The Perception of Historical Identity and the Restoration of Estonian National Independence

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rein Ruutsoo
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Global Power ◽  
History Of ◽  
Communist Past ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Vital Matter ◽  
Former Ussr

Attitude towards one's past, the farewell to the communist past, has become a vital matter on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The failure of the “building of communism” project has, besides a devastated environment, left behind it a spiritual “homelessness.” For Russians, for whom communism was the path to global power, the collapse of the Soviet Union also meant a collapse of their national identity. “Look back in anger” might be the most concise way of characterizing their attitude to their history of the past seventy years. The same might be said of the other peoples of the former USSR. Sovietologists who treated the Soviet Union as one entity and placed the Baltic nations into the same category as the other “fraternal” people created insurmountable problems for an understanding of Baltic developments, and Estonian, in particular.

Great Men and Large Numbers: Undertheorising a History of Mass Killing

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-143
Author(s):  
THOMAS KÜHNE
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Mass Murder ◽  
European History ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
German Jews ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Market Shares ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Baltic

Scholarship is not only about gaining new insights or establishing accurate knowledge but also about struggling for political impact and for market shares – shares of public or private funds, of academic jobs, of quotations by peers, and of media performances. Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands fights for recentring contemporary European history.1 No longer, his new book implies, should the centre of that history be Germany, which initiated two world wars and engaged with three genocides; even less should the centre be Western Europe, which historians for long have glorified as the trendsetter of modernity; and the Soviet Union, or Russia, does not qualify as ‘centre’ anyway. Introducing ‘to European history its central event’ (p. 380) means to focus on the eastern territories of Europe, the lands between Germany and Russia, which, according to Snyder, suffered more than any other part from systematic, politically motivated, mass murder in the twentieth century. The superior victimhood of the ‘bloodlands’ is a numerical one. Fourteen million people, Jewish and non-Jewish, in the territories of what is today most of Poland, the Ukraine, Belarus, western Russia, and the Baltic States did not become just casualties of war but victims of deliberate mass murder. Indeed, this is ‘a very large number’ (p. 411), one that stands many comparisons: ten million people perished in Soviet and German concentration camps (as opposed to the Nazi death camps, which were located within the ‘bloodlands’), 165,000 German Jews died during the Holocaust (p. ix), and even the number of war casualties most single countries or territories counted in the Second World War was smaller.

Russia and the Use of Trade Policy: Concentration with Soviet Successor States

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 20170068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Lutz ◽  
James Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Policy Position ◽  
Trade Patterns ◽  
Baltic Countries ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Baltic

Economic policy has often been an integral part of foreign policy usage by governments. Many states will use trade, aid, and investment as instruments to attain other objectives deemed to be in the national interest. Albert Hirschman in an early and classic study suggested that governments in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany consciously attempted to dominate the trade of weaker states in Europe as a means of enhancing the German foreign policy position. Russian trade policy since the breakup of the Soviet Union has followed a similar policy, especially in regard to the other successor states of the former Soviet Union. Patterns were different for the Baltic countries, other European successor states, the Transcaucasian states, and Central Asian countries. Notwithstanding differences that were present, there was evidence in the trade patterns to indicate that Moscow was using trade policy to gain influence in the successor states.

scholarly journals Astral Karate as a Phenomenon of Late-Soviet Esoteric Underground

Open Theology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Panin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spiritual Leader ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Eastern Cultures ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Object ◽  
Spiritual Movement

AbstractThe article concentrates on the history of Astral Karate, its doctrine and sources. Astral Karate was a late-Soviet eclectic spiritual movement based on esoteric interpretations of martial arts and yoga. The term “Astral Karate” had spread in the 1980s thanks to spiritual leader and underground esoteric author Valery Averianov who called himself Guru Var Avera. On one hand, the movement reflected global tendencies, such as growing interest in Eastern cultures and spirituality, that characterized esoteric groups in the USSR as well as in the USA and Europe during this period. On the other hand, esoteric groups in the Soviet Union developed in isolation from European and American esoteric currents and under unique ideological and legal pressures. The combination of these factors contributed to the originality of late-Soviet esoteric currents and therefore makes Astral Karate an important object of academic inquiry, which helps us to understand the specifics of Soviet spirituality and its further developments in post- Soviet states

A Different Approach to the History of Islam and Muslims in Europe: A North-Eastern Angle, or the Need to Reconsider the Research Field

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Larsson ◽  
Egdūnas Račius
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Research Field ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
Muslims In Europe ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Eastern Baltic

AbstractWhile the ever more strongly felt presence of Muslims in western Europe has already stimulated numerous scholars of various social sciences to embark upon research on issues related to that presence, it is apparent that just a few studies and introductory text books have so far dealt with the evolution of Muslim communities in other parts of Europe, especially in countries of central, eastern, and northern Europe. Without appreciation of and comprehensive research into the more than six-hundred-year-long Muslim presence in the eastern Baltic rim the picture of the development of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in Europe remains incomplete and even distorted. Therefore, this article argues for the necessity of approaching the history of Islam and Muslims in Europe from a different and ultimately more encompassing angle by including the minorities of Muslim cultural background that reside in the countries of the European part of the former Soviet Union—the Baltic states and Belarus. Besides arguing that it is necessary to reconsider and expand the research field in order to develop more profound studies of Islam and Muslims in Europe, the article also outlines suggestions as to why the Muslim history in the eastern Baltic rim has been generally excluded from the history of Islam in Europe.

