To understand Russia’s brutal and violent side, it’s
important to step into his mindset, warped as it is. I go into this in greater
detail in another post [x], but to put it briefly here…

During his childhood, Russia experienced severe repression
and violence. As such, he wrongly learned to equate violence as both a show of
love and a solution to his problems. Not only that, but this violence continued
into his adulthood.

Ex: Russia considers General Winter and anyone he meets to be his friend. The key point to keep in mind here is that while General Winter
protects Russia, he also attacks him every year.

Ex: Russia naïvely refers to the other Allied powers are his
friends. Meanwhile, Lithuania has a more realistic view, stating that nations
operate on principles of self-interest.

Russia becomes saddened after hearing this.

Ex: Russia’s bosses are so notoriously cruel that they
torture him when they’re bored.

They once asked him to stop a tank with his own body.

Again, I’m not justifying any of what I’m about to show. I’m
providing an explanation and in doing so, I’m shedding light on how Russia’s
warped sense of mentality makes him incapable of differentiating between right
and wrong. In other words, he’s not able to possess any morals, despite often
having good intentions.

This amorality and confusion of what true friendship, or
rather, what a healthy relationship with another person entails ,are what caused
nations in the USSR a lot of pain, suffering, and fear.

What I don’t see a lot of people mention is that these nations
are fully aware of the fact that Russia is incapable of making these distinctions.
While they may be scarred and still fearful of Russia in present times, not all
of them hold this against him. There’s meaning and reason behind this abuse,
foul and irrational as the reasoning may seem to a normal person.

That said, let’s tie this back to the strips.

What living in Russia’s Home was like: 

Nations under Russian control became servants to Russia.

They were indoctrinated into saying what Russia wanted to
hear. There was no tolerance for dissent.

Similarly, while Russia represented them at world
conferences, the controlled nations would either stay home or act as servants
during these meetings.

Just like Russia was forced to build a waterway in impoverished
conditions, Latvia was tasked with building an entire railway on his own.

Notice how Russia pushes down on Latvia’s head when he protests to this.

Prussia is noted to have worked unprofitable jobs during his
time spent in the USSR. [x]

How they were affected:

Lithuania received many scars on his back. This can be both
as a result of violent historical events marking themselves on his body and
Russia physically causing these marks. It’s left open-ended.

The trauma of Russia’s abuse is enough to have him experience
flashbacks. 

Ex: Lithuania recalls declaring independence from the USSR. As
he imagines this, he remembers Russia squeezing his shoulders. Still immersed
in the memory, Lithuania begins squeezing Latvia’s and Estonia’s shoulders
without realizing it. He squeezes hard enough to cause them both pain.

In a volume 2 character note, Lithuania is said to be rehabilitating
from his time spent in the USSR.

I’ve said this before, but Russia pushing down on Latvia’s
head is likely a metaphor for political repression. Latvia’s growth was stunted
in the process.

What is of more relevance here is how ignorant Russia is to
Latvia’s suffering. He doesn’t connect Latvia’s trembling to feelings of fear
[of him].

To get Latvia to stop trembling, Russia’s solution is to
snap Latvia’s neck. You can’t honestly tell me that this is the rationality of
a sane person. This isn’t calculated pain; it’s irrational.

The imposition of Russian culture was so strong that Belarus
once forgot her own language.

How they get along now:

The tension and fear are still there, but most of it has to do with the fact that
Russia’s personality is still unstable and unpredictable. He perceived the USSR
as an opportunity to keep and make new friends.

You can imagine how hard Russia took this separation,
childish and unrealistic as his conception of reality is. He was all alone
again.

Latvia is still scared of Russia and is not keen to visit him
on New Years when invited.

Estonia also remains fearful of Russia but is not afraid to
stand up to him if needed.

Ex: Estonia confronts Russia when he believes that the
latter hacked his blog.

Ex: Estonia has no problem hanging up on Russia during the
2010 Christmas event.

Prussia holds a strong resentment toward Russia. The hatred
is so deep that he’ll puke if Russia even so much as lays a finger on him.

With all that in mind, I’d like to end this by pointing out
that while history may have divided the nations [personifications], they don’t only let this effect how they interact
with each other in the present. They may still resent and be fearful of him; however, it doesn’t stop most of them from making peace and acting as if they’re a unit again.

This is seen in the 2011 Halloween event, where most of the
ex-Soviet nations coordinated their costumes together. Perhaps this is one
stride closer to obtaining the true friendship that Russia had originally
sought in them.