During Nikita Khrushchev’s famous secret speech to Congress in 1956 he made several things very clear, the most significant of course being that Stalin was the root of all of the USSR’s problems. The main effort of his “de-Stalinization” policy was to essentially erase Stalin from the memory of the USSR by eradicating his name […]
Tag: Economy
Parasites who do not work, neither shall they eat
by •
Coming into the course my idea of Soviet Russia was the idea of “no work, no food,” and up until this point I have not seen that in what we have been studying, until this week. This week my blog
Humble Stalin’s Metro System
by •
Viktor Deni: We have a Metro! (1935) Long live our great Stalin. There is no fortress that Bolsheviks cannot take – Stalin. Source: Lebedev, Artemii: Moscow Metro. 1996. The Moscow Metro system began construction in 1932 after a massive publicity campaign around it and Stalin which caused the project to have priority on all the resources …
ALL OF RUSSIA DO THE ELECTRIC SLIDE
by •
In February 1920 the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets announced the formation of a State Electrification Commission (GOELRO), starting the first major economic project of the Bolsheviks. This program would be led under the chairmanship of the Bolshevik electrical engineer, Gleb Krzhizhanovskii. The task would call for a general plan for electrifying the … Continue reading ALL OF RUSSIA DO THE ELECTRIC SLIDE
The New Economic Policy: Not Very Socialist, but Effective
by •
Due to Vladimir Lenin’s strong association with socialism/communism, early Soviet economic policy can be a bit jarring, especially the New Economic Policy of 1922. The NEP, in fact, was strangely capitalist. The NEP allowed for something of a free market, though it was still tightly controlled by the government. It allowed for investment in industry … Continue reading “The New Economic Policy: Not Very Socialist, but Effective”
Digging In At Bakal
by •
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was a groundbreaking early 20th century Russian photographer. A chemist by training, he studied for years to perfect a method of producing color photographs. Then in 1909, after receiving a commission from the Tsar as well as some special equipment, he set off to document the life, culture, and achievements of the … Continue reading →
Youth in Imperial Russia
by •
Image Source: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/prk2000000186/ Photo taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) Transition is a hot topic these days. At this moment I can name many states dealing with enormous transitional phases in government and economy: 1) The United States of America has a new president who was inaugurated just a few days ago on January 20th, 2) Great Britain has exited […]
Guardians of the Russian Empire
by •
Background & Photographer According to the World Digital Library (WDL), this image was taken by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in the fall of 1909. The original caption did not disclose the exact location, but it is suggested that the photo was taken north of Ekaterinburg while Prokudin-Gorskii visited certain mining territories. In the early […]
