viljar

Cost of surviving(food, shelter, boose) - yes. What about cost of having trip around the world for vacation, building your retirement fund, price of the iphone, car?

Yeahh, go to Poland and tell them how they "helped" nazis and that's why they were run over by Soviets:)

EDIT: Culturally we were even farther from CCCP than Bulgaria, I guess, but that is my opinion only formed from my own experience visiting all those countries You have mentioned.

People always had to grow vegetables in their dachas to survive up until the collapse of soviet union. In the beginning(1944+ for Estonia) authorities snatched everything you grew and shipped it to russia and murdered anyone who tried to oppose and some who didn't, just in case. No wonder Moscow lived prosperously:) I remember very vividly the empty shelves in shops as long as I can remember and my memories span few years before Gorbatchev came to power.

The referendum results are interesting. Estonian independence referendum results division matches closely the ratio of natives and civilian population of that the occupying power(USSR) transferred into the occupied territory. Same with the voluntary referendums organised by pro-Soviet front-organisations. The count of voters is close to illegal occupant's population. We were lucky. After breaking free we did not suffer such harsh conditions as you have mentioned(Gang leaders elected as mayors and governors who murdered anyone who dared to oppose them.) Economy boosted and living conditions improved drastically every year.

We can safely establish that part of the soviet union wanted to stay together and part of it did not. And the results varied drastically country-by-country - nation-by-nation.

> People were happy

Russians - may be, All the other oppressed and occupied nations - no. Cant vouch for other but almost every Estonian secretly hoped for freedom and despised Russians. When our chance came we acted swiftly. Soviet Union was just another form of Russian Empire and a way to try to control the world.