On August 24, 1991, on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, guards made routine patrols in the Kremlin. When passing by Akhromeyev's office, the guards found the door open.
Gently pushing open the door - the marshal was quietly leaning against the window, with a rope tied around his neck, looking like he had been dead for a long time. Five suicide notes written on sticky notes are neatly placed on the table.
The marshal's suicide was painful for many, but there were others who expressed incomprehension. Every country in history has experienced ups and downs, and the rise of a new nation is not necessarily a good thing, so is it worth it to commit suicide for it?
Akhromeyev was a Soviet people, a fighter of the Soviet Union, who participated in the struggle of the Soviets and witnessed the glory of the Soviets. Therefore, the helplessness of the country in the quagmire makes it impossible for him to face it calmly, and can only express his anger and sadness through death.
It may be difficult for ordinary people to understand the despair of watching the disintegration of the motherland, and it may be even more difficult to empathize with the feelings of soldiers.
Let's take a look today about why the USSR collapsed, what struggles Marshal Akhromeyev went through, and what is contained in the 5 suicide notes.
Akhromeyev devoted his life to the Motherland. Born in Tambov in 1923 to an ordinary family, he left home at the age of 17 to join the Red Army and participated in the German-Soviet War.
Through this series of battles, Akhromeyev gradually grew from an ordinary soldier to a junior officer.
From the moment he joined the army, Akhromeyev did not think about living a comfortable life and never thought about looking for a relatively safe job, such as logistics. His goal has always been to be on the front lines.
Even after becoming an officer, Akhromeyev did not choose to command in a safe area, but insisted on being with the fighters at all times, believing that only in this way could he win everyone's respect and trust.
With this belief in mind, Akhromeyev joined the Communist Party of China in 1942, when Leningrad was besieged by German troops and 1.5 million people were killed. Of the 32 people who fought with him, only two survived.
In extremely cold weather, the outside temperature is close to minus 50 and snow covers everything. The German siege lasted 18 months, and Akhromeyev never went into his room to rest and keep warm. Day and night, he stayed outside, and he almost forgot about the concept of warmth. During this time, he experienced hunger, bitter cold, and fighting.
Akhromeyev's bravery and fearlessness led him all the way to the rank of division commander.
Despite becoming a division commander, he continues to train. In 1952, he completed training in mechanized troops, graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1967, and subsequently rose to the rank of Chief of the General Staff of the Group Army.
Akhromeyev's promotion was phenomenal, almost every five years. By 1975, at the age of 52, Akhromeyev had been promoted to general and held the post of high command. He experienced the torment of war in his life, but also achieved great things because of it.
In 1979, Akhromeyev orchestrated an invasion of Afghanistan and succeeded in occupying Afghanistan on December 25 of the same year, leading to the collapse of the country's regime.
In the 1983 year, Akhromeyev rose to the post of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Despite his rising ranks, Akhromeyev gradually felt uneasy inside, as if a storm was coming. However, the fighter who had fought on the battlefield was not afraid, and he maintained a high level of vigilance.
When he witnessed the country in turmoil, especially the anti-army movement of the "democrats" led by Yeltsin, Akhromeyev firmly expressed his position, openly accusing Yelinqin of his actions.
After many years of revolution, Akhromeyev was convinced that socialism was the result of 70 years of hard struggle by the working people, not Yelinchin's rash rhetoric. He actively opposed the actions of Yeltsin and others, and stated that he would not sit idly by.
He could not understand and accept that Hitler, who had failed to destroy the Soviet Union even with a large number of troops, was now completely negating everyone's efforts because of the insistence of one leader.
On 19 August 1991, Akhromeyev and some military representatives attempted a coup d'état, but it lasted only three days.
Realizing that the Soviet Union was irretrievable, he decided to commit suicide. On August 22, 1991, Akhromeyev died in his office, leaving behind five suicide notes.
In the early hours of August 22, Akhromeyev's body was found, his face showing deep despair, and the rope strangulation marks on his neck were visible, but there were no other injuries.
