Really interesting post. The role that Science fiction began to play at this time was really cool and its interesting to see how the Soviets began to regulate this science fiction as well. There is a general trend of the Soviet government regulating a lot of the new things that were coming out around this time period, like Rock and Roll. It’s also interesting how this spread to western culture as well in spin offs.
Month: May 2018
Comment on Trouble in the Baltics: Nationalism, Environmentalism, and Singing(?) by Nick Umana
The riots that took place as a reaction to Gorbachev’s leadership was symbolic to the disapproval of the direction of the government from Latvia and Lithuania at the time. I was unaware how serious these riots were and that they had actually created a series of casualties. What specific environmental movements did people rally behind in this time of frustration?
Comment on Aw (Foe)y What Have We Done by Nick Umana
I wasn’t aware that the Soviets spent an entire 10 years in Afghanistan while pursuing influence into these third world countries. This displays how determined the Soviet Union was to spread themselves into third world countries. What lessons do you think the United States could have taken out of this?
Comment on Russian Rock’n’Roll, Avoiding Mind Control? by Nick Umana
Its very cool to see how Rock and Roll initially played a similar roll in the Soviet Union the way that it did with the United States. It makes sense that the Soviet government would want to control it though, especially with its slowly increasing popularity during that time. How effective was the Soviet controlled Rock and Roll?
Comment on Russian for the Summer Olympics by Nick Umana
The images that you chose are very interesting and appear to represent your post pretty well. How did the citizens react to the boycott? I assume they would be relatively disapointed from this.
Comment on Comrades of the Traveling Pants by Nick Umana
It’s really interesting how western culture played a small role in this. The factor that jeans and the black market played in economics at this time brings up a really interesting point about how the market worked back then.
Comment on Russian Into Afghanistan by Nick Umana
I never realized how ironic that situation actually was. I wonder if it set a precedent for Afghanistan relations with other nations and eventually us. Were the Soviets expecting to have as much trouble as they did?
Comment on Excuse me while I have a quick meltdown by thensoviet
Another really interesting part of the Chernobyl disaster is its effect on wildlife! Drinking the water and eating the vegetation created animals with radioactive material in their makeup and I wonder how that has spread throughout the Soviet Union if it has at all. The dramatic change this disaster created was unprecedented and likely, without it, things would have been much different.
Comment on The Baltic Independence Movement by thensoviet
This is a great post! Do you think that perhaps it is the sudden dissolution of Russia’s satellite possessions which played a role in the weakening of the Soviet Union? How did these movements for independence affect morale in the Soviet state? It’s very interesting to see how all these factors play a role in the collapse and I believe that this movement for independence played a significant part in the dissolution.
Comment on Gopnik’s Galore by thensoviet
This is really interesting to me because youth consistently plays a strong role in the redefining of a country or change in social standards. While the prior youth-revolutions are consistently discussed, I’ve never heard of the gopniks before. It’s a really interesting subject, especially because they emerge in the era of a dying Soviet Union. Great post!
