The death of Stalin in March 1953 sent a wave of revolutionary change across Russia, including the release of prisoners being held at labor camps. According to the Seventeen Moments in History source, “the first post-Stalin action of this kind was the amnesty issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on … Continue reading Soviet Russia and the Prisoners of Stalin
Tag: Stalin
Comrades' Corner, Week 8 Posts
Laverentii Beria: Too Powerful for His Own Good
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When Joseph Stalin died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 73 there was no single powerful figure to take over the country like he himself had been after the death of Lenin in 1924. Since no single man had been able to consolidate power to himself like Stalin post-Lenin, the Presidium which […]
Comrades' Corner, Week 7 Posts
Uncle Joe and the Good-Natured Russians
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The “Grand” alliance, a name given by none other than Winston Churchill, between the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States was one of the most significant reasons the Ally forces were able to claim victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. While some have argued that the Soviet Union could have […]
Comrades' Corner, Week 7 Posts
Stalin’s Reaction to “the Iron Curtain”
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Stalin on Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech Linked above is an interview in the USSR’s state newspaper, Pravda, in which Stalin discusses Winston Churchill’s now famous “Iron Curtain” speech. This primary source … Continue reading →
Red Star, Week 7 Posts
Between Shades of Gray
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Over spring break I read Between Shades of Gray (published March 2011), a young adult historical fiction novel by Ruta Sepetys. The story follows a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941 who is taken from her home with her mother and younger brother by the NKVD (Soviet secret police). They are put on a crowded, dirty […]
Comrades' Corner, Students' Choice, Week 7 Posts
Keep Calm and “Not One Step Back!”
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A postage stamp with the new catchphrase “Not One Step Back!” Picture this: you’re the leader of a country and its military commander and you’ve been invaded by a powerful German army that is showing its military strength across the continent. Due to your poor judgement, your military is weak, unprepared, and has low morale.…
Week 6 Posts
Stalin’s Use of Threat
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Joseph Stalin was one of the most determined, confident, demanding and powerful individuals between the late 1920’s and early 1930s’s in Russia. Who? He was the dictator of the Soviet Union who introduced the first Five-Year in the year 1928. What? The Five Year Plan concentrated on government control of the economy, agriculture and took control […]
Comrades' Corner, Week 6 Posts
Stalin’s Ambitious Plans to Rebuild Moscow
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In 1935, Joseph Stalin alongside Lazar Kaganovich, a close associate of Stalin’s, signed the “Master Plan for the Reconstruction of the City of Moscow”. At the time, Moscow was an older city with narrow streets and buildings that dated back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Stalin wanted to modernize Moscow and make it one … Continue reading “Stalin’s Ambitious Plans to Rebuild Moscow”
Week 6 Posts
Rotting out the Whole Structure: The Great Terror (’36-’38) and the Red Army
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The deep and far reaching purges of Soviet society that occurred from 1936 to 1938 affected all facets of the state, not least of those being the military. The Great Terror, as these purges were called, was a campaign to destroy what was seen by the highest of Soviet elites as a vast right-wing conspiracy within … Continue reading Rotting out the Whole Structure: The Great Terror (’36-’38) and the Red Army →
Students' Choice, Week 5 Posts
Stalin’s Reflection On The First Of The Five Years
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This is Stalin’s reflection on what he called “A Year of Great Change,” the first year of the Five Year Plan. The Five Year Plan is referred to as the Great … Continue reading →
