The Soviets anti-alcohol campaign reminded me of the U.S. own prohibition era. When the sell of alcohol was illegal in the U.S., it didn’t work here, and it didn’t work in Russia. Ultimately like in the U.S. it led to an increase in organized crime, as well as the birth of the Russian mafia. Because people were willing to illegally pay to purchase alcohol from moonshiners.
Author: Jim Erdely
Comment on When I Was Young We Played Outside by Jim Erdely
The post really resonated with me, as my parents were always on me to go outside and be active. Needless to say I never really heeded their advice. I think its funny to think that some of the repercussions for too much TV were that people were becoming…
Comment on Detente: Nixon and Brezhnev by Jim Erdely
Interesting post, I think the Thaw is a significant part of the history of Soviet-U.S. relations, that can often be overlooked. As you mentioned it allowed for a number of disarmament treaties, that began to limit the threat of Nuclear war. I wonder i…
Comment on From Stalin with Love: The Victor’s Plight by Jim Erdely
Interesting post about the reorganization from an army to labor force. It’s sad that many of the veterans who saw and experienced terrible things during the war weren’t treated with the level of respect they deserved. I’m glad to hear things improved for them once Khrushchev took over.
Comment on 5th Stop: Yantarny by Jim Erdely
Sad, but informative post, like you, mentioned I to was never taught about how other countries also killed ethnic minorities, especially France which was a shocker to me. I never knew just how little I knew about the Holocaust, and how it wasn’t just the Germans who killed Jews. As everyone else as already stated even though I don’t think it can be stated enough great find on the NPR story, I enjoyed reading it, it was very sad but informative.
Comment on Food Fight! by Jim Erdely
Very entertaining post, this kind of ties in with my own research. I did some research on the formation of the red army and learned that if you joined the army not only did you get fed, but your whole family got fed as well. Now I believe that a lot of those soldiers not just to fight for the cause but to, actual keep their families alive and healthy as well. I believe that yes the famines were of course bad, but without them the number of people willing to fight wouldn’t have been anywhere close to the number that they were able to field, and as a result the red army may have not had the man power it needed to win the civil war.
Comment on Greek Tea Farmers before the 1917 Revolution by Jim Erdely
I totally agree, I never really put any thought into the relationship between Greece and Russia, and I certiantly never knew that so many Byzantines moved to Russia. I also like how you mentioned how there was so many women working in agriculture. I ca…
