The Dissident Movement in the Soviet Union took place in the 1960s and 1970s and was created by opposition of the citizens to Soviet government policies. Although participation wasn’t quantitatively huge, the protests made by a few leaders made great impacts for human rights and peace. (Andrei Sakharov speaking for human rights and against the nuclear bomb […]
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Ivan the Terrible, for his role of “Tyrant” in the country Russia! “Ivan the Terrible” by Viktor Vasnetsov This painting, done by Viktor Vasentov in 1897, is like a movie poster to me. at the bottom I could almost see the title “Russia!” and the tag line would read “the great mother land wasn’t ready […]
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Russia and the Soviet Union has long struggled with national anthems. The constant regime changes doesn’t exactly help with keeping a patriotic and political song relevant. Following the fall of the Tsar the Russian national anthem was the Internationale. While this song was influential and powerful during the revolution and the civil war it began […]
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World War Two was a tall task for the Soviets to overcome. After years of domestic turmoil with cultural, political, and economic change, the “New Russia” was put to test. This war (and Russia’s subsequent victory) meant a lot to…
The second world war was one of the most defining if not the single most defining event for the Russian people perhaps of all time. The Soviet Union was brutally attacked after the formation of a non-aggression pact with their invaders, the Germans. Hitler’s campaign was one aimed at annihilation and extermination rather than at […]
Read moreBacked by Lenin as, “the most important of all the arts for us” and campaigned for by Trotsky as “the weapon excelling any other”, cinema roared into the minds of the Bolsheviks and the eyes of the masses(1,2). The Bolsheviks believed that this new and revolutionary form of culture would be able to shape the … Continue reading →
Read moreThe ending of the October Revolution saw a major change in how the Russian workman’s day was regimented. No more would their lives be dominated by work. Instead, the day was broken into thirds with eight hours set aside for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for sleep. This allowed the working class new […]
Following the Revolution, the Party faced many problems left over from the Old Russia. Not only did they have to battle alcoholism and contain the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, but they had to establish a new culture altogether. Leon Trotsky, in a Pravda article titled “Vodka, the Church, and the Cinema” proposes […]
Read moreWhile the structure above looks like a gigantic, confusing roller coaster, it actually is an impressive and ambitious blueprint for the Comintern headquarters. Vladimir Tatlin’s “Monument to the Third International” is meant to be both a work of art for the world to marvel and a functional structure with an important purpose. Tatlin aimed to make […]
Read moreThis Russian Mona Lisa or otherwise called the “Unknown Woman” (Неизвестная) was painted in 1883 by a Russian artist named, Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi. He was one of the leaders and founding members of the Russian[…]
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