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Elvira Bary
  • 3 months ago
Learn why independence has always been out of reach for ordinary Russians in this video!

👉 What World Leaders NEED to Know about Russia: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6d9EIByxz1AdkmIOYUlrDd0rmByq5zSN

Why do Russians keep living under dictators? Today, I explore some surprising historical reasons why independence has always been out of reach for ordinary Russians—and how the system keeps people in check even now.

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MY HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK SERIES
➡️ Russian Treasures (a historical novel about the Bolshevik Revolution and Russian Civil War) https://amzn.to/43PutaM
➡️ The White Ghosts' Empire (a historical novel about the Russian refugees who destroyed the myth of white supremacy in China in the 1920s) https://amzn.to/4owy45Z
➡️ The Prince of the Soviets (a historical novel about a foreign journalist who unexpectedly becomes part of the Soviet elite in Stalin’s Moscow) https://amzn.to/47OXZyM

MY ADVENTURE / FANTASY THRILLER
➡️ The Girl from the Labyrinth (a dark fantasy novel about a young queen, cast from her throne, who must save the man she loves af
Transcript
00:00Throughout history, the people of Russia have lived under the yoke of dictatorship.
00:06But why is that? Why don't they stand up for their rights?
00:11They know other countries live in democracies and often live much better lives.
00:17Are Russians their own worst enemies, unable to recognize what's truly in their best interest?
00:25Independent thinking starts with physical independence.
00:30People can defend their rights when they have resources that can be easily taken away.
00:37In these situations, it's less frightening to displease a boss because you are your own master.
00:45But in Russia, that's not the case.
00:48Today, I'll share some surprising reasons why Russia keeps falling under the rule of dictators.
00:55My name is Elvira Berry. I'm an author.
00:58And if you find today's insights surprising and interesting, please give this video a thumbs up.
01:04Since I don't support the war in Ukraine, I can no longer publish my books in Russia.
01:09And I'm rebuilding my audience from scratch, right here on YouTube.
01:14Books only sell when readers know the offer and believe they are worth their time and attention.
01:20If you'd like to help me rise from the ashes, please support my videos with your likes, comments, and subscriptions.
01:33The Russian population has long depended on those in power due to chronic poverty.
01:39A situation that has persisted for centuries.
01:43Peasants could not accumulate wealth for several reasons.
01:47First, the farming season in most regions of Russia started a month later and ended a month earlier than in
01:56Central and Western Europe.
01:58In earlier times, this meant that peasants could only store enough food to survive, not enough to save.
02:06Additionally, animal husbandry struggled in Russia due to harsh winters.
02:12The heavy snowfall made grazing impossible.
02:16And to keep even one cow, a peasant needed to gather large amounts of hay.
02:22Every day spent gathering hay was a day taken away from gathering food for their family.
02:28And as mentioned, the growing season was very short.
02:34Look at medieval depictions of peasants.
02:37In Western Europe, they wore leather shoes and belts.
02:42In Russia, they wore bust shoes made of bark and used robes as their belts.
02:48The reason is simple – leather was too expensive.
02:58Another reason for chronic poverty was the poorest soil in most of Russia.
03:03Growing anything required immense effort and a lot of fertilizer.
03:09Manure was scarce because there weren't enough livestock.
03:13So peasants used ash from burned forests.
03:17This was a labor-intensive process.
03:20First, the forests had to be burned.
03:23Then stubs uprooted, unburned debris cleared,
03:27and only then could the land be plowed and sown.
03:31Because of the poor soil, villages were spread far apart,
03:35which actually helped Russia avoid the devastating plagues that ravaged Europe in medieval times.
03:42As a result, Russia became the most populous country in Europe.
03:48The lands in southwestern Russia and Ukraine were much more fertile, with a milder climate.
03:54But these areas were constantly raided by Tatars, who were vassals of the Ottoman Empire.
04:01The wild fields were as fertile as the American prairies, but using them was dangerous.
04:07So convicts were exiled there, along with peasants escaping their landlords.
04:13This is how the Cossacks emerged in Ukraine and southern Russia,
04:18a unique class of warrior peasants who served as border guards.
04:23Things only changed when Russia defeated the Tatars, but it took several centuries.
04:28Finally, after gaining the abridged black soil regions,
04:32the Russian Empire began exporting grain to Europe.
04:36But all the profits went not to those who grew the grain,
04:40but to those who sold it, the aristocrats and the Tsar.
04:45Russia provided Europe with cheap grain, giving it significant influence over European affairs.
04:52But in the mid-19th century, Europe found a new supplier of cheap resources – the United States.
