Disappointments and the Persistence of Grandiose Visions

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-136
Author(s):  
Alan D. Roe
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Kamchatka Peninsula ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Basic Functions

Not long after the RSFSR started establishing parks in the mid-1980s, environmental concerns became mainstream in the Soviet Union as Gorbachev’s reforms encouraged Soviet citizens to discuss a variety of problems more openly than at any time previously in Russian history. In turn, national parks were often touted for their potential to transform the economy of entire regions and the lifestyles of their inhabitants. While the state could not provide the funds for parks to carry out their most basic functions, park supporters placed hopes in attracting foreign tourists and new opportunities to collaborate with international organizations. This chapter uses several case studies—Elk Island National Park, ideas for parks on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the proposed Beringia International Park and a park in the Altai Mountains—to demonstrate how park supporters used the national park idea to guard against development and future environmental threats.

Russian History and the Soviet Union

1962 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-387
Author(s):  
Robert E. F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Russian History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Future

The problem I wish to discuss is how Russian history has differed from that of Western Europe and whether the reasons for these differences continue to be relevant and deep-seated enough to make it seem likely that they will continue in the future.

VOKS, Cultural Diplomacy and the Shadow of the Lubianka: Olavi Paavolainen’s 1939 Visit to the Soviet Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1022-1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ville Laamanen
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
Vice Chairman ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Network Building ◽  
Foreign Countries

Existing scholarship suggests that Stalin’s Great Terror of 1936–8 seriously undermined Soviet cultural diplomacy and forced its main promoter, the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (VOKS), to succumb to the strict control of the party and secret police. By contