Mark Spaid - Falcon Down

“I vote we move on and board the plane,” Little Wolf said as he read the screen that it was time to board their charter and thought it was a good segue to help Belinda, whom he liked very much. They all found seats, first class of course and settled in for the trip to Washington D.C. There were groups of four seats in pairs facing each other. Warren and Ariel sat alone, which was their preference since they weren’t social animals. Tatiana and Dave sat across from Jozette and Andy which left Justin and Belinda across from Julieta and Little Wolf. Belinda had a thousand questions so she made sure Justin and she were across from the man with all the answers. Little Wolf was a wealth of knowledge and Dave and Justin were also well versed in history and international politics, Little Wolf was patient with Belinda and she liked to hear things from him. She sat down with her legs crossed and cupped hands on her knee then let out a sigh and smiled at Little Wolf. He was caught off guard and looked at Justin who grinned then leaned back and closed his eyes.

“You’re on, professor,” Justin said chuckling. Little Wolf turned to Julieta and she nodded towards Belinda.

“Okay, what about this Stalin guy?” Belinda asked.

“What?”

“Stalin, you said we’d continue talking about things on the plane ride. Well, here we are,” Belinda said.

“Ah, yes, now I remember, well, Joseph Stalin was a part of the Russian Revolution,” Little Wolf started.

“What’s that?”

“Russia is a very old nation and for centuries they were ruled by Tsars.”

“What’s a Tsar?”

“He’s like a King. He rules until he dies then his son becomes the Tsar.”

“What about daughters?”

“The oldest male always became Tsar first.”

“What if he didn’t have any sons?”

“Then the oldest female would rule.”

“She would be the Tsar?”

“Yes, except she was called Tsarina.”

“Were the Tsars bad?”

“Some were and some were good.”

“Is there a Tsar in Russia today?”

“No, that ended in 1917.”

“Why?”

“The Tsars had ruled for many years and the last royal family, called the Romanovs, ruled from 1613 until 1917.”

“Wow, so why did they get rid of the Tsars?”

“It was an old form of government that had outlived its usefulness. The Tsars were out of touch with the people. There were millions of Russians who were starving while the aristocrats lived in luxury.”

“What’s an aristocrat?”

“They were the wealthy landowners. Their families went back hundreds of years and the upper classes ruled over the lower classes.”

“Was that bad?”

“Not all the time but the rich are never very concerned about the poor.”

“So, what happened?”

“A group of people formed a party called the Bolsheviks. They were led by a man named Lenin and other guys such as Stalin and Trotsky plus many more. In 1917 the Russian people had had enough of being hungry and they revolted. The Bolsheviks led them and the Tsar was forced to abdicate.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he had to give up his position as Tsar.”

“What happened to him?”

“He, his wife, his four daughters and one son were imprisoned.”

“Why?”

“The Bolsheviks thought if they were left loose, they might try and raise their own army and get back in power.”

“I see and what happened to them?” Little Wolf looked at Justin and he nodded for Little Wolf to tell her. Belinda had a childlike naiveté and violence wasn’t something she liked or understood. Yes, she had faced death with her friends and had seen people killed but the specter of political slaughter by the hundreds and thousands was something she couldn’t understand.

“A year and half later in July of 1918 they were all shot.”

“The children too?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To show there was no going back to the old ways.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yes, but people would argue that under the Tsars millions starved to death and were shot by the Tsars’ police and that was terrible.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Belinda said and looked out the window for a moment. Little Wolf looked at Julieta thinking that Belinda might have had her curiosity peeked and he could rest. “Okay, now, did this Stalin guy have anything to do with killing them?” Justin chuckled and Little Wolf sighed.

“No, he was sort of out of the way at the time.”

“When did he become important?”

“Well, after the tsar was overthrown there was another man who led Russia, named Kerensky.”

“Was he good?”

“I guess so but he wanted to continue Russia’s involvement in World War I and the people did not want that.”

“So, he didn’t last.”

“That’s right, Miss Belinda, you’re picking things up fast.” Belinda smiled and wiggled like a school girl.

“Who took over for that Keren… guy?”

“Lenin took over and the first Communist nation was born.”

“Where was Stalin?”

“He was there and kind of waiting in the wings.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, Stalin knew that Lenin’s health was fragile. So, Stalin just waited and did whatever he could to ingratiate himself to Lenin.”

“What does ingratiate mean?”

“It means you kind of suck up and brown nose.”

“Ah, I see. So, what happened next?”

“In 1924 Lenin had a stroke and died.”

“Did Stalin take over?”

“Not right away it took about four years.”

“Why?”

“Stalin had a rival in Trotsky and they battled for power. Finally, Trotsky fled the country to save his skin and Stalin took over in 1928.”

“How long did he rule Russia?”

“Until he died in 1953.”

“What did he do that has people liking him today?”

“He expanded Russia’s borders by taking over countries and after World War II he took over all of Eastern Europe.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that. Was it still called Russia?”

“No, it became known as the Soviet Union.”

“Was Stalin bad?”

“Yes, very bad.”

“Why?”

“He was a paranoid psychopath.”

“Stanley Burnham was a psychopath, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“And Stalin was like him?”

“Yes, but on a much larger scale.”

“What does paranoid mean?”

“People who are paranoid think someone or everyone is out to get them.”

“What did Stalin do that was so bad?”

“He thought people were trying to assassinate him so he conducted purges.”

“What’s that?”

“He would have his secret police arrest people by the thousands all over the Soviet Union and have them executed.”

“How many?”

“It’s hard to know for certain but estimates are as high as sixty million.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“It’s possible.”

“All those people murdered so, he was a bad man?

“Very bad.”

“Then why would he be liked by people today?”

“That’s a great question, Miss Belinda and I can only answer it by saying that Russia is different than the United States.”

“Because we’re good and they’re bad?”

“No, it has to do with their history and ours.”

“What do you mean?”

“In America we fought the British for our independence and the British invaded the East coast in 1812 but other than that no country has ever attacked the United States, at least the continental United States.”

“What does the continental thing mean?”

“There are forty-eight states that make up what is called The Continental United States. Alaska and Hawaii are states but Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean and Alaska is way up northwest of Canada.”