1000 years of European boarder changes

[P5-133XL]

In the recent light of Russian/Crimea/Ukrainian border issues I thought of giving some long-range context.

http://loiter.co/v/watch-as-1000years-of-european-boarders-change/

 

[Mercutio]

I really don't have any strong feelings about whether or not Ukraine should control the Crimea or not. Putin is a shithead and Russia is run by criminals, but the same can really be said for the US at this point. Apparently it was just cheaper to take the land by force of arms than to just buy the land.

I don't think the EU is going to hold up but that doesn't mean that most of Europe is going to fall off the "best places on Earth to live" list any time soon.

 

[Chewy509]

Thank you, that was really interesting.

As for should Ukraine control the Crimea? Shouldn't the people who live there be given the option to a, stay with Ukraine, b, become an independent state, c, become a part of Russia.

That's what happened in Timor-Leste... (Mind you, they were invaded by Indonesia in the 70's). The people of East Timor went to the polls, and voted to remove the local government control from Indonesia and reform as an independent state (with the help of Australia and the UN). Shouldn't the people in the Crimea be given the choice?

PS. Not trying to turn this into a political discussion.

 

[ddrueding]

What the people want is tricky because different people want different things. Asking the people what they want while surrounded by Russian troops seems unlikely to return a valid result.

I'd recommend the vlogbrothers video on the topic as a quick overview.

 

[P5-133XL]

I just haven't heard of countries extending borders by purchase except for Alaska and the Louisiana purchase. Using the military or diplomacy is much more common. Citizens, generally don't like the concept that their allegiance they can be bought and paid for.

Personally, I don't think Putin has much validity to stand on, but that has rarely matters once the military gets involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Russian_military_intervention_in_Ukraine seems to be a reasonable synopsis of what has happened recently.

If you would like more historical background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea

 

[LunarMist]

I just haven't heard of countries extending borders by purchase except for Alaska and the Louisiana purchase. Using the military or diplomacy is much more common. Citizens, generally don't like the concept that their allegiance they can be bought and paid for.

In olden times a country may have sold the land as they figured it would be taken over eventually anyway.

You forgot the Gadsden Purchase. The acquisition of Florida is also considered by some to be a purchase.