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 …
Afghanistan: What could possibly go wrong?
by •
Soviet Troops The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was one of those moments in history that we can look back at and wonder why they did it and even now it seems foolish. The Soviets entered the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan on Christmas Day 1979 to ‘liberate the people’ and restore the peace. However, the Soviets were …
Continue reading “Afghanistan: What could possibly go wrong?”
The first crack in the Iron Wall
by •
Soviet Tanks in Budapest (1956) The Hungarian Crisis was the first major threat to Soviet domination of half of Europe since the end of WWII. The Revolution began following several years of political infighting between different factions that led to the public’s grievances being ignored. Having seen some of the success that the Polish public …
Kursk: The Battle that changed the tide of WWII
by •
Kurkryniksy: I Lost My Little Ring (Hitler at Kursk) (1943) Many believe that the turning point for WII in Europe can either be attributed to the Battle of Stalingrad or D-Day. However, the true turning point in the war was not either of them, but the Battle of Kursk. It wasn’t Stalingrad because even though …
Continue reading “Kursk: The Battle that changed the tide of WWII”
The Metro that moved Soviet Russia into Modernity
by •
Several comparisons can be made between America’s roaring twenties and the USSR’s terrible terrific thirties. Economically, one can say that the soviets were thriving at this time, just as America was a decade ago, when studying the development and implementation of the Moscow Metro. With the first line of the subway opening in 1935 (The …
Continue reading “The Metro that moved Soviet Russia into Modernity”
Humble Stalin’s Metro System
by •
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 …
1929: Make a ‘Great turn’ away from religion and into the factories
by •
I’m Going Over to the Six-Day Work Week (1929) Heavenly Powers: Guards! They have a knife! Save me! Source: Bezbozhnik u stanka. Moscow: M.K.R.K.P.. 1923. The Soviet disdain for religion had been well known in society when the crackdown began in 1929, but its efforts stretched back to even before the founding of the USSR. …
Continue reading “1929: Make a ‘Great turn’ away from religion and into the factories”
Collectivization, You Know You Want it
by •
Despite the increased production of grain to be sold in the market, the far greater increase in demand for grain caused the country to fall into a grain crisis. Stalin’s solution for a more long term efficiency of grain extraction, as laid out in his first 5 year plan, was to collect the means of …
Trotsky’s Train: Railway to Victory
by •
The Red Sotnia, which translates to Red One hundred was Leon Trotsky’s elite personal body guard and were the early twentieth century equivalent of the Secret service and manned what can be considered the early twentieth century equivalent of Air Force One. The train acted as an early version of a mobile Pentagon allowing Trotsky to go …
Bloody Sunday: The Match that lit the Revolution
by •
The massacre in early January 1905 did not begin as a riot or revolt, but simply an organized march by poor urban workers desperate to petition the Tsar who they loved for help. The march began a year earlier in 1904 following the breakdown of the Zubatov experiment, which were police-sponsored trade unions, but they …
Continue reading “Bloody Sunday: The Match that lit the Revolution”