His whole life was devoted to the Motherland, so the collapse of the Motherland meant the end of his life for him. In a suicide note without a recipient, he wrote: "I can't continue to live, I've fought to the last moment of my life. Now the country is torn apart, social morality is degraded, and sooner or later someone will be responsible for the collapse of the USSR. ”
Akhromeyev was deeply sorry for the fact that the homeland was above all else, and the family was always on the back burner, and he left a letter to his family encouraging them to support each other, live well, and not be ridiculed by others. There was also a letter to a friend asking to take care of his family and help bury his remains. Another suicide note without a recipient was filled with the frustration of losing the Soviet Union, and Akhromeyev's mood was elusive.
In the fourth suicide note, the marshal recalled the 50 rubles owed by the canteen for a meal and entrusted a friend to help pay it back. In his last suicide note, Akhromeyev wrote in a self-deprecating tone: "I was such a bad expert when it came to choosing how to commit suicide, the first time the rope broke, the suicide failed, and I tried again." ”
The wife looked at her husband's cold body, read the suicide note he left behind, and kissed his forehead with tears streaming down her face. She did not expect that her husband did not die on the battlefield, but at the hands of his compatriots.
Relatives and friends held a funeral for Marshal Akhromeyev with grief, but it didn't take long for someone to destroy the tomb and steal the marshal's military medal, revealing the chaos of the social order at that time.
As for the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union, it dates back to December 25, 1991, when the red flag was lowered from the Kremlin, announcing the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which marked the end of the world's first socialist state. More than 30 years have passed, and there is still curiosity about why the Soviet Union collapsed at that time and its relationship with China, and why the Soviet Union was called Big Brother. The full name of the Soviet Union is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which consists of 15 equal socialist republics.
At that time, the main members included the Russian Federation, Ukraine and other countries, and the countries of the Union enjoyed equal rights.
Back in the days of Tsarist Russia, these fifteen small states were actually a common power, Tsarist Russia. However, Tsarist Russia was divided into fifteen small states, each ruling independently. The creation of the Soviet Union reunited these scattered countries.
In its heyday, the USSR was a "red empire", on a par with the United States. Occupying one-sixth of the world's territory, it is rich in resources, especially dependent on oil, which allowed it to reach its global peak in the 70s.
The Soviet Union was not inferior to the United States in military terms, with the largest army in the world, the third largest population in the world, and the second in the navy; Missiles and nuclear ** are enough to destroy the planet many times.
However, why did such a powerful Soviet Union finally collapse? The reasons can be analyzed one by one.
The collapse of the Soviet Union was partly due to the outbreak of the economic crisis. Since the beginning of the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union, the country has had to bear heavy military expenditures. In the 80s of the last century, these economic burdens were overloaded, which led to a fiscal deficit of 300 billion rubles, severe inflation, and a paralysis of the economy.
Much more serious is the change in the thinking of the Soviets. Due to economic difficulties, people no longer believed in the past history and began to oppose Marxism. Especially after Brezhnev came to power, a privileged stratum was rapidly formed, theft was serious, and even the private appropriation of state property appeared, and the productive forces stagnated.
Experts estimate that the Soviet Union's privileged class numbered as many as five or six hundred thousand at that time, and the wealth of the Soviet Union was almost concentrated in the hands of these privileged people, and the wind of corruption had gradually eroded the entire country.
Akhromeyev has openly criticized Academician Arbatov and Renov for attacking the Navy and Army, stressing: "Our soldiers are all from workers and peasants, there are no privileges, you have to pay for the food you eat, you have to pay rent for the houses you live in, everything is open and transparent." ”
After Gorbachev came to power, Akhromeyev expected the situation to improve, as Gorbachev carried out a series of reforms, first of all economic reforms. However, due to a lack of firm determination, these reforms have not been thorough and many supporting measures have been lacking. Gorbachev still continued the traditional model of heavy industry and failed to effectively revitalize the economy, resulting in a serious decline in the living standards of the people. In addition, his reforms touched the interests of the "privileged class", causing their fierce resentment.
With the decline in the standard of living of the population, the corruption of the bureaucracy, the collusion of ** with each other, the confidence of the Soviet people dropped significantly, and they began to lose trust in history and socialism.
In fact, changes in people's minds did not happen instantaneously. In 1956, Khrushchev made a secret report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, criticizing Stalin, causing an uproar and sowing the seeds of suspicion. People began to deny history, to deny Stalin, and even to socialism.
