It’s common knowledge that Vodka is a Russian specialty, and the Russian’s knew how to have a good time no matter the time of day or reason to celebrate. Blogger Katelin writes in her post ‘War on…Alcohol?’ about the Soviet Union’s struggle with their population that was showing some unfortunate signs of alcoholism, such as … Continue reading Sober Up, Comrade! →
Month: April 2017
Good Bye USSR
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In December of 1991, the Soviet Union was finally disbanded and broken into fifteen separate states with the Russian Federation being the largest of them. The few years prior to ’91 and ’91 itself, were politically tumultuous to say the least. These years included the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Boris Yeltsin winning … Continue reading Good Bye USSR
Smells Like Teen Angst
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This picture is hyperlinked to a website showcasing Soviet Punk Culture. As young adults, I figured we could all relate to the topic of youth dissidence in late Soviet Russia. Seventeen Moments credited the rapid decline of success among … Continue reading →
Miners Strike Again
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Picture Source: http://stansburyforum.com/making-sense-of-marikana/ The Miners’ Strike in 1989, which demanded an end to the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, was followed by another strike in 1991, which differed in a number of ways. “Whereas in 1989 the miners were wary of provoking repression, in 1991 they boldly called for Gorbachev’s resignation, the dismantling of the … Continue reading Miners Strike Again
“We Came to Beat up Punks, Hippies, and Break Dancers, too”
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During the decline of the Soviet Union, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the theme of dissident and rebellious youth continued. As you can read about in my last blog post, the “stilyagi” emerged in the 1950s as a counter-culture, Western-style movement of rebellious youths. The older generations despised this new movement; they were… Continue reading “We Came to Beat up Punks, Hippies, and Break Dancers, too” →
Plot Twist: You Can Buy Me Love
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“But to really combat the problem requires the moral regeneration of society. Perhaps we should pretty much give up on rehabilitating the girls who have already become prostitutes; we won’t
The Disaster at Chernobyl
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Chernobyl, Ukraine was once home to four Soviet nuclear reactors. The key word here is “was.” In the early morning of April 26th, 1986 there was an explosion inside the fourth reactor that led to massive amounts of radiation being released … Continue reading →
Final Blogpost Guidelines
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Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership ushered in an era of increased freedom, opportunity, and hope for Soviet citizens, even as it fostered economic uncertainty, political instability, and the threat of chaos. For your final blog post, please choose a topic that gives you some insight on the collapse of Soviet communism and the social transformation that accompanied it.
From Baikal to Boycotts: Making Sense of the Seventies
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We had a bumper crop of wonderful posts focusing on key aspects of Soviet life in the seventies.
The Soviet ‘James Bond’
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Standartenfuhrer von Stirlitz is a Soviet spy who was highlighted in the hit series, Seventeen Moments of Spring, which originally aired in 1973. His popularity in Russia is truly comparable to that of James Bond’s in the west. However, his character is starkly different other than the fact that he is a spy and likes …