05:01This caused a collapse in raw material prices and shattered the economic model of Tsarist Russia.
05:08Serfdom was abolished soon after, but not because the Tsar was kind-hearted
05:13and wanted to deprive himself and his nobles of valuable property.
05:19Instead, serfs had become a burden rather than a source of income.
05:29Russian peasants also couldn't accumulate wealth because iron, which was essential for making tools,
05:37was prohibitively expensive.
05:39Iron ore deposits in the Urals were only exploited starting in the late 17th century.
05:46And even then, transporting it over a thousand miles was a challenge.
05:51Before that, Russia had to import all its iron.
05:56For the same reason, Russians traditionally lacked weapons.
06:00There simply wasn't enough iron to make them.
06:03The Vikings, for instance, were able to conquer the Slavs and establish Kyiv and Rus because they had
06:12high-quality swords from the Frankish Empire.
06:16The Slavs, by contrast, had to defend themselves with either wooden clubs and spears or poorly made
06:23weapons forged from bog iron, which shattered on contact with a Viking sword.
06:33The biggest problem, however, was that the average subject of the Russian Empire
06:38could not sell their goods independently, even if they had valuable furs, beeswax, or an abandoned cabbage harvest.
06:48Trade was conducted via rivers, but Russia's major rivers all flowed in the wrong direction.
06:56The Arctic Ocean wasn't suitable for trade due to its terrible weather.
07:02The Caspian Sea had no outlet.
07:05The Ottoman Empire controlled access from the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea
07:10was under Swedish control until the early 18th century.
07:14Crafts in Russia left behind those in Western Europe for the same reasons.
07:19The domestic market was extremely poor. Peasants with little to no money could not buy much at decent prices.
07:32In such conditions, the only way to become wealthy was to create large estates
07:37with division of labor and a unified sales system.
07:42These estates were monasteries, aristocratic estates, and royal lands.
07:48The owner of the large estate could trade in bulk, making it profitable for sheer scale.
07:55But to create a large estate, resources had to be provided by the state.
08:01People could not earn wealth, but they could be granted it.
08:05Power in Russia has always been, and still is, based on gathering resources from controlled territories,
08:12and then redistributing them to loyal followers, who could then create their own larger estates,
08:20and leave off them.
08:22The state helped them establish trade, defense, and governance, while ensuring that these favored individuals
08:31remained dependent on it.
08:39Dependence on central authority did not disappear during the Soviet era.
08:44The state provided wages, education, housing, and health care.
08:50Rebelling against it meant losing everything, including your health and life.
08:55However, if you knew how to get along with officials and navigate the system,
09:01you became part of it and reap the benefits.
09:05When the USSR collapsed, little changed.
09:09Most Russians still worked for either the state or state-owned corporations,
09:15exporting oil, gas, and metals.
09:17If the state collapses, millions would lose their income.
09:22That's why they don't rebel.
09:25Imagine a typical Russian woman, Elena Smyrnova.
09:28She's 40, divorced, with one child and an elderly mother.
09:32Elena works at school, making her a government employee.
09:36She has a lot of debt, poor health, and her only asset is a two-room apartment
09:42in a dreary Soviet-era building.
09:44Yes, Elena dislikes what's happening in the country.
09:49And deep down, she hopes the war in Ukraine will end soon.
09:53But she will never say this publicly.
09:55Because if she's fired for lack of patriotism, it would mean the end of everything.
10:03To make ends meet, she needs to stay within the Ministry of Education's large state.
10:10On her own, she simply wouldn't survive.
10:14Elena fears the future and suspects the economic situation will worsen.
10:19But there is nothing she can do.
10:21She knows that no one will help her, except the state.
10:26From time to time, it gives her a raise or a bonus.
10:30That's all she can rely on.
10:37There's only one way to break this century-old curse.
10:41Those who depend entirely on the state need alternative sources of income.
10:46But how can this be achieved?
10:49The state does everything it can to keep Elena Smyrnova in its grip.
10:54The state has been crushed.
10:56Small businesses are struggling with skyrocketing inflation.
11:01And Elena can't start a business anyway.
11:04She doesn't know how.
11:06And she has no time to learn, as all her energy is spent working and caring for her family.
11:12She can't leave.
11:14She doesn't have the money.
11:16Besides, no one abroad is waiting for her.
11:20She does not know any languages.
11:22And her profession is only in demand within Russia.
11:26She belongs entirely to the state.
11:29And her only hope is to stay in her boss's good graces.
11:34If you have any ideas on how to change this situation, share them in the comments.

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