I was also part of the massive group that discussed the Soviet-Afghan War. I think it is a topic that isn’t discussed all that often in high school courses for some reason as I hadn’t really heard about it before this year. Like I mentioned in my post, this war was the equivalent of the Vietnam War for the Soviet Union
Author: bassford79
Comment on Episode 6: Return of the Jet Age by bassford79
Generally when you learn about the Cold War you never hear about flights between the two opposing countries. I think it’s really cool how both sides let the other side into their country even though they were enemies. Also, like everyone else said, it’s interesting how the communist company survived and the capitalist company failed in the end.
Comment on Fighting in Afghanistan Never Works by bassford79
Personally, I think that it is extremely hard to fight in Afghanistan because of the terrain and how motivated the locals are to protect their homeland. The rugged mountains limit what kind of forces you can bring to bear against an enemy, for example tanks won’t be great in the mountains. The mountains also serve as a great place to hide insurgents like were seeing now and like we saw back in the Soviet-Afghan War. Finally, the local population is extremely tough from living in this harsh environment and they fight really hard to be left alone.
Comment on Coon Rapids? by bassford79
I too talked about Khrushchev’s love for corn in my post. I found it really interesting that he went and talked to American farmers to learn how to grow corn better. I want to know if Khrushchev continued to speak with Garst during his time as the leader of the Soviet Union.
Comment on Betrayal at the Kremlin! by bassford79
It’s amazing how quickly after Stalin’s death people started to denounce him. It also shows how terrible his reign was if literally nobody but the people up top were ok with it. This “de-Stalinization” in the end was probably a good thing for the USSR as I don’t know how sustainable Stalin’s government was. People would have gotten fed up at some point.
Comment on Come And Czech This Out by bassford79
The Soviets went to great lengths to stop any of their satellites from deviating off their set path. This is especially evident in this post, half a million men seems like an awful lot to secure Czechoslovakia. The US catches a lot of flak in the Cold War for forcing governments onto people even though the USSR did the same thing.
Comment on I Triple Doggie Dare You To Nuke Me by bassford79
The arms race between the USSR and the US is a quintessential part of the Cold War and I think your post did a good job covering it. In a perverse sense, atomic weapons may have made the Cold War safer because of, as you said, MAD. Without the arms race and nuclear weapons, it is possible that the two great super powers would have gotten into a hot war and nobody wants that.
Comment on Ukraine Keeps Driving Men Insane by bassford79
I think there was probably some type of deal made behind closed doors regarding this. The Soviet Union gave up direct control over this area and in return Ukraine probably did something for the RSFSR. What they did or what they agreed to do would probably be a pretty cool thing to figure out.
Comment on Styling with Stilyaga by bassford79
It would be interesting to see if the USSR had any impact on the US like the US had on the USSR in this way. We gave them Jazz and bad suits so I’m curious what soviet things our soldiers brought back from the war. I find this kind of cultural exchange really interesting.
Comment on Styling with Stilyaga by bassford79
It would be interesting to see if the USSR had any impact on the US like the US had on the USSR in this way. We gave them Jazz and bad suits so I’m curious what soviet things our soldiers brought back from the war. I find this kind of cultural exchange really interesting.
