(Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/27429206@N02/2743355206/) One of the most prevalent stereotypes that comes to mind when thinking about Russia is that of the Russian drinker, warmed by an endless amount of vodka in a very cold country. While that is just a stereotype, alcohol still held a place of cultural and societal significance in the Soviet Union and … Continue reading I’m Not Drunk, You’re Drunk! →
The Sino-Soviet Split
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Mao Zedong and Stalin (BBC News http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35427926) On February 24th, 1956 Nikita Khrushchev gave his “Secret Speech” “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences” to the assembled delegates of the Communist Party’s Twentieth Congress. In it, Khrushchev harshly criticized Stalin both politically and personally for the violent nature of his government, the cult that surrounded … Continue reading The Sino-Soviet Split →
Sputnik Revisited
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In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s White House announced that the United States would soon attempt to launch a satellite into space. Within a week, the chairman of the Soviet Space commission announced that Russia would as well. The space race had begun. Then, on October 5th, 1957 Americans woke up to headlines like this … Continue reading Sputnik Revisited →
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,…
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 →
April of Discontent
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It would seem intuitive perhaps, that the revolution which led to the establishment of Communism in Russia happened with a bang, not a whimper. But when Lenin in his April Theses called for “all power to the soviets” there was no great conflagration–the Red Guards seized key government buildings and infrastructure, Kerensky fled, and the … Continue reading April of Discontent →
Portrait of Imperial Russia
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“Melon Vendor” –Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. We typically do not associate the Russian Empire with images like this one. Taken in 1911 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, this photograph depicts a man at work as a melon vendor, dressed in the traditional Central Asian attire of a turban and flowing tunic. In the waning days of the … Continue reading Portrait of Imperial Russia →
