanukovych", which became known as the "Orange Revolution" because Yushchenko and his supporters wore orange clothes and waved orange flags.
Under strong pressure, the Constitutional Court ruled that the election results were invalid and a new election was held early the following year, which Yushchenko won by a narrow margin.
The Orange Revolution in Ukraine, along with the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, are considered to be color revolutions, with the common denominator that they took place in the former Soviet Union states and that the initial winners were all pro-Russian or socialist parties.
In short, as long as the democracy elected is not the one "I" want, then it is not "real democracy".
Even if Yushchenko is put on the presidential throne, the reality is still to be seen. Under Yushchenko's rule, Ukraine's economy still did not improve, and people continued to have a hard time, so in 2010, Yanukovych ran again and won.
After he became president, Yanukovych began a series of pro-Russian activities, negotiating with Russia, lowering the price of natural gas, and extending the validity of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's presence in Crimea to 25 years.
In fact, Ukraine's largest trading partner is Russia, and a large number of upstream and downstream industrial chains is also inextricably linked to Russia, it is simply impossible to completely oppose Russia and lean to the West, the most important thing is that Europe and the United States only take care of themselves. Greece joined NATO then it still had a financial crisis, did joining NATO solved all of the problems?
But Yanukovych did not hold after a couple of years, then the second color revolution in Ukraine broke out again
This time it was more serious and more direct than the first. On December 15, 2013, U.S. Senator John McCain flew all the way to Kyiv. On the stage of Independence Square, McCain shout out to the audience that he had come to support the just cause of Ukrainians and promised that the United States would support Ukraine's integration into the European Union and that "Ukraine will make Europe better, and Europe will make Ukraine better." The applause from the stage was deafening.
Peter Poroshenko, who was leading the demonstration, was overwhelmingly elected as the new president in May 2014, after Yanukovych fled to Russia.
If Yushchenko(the previous pro-west leader) was only "pro-west" before, then Poroshenko is not even pretending now
First, all gold reserves were exchanged for U.S. dollars, then the foreign officials, then the senior officials' positions were given directly to the Americans.
What if the other side accuses us of having a foreign influence? Simple, if I issue my nationality directly on the day they took office, then there won't be a foreign influence.
In 2015, Ukraine's GDP fell by 9.9%, gross industrial product by 13.4%, and more than 5 million people lost their jobs.
By 2018, Ukraine had lost 20% of its industrial production capacity compared to before the protest movement, and the structure of the economy was almost completely altered. Poroshenko himself has been repeatedly accused by his opponents of using his power to enrich himself and make a fortune out of the country.
What's more, in order to pay the West's dues and draw a clear line with Russia, Ukraine has tacitly allowed the rise of Nazi ideology
We have all seen that teenager pose that Nazi salute to a WWII veteran. The answer is simple: the Soviet Union was the hero that defeated the Nazis, and discrediting the Soviet Union often comes with glorifying the Nazis. In addition, there is a historical reason, the Ukrainian side of World War II has a formidable pseudo-army(puppet army).
Incidentally, two years ago, the Ukrainian Nazis also made an appearance in Hong Kong, the reason is also simple
The master in the back is the same. As a successful color revolution region, the forerunners naturally have to teach newcomers how to get things done, so is that world-famous painting(Ukrainian nazis in Hong Kong), has historical reasons to it ~ the key is, how you comprehend the "good ending".
BTW, the famous feminist organization, FEMEN, was also born in Ukraine and was initially supported by the NED.
That's why Ukraine is a textbook for color revolutions, from the left to the right, all the methods you've seen now, Ukraine has practiced and staged, and accumulated a wealth of experience.
Eventually, with constant provocation, pro-Russian, ethnic Russian populations and pro-Western conflicts were sparked within Ukraine, and tragedies such as cases like 2014 Odesa clashes emerged.
So some people say that to oppose the war to reflect, OK no problem, the key is that you have to seriously study history to oppose the war
You don't say anything when the oligarchs in Ukraine are enriching themselves and selling out the country
You didn't say anything when the "protestors" in Ukraine, supported by the West, kept stirring up confrontations
You didn't say anything when Ukraine's democratically elected government was overthrown by a color revolution
You didn't say anything when the militias in Ukraine were persecuting the Russian population under the Nazi banner
You didn't say anything when Ukrainian Nazis were exported all over the world and made troubles in the case of Hong Kong and other issues
Even before the Minsk agreements, when Russia wanted a peaceful negotiated settlement "Putin had stressed that the agreement was the only possible solution to the conflict", and then - when Kyiv did not want to fulfill it, you still did not say anything
And finally, after a decade of exaggeration and confrontation, the conflict grew and eventually led to war.
You said, "No matter what, war is not right."
"Leaving aside the previous 99 steps, don't you have any problems at all?"(An analogy for Chinese libs which blames problem single-handedly on one side.)
How does Ukraine from a former regional power-rich country, down to today's economic collapse, social unrest, conflict and confrontation continue to erupt and is even known as "the womb of Europe"(surrogacy)? When we pull a list of history, the truth actually becomes very clear.
To really reflect, all of the above as one fact
Ukraine's chaos is the end result of the U.S. thirty years of the continuous output of color revolutions to provoke confrontation triggered by conflict. In order to be anti-war, first, is to have the fundamental recognition of the United States' injustice.
Not sure if this reflection is the reflection you want.
Source:https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404740745256108547
Machine translated by DeepL, edited by me.