scholarly journals Swedish political attitudes towards Baltic independence in the short twentieth century [Kokkuvõte: Rootsi poliitilised hoiakud Balti riikide iseseisvuse suhtes lühikesel 20. sajandil]

2016 ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Mart Kuldkepp
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

This article considers the history of Swedish attitudes towards Baltic independence during the short twentieth century (1914–91), focusing primarily on the years when Baltic independence was gained (1918–20) and regained (1989–91). The former was characterized by Swedish skepticism towards the ability of the Baltic states to retain their independence long-term, considering the inevitable revival of Russian power. Sweden became one of the very few Western countries to officially recognize the incorporation of the Baltic states in the Soviet Union in the Second World War. During the Cold War, Sweden gained a reputation for its policy of activist internationalism and support for democratization in the Third World, but for security-related reasons it ignored breaches of human rights and deficit of democracy in its immediate neighborhood, the Soviet Union and the Baltic republics. However, in 1989–91 the unprecedented decline in Soviet influence, the value-based approach in international relations, feelings of guilt over previous pragmatism, and changes in domestic politics encouraged Sweden to support Baltic independence, and to take on the role of an active manager of the Baltic post-soviet transition.

Russia and South Africa: Historical Memory. Part 1

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-32
Author(s):  
Ndlovu Sifiso Mxolisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Relationship

In order to prove that the relationship between South Africa and Russia began well before the democratic dispensation in South Africa, the author is of the belief that the present Russian state inherited the mantle of the former Soviet Union state and therefore the two place names are used interchangeably. The timeline for this article begins from the 1960s to the present, particularly the era after the formation of post-1994 democratic South Africa. The themes to be analysed relate to the writing of a brief ‘diplomatic’ history of South Africa and the Soviet Union and will focus on progressive internationalism, diplomacy, foreign policy, communism and anti-communism in South Africa.

Stateness

2019 ◽  
pp. 656-660
Author(s):  
Timm Beichelt
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Weak State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Look Back ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Concepts ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Transition Studies

The chapter sketches the history of concepts of stateness in political science and transition studies from Dankwart Rustow to the seminal works of Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan. After discussing conceptual and typological aspects, the text deals with pertinent cases where stateness played a decisive role in post-socialist transition, in particular on the territory of the successor states of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Different types of countries have evolved: states that had been dissolved in the 1940s like the Baltic states, cases with weak state traditions like Moldova or Montenegro, countries that look back to a long tradition as a cultural nation like Georgia, and the previously dominating titular nations like Russia or Serbia. Because of these different configurations, problems of stateness arise in different forms during transition.

Fazliddin Muhammadiev’s Journey to the “Other World”: The History of a Cold War Ḥajjnāma

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Vladimir Bobrovnikov ◽  
Artemy M. Kalinovsky
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
History Of The Novel ◽  
Publication History ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Other World ◽  
Sacred Rite

Abstract Fazliddin Muhammadiev’s Dar on dunyo (“In the other world”), first published in Tajik in 1965 and later translated to Russian, Uzbek, and many other languages, is the only known fictionalized account of the ḥajj produced in the Soviet Union. Based on a trip made by the author in 1963, the novel provided the Soviet reader a rare glimpse into this sacred rite. Drawing on archival sources, contemporary responses, and the text itself, this article traces the origins and publication history of the novel, situates it within Soviet domestic and foreign policy goals, and analyzes the text to see how the author tried to reconcile competing ideological priorities.

scholarly journals L’URSS face à la guerre du Golfe, une stratégie singulière

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 785-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francine Lecours
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
The Other ◽  
Military Assistance ◽  
Islamic Revolution ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Abrupt Shift ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of

Soon after the opening of hostilities between Iran and Iraq in September 1980, the Soviet Union offered military assistance to Tehran while simultaneously suspending arms deliveries to Baghdad, a formerly faithful client. Following Iran s refusal of assistance, and possibly in reaction to a percieved threat from the spreading of Iran's Islamic revolution, Moscow re-opened arms shipments to Iraq. This ambivalent behavior on the part of the Soviet Union is partially explained by the history of its interests in the region. The Soviet Union has long Had strategic ambitions to bring Iran under its influence. Moscow welcomed any opportunity to increase economic and political des with Tehran even if in the short term the results were only partial. On the other hand, Iraq is an influential member of the Arab community - a useful relationship for the USSR, and one that while mutually1987 advantageous for both parties, has not required extensive commitments. One cannot ignore the possibility that important events in the Gulf War will cause an abrupt shift in Soviet attitudes and actions in the region.

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