Living in the U.S., I had overlooked the fact that it’s the week of the Eurovision Song Contest – being held, for the first time ever, in Russia. A quick tour of the website suggests that the music is as reliably dreadful as ever, but the highlight must be the three-paragraph history of the host nation:
The history of Russia is long and complicated. Generally, it is believed that the cultural foundations of modern Russia were laid down a bit over 1000 years ago. After Kyiv lost its leading position within the empire, the Grand Duchy of Moscow laid down the political foundations for what we know as the Russian Federation. Between 1300 and 1800, the Russian influence stretched out from Eastern Europe all the way to Alaska.
As for many countries, the 20th century was a difficult period in history. After a bloody Civil War, Russia and three other territories formed the Soviet Union in 1922. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union with the largest invasion mankind had ever seen. The Union paid a high price and millions lost their lives, but the bond of countries emerged as a superpower.
Between the 1950s and the late 1980s, the Soviet Union and the United States entered into a tentious and competitive era also known as the Cold War. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War ended.
Always good to mix a bit of imperial nostalgia with the Euro-pop…
