>Only the repression is not yet so harsh (arguably).
Is it?
France: "Article 431-9-1, now stipulates a sentence of one year's imprisonment and a fine of €15,000 for voluntarily concealing all or part of the face "without legitimate reason" whilst attending a demonstration "during or at the end of which disturbances to public order are committed or are likely to be committed."" [0]
Meanwhile in Canada: "Bill C-309 became law, banning the wearing of masks during a riot or unlawful assembly, carrying a maximum ten-year prison sentence with a conviction of the offence." [1]
But I don't understand, right, it's different, Georgian masked rioters are pro-democracy freedom fighters, and protesters in the West are forces of darkness.
>I don't think its fair to paint all who fled into the forests in such broad strokes
That's what Estonians nationalists tell.
"The findings of this article have implications for understanding Baltic and European collective memory. The studied memoirs consistently share the same themes: the Baltic states were purely victims of the Soviets and Nazis; Soviet occupation was worse than Nazi occupation for the titular ethnicities; the Baltic Waffen-SS legions did not commit atrocities; and the Holocaust was solely a German crime. As scholars have argued (Katz Citation2016, Citation2017; Mälksoo Citation2014; Radonić Citation2018; Subotić Citation2019), these rhetorical strategies represent an adaptation to, rather than an acceptance of, the Western narrative of the Holocaust in Estonia and Latvia. This is evident in the omission of Jewish Bolshevism as a threat to Europe and the distancing of Estonians and Latvians from involvement in genocide, which produces a clear-cut story of patriotic defense against the genocidal Soviet Union. The adaptation has had an effect on the wider European narrative, as increasingly more European politicians and commentators buy into the argument that communism was equal to fascism. In striving to emphasize the European credentials of the Baltic states, without accepting any responsibility for assisting – knowingly or unknowingly – in the genocidal Nazi project, Estonian and Latvian Legion veterans have produced a revisionist version of World War II history. In their narrative, which mimics wartime Nazi propaganda, collaboration with Nazi Germany demonstrated their essential Europeanness in the face of Asian Bolshevism. While they may lack some of the political correctness of official discourse, their arguments, with the exception of one author, correspond to the hegemonic narrative in the Baltic states today." [0]
But anyway, what makes Chichikov's "lifehack" "a result of having to work around the government that is seen more as an occupying force rather than the will of the people"?
>who refused to assimilate into the independent country
"Cultural genocide may also involve forced assimilation, as well as the suppression of a language or cultural activities that do not conform to the destroyer's notion of what is appropriate" [0]
>are the ones holding most of the blame here
Blaming the victim. Classic.
>Estonia is an exemplar in upholding human rights since regaining independence.
You must be kidding. Or you just don't count Russians as human.
And Estonian patriots enthusiastically helped[0] German Nazis make Estonia the first judenfrei (free of Jews) country if you don't count Luxembourg.[1]
These patriots had to flee to the forests when the time came to answer for their part in Holocaust and other crimes.
>This mindset is very much a result of centuries of having to work around the government that is seen more as an occupying force rather than the will of the people.