Chapter 544: Fang Mingyuan's efforts

On July 21, 1990, history will forever remember this day

On this day, Lithuania, a republic of the Soviet Union, located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, with a total area of 63,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 3 million, officially declared its independence from the Soviet Union

At 8 o'clock in the morning, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Adamkus, read out the declaration of Lithuania's independence, and then the Lithuanian parliament held a special session to celebrate the independence of Lithuania. The Lithuanian government also held a series of celebrations, including a solemn flag-raising ceremony on Independence Square. The flag of the Soviet Union, which has been flying next to the flag of the Republic of Lithuania since the forties of this century, was not raised this time, only the dawn of a new day was ushered in by the flag of Lithuania alone

Lithuanian President Adamkus also delivered an impassioned speech at the flag-raising ceremony, in which he expressed his deep gratitude to the signatories of the original Declaration of Independence.

Lithuania's declaration of independence caused great consternation among the Soviet leaders in the Kremlin

The first act of Lithuania's independence was to take over the Lithuanian border from the Soviet troops, and the Lithuanian government also demanded an immediate and "decent" withdrawal of Soviet troops, otherwise the two sides would become "hostile" countries.

The entire Shijie people were shocked by this sudden change, and in their opinion, the Lithuanian government's challenge to the powerful state of the Soviet Union, Liliang, looked tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg and killing itself. With a land area of more than 60,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 3 million, it is really insignificant for the Soviet Union, which has a land area of more than 20 million square kilometers and a population of nearly 300 million. Even with an order from the Soviet leadership, in just a few days, the Soviet army could control the entire territory of Lithuania.

But the Lithuanians were elated and even ready to fight for independence. Many Lithuanians interviewed by the media said one thing - 'we never considered us part of the Soviet Union'.

When this news came out, all the people immediately turned their attention to the Soviet Union and to this small country on the Baltic Sea, and people speculated about how the Soviet government would react to this, and whether it would send troops to suppress it as it did in the early Hungarian October incident.

And Fang Mingyuan was immediately recruited back to the capital by Su Huandong.

"Mingyuan, what do you think about the Lithuanian independence incident? Can Lithuania truly become independent? Su Huandong asked solemnly. The impact of this news on him was too great, and until now, Su Huandong still felt that Lithuanian independence could not happen at all. But it did happen, thinking that when Eastern Europe changed, Fang Mingyuan had talked to him in advance, and during the Chinese New Year, he also vaguely mentioned that the Soviet Union was now unstable, Su Huandong couldn't help but have a feeling, I'm afraid Fang Mingyuan had a premonition about this matter for a long time.

"The independence of Lithuania was a great shock to the Soviet government. I believe that the Soviet government should have tried by all means to avoid the escalation of this incident, and that it would try to suppress Lithuania's demand for independence. Personally, I think that as the situation changes, the Soviet government is likely to use the military" Fang Mingyuan said bluntly.

"Using the army?" Su Huandong took a light breath, although he had already thought of such a conjecture, but hearing it from Fang Mingyuan's mouth still gave him a considerable shock.

"The leaders of the Soviet government who used the army knew very well that if Lithuania's independence could not be suppressed, then Lithuania's independence would likely become the fuse for the collapse of the Soviet Union" Fang Mingyuan threw an even bigger bomb

"The collapse of the Soviet Union," Su Huandong shouted. For their generation, the Soviet Union stood like a mountain in front of them, so difficult to climb. Especially its huge military strength, suppressing Huaxia was a little breathless. It is unbelievable that such a country with the largest territory, a country with military strength comparable to that of the United States, and a country whose economic strength is only inferior to that of the United States, could now face disintegration

Fang Mingyuan understood his mood very well, not to mention the current Su Huandong, that is, after December of the ninth year in his previous life, after the flag of the Soviet Union was lowered from the front of the Kremlin, the vast majority of people in the whole Shijie still felt that it was like a dream, a superpower that had been pressing on the hearts of China and Western countries for decades, with strong military strength and economic strength, actually died silently like that

