Anti-War Game: Starting from Normandy Campaign-Chapter 663 - 319: [1991 · The Soviet Union’s Final Struggle] (4k)

Chapter 663: Chapter 319: [1991 · The Soviet Union’s Final Struggle] (4k)

"80% of the population in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is Armenian."

"However, it was designated as part of Azerbaijan."

"After the outbreak of the conflict, the Armenians who made up 80% of the population in Nagorno-Karabakh began large-scale petitions, demanding separation from Azerbaijan and incorporation into the Republic of Armenia."

"This matter was passed in an official vote in Nagorno-Karabakh."

"However, both the Soviet Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan expressed firm opposition."

"Therefore,"

"the Republic of Armenia extended large-scale support to Nagorno-Karabakh, while violent incidents targeting Armenians broke out in Azerbaijan."

"The original peaceful petitions and resolutions passed by Nagorno-Karabakh."

"At this moment turned into armed conflict."

"A chain of hatred between the two sides was thus formed, and amidst this conflict,"

"as a party firmly opposed, the Soviet Union’s slow reaction could only dispatch troops to stabilize the situation, yet it never provided an effective solution."

"As time went on,"

"the satellite countries below sensed a dangerous message."

"That is,"

"at this time, the Soviet Union no longer had the ability to control the overall situation."

"Compared to the early post-World War II period,"

"the Soviet Union’s control over satellite countries and suppression of rebellions now lingered without resolving ethnic conflicts for several months."

"And the more fatal mine was laid by the Soviet Union itself."

"At the inception of the Soviet Union, its constitution stipulated that member states had the ’right to freely withdraw,’ theoretically a provision unused."

"Because according to the system of the Soviet Union,"

"the entire bloc was essentially one country."

"However, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict exposed this loophole, as when the boundaries of a republic conflicted with national demands,"

"the Soviet Union failed to arbitrate and maintain unity in a short time."

"This opened a new world for nationalists within other member states."

"Allowing many marginal member states to see the possibility of independence."

"When the Soviet Union lost its authority, lost its ability to maintain unity, the bloc once held together by the Soviet Union saw its prestige crumble at this moment."

"How the hostile bloc views your prestige doesn’t matter, because they are always the hostile bloc."

"Even if your means are significant, the other side will still mock you."

"But when others within your own bloc all believe your prestige is gone, then everything is really over...."

"According to historical stories in the [Huaxia] series,"

"this is much like the Duke Zhuang of Zheng shooting down the Son of Heaven of Zhou."

"The fall of the Son of Heaven, loss of dignity, henceforth never recovered, began the era of the Dukes competing for supremacy."

"At this moment, the Soviet Union also lost its former dignity."

If before, the Blue Star Players only had a vague sense of the seriousness of this situation,

but now,

Yu Feng explained it by referring to the fall of the Son of Heaven of Zhou, and everyone understood.

As many had played the [Huaxia] historical series,

they had learned about the fall of the Son of Heaven from the plot’s records.

After Duke Zhuang of Zheng shot the Son of Heaven, the Zhou Dynasty never recovered, leading to the era of dukes competing for 200+ years until the Qin Dynasty finally unified the world.

Over 200 years.

This was not just a war fought across a few generations; according to [Huaxia] ancient lifespans, it was a war fought across dozens of generations.

Now the Soviet Union is in a similar situation.

Except the Soviet Union itself still has a strong foundation, so it won’t entirely end like the Zhou Dynasty, but continuing to maintain the situation seems difficult.

The Blue Star viewers in the livestream room thought.

Meanwhile, Yu Feng continued:

"Then came 1988."

"In this year,"

"the economic crisis intensified."

"The Soviet Union’s fiscal budget deficit already reached a situation of -100 billion rubles."

"The store shelves were also empty."

"And the ruble, as a basic currency, was depreciating rapidly; in some underground black markets, the depreciation rate reached 500%."

"That means things that originally cost 20 rubles."

"Now need 100 rubles to buy in the black market."

"Otherwise, even if you take these 100 rubles outside, you couldn’t buy anything because there’s nothing in the stores."

"Economic collapse, ruble depreciation, even if these are ignored."

"More crucially, the Soviet Union’s constitutional reform laid a mine."

"This reform of the Soviet Union’s constitution allowed the laws of member states to supersede Soviet Union laws."

"That means where the Soviet Union could once directly intervene in member states, post-reform, member states’ constitutions supersede the Soviet’s.".

"This means the Soviet Union, henceforth, has no authority to interfere in matters within a member state’s territory that are constitutional."

"Why do I say lay a mine?"

"You’ll understand later."

Yu Feng continued while consulting his materials:

"Soon enough,"

"came 1989."

"In less than a year’s time after the constitutional reform at the end of 1988, Eastern Europe underwent drastic changes."

"In August, the Baltic Way event broke out: about 2 million people from the three Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania formed a human chain, petitioning for independence."

"Initially, it was the three countries from Poland, then Hungary, the Eastern Empire, Romania.... a series of member states."

"Gradually chose independence."

"This is also why it was called the ’Eastern European upheaval’."

"The Soviet Union, too, had entered the countdown to disintegration."

"And in this year,"

"the Soviet Union could no longer maintain its hold on the Afghanistan Federation, being forced to withdraw its troops."

"At this point,"

"this decade-long quagmire of the Soviet Union’s war came to an end."

"Before the war,"

"the Soviet Union was at its expansion peak, a global superpower capable of projecting its military force worldwide."

"After the war,"

"the Soviet Union was now nearly disintegrated."

"Though not wholly because of the Afghanistan Federation war, it was immensely related."

Yu Feng skimmed through his materials and continued:

"Now,"

"the downfall of the Soviet Union is foreseeable."

"Then came 1990."

"In this year,"

"the Soviet Union completely lost its economic sovereignty, with a grain import dependency reaching 90%, yet despite its vast territory, it produced very little grain."

"Faced with such circumstances, the Soviet Union could only accept grain aid from the United States."

"And this also indicated that the Soviet Union was nearing its end."

"March,"

"Lithuania Federation declared independence."

"In this year,"

"about 15 member states under the Soviet Union all devised plans for independence."

Reaching this point,

Blue Star Players also got a clear concept.

How the Soviet Union had step by step come to its present situation over the years.

Beyond external factors,

there were also significant internal causes.... misfortunes happened one after another is one factor.

The most fatal were these last struggling reforms.

Not only were they ineffective, but they also laid mines, first with the economy and then with independence.... causing the collapse of their fundamental stability.

Various factors compounded together, leading to today’s situation.

Yu Feng continued:

"Then came the final year, 1991."

"In this year,"

"the Soviet Union attempted its last struggle."

"After redeploying troops from Afghanistan Federation, it finally had the capacity to manage affairs in ’Eastern Europe’."

"Didn’t Lithuania Federation declare independence last year?"

"Thus,"

"the Soviet Union dispatched troops to suppress."

"As for the result...."

"Since it’s a military suppression, everyone can probably guess the scenario."

"This act."

"Not only did it fail to achieve the Soviet Union’s usual effect of making countries behave, it actually fueled separatism between the member states and the Soviet Union."

"Countries prepared to become independent sped up."