Since there is a ’30s module about Russian childhood under Stalin and a ’30s module about the arts, I thought it would be appropriate to combine the two in my post. By The Pike’s Wishes is a 1936 play by Yelizaveta Tarakhovskaya. Tarakhovskaya was… Continue Reading →
Month: March 2017
Mother Russia Finally Says “Nyet” To Abortions…Kind of
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Abortion… Eight letters that make up one word that is fraught with controversy no matter where one is in the world. Russia is no exception to the controversy. In 1920, the then Soviet Union under Bolshevik rule, became the first country to legalize abortion. The law “on the Legalization of Abortions” asserted that to protect the… Continue reading Mother Russia Finally Says “Nyet” To Abortions…Kind of →
Mother Russia Finally Says “Nyet” To Abortions…Kind of
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Abortion… Eight letters that make up one word that is fraught with controversy no matter where one is in the world. Russia is no exception to the controversy. In 1920, the then Soviet Union under Bolshevik rule, became the first country to legalize abortion. The law “on the Legalization of Abortions” asserted that to protect the… Continue reading Mother Russia Finally Says “Nyet” To Abortions…Kind of →
Humble Stalin’s Metro System
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Viktor Deni: We have a Metro! (1935) Long live our great Stalin. There is no fortress that Bolsheviks cannot take – Stalin. Source: Lebedev, Artemii: Moscow Metro. 1996. The Moscow Metro system began construction in 1932 after a massive publicity campaign around it and Stalin which caused the project to have priority on all the resources …
Cult of Personality: Stalin versus Hitler
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In Chapter 11 of Russia a History, Freeze compares Stalin and the Nazi’s rise to power. This was a compelling observation to me so I looked into “The Cult of Personality” in Seventeen Moments which describes this as “a situation in which a public figure (such as a political leader) is deliberately presented to the … Continue reading Cult of Personality: Stalin versus Hitler
The Assassination of Sergei Kirov and the Power of Rumor
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December of 1934 marked a lethal turn in Stalin’s rule over the Soviet Union. The event in question was the assassination of First Secretary of the Leningrad Party Sergei Kirov on December 1st, 1934. Kirov was a popular member of the Politbiuro who was gaining more and more popularity until his untimely death. In the …
Continue reading “The Assassination of Sergei Kirov and the Power of Rumor”
Lev’s Slow Downfall and Demise
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Leon Trotsky, a Marxist revolutionary and theorist, played a huge part in Soviet history in the 1900s. He helped transfer political power to the Soviets with the October Revolution in 1917 and helped form the Red Army. During the
I Got 99 Problems and Census is 1
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Russia history was filled with famine due to the destitute of food and resources, however, there was reported “increases” in population… which doesn’t follow sound logic; shortages does NOT equal increases in populace. In 1937, the Soviet Thirties where coming to a close, with a surprising twist: the death of Adamovich Kraval, the chief of … Continue reading I Got 99 Problems and Census is 1
Stalin’s Slight of Hand in the 30’s
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At Face Value This picture visually represents the mindset with which Joseph Stalin used to shape Russia in the 1930’s. The 1930’s were a busy time with mass construction in Moscow and the introduction of the second 5 year plan. Stalin signed off on an audacious plan to completely renovate Moscow into a modern city, which exemplified socialist values. This sentiment is echoed in the following … Continue reading Stalin’s Slight of Hand in the 30’s
Soviet Football Rivalries Got Very Serious
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Though the early Soviet government promoted sport and physical fitness (a healthy population was considered reflective of a healthy society), they generally considered organized competition to be against socialist ideals of cooperation. International competition especially was avoided; the Soviet government refused to take part in the ‘capitalist’ Olympics until the 1950s. Instead they held the … Continue reading “Soviet Football Rivalries Got Very Serious”
