I really want to hear Romans take on how communist domination of Eastern europe for 50+ years was not imperialistic.

But USSR do not oppress any Eastern Europe country during its colonial period. On the contrary, USSR spend a lot of money and resources to maintain those countries development.

HUH?!?   The Russians starved and killed thousands.  In Estonia:

http://www.europe-east.com/estonia/history.htmlThen there's also the Ukrainian Famine:

http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/famine.htmlIf this isn't defined as oppression, then I don't know what is.

Russia wanted frontiers with deep water ports.  Peter the Great understood that waterway access was the key to imperial growth and sustenance.  The Soviets just carried this thinking into the modern era.  Turkey, Finland, and Japan always stood in their way of achieving this goal. 

In Estonia:In 1940, Estonia became just another victim of the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (aka Treaty of Nonaggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and was invaded by the Soviet Union. During the first purge in 1941, ten thousands of Estonians were murdered, deported or forced into military service in the Red Army. Pure terror reigned the country for the next time. Things didn't get much better when the Nazi German Wehrmacht occupied Estonia to make it a part of the wide Generalkommissariat Ostland (Central province of Eastland). The terror continued. But in August 1944, the Red Army took over again. Especially in 1949, the hunt for the so-called "enemies of the nation" started. Again, Estonia saw ten thousands of its citizens deported or killed. At the same time, forced collectivization of farmers, massive industrialisation and russification started. The original language, Estonian, was gradually marginalised.

Ten thousands... It is exaggeration. Only 9156 people were deported, from these 3178 people were sended into the camps, and 5978 were sended to the settlements in the Krasnoyarskaya oblast' (region) and in the Novosibirskaya oblast' (region). Only 200 people was died among prisoners. There are no exact data about how many people were died among exiles. It is thought that no more than 2000 people. But do not forget that so high mortality was because it was the hard wartime, but not due to Kremlin's evil plans. Also the deportation was the necessity for the USSR, because it was the wartime. If there were no many Estonian nationalists which collaborated with German intelligence services then there was no necessity of such actions.Afterwards, during Soviet period in Estonia was built the complex of modern seaports, the USSR spent a lot of money and resources on the industrialisation of agrarian Estonia. I recall in my childhood in the later USSR people said that "People in Estonia live like in Europe". The level of the living-index in Estonia was one of the most higher in the USSR.

In that time the famine was not only in Ukraine, but in the whole USSR. And it is also exaggeration. Almost all of the pictures you may see about 1932-33 famine in Ukraine are falsification. For example, look at the cover of this book: And now look at the original picture:This picture was made in Russia, Buguruslan in ... 1921 (not 1932-33). There is a text at the back side of this picture:

The same period was in many countries. In the UK such period was called as "enclosure" (if I translate it correctly), in German known as "Thirty Years' War".

There are also many myths about it. For example, it is said that Soviet intervention finished off democratic government the CSSR and its leader Dubchek. But... The Soviet troopers invaded in the CSSR in August. 21 1968, but prime secretar Dubchek retired only in January 1969, and head of government Chernik in 1970. Besides these people signed protocol about the conditions in what the Soviet troopers could stay in the CSSR. And why the the CSSR's army (200000 people) was staing in the barracks and did not resist?Bloody? During this action died 72 Czech people, who threw the petrol bombs at the Soviet tanks, tried to spoil the communications facilities and transport.

You have got to be kidding me.  ??? ???I challenge you to find a Czech or Hungarian that agrees with your assessment of Russian activities in Eastern Europe.  I know for a fact that Germany has spent Billions cleaning up the mess in the Former east germany and reapiring the roads and infrastructure that the communists could not afford to maintain because of their terrible economy.  The US forced the dissolution of the USSR by American defense spending in the 1980's, the Russian economy was simply not capable of producing enough military hardware for them to narrow the percieved capability gap bewteen western and soviet forces.The famines of the 1930's in Russia and the USSR as a whole were due to collectivisation, a misguided concept if any.  As late as the 1980's the most productive soviet agricultural land was the 5% of total farmaland people were allotted as private plots.  Why is that?  I fail to see how crop failures through weather (Irish Potato famine) and dislocation caused by war and depopultaion (Thirty Years War) are equivalent to a systematic government policy enacted by force (Collectivisation).  The first two are somewhat unavoidable, collectivism was a self-inflicted wound.Where did you get your numbers for number of deportees from Estonia?  Do you have a citation for that?A good example of Russian imperialism is the War in Georgia last summer and the current Gas crisis with Ukraine.  Sadly, the European governments are not courageous enough to stand up to Russia because they have hamstrung themselves by becoming dependent on Russia for energy supplies.  Russia knows this and this is one reason Medvedev and Putin are so bold.Perhaps you can answer me another question.  In what way does installation of a missile Defense system in Poland Threaten Russia?  I cant wrap my mind around that one either.  How is a defensive system threatening?  Unless it means that we are then less vulnerable to attack and thus a prop in Russian foriegn policy is removed.

