From Khrushchev’s first usage of the term to the umbrella that it has turned into, I have always been intrigued by various “Cults of Personalties” of regimes across history. A Cult of Personality refers to all the strategies, tactics, manipulation, and propaganda a leader and or government will use to maintain control and influence over … Continue reading Mass Manipulation
Category: Comrade’s Corner
Parade of Athletes
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During the late 1920s into the early 1930s, there was a debate about the difference between capitalist and socialist physical culture. In the past, before the revolution, most sports had been accessible only to the privileged social classes. The Bolsheviks had been isolated to the physical culture of sports and hygiene. But in the 1930’s … Continue reading Parade of Athletes →
Tell-tales
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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 →
Down with Easter: Up with Industry
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“Religion is the opiate of the masses” – Karl Marx
Industry’s Backfire On Imperial Rule
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As a part of Prokudin-Gorskii’s album of Russia as an empire under Tsarist rule, we find multiple photographs of working people and labor in general. These photographs of course catch my attention because of my work and interest in labor and work, and I want to pivot this blog’s attention to the topic as much … Continue reading Industry’s Backfire On Imperial Rule →
Fishing for Change
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Prokudin-Gorskii was born in 1863, and was educated as a chemist. He was fascinated with color photography, and worked along side a multitude of renown scientists, in order to advance color photographic technology. His goal was “to educate the schoolchildren of Russia with his ‘optical color projections’ of the vast and diverse history, culture, and … Continue reading Fishing for Change
Railroads: Industrializing and Expanding Eastwards
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Globally, railways were the predominant way of expanding during the 19th century. Starting with the first transcontinental railroad built in America during the 1860s that helped “tame” the Wild West, the latter half of the 1800s saw a vast increase in the number of rail miles in the world. This change was prominent in Russia, … Continue reading Railroads: Industrializing and Expanding Eastwards
Russia’s Lifeline
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This picture was taken by Russian photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in September 1909. Prokudin-Gorskii made a considerable number of trips to the area surrounding the Ural Mountains. The Ural Mountains run approximately, from north to south through western Russia.¹ The Ural region is comprised of numerous amounts of resources, that contributed greatly to the mineral … Continue reading Russia’s Lifeline →
Prokudin-Gorskii: Connecting a Continent and Willing it into Prosperity
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If cities like Novgorod and Vladivostok, Moscow and (what is today) St. Petersburg make up the beating hearts of Russia, vast infrastructure projects make up its veins and arteries, carrying people and materials across and amidst the world’s largest continent. Easily the most notable of these, the Trans-Siberian Railway winds for nearly six thousand miles […]
Follow the tracks: The effects of industrialization and railroads on social and economic change.
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Стрелочник башкир. The “Bashkir Switchman”. He works for hours on the railroad, participating in a seemingly mundane task, that marks a pivotal point for the history of Russian technological advancements and geographical changes. This image was photographed in the summer of 1910 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin Gorskii as he traveled along the Samara- Zlatoust Railroad … Continue reading Follow the tracks: The effects of industrialization and railroads on social and economic change. →
