Behind the Iron Curtain

[Excerpt from a historical account of the civil unrest within the Soviet Union, by Dr. Luke Manor Banda]

Although the relationship between the USSR and the United States had warmed in the past few decades, there was little doubt that vestiges of the Iron Curtain still hung icily between the two countries. Indeed, more than a century since its inception, Vladimir Lenin's Communist vision still found itself alive and well within the oft-expanded boundaries of Mother Russia. But with each new Soviet annexation, the USSR began to find that the public outcry no longer came from just the Americans but from amongst its own citizens.

The Mensheviks, as they came to be known, opposed the aggressive Soviet expansion doctrine. While at first only a minority, the Menshevik movement continued to grow rapidly. Events would ultimately culminate following the Soviet-Indian Intervention with the outbreak of civil unrest led by the Mensheviks and the beginning of the Second Purge.