After Gorbachev came to power in 1985, his widespread criticism of Stalin eventually escalated into an opposition to Marxist ideas, which, combined with his advocacy of democratization and pluralism, led to a flood of anti-socialist ideas.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union had maintained a strong power, so the older generation did not want to see the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the referendum, 76Four percent expressed opposition to the disintegration, especially among the military. These soldiers have endured wars and fought hard to achieve victory, and they find it difficult to accept the status quo of the easy disintegration of the country, as exemplified by the coup d'état led by Akhromeyev.
However, many Western countries engaged in unfriendly intervention for political purposes, encouraging the incitement of the Soviet people to support Gorbachev's new ideas. Under the internal and external troubles, the Soviet Union began to have independence and **, which eventually led to its collapse. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev resigned.
As a former member of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation was reborn after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some expressed regret over the collapse of the Soviet Union, but at the same time pointed out that any attempt to overturn the status quo and return to the Soviet Union was unrealistic.
The trend towards the collapse of the Soviet Union was inevitable, and its direction of development had deviated from its original track. People's livelihood security is crucial, if even the basic livelihood is not guaranteed, how can we maintain confidence in society?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited part of the inheritance, but due to excessive debt, severe inflation, and a difficult life for the people. In order to recover the economy, the state can only cheap** some factories that cannot be operated, but this has not solved Russia's financial problems, but has led to the loss of national wealth.
It took decades of hard work for Russia to gradually regain its influence in the world, but it is still not on par with the former Soviet Union. Ukraine is now known as the breadbasket of Europe, with relatively developed industry and agriculture, but heavy industry still dominates. Despite its small size, Belarus has a well-developed manufacturing and metallurgical industry, as well as an equally prosperous agriculture and animal husbandry, ranking in the middle of the world.
Turkmenistan is internationally recognized as a neutral country and has the world's fifth-largest natural gas reserves. Natural gas is the country's mainstay and is now doing well. However, there are also some less developed countries, such as Kyrgyzstan, Tanjikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, etc., which are relatively low in terms of per capita area and per capita income.
Why does our country call the USSR Big Brother? During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the United States were juxtaposed superpowers, while New China had just survived the war, and many countries chose to remain isolated from the nascent China. At this time, only the Soviet Union provided us with tremendous support, especially in the early days of the founding of New China.
The newly founded New China faced isolated pressure from the capitalist countries, but the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with us the day after the founding of New China, providing us with strong support. Whether it was the enlightenment of Marxism during the October Revolution, the joint resistance to aggression during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, or the industrial construction after the founding of New China, the Soviet Union helped China get on the right track with its manpower, technology and equipment.
Based on this support, we do not exaggerate the honorific title of "Big Brother" of the USSR.
What was China's attitude after the collapse of the Soviet Union? When the collapse of the Soviet Union was announced, there was widespread regret in the country that a powerful giant who had led us on the road to socialism had fallen. Sino-Soviet relations have always been complicated, but during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, as well as when New China was first founded, the Soviet Union provided us with a lot of help, and Sino-Soviet relations have always remained friendly.
Therefore, when the collapse of the Soviet Union was announced, China was full of emotion, but it was helpless, because we, like the Soviet Union, were socialist countries.
On the whole, the collapse of the USSR was not beneficial to our country. The camp of socialist countries has lost a pillar and has also weakened its ability to confront American power.
On an emotional level, the USSR was a huge help to us. Without the support of the USSR, China's industrial start-up could have been long in the evening. We are grateful for the assistance of the Soviet Union in the past.
The collapse of the Soviet Union is a thing of the past, and its collapse is a constant reminder of the challenges we will face and the pitfalls we will need to avoid.
It is said that the suicide of Akhromeyev was a real tragedy, because his death reflected the turmoil of that era.
However, it is undeniable that Akhromeyev was a real fighter. At the critical moment of the rise and fall of the country, he did not sit idly by, tried, tried, tried to redeem the USSR and resolve the contradiction between faith and reality, but in the end ended in failure.
Upon learning of the irreparable facts, all the disappointment condensed into despair, which eventually led to the great marshal ending his life with hemp rope with his own hands.
The five suicide notes he left behind became the most profound commentary on his life.
Akhromeyev's whole life was devoted to Marxist-Leninist thought, and his patriotic feelings are worth learning and pondering for each of us.