Quote from: Nemo1024 on April 25, 2014, 12:43:58 PM

A few days ago I watched a 2-year old Russian documentary, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812, about the information war, waged before and during the French invasion of Russia in 1812. The Film is called "The War of 1812. The First information War" and can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyeGXPJc4ms (it's even passably watcheable with automatic English captions)

The film revolves around the report by Polish General Sokolnitskij that was presented to Napoleon on the 10th of February 1812 and discovered in French military archives in 1996. The report details how Napoleon should proceed conquering and dividing Russia, how to use locals. The plans for compartmentalisation of Russia were well-defined. South-Western Russia (including Crimea), would become French state of Napoleonida, with Poland expanded South and several French or Polish-governed counties created as buffers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vyeGXPJc4ms#t=457). Napoleon went along with the plans, with the slight alteration - he intended to rally Poles and use them as the frontal strike force, commonly known as cannon Fodder.

What struck me the most was the bit that said that Napoleon should ensure setting Ukraine and Russia head to head against each other, and should bribe Don Cossacks, as they hate Russians. Napoleon discovered belatedly that this was not the case.

Napoleon, prior to the military campaign, ran a massive information/propaganda war in Europe, centralising control of most of the newspapers in his hands, and portraying Russia as someone on the verge of conquering the whole Europe, so it was only right for him, Napoleon, to strike pre-emptively first. At the same time, and to that end, he invented the fake Testament of Peter the Great (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Russavia/Testament). This "testament" was subsequently used prior to invasion of Russia in WWI and WWII.

I am seeing similar patterns now: An uprising of Russophobic press in Western mass media, depicting Russia as an aggressor, poised to take over the Europe. When passing through Great Britain the other week, I saw a cover of one of the magazines, showing a stylized map of Russia as a red bear with gaping maw, swallowing Ukraine, and the big captions title "INSATIABLE!". Next will come (or already coming) calls to isolate, sanction and pre-emptively strike Russia, "for the good of Europe".

Here is a report on that "Insatiable" cover: http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2014/04/21/insatiable-idiocy-from-the-economist-on-what-to-do-about-russia-n1826834

Before 1941 there were also "worried" calls that Soviet Union has too many troops on its Western borders, and that it should pull back. This time, it seems Putin is not as stupid as Stalin was. At the same time NATO pulls its military closer to Russia, relocating more and more troops to its old and newly conquered bases in Baltics, Poland, Yugoslavia (Black Sea), and Georgia.

It feels like a great war is in the air and NATO is pushing hard for a trigger, seemingly having slated Ukraine to play such role. This would explain why NATO consequently ignores Russia's calls for de-escalation of the tension in Ukraine and demands that US brings their puppets in Kiev to heel.

If I start seeing mentions of the Testament of Peter the Great in the Western media, then I will know for sure that war is only a few months or weeks away...

More of my musings from a Russian perspective in a post further down:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=584031.msg6891605#msg6891605

For the answer to all of your speculation, go here:

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/