On February 1, 1809, Emperor Alexander I established the Finnish Parliament

For 600 years, Finland had been under Swedish rule. After the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809, which ended in victory for the Russian Empire, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn transferred all of Finland to Russian control. For the Russian emperor, this region became a testing ground for Enlightenment ideas.

Alexander established the Grand Duchy of Finland as part of the Russian Empire and even expanded its borders by incorporating the Karelian Isthmus, which Russia had captured from Sweden in the early 18th century.

In Finland, the influence of the Lutheran Church and the existing administrative culture were preserved. Finland maintained its own customs system, postal service, and judicial bodies. The duchy's revenues were not merged into the imperial treasury but were used for its own needs. The Finnish Parliament, or Landtag, symbolized Emperor Alexander's vision of the rule of law prevailing over autocracy.

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Odessa, hotel "Bristol", current condition.

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...and here's a bunch of strangers on a random bus in Kazakhstan suddenly singing "Smuglyanka", one of the most famous and beloved Soviet songs.

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#Victory80

🌟 February 2, 1943, one of the most brutal battles of #WWII and all of history — the Battle of Stalingrad — concluded.

For 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days and nights the Battle of Stalingrad raged on the banks of the Don and the Volga rivers, and in the city proper, or rather what was left of it following merciless Nazi bombardments and stubborn defender fighting for every street, alley and house. The battle itself surpassed in scope and intensity all prior battles of #WWII. During that battle, more than 2.1 million people fought on both sides.

By the end of June 1942, the Nazis concentrated in the strip of land from Kursk to Taganrog on the front of 600-650 kilometers up to 35% of infantry, over 50% of armour and motorized divisions of the total number of Wehrmacht troops deployed on the Soviet-German front.

During the planning of the Stalingrad operation, the enemy had several objectives: to gain a foothold on the Volga River and thus deprive the #SovietUnion of control over one of the most important transportation arteries of the country. The capture of #Stalingrad, according to the assessment of the Nazi military command, would open the way for the Wehrmacht to the Caucasus, where the Germans hoped to obtain the most important resource for making the war machine continue — oil fields.

Traditionally, according to the historians, the Battle was divided into two stages:

• Defensive phase: from July 17 to November 18, 1942;
• Offensive phase: from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

During the first stage, July 17 - November 18, 1942, the Red Army had to conduct defensive operations and engaged the enemy in fierce street battles directly in the city. The forces of the 62nd and 64th Soviet armies, led by Vassily Chuikov, commander of the 62nd Army, engaged the troops of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht under the command of Lieutenant General Paulus.

By mid-November 1942, as a result of stubborn resistance and the deployment of the Red Army reserves favorable conditions were created for launching the counteroffensive. The plan for the operation code-named #Uranus was developed under the leadership of Army General Georgy Zhukov and Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.

During the large-scale counteroffensive at Stalingrad (November 19, 1942 — February 2, 1943), Soviet forces conducted the operation #Ring, during which the Red Army managed to drive Paulus's 6th Army into a “cauldron” between the Don and Volga rivers. Realizing the futility of further action, by the end of January the Nazi units began to surrender en masse.

On January, 31, General Paulus (promoted by Hitler to to General-Field Marshal), together with other German generals and officers at Stalingrad finally surrendered. On February 2, the last pockets of Nazi resistance were eliminated.

The #BattleOfStalingrad ended with a complete victory of the Red Army. For the first time ever the all-consuming Nazi war machine was weighed, measured and found wanting. This marked a turning point not only in the the Great Patriotic War, but that of the entire #WWII.

In Stalingrad, Wehrmacht and its auxiliary forces from the Axis lost 1/4 of all troops deployed by the Reich on the Eastern front. Total enemy losses amount to ~1.5 million soldiers and officers.

From that moment forward the strategic initiative was on the side of the Red Army. The Victory in Stalingrad created favourable conditions for further full-scale counteroffensive of Soviet forces to expel the enemy from the Nazi-occupied territory of the USSR.

🌐 The defeat of the bulk of the enemy troops not only shocked the world and significantly raised the international prestige of the Soviet Union and its Armed Forces, but also contributed to the strengthening and tightening of the anti-Hitler coalition.

