Marches to Capitols / Washington D.C. / Moscow

[Ernie]

This is a thread to discuss the similarities and differences between the march to the D.C. Capitol, January 6, 2021, and the march to Moscow, June 24, 2023.

[Ernie]

Both claimed to be the true patriots.

Both brought weapons with them.

Both shocked the world and their own country.

Both had a populist leader ordering the march to happen.

People died in both situations.


March to D.C. did not include a division of the military like the march to Moscow.

March to Moscow turned back before reaching the capitol.

Many more and larger weapons were included in the march to Moscow.

March to Moscow had 25,000 people. 120,000 people showed up at the D.C. mall.

The leader of the Moscow march fled to a neighboring country.

[Ken]

I don't see many similarities

One was a public protest over election results that turned violent and that certain organizers may have intended to turn violent. To the extent that there was an objective, it seems to have been to disrupt and delay certification of the election.

One was a military operation by a rogue quasi-private army with somewhat vague objectives that seem mostly to do with disagreements about the overall direction and leadership of military operations in Ukraine.

[Soloist]

Question can be raised about intent of those who marched on DC. There is no question as to the intent behind the March on Moscow.

Questions then can be raised as to what lies were fed to both. I doubt for example that the people marching on Moscow knew they would end up part of the Russian army. They were lied to.

[Szdfan]

Questions then can be raised as to what lies were fed to both. I doubt for example that the people marching on Moscow knew they would end up part of the Russian army. They were lied to.

Part of what seems to have sparked Prigozhin‘a coup attempt was a new requirement that mercenaries and volunteer soldiers fighting for Russia would have to sign new contracts with the Russian military, which meant that Prigozhin was going to lose control of Wagner Group soldiers in Russia anyway. It’s my understanding from the deal is that only Wagner Group soldiers that didn’t participate In the coup would now be given contracts with the Russian army.

[Szdfan]

Both had a populist leader ordering the march to happen.

Prigozhin isn’t really a populist leader. He’s an oligarch with his own paramilitary that the Kremlin used for military operations around the world while maintaining plausible deniability. Outside of Putin’s patronage, Prigozhin didn’t really have political support.

I think that before and during the coup, Prigozhin was trying to transition into a populist leader, but that’s not really been his role until now.

There’s also a difference between a populist leader inciting his followers to march versus the leader (and owner) of a paramilitary ordering his private military to move towards a target.

[Ken]

Question can be raised about intent of those who marched on DC. There is no question as to the intent behind the March on Moscow.

Really?

What in your mind was the actual intent behind the march on Moscow?

Because none of the news sources I have read seem to have a definitive grasp on the actual motivations and intent behind it.