The theme of victimization in East European and Russian history has been a prominent motif for centuries. Look at the cultivation of historical memory. Russians speak of the trauma of invasions by Mongols, Poles, Swedes, and Germans. I Treaty of Trianon which is equated with dismemberment. For the Baltic states the culprit has been occupation by tsarist and Soviet Russia.
Historical interpretation is shaped in good measure by the selection of facts.
And as a rule, nations remember and even cultivate the memory of their mistreatment at the hands of others, but not their mistreatment of others. The peoples of East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union have suffered extraordinary reverses in history. I truly believe this is the case. It was one of the first powerful realizations I had as a graduate student studying in detail the seemingly unending litany of national disasters. But for mental health and national and spiritual recovery, dwelling on reverses will not help.