🎖 Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was in large achieved through superior strategy and tactics, but also due to mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, officers and hard work of all those on the home front. 112 participants of the Battle were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

#WeRemember

February 2nd, 2025, marks 82 years since the army of German Feldmarschall Paulus surrendered to the Red Army in 1943.

This video commemorates the anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, which became the turning point of World War II.

🚩 ⭐️

In memory of Vasily Bugrov

Siege of Leningrad, 872 days of hell. A day like an endless nightmare. Nights filled with hunger and the sounds of air raid sirens - the sound that eats into your ears forever and make your blood run cold in your veins.

Wrapped in a sheepskin coat, the girl Masha ran into the house, shaking a skinny red cat in front of her.
- Moooom! Vaska caught a rat!
- Oh, what a fine fellow, our breadwinner! Give her here, let's cook.

There really was a strangled rat dangling from Vasily's teeth. Natalya, without any disgust, freed the cat from this burden and turned the prey over in her dry hands, disfigured by hard work.

- Good, fat. The goulash will be excellent. Oh, Vaska, we would be lost without you! - she turned to the cat and stroked his bony back, - my golden one, my golden one!

Vasily jumped on the bench. His yellow-green eyes matched the most ordinary wild, reddish colour. Once he had a muzzle and looked important, but that was a long time ago, before the blockade. Now everyone who lives in this house resembles walking dead. All who are left are his mother, the girl and the cat.

Masha woke up in a sweat, shouting: "Mom, run, there's an alarm!", but Mom answered her: "Daughter, you were dreaming, go back to sleep." But the sound was so clear, so loud, that Masha listened for a long time and hugged the cat tighter.

Will this hell ever end? Year after year, day after day... Hunger. Fear. And bombs. Here it is, a childhood without colours, life in the blackest tones.

If it weren't for Vaska, Masha and her mother would have been starving long ago. Every morning he went hunting and brought back mice or even, like yesterday, a well-fed rat. Mice were turned into soup, rats into goulash.

Vaska never ate his prey on the sly - he sat and waited for his portion. The best portion. Natalya always gave him the best piece, because he was the breadwinner, the provider, because he was their main hero.

At night, the three of them slept: Natalya with her daughter on either side of Vaska, warming them with his body heat.

Vasily felt that there would be a bombing long before it started.
- Masha, look! Vaska is worried, quickly grab your things and let's run!
Vasily was spinning around near the door and meowing pitifully.

Natalya grabbed the most essential; water, the girl Masha and the cat, and rushed headlong to the bomb shelter. Along the way, she took the utmost care of Vaska - so that, God forbid, he would not be taken and eaten.

The feeling of hunger was permanent, could not be turned off. The most excruciating moment was when the pitiful ration was terrifyingly quickly approaching the end.

Crumbs for the birds. Natalya collected each of them and kept them like pearls. They would come in handy in the spring, when the birds returned to their land. Having scattered them in a suitable place, Natalya hid in ambush with Vaska. Vasily's jump was always accurate.

There! The bird in his teeth, but he was unable to hold it for long, because, like everyone else, he was very weak and thin. At that moment, Natalya came to his aid. So, from spring until autumn, in addition to rats and mice, birds added variety to their diet.

After the blockade was lifted, when there was more food, and then when the war finally ended, Natalya always gave Vaska the best piece from the table and said: "Eat, eat, Vasenka! You are our breadwinner!"

Vaska the cat passed away in 1949. Natalya quietly buried him in the cemetery and, so that the place would not be trampled, put up a cross with the inscription «Vasily Bugrov».

Because he was not 'just a cat', but a real member of the family. Because they would have been long gone if not for this fluffy one with a wild red colour and sideburns on his cheeks.

Later, Natalya herself lay down next to Vasily, and then Mashenka was laid next to them.

So they all lie together, side by side, as in the terrible, endless days of the blockade, and dear Vasenka warms them with his love.

Based on a true story. The cat's name has not been changed.

Source

@BeornAndTheShieldmaiden
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