In the information space, sometimes there are sonorous sticky names that are tenacious due to their imagery. They are not related to the ideological characteristics of individual countries or nations. That is, the world perceives them unambiguously. For example, there is such a saying: "Upper Volta with missiles." Strangely enough, it is now associated with Russia. Even the president of the Russian Federation used this expression in his interviews. Let's see what this means and where it came from.
We will deal with the words
If everything is clear with missiles, no one will interpret this term in two ways, then Upper Volta requires clarification. The fact is that this name survived the education that signified. It was a small West African country. From the sixtieth to eighty-fourth years of the last century, it was called Upper Volta. With missiles, by the way, it was not so bad there, but nothing. The poorest state, and even unstable. Now we can find it on a map under the name of Burkina Faso. With the change of name in the state, little has changed.
In special publications you can find information about life there. She is depressing. There is no economy in the country, laws are more reminiscent of those that are installed in the jungle. About science and the slightest acceptable education is out of the question. The country can be safely described as the edge of civilization, which is quite enough for our reasoning. Here it was and remains today - Upper Volta. With missiles, she never seems to be.
Statement by
Due to the mega size of the information space and the same number of interpreters and “insiders,” some confusion arose. In one, everyone agrees. Upper Volta with missiles was first called the USSR. Some defend the authorship of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. In fact, this is a uniform "slander". This venerable lady could think so, even agree that the USSR was the Upper Volta with missiles, only she could not pronounce such an education out loud.
Aristocrats in those days were strictly taught not to show their public contempt through “loud” expressions. Helmut Schmidt, Federal Chancellor of Germany (until 1982), called Upper Volta with missiles called the superpower that had sunk into oblivion. Some curious researchers decided to find the source. Today we do not particularly imagine what life was like in Germany. And the Germans are unlikely to remember the nuances. But some information still managed to get.
Results confused even more
As it turned out, West Germany only seemed a very free country. In fact, everything was, to put it mildly, somewhat different. Schmidt could not utter the phrase “Upper Volta with missiles” aloud to the USSR. As they say, if this happened really, then only late at night, under a thick blanket. The Federal Chancellor - a man far from stupid, clearly realized what a powerful army stands under his side.
He would not tease Brezhnev. The consequences could be sad. In any case, evidence of his authorship was not found (serious). By the way, this phrase has been attributed to him since 1993. The book is written by a group of American Sovietologists. Perhaps it was they who coined the term “Upper Volta with missiles”?
Another version
If you look for traces of this expression in print sources, you will come across an article published in the Financial Times. It is called "Soviet Export of Technology." Posted by David Buchan. Date of publication 09/14/1984 Perhaps this is the first non-verbal mention of this loud and offensive nickname. In the cited article, Buchan criticized the superpower for increasing its military power, not paying attention to the needs of the population (maybe justly).
What does Upper Volta with missiles mean?
Who said the first such phrase, in the end, is not so important. It scattered around the world, becoming generally accepted. They use it now for the Russian Federation when they want to emphasize the underdevelopment of its economy, backwardness, and inferiority. And if some time ago the offensive nickname was practically forgotten, now it has surfaced again. The reason for this is a propaganda company directed against the "aggressor country." It goes in the West, not stopping, and not just a raging storm, but tsunami waves covering the consumer of information. Given the fact that the Russian Federation is constantly conducting military exercises, by the way, very successful, the term has found its second life.
Nowadays, its use is connected with the idea of ​​inculcating to Western (and not only) peoples the idea of ​​the complete collapse of Russia as a state, its lack of chances of stability and return to world politics. If in the eighties this expression showed the level of civilization of the power, actively influencing the processes vital to the whole of mankind, now they are willing to “get away from the real state of affairs”.
Why is the expression again put into circulation?
To begin with, in 2014 the world began to change rapidly. Perhaps the process started earlier, only to humanity it was presented from the Maidan events. This is a kind of visual reference point in the process of tightening the confrontation between the Russian Federation and the West. It can also be considered the beginning of the "restructuring" of the world order. So, anyway, experts say. The West is trying by all means to prove to its citizens (and to the rest of the world) the inferiority of the Russian Federation, its failure as a leader. Hence the revival of the expression "Upper Volta with missiles." What does it mean in the mouth of critics, especially not worth guessing. You can treat literally. They see the Russian Federation as an extremely backward country with terrible weapons. If you follow this logic, then we come to a disappointing conclusion: it must be neutralized. Separation and deprivation of the "nuclear button", as it seems given to caring propagandists. What should Russia answer to this? Yes, our bloggers and journalists did not stand aside. Now on the network you can find a lot of materials about the "Upper Volta". But in them it is not only with missiles, but also with new technologies, formidable weapons, gold and so on. Others, acting in the spirit of Western propaganda, add “with loans”, “with debts” and so on. This is how you like it. Or, if you dig deeper, who has a homeland.