If you love films that are devoid of artistic direction, filled with utterly non discreet propaganda, and that are made purely for enjoyment then Soviet films roughly from the 1930’s to the 1950’s are the films for you. (If any of those things do not appeal to you I highly recommend taking a look at …
Month: March 2018
Legislating Gender
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We hear discussions about gender a lot today, what it means to be masculine, to be feminine, the difference between … More
Open Up, Communism is Knocking on Your Door
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You are a peasant worker, just like your father before you. He had been granted land due to the serf reforms in the early 1900’s and was able to be successful. Then the civil war breaks out, you go and fight for the reds even though many of the other prosperous peasants fight for the …
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Maksim Gorky
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The 1930s in the USSR was a period of great change on the cultural front, a period in which revolutionary values were replaced with Stalinist ideology and policies. A crucial part of this “Great Retreat”, as it is now called, was the re-unification of literature with Party values; thus making a move away from the … Continue reading Maksim Gorky →
Unsurprisingly, Stalinism Isn’t Everything It Was Cracked up to Be
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In a turn of events everyone should have seen coming, the progress promised by the revolution did not stick around. In the earlier days of the new government, progress had been made towards loosening restrictions on abortion and redefining what it meant to be a woman. Under the new regime, women were given the ability …
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Exploration of the Poles
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Setting up of North Pole-1 which was the first ever drifting station The exploration of the North and South Poles became a race between the Western States and the Soviet Union during the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. The Soviet Union wanted to establish communities in the polar regions as well as conditions … Continue reading Exploration of the Poles
The Party Don’t Start Until Russia Walks In
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When you think of Russia and alcohol I would assume that most of you would automatically think vodka. What if I told you that you would be incorrect. “After the terrible famine that gripped Ukraine and southern Russia in the wake of collectivization, and only a few years before the terror and war scare … Continue reading “The Party Don’t Start Until Russia Walks In”
Central planning meets film: The censorship of a mass medium
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In the Soviet Union, the 1930’s were characterized by massive state-led transformations in agriculture, industry, and culture. The revolution in culture represented a shift away from aesthetic values that existed in the previous decade. This shift did not occur on its own, rather it was carefully implemented by the state. In 1930 the Soyukino, a …
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The Magnitogorsk Experiment
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Inside the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (The Guardian) Speaking to prominent Soviet economists during the 1920’s Stalin lamented the shame that Russia had suffered at the hands of other countries. Shame brought on by “Japanese barons”, “Mongol khans” and British and French capitalists.[1] All of whom had bested Russia due to industrial, military … Continue reading The Magnitogorsk Experiment →
The Magnitogorsk Experiment
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Speaking to prominent Soviet economists during the 1920’s Stalin lamented the shame that Russia had suffered at the hands of other countries. Shame brought on by “Japanese barons”, “Mongol khans” and British and French capitalists.[1] All of whom had bested Russia due to industrial, military and economic superiority. Resolving to never suffer such ignominy again,…
