Imagine fighting as a Soviet during World War II, the horrors of fighting superior trained Germans, lacking advanced weapons, starving from lack of food, to come home, make a statement about the ills of the leader who sent you to war with so little, and then end up in the Gulag for 8 years. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn got quite the treatment from the communists. Nobody should be treated like that. I think cases like this really shaped how the West came to view communism as evil during the Cold War.
Month: April 2018
Comment on Another Explosion in the Cold War by cgwoodward
I find the contest of nuclear weaponry to be so interesting! The extremity of these weapons is crazy, as shown in your attached video, and it has always surprised me that things didn’t take a turn for the worst.
Comment on Sputnik Revisited by A. Nelson
I agree with Caroline! I love the way you put this: “We did not handle second place very well.” I think your post brings out the drama of the dawn of the space age, and highlights how important (and contradictory) this contest was at both the symbolic and practical level. I don’t have an answer to your last question, but I hope for humanity’s sake, that we can find something to strive for that brings out the best, rather than the most fearful (and fearsome) of human nature. Also, it’s cool to see your posts connecting to each other in this thematic way. Nice.
Comment on Prisoners of War and “de-Stalinization” by Catherine Woodward
Thank you for adding the video, that was a great (and quick!) overview! It’s really interesting to me how amnesties traditionally came after the death of a tsar or the end of the war, does this happen in other countries too?
Comment on A Dog Called Laika by smaloney
I wonder how they tried to justify the death of Laika, did they try to claim it was an accident or just a necessary casualty in the space race? Either way it’s pretty messed up that they sent up Laika with practically no chance for making it back to Earth alive.
Comment on Not a BUDAful place to be by A. Nelson
I agree with Nhi — it’s so cool that you wrote about a place you visited, and were able to incorporate that perspective into your post. And I love the title! Do check back on a couple things, though: The first is minor – Khrushchev’s speech denouncing Stalin is in 1956 (not 1965). It would also be worth thinking about the way history is presented at the “terror house” and considering other perspectives. Finally check back on the “why” the Soviets crushed the 1956 rebellion so brutally. It’s much less about religion and more about the Hungarians’ decision to leave the Warsaw Pact (the military alliance that served the Soviets) and bring non-comminists into the government.
Comment on Freedom from the Gulags by smaloney
I’m actually surprised that a book detailing the Gulags came out so quickly, especially from a firsthand account, let alone that it was published in the Soviet Union. Do you think this was allowed as a way to further enforce de-Stalinization, showing that this sort of punishment wouldn’t happen under Khrushchev’s rule?
Comment on Vasily Aksyonov and the stilyagi movement by A. Nelson
I’m so glad you (Emma) found Kathryn’s post. Kathryn — here’s the link to Emma’s: https://emmajeanhistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/before-the-west-was-cool-soviet-hipsters-in-the-50s/
This discussion of Aksyonov add depth and nuance to our understanding of the stilyagi and what “non-political” non-comformism meant in the Soviet 40s and 50s. Very interesting. I really enjoyed reading this!
Comment on Styling with Stilyaga by A. Nelson
That image you chose is one of my all time favorites of the Stilyagi. I’m also really intrigued by non-conformism that isn’t overly political — and that definitely describes the Soviet hipsters. What did the articles you found in the Current Digest have to say about them? Also, check out this post by Emma, which discusses a recent (2008) film about the Stilyagi: https://emmajeanhistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/before-the-west-was-cool-soviet-hipsters-in-the-50s/
Comment on The New Boss by smaloney
That’s really interesting that Beria being accused of focusing on his career and work was considered anti-Communist. With the whole point of Communism being that everyone works together for the betterment of society as a whole, it seems like a pretty flimsy excuse for calling him an anti-Communist.