The famines of the 1930's in Russia and the USSR as a whole were due to collectivisation, a misguided concept if any.  As late as the 1980's the most productive soviet agricultural land was the 5% of total farmaland people were allotted as private plots.  Why is that?  I fail to see how crop failures through weather (Irish Potato famine) and dislocation caused by war and depopultaion (Thirty Years War) are equivalent to a systematic government policy enacted by force (Collectivisation).  The first two are somewhat unavoidable, collectivism was a self-inflicted wound.

I don't think so. Collectivisation and Industrialization had a great economical effect and result in USSR's prosperity in 1950-70th. Let's look at this slide (Angus Maddison, the Netherlands, if you would like European sources). This slide describes relationship gross domestic product per head in the USSR (in % to this one in the USA). Look at this from 1927 till 1953 and further. During 63 years from the creation of the USSR to Gorbachev in spite of negative profit during wars, well-being levels exceeded the pre-revolutionary one in 1885 (Russia's best years in economics). Keep in mind that this index is relative and compared with the USA's one. For example, USSR's gross domestic product in 1985 was compared with the USA's one in the same year, and the latter increase tenfold in compare with 1922. If calculate this stuff the conclusion is that USSR's economics during these 63 years was developing more rapidly than the USA's economics in 2.18%. Were collectivism & industrialism not effective?

It is a Soviet source. People's commissar Merkulov's Memorandum (internal document) to Stalin June, 17 1941.

Why Russia must sell gas dirt-cheap and have no right to demand repay from Ukraine?

I can not find such people because as you have said "History is what happened, not what we wanted to have happen".  😉 It is fashionable nowadays in Czech and Hungary to sully the USSR's name.Apropos of theme of this discussion "Cold War Mentalities in Today's World". At the begining of this discussion I have said "that the Cold War have ended as soon as the USSR have been destroyed in 1991". But... After what I have heard from you I changed my mind. The Cold War is not finished.

I just afraid of speak about it with you  😉 I feel that we live in different worlds.  🙂Are there anybody of you teach history? Would you please give me some links to textbooks that you using in your teaching practices. I feel it would be very interesting for me. Thanks in advance.

Uh Roman, collectivization began after World War I when Russia was still a quasi-feudal economy.  My God the Russian serfs had only been liberated since the 1860's, and Russia's industrial base was still in its early stages of takeoff (actually happened during the 1930's).  The Russian economy failed under collectivization (Remember the Scissors Crisis?).  Every time Lenin tried to implement a 5 year plan of the New Economic Policy (NEP), he had to resort back to capitalism to recover from the failings of his planned economy.  He even admits as much when he says that capitalism cannot be discarded in the initial phases due to the rigorous transition of forced collectivization.  Stalin had to revert back to capitalism during World War II, and he also leaned heavily upon the Russian Orthodox Church to sure up civic morale.  Stalin even resurrected the Double-headed Eagle of Imperial Russia to rouse nostalgia for the homeland to win the Great Patriot War.  Also, Russia borrowed heavily from the West to fight the Nazis because their planned economy was just not able to feed their troops.  Trust me, if you could ask a Russian soldier what food he hated most on earth, he would say American Spam because he had to eat it morning day and night. 🙂Russia suffered under massive stagflation during the Brezhnev era.  The only time Russia had significant economic recovery was during the 1950's and 60's under Khrushchev primarily because of a shortage of labor due to the Purges and World War II which meant if you breathed, you worked.  Because Russia wasn't incorporated into Western economies, the Depression didn't affect them as it did the West, so there was only one way to go, and that was up.  However, the Military Industrial Complex formed the heart of Russia's economy, but once it ate up Russia's budget, the rest of the economy, including the agrarian sector (especially the Donbass region), suffered.  During the 1980's there was once again massive grain shortages which forced the USSR to import American grown wheat much to their embarrassment.  Despite the fact that the USA and USSR were mortal enemies by then, I say it speaks volumes about the differences in America and Russia wouldn't you?  I could go on, but I won't.   

I've nothing to say after what I've learned from you …  ???