Remembering Soviet imperialismBy Andrzej DudaThe outbreak of World War II, which began on Sept. 1, 1939, with the invasion of Poland by the Nazi Third Reich, is one of the events annually commemorated throughout Europe. However, Sept. 17, 1939, the date of the Soviet Union’s aggression against Poland, is not as widely known. The German sphere of influence was to include western Poland, Lithuania and Romania, while the Soviet control was to extend over eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. As were other nations that fell within the Soviet sphere of influence after Russia’s victory over the Third Reich. Some of them were annexed directly to the Soviet Union as federal states — such was the fate of the Balts, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Source: Taipei Times September 17, 2022 07:52 UTC