Very interesting and thought provoking post! It’s amazing the influence that the government had and how they almost mobilized the youth as a tool for politics. I would find it interesting to read other posts from time and how children thought. Thanks for sharing!
Month: March 2019
Comment on It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry by austinkassman
Wow! This is a really interesting post and something I honestly something I never really thought about when they began to modernize the city of Moscow. It’s crazy the ingenuity that was involved during this time period and the leadership of Stalin to make it happen.
Comment on Life After Lenin by ajmal1917
Hey, Lily!
I definitely agree on the leadership part. I think that the quality and temperance of the leadership is often what makes or breaks the success of revolutions, even if initially successful, like the October revolution and Russian Civil War. As great as the Bolsheviks were as strategists and organizers, especially in prevailing in the hardest of times, it was unfortunate that their winning streak lasted so long before the degeneration that we saw with Stalin consolidating party power. As Trotsky once quoted Goethe in polemic- “In order to truly possess something, you must win it, over, and over again.”
Comment on “You Do Not Lament the Loss of the Hair of One Who Has Been Beheaded.” by Lara Siebrecht
Thanks for your feedback, Dr. Nelson! Like we discussed in class, I think that the cases of Ukraine and Kazakhstan were even more brutal. The Kazakhs, for example, were Nomads, and had to completely change their lifestyle. To answer your question about why collectivization was a disaster, I think that the intentions were different than the outcomes. Collectivization was so important to overcome backwardness because all parts of the state had to become a part of the Soviet Union, including peasantry.
Comment on “You Do Not Lament the Loss of the Hair of One Who Has Been Beheaded.” by Lara Siebrecht
Thank you! Yes, I agree. It grabbed my attention immediately
Comment on Down with Easter: Up with Industry by Lily-Ana Fairweather
Hello Peter,
This blog post was incredibly insightful, and it covered the topic very well. The social shifts in Russia were absolutely life-changing, and it can be difficult to imagine banning it nationally. The idea of a never-ending week (with no true “weekend”) truly sounds miserable. One of my jobs over the summer required me to work every day except Saturdays and Tuesdays. Having that weird schedule compared to everyone else was frustrating, and I cannot imagine the confusion on a national level! Coordinating with family members must have caused significant stress, I would assume.
Additionally, your short anecdotes regarding the closing of churches are so interesting. I think it can be hard to recognize the intricate ways that the topics we discuss in colleges today were the day-to-day life of people nearly 100 years ago.
Thank you for sharing.
Comment on Lights… Camera… REVOLT! by amklingen
Thank you Dylan! There is a lot more Soviet cinema to delve into, this is just one of the more popular films at the time. It also is the one that spoke the most to me.
Comment on Lights… Camera… REVOLT! by amklingen
Thank you! It was almost like they were being taught Bolshevik ideals without realizing it.
Comment on Lights… Camera… REVOLT! by amklingen
That is so true Alicja! Not even just limiting it to Soviet Society, but also in the US and literally any other place culture is consumed. From what I can recall, movie premieres were a big event at the time. It still holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes to this day, especially after the re-release in 2011.
Comment on Lights… Camera… REVOLT! by amklingen
Thank you Dylan!
