Putin Leans Into The Past Because He Has No Victorious Past Or Future, Says Historian
Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to justify his war in Ukraine on Monday during a speech at Moscow’s Victory Day parade. Professor Mary Elise Sarotte and Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey join Morning Joe to discuss.
The Soviets did not fully defeat the Nazi's themselves. Winter did, and also the allied forces. And not only that, if the United States and United Kingdom did not send substantial additional forces to Russia (what many people don't even know), then I wonder if the Soviets ever had recuperated.
I would have liked to have seen the rest of the Professor's interview, she plainly has some serious insights that go beyond just how badly Putin has backed himself into a corner.
The Victory Day celebrations in Russia can, and do, have an undercurrent - they indicate the immediate control, and degree of control, of Putin over the Russian armed forces. Nicholas II was forced to abdicate when, instead of quelling the rioters outside the Winter Palace, the guards and the city garrison joined them instead. The rioters were protesting the redirection of grain and coal to the war front while the Russian people themselves went without, in the dead of winter. Putin, the would-be Tsar, is well aware of this history, and of course the world knows what happened to the last Tsar and his family afterwards. That show of military force is aimed as much as his own people, telling them "I fully control the military and I will use them to crush you if you rise up against me."
Zelensky has proven to be a decisive factor in shaping the force of the Ukrainian resistance, while the figure of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has been a major factor in shaping Russia’s military failures.
