“’Life has become more joyous,’ Stalin exulted in November 1935” (Freeze pg. 362). And indeed, despite the brutality that would ensue with the Great Purges of 1936-38, it had; the mid-1930s brought an “imagined harmony” in the Soviet Union (Freeze pg. 362). Former enemies’ of Stalin began to heap praise on the dictator, most notably … Continue reading The Illusion of the New Soviet Man →
Month: March 2019
It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry
by •
With WWI, the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War out of the way, the Soviets finally felt they had some free time and the resources to further their campaign of industrialization by modernizing its cities with the latest technology to try to make them efficient and clean for the productive use of the masses. … Continue reading It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry
Little Less Revolution, Little More Procreation: Social Conservatism in 1930’s Soviet Russia
by •
Exemplified by the rise of more restrictive views on abortion (accompanied by its illegalization), the 30’s were period of increasingly conservative values and a more rigid family structure for Soviet Russians (“Abolition of Legal Abortion”). This rigidity could also be observed in the way “the first soviet generation” was raised, with 1930’s soviet children simultaneously … Continue reading Little Less Revolution, Little More Procreation: Social Conservatism in 1930’s Soviet Russia →
Tell-tales
by •
Imagine living in a place where you could not trust ANYONE. You could not trust your friends, relatives, or family. You could not even trust your own CHILDREN. The only person in the entire world you could trust was YOURSELF. In the Soviet Union, children’s denunciation of their relatives was strongly encouraged. Although it did … Continue reading Tell-tales →
The Worker and the Kolkhoz Woman
by •
Take a close look at the image below. What do you see? …Any chance you thought the photograph resembled this man? What you have been looking at is a close-up of one of the most famous statues in all of Russia, The Worker and the Kolkhoz Woman, which was created in the year 1937 by … Continue reading The Worker and the Kolkhoz Woman →
The Great Transformation
by •
We’ve missed posting for the last few weeks but got back in gear with a series of submissions on the twenties and the collectivization and industrialization drives that defined the First Five Year Plan (1928-1932). There were some terrific posts that circled around two key themes: The way in which religion is intertwined with culture and politics, and the way in which the trauma of collectivization was informed by broader cultural and political forces.
The slider features provocative discussions of NEP and its discontents, the process of “de-kulakization,” the life and times of a celebrated church leader, the way that Bolshevik attitudes toward women and organized religion infused their approach to both, and a terrific post about revolutionary cinema. The students’ choice award recognizes a post about the “continuous work week” a fiendishly clever and extremely unpopular plan to eliminate the traditional weekend. Enjoy!
3rd Blogpost Guidelines
by •
We begin with the upheaval at the end of the twenties, when the forced collectivization of the peasantry and a massive industrialization campaign permanently transformed Soviet life. Indeed the “Great Turn” brought changes so profound and wide-reaching that the period of the First Five Year Plan (1928-1932) is often seen as a “second” revolution. The decade that followed was one of Shockworkers, Stalinist family values, and Purges, as well as a social-political phenomenon scholars have called “The Great Retreat.” So, the thirties are going to be exciting to study!
Life After Lenin
by •
Bolshevism Post-Lenin Lenin’s legacy is one of the most important and significant pieces of socialist history and the project itself. In some way or another, people know Lenin as the one who built the party, rearmed it, and led it towards revolution. For many, he was a titan, having been depicted by such in the … Continue reading Life After Lenin →
Opium of the People
by •
The Soviet Union under the Bolsheviks in 1922 was the first state with the goal of being ideologically atheist, eliminating their existing religion (Russian Orthodoxy) and other religions practiced throughout the Soviet Union, as well as efforts to diminish future religious activity. Throughout the 1920s, religions were targeted based on State interests, and while not … Continue reading Opium of the People
Where is your God now?
by •
What role did nationality and religion play in the formation of the Soviet State? The concept of religion in the Soviet Union is interesting, primarily because it wasn’t just the idea of a God that the Bolsheviks disagreed with, but also the concept of any power or authority above themselves. The challenge for them was … Continue reading Where is your God now?
