I don’t doubt the CIA has some influence on geopolitics in the region Chihuahua is literally regurgitating Russian propaganda.

 

Two good books that involve the subject, both by Timothy Snyder.
"Bloodlands"
"Black Earth"
Bloodlands is more what happened. Black Earth is more how it happened. Neither is for the squeamish. Also if one feels as though they emotionally have a dog in that hunt, at some point or another while reading ones preconceptions and understandings are going to get offended.
The book Ordinary Men and Police Battalion 101 are referenced in both books.

 

Yeah. Woke and Nazism is pretty incongruent.

 

the Red Army was stopped at the Vistula (Wisla)
The largest and most effective underground army in Europe,
the Home Army (Armia Krajowa-AK), was faced with a decision. Start the uprising 'now', before the Red Army enters the city, or delay and lose the chance to present the Polish Capitol as a liberated city, flying the Polish Flag and with a temporary Polish Government installed. Going with long standing tradition they went with now. DO BRONO!
They failed with their early objective of capturing the airport and it turned into a 2 month long battle. If memory serves over a quarter million Poles were killed.
It is generally believed that Stalin was quite happy to let the Germans destroy a major part of the AK as they would, (and did), contest future Russian control of Poland.
In an early example of Fake News and Fake History the Warsaw Uprising story was suppressed and changed to one of 'a Fascist Reactionary attempt to thwart the glorious advance of the Red Army and the perpetuation of the Eternal Slavic Friendship of the Russians and the(real)Poles.' (not to be confused with the eternal friendship between the sheep and the wolves)
The Poles were well aware by then that they were not viewed as allies against Nazi Germany, but rather as enemies. In the early encounters further East between the Red Army and elements of the AK, the following NKVD arrested or executed these AK soldiers. It was quickly learned by the AK to avoid revealing themselves to the Soviets. Many AK members stayed 'in the woods' until after Stalin's death to avoid arrest.
The cherry on top was the trials of the surviving leaders of the Warsaw Uprising after the war.
As Orwell discovered in Spain, Truth had no place in Stallin's Russia, and Putin has vigorously used his tactics for many years now.

 

Ask any teacher of European history. Since first recorded times, their history is replete with one side selling out another. When I was stationed in Germany the nearest village spoke a slightly different dialect than the next nearest (not quite 3 kilometers away). Historically, one village had been Catholic and one had been Protestant and for three or four hundred years after the Protestant Reformation neither village had commerce with or had even spoken to the other and their languages had drifted apart.

Then there were areas like Saarbrucken which had been briefly independent, changed back and forth from French to German generally being near destroyed in the process since the Thirty Years War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saarbr...onal_relations
All of Europe is a place with simmering old grudges papered over by compromises that always left someone unhappy. There was a bitter loser in every war - sometimes several - and an incredible number of wars over the centuries, many where the winners massacred the losers - man, woman, and child.

People talk about separatist movements in the US - Texas wanting to raise the Lone Star again and such - they ain’t seen nothin’. Europe is replete with separatist movements. The Basques, the Catalonians, the Scots, the Irish, heck - more than I can remember:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ents_in_Europe

Each nursing ancient grudges and hatred, many quite legitimate.

 

Yes our geographic divisions are weak, mostly economic and cultural, and diluted by our melting pot. They have divisions rooted in language, religion, ethnicity, and history... with plenty of bloodshed and atrocities to keep memories fresh over the centuries.

Although I personally discount the legitimacy of any grudges based on things that happened much more than two generations ago.

 

Now you’ve done it…..

 

swing looooooooow……

oh…you meant Europe.

 

If oil hits 150$ Barrel is the music officially over? Or will legacy retirements necessitate continued hiring?

 

Probably no worse than a pause... high oil $ will drive exploration and production so it will settle out eventually. Very few oil producing nations will cooperate with RU to create artificial pain for the west.

Also hedges are a factor, not sure who has what hedges these days.