Thirty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Putin exploits nostalgia for the old regime

Opinion by Andrei Kolesnikov

Updated 0246 GMT (1046 HKT) December 27, 2021

The Crimean resort town of Yalta was the setting for an historic meeting of British, US and Soviet leaders -- Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin -- in February 1945. With the defeat of Nazi Germany imminent, the Big Three allies agreed to jointly govern postwar Germany, while Stalin pledged fair and open elections in Poland.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
The Crimean resort town of Yalta was the setting for an historic meeting of British, US and Soviet leaders -- Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin -- in February 1945. With the defeat of Nazi Germany imminent, the Big Three allies agreed to jointly govern postwar Germany, while Stalin pledged fair and open elections in Poland.
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The decision by the United States to use the atomic bomb against Japan in August 1945 was credited with ending World War II. Hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were killed instantly or died from radiation in the aftermath of the bombings.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
The decision by the United States to use the atomic bomb against Japan in August 1945 was credited with ending World War II. Hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were killed instantly or died from radiation in the aftermath of the bombings.
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British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent," he declared.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent," he declared.
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On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union made a bid for control of Berlin by blockading all land access to the city. Berlin was divided into four sectors under US, British, French and Soviet control, but the city itself lay entirely in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany. From June 1948 to May 1949, US and British planes airlifted 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin. After 200,000 flights, the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. Here, a tattered group of Berliners stand amid the ruins of a building near Tempelhof Airfield as a C-47 cargo plane brings food to the city.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union made a bid for control of Berlin by blockading all land access to the city. Berlin was divided into four sectors under US, British, French and Soviet control, but the city itself lay entirely in Soviet-occupied eastern Germany. From June 1948 to May 1949, US and British planes airlifted 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin. After 200,000 flights, the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. Here, a tattered group of Berliners stand amid the ruins of a building near Tempelhof Airfield as a C-47 cargo plane brings food to the city.
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In August 1949, President Harry Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty, which marked the beginning of NATO. Two years earlier, he requested $400 million in aid from Congress to combat communism in Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine pledged to provide American economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by communism.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
In August 1949, President Harry Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty, which marked the beginning of NATO. Two years earlier, he requested $400 million in aid from Congress to combat communism in Greece and Turkey. The Truman Doctrine pledged to provide American economic and military assistance to any nation threatened by communism.
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Joseph Stalin, left, meets with Mao Zedong in Moscow in December 1949. In June 1949, Chinese Communists declared victory over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces, who later fled to Taiwan. On October 1, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Two months later, Mao traveled to Moscow to meet with Stalin and negotiate the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
Joseph Stalin, left, meets with Mao Zedong in Moscow in December 1949. In June 1949, Chinese Communists declared victory over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces, who later fled to Taiwan. On October 1, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Two months later, Mao traveled to Moscow to meet with Stalin and negotiate the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
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On June 25, 1950, North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea. Two days later, President Truman ordered US forces to assist the South Koreans. Here, US Marines land at Inchon as battle rages. Three years later, an armistice agreement was signed, with the border between North and South roughly the same as it had been in 1950. The willingness of China and North Korea to end the fighting was in part attributed to the death of Stalin in March.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
On June 25, 1950, North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea. Two days later, President Truman ordered US forces to assist the South Koreans. Here, US Marines land at Inchon as battle rages. Three years later, an armistice agreement was signed, with the border between North and South roughly the same as it had been in 1950. The willingness of China and North Korea to end the fighting was in part attributed to the death of Stalin in March.
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School children learn to protect themselves in case of nuclear attack by practicing a duck-and-cover drill in their classroom in 1951.
Photos: The history of the Cold War
School children learn to protect themselves in case of nuclear attack by practicing a duck-and-cover drill in their classroom in 1951.