“Activists” (from a Komsomol Album)
Victorious in the Civil War, the Bolsheviks faced a series of challenges as they moved to secure the peace, consolidate their gains on the home front, and advance their agenda for transforming society. This week’s posts engaged many of these issues, from the ideologically compromised but politically necessary New Economic Policy, to the campaign against the church, and changing norms around gender and the family.
“Women in the U.S.S.R. are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic, government, cultural, political and other public activity.” –Constitution of the U.S.S.R., Article 122 (Stalin Society of North America) With this declaration in the Constitution of the U.S.S.R in 1924 the Bolsheviks stated that women would be … Continue reading The Roles of Women & Revolution
The New Economic Policy From 1919 up to 1921, War Communism (the Soviet state economic plan) had devastated the national economy as well as the people. Famine, lack of resources, and disease out of malnutrition shocked the Bolsheviks into comprehending how unequipped the state was in instantly adopting Communism. The people demanded change and Vladimir […]
Why are the youth important to society and the safety of governments? Its simple, they are the ones that will grow up and either support or revolt. Governments and personalities look to influence young generations in order to push societal views or norms. One example of this in modern day is singers/song writers who cater … Continue reading Young Communists and Young Thug
Religion is the Opiate of the People. After coming to power in 1917, the Bolsheviks made it their duty to “emancipate Soviet citizens from the scourge (or as Karl Marx put it, the “opiate”) of religion” (“Antireligious Propaganda”). Along with the literacy campaign, the attempt to dismantle religion also played a large role in the cultural … Continue reading The Emancipation of Soviet Citizens from Religion →
For my third stop I decided to at Vladimir Lenin’s grave located in Moscow. The specific location of his grave is a place called Lenin’s Mausolem. I knew traveling through 20th Century Russian Historical sites, I would encounter many great dictators and Soviets. This trip was special since I knew Stalin was a very powerful […]
War! The Reds were struggling under attacks by the ruthless White Army. There was violence on by sides. Chaos was everywhere. As the events of 1917 and 1918 unfolded with the Bolsheviks rise to power, remaining factions of Russian patriots, liberals, SRs, peasants, and other minorities formed to make White armies. Their goal, to stop the […]
After the revolution, there were different party organizations for distinct groups. There was the Zhenotdel, concentrated on the Women’s department, and the Komsomol, the Young Communist League (Freeze, 330). The Komsomol was open to both sexes but males outnumbered women 8 to 1. They represented atheism, hooliganism, and sexual depravity, and men did not want their daughters…
This image, entitled “The Delegate” from the visual essay, “Models & Counter-models of Gender” within the subject of Revolutionary Manliness reminded me of Liuda in the silent film, “Bed and Sofa.” This image depicting women in the communist 1920’s is grouped with four others, each different from the next. Below are two starkly contrasting photographs, …
Ever since the October Revolution in 1917, the relationship between the Orthodox church in Russia and the newly Bolshevik-ruled state had been tense. The head of the Orthodox church, Patriarch Tikhon (pictured above), and other traditionalists in the church had openly opposed the Bolsheviks. This would cause a rift to form between the church and …
Continue reading “The Lost Shepherd to a Revolutionary Flock”