"Yes, the collapse of the Soviet Union. Grandpa Su, I believe that you should know better about the current situation of the Soviet Union than the vast majority of people in China. Since Stalin came to power, successive Soviet governments have tried their best to suppress the other republics in the Soviet Union, vigorously oppose local nationalism, and preserve the Great Russian chauvinist tradition. As a result, the cadres and intellectuals in the union republics who were dissatisfied with the policies of the central authorities, who demanded the expansion of autonomy, and who sang the praises of their own national historical and cultural traditions, were all regarded as bourgeois elements, and were greatly criticized or imprisoned, and the disgruntled and rebellious minorities were attacked and suppressed as class enemies of socialism. The result of using the method of class struggle to deal with the national question is to artificially create class contradictions and class struggles in ethnic relations, artificially transform the internal contradictions belonging to various nationalities into contradictions between ourselves and the enemy, resulting in the expansion of the long-term class struggle, seriously hurting the feelings of these nationalities, deepening the crisis in ethnic relations, and fueling the tendency of ethnic separatism. During the Cold War, these contradictions were not revealed because of the presence of the United States as an enemy. But the contradiction is not revealed, it does not mean that the contradiction disappears, but like a sleeping volcano, the longer the accumulation, the more violent it will be" Fang Mingyuan said in a deep voice, "The situation of the Soviet Union is different from ours, we are based on the Han nationality, no matter which province it is, the population of the Han nationality is the majority, and among these republics of the Soviet Union, the Russians are not in the majority. Lithuania is one of them. ”

Su Huandong nodded, what Fang Mingyuan said was indeed the current situation of the Soviet Union.

"The three Baltic states, all independent countries back then, were only divided by the Soviet Union and Germany through a treaty in World War II, and later the Soviet Union defeated Germany and forcibly incorporated it into its territory. It can be said that the citizens of these countries did not identify with the Soviet Union in the first place. After becoming Soviets, the Soviet government, which held the overwhelming majority of leadership positions among ethnic Russians, was forcibly purged, and the existing contradictions between ethnic groups were not resolved, but a new feud was formed. Now that there is an opportunity, it will naturally burst out. Hehe, after Lithuania becomes independent, I believe that the other two countries will also declare independence in the near future. This will lead to a domino affair, and will the Soviet Union survive as more and more republics declare independence? ”

Su Huandong pondered for a long time, and then said: "Mingyuan, then you mean that if the Soviet Union really collapsed, the main reason is that their national policy has gone astray?" ”

"No, no, no" Fang Mingyuan's head shook like a rattle, "I personally believe that the most important reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union is that the Soviet Union is no longer the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the past, it has been completely corrupted and degenerate, has completely separated from the ordinary citizens of the Soviet Union, and has become a special class above the Soviet people, a class that relies on being attached to the Soviet people to suck blood." What they did completely deprived the ordinary citizens of the Soviet Union of their prestige and credibility in the government. The disappointment of the people with the Soviet Union was the root cause of this result."

"Coupled with the deterioration of the domestic economic situation in the Soviet Union, it is difficult to guarantee the basic livelihood of the people, compared with the citizens of European and American countries, the gap between the living standards of the two sides is too large, the unfair treatment is too much, and the psychological imbalance of the people has also intensified the process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. If the overall standard of living of the Soviets is no less than that of the United States, I think that even if this contradiction breaks out, it will not be able to sweep the entire territory of the Soviet Union. ”

Fang Mingyuan's words were not untargeted. In the process of the collapse of the Soviet Union, although other ethnic groups, such as the citizens of the three Baltic countries, thought that after joining the Soviet Union, their lives were not as good as before, and the original living standards of those neighbors in Northern Europe were almost different, and they saw that the living standards of their neighbors were booming, but they were like a waning mountain, how could this be balanced. The Russians are also angry about this, believing that Russia has taken on too many obligations to other peoples, which has caused the living standards of the Russians to decline, and it is unfair that they will be scolded if they suffer losses, so since the 90s, even many media in the Russian Republic have issued calls for Russia to separate from other republics.

In a country like the Soviet Union, the media largely represented the official meaning, and the high-level leaders of the Russian Republic, which was the main body of the Soviet Union and the largest and most powerful in the country, all exposed such a mentality, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union could be said to be unexpected, but it was reasonable.

Su Huandong and Fang Mingyuan talked for a long, long time in the study, from noon to evening, after hastily eating dinner, the two kept talking about late at night, and that night, Fang Mingyuan stayed at Su's house. The next morning, I stayed at Su's house and rushed to the capital airport. Japan's business was not yet completed, and he had to rush back to Japan before Cameron returned to the United States and Aso Kazuki returned to the Soviet Union.

"I have said everything that can be said, how much the government can benefit from the collapse of the Soviet Union, how many warnings it can get, and whether it can be more enlightened than in the previous life, only God knows" Fang Mingyuan sighed long in his heart.