Solriche

Intro - Current s tate of play It’s very difficult to get an accurate picture of what’s going on on the ground. In any conflict the first couple of weeks there’s disinformation, competing narratives, have to take what both sides say with a big pinch of salt. Have to wait until clear pattern emerge and what both sides agree on. One objective Russia has achieved is to take NATO membership off the table for good. What is agreed on is the territory Russia has taken. They are beginning to carve up Ukraine. Map of occupied Ukraine as of 21st March 2022 It’s not looking good for Ukraine, they appear to have lost control of the skies and a lot of the transport infrastructure. They don’t seem to be able to move their troops around freely. There’s also reports of shops running low on food and shortages of medicines in hospitals. In two or three weeks we could be looking at the unfolding of a humanitarian crisis. We should make it clear – Totally condemn invasion...

The Road to February World War One was to temporarily cut across the growing insurrectionary mood in Russia but it was in turn to sow the seeds of revolution… The first world war would have been greeted with some relief by the ruling elite. The opposition parties were gaining strength on the back of a growing wave of discontent. Workers had recovered from the repression that followed the 1905 insurrection. The numbers participating in political strikes had risen from 8000 in 1911 to 500,000 in 1913 and had doubled in the first half of 1914. [1] This movement was halted with the declaration of war in August 1914. Almost in a flash the psychology of the nation changed. There were “…….processions in the streets carrying the Tsar’s portrait……….Those first days of war! How full we were of enthusiasm, of the conviction that we were fighting in a just and holy cause…….” . [2] This general feeling of confident euphoria was not to last long. Initially the Russian army had mixed fort...