Yeshu: Territorial Wars in the middle ages =/= 20th century mass genocide of high ranking military personnel outside of the battlefield as well as allot of civilians, including priests, university professors etc. (Basically the brains of the nation.)
You should know that in Poland if someone refers to the "Soviets" they mean the government/special service that did all the dirty work of the USSR. The common folk are just Russians, so I was not lumping everyone in one bag.
Every country has dark parts in there history, but instead of trying to justify it wouldn't it be better to learn from it and not repeat the same mistakes and not just try and shove it under a rug? Heck the whole Katyń thing was finally acknowledged by the Russian government 2010.
No, "Russians" is ethnicity. There are over 100 nations in modern Russia, with way more in days of USSR. "Russian language" is used only for common understanding/communication, each region has its own "state" language. You probably mean "common folk/population", those are hardly interested in any wars, unless motivated into it.
Also, the modern Ukrainian thing has displayed once more that "middle ages" are also actual today. Nations can be fooled, brainwashed, turned against each other solely by mass-media and targeted actions by specific groups, which represent either current elite or an opposing new elite candidate.
Its elite only, which cases people quickly loose common sense, forget that all of them share the very same needs (Maslou/Maslov) - stability, education, security, work, expression rights.
Elites are almost always only for control, which expands into resources, funds, money/credits. Elites will promise you everything, but mind their own business nevertheless, unless they are endangered to go into compromise. Without elite, there is another elite. If current elite is too bloodthirsty, there will be another elite marketing for the "revolution" payed by blood of unguilty or clueless. Only time may cause elites to settle down, finally get into sense and start dialog with lower (as in less influential) society layers.
By that "learning by mistakes" is a fake view point, no one from common folk would even consider doing atrocities or "under rug shoving". "Fake" meaning it represents purposely installed alternate reality (usually by controlled mass media). Building of alternative reality is primary goal of modern mainstream mass media, reason why its supported and paid often by elites themself. True reality is like science - collection of facts from 1st source "as-is" without viewpoints or bending. Only handful of media does this, these people are often in danger, have unstable career and unpredictable future - in west and in east, now and in the past. Truth does not pay out, truth is no good material to build a strategy upon. But its "common folk" who always prefers truth, which is always in conflict with elite agenda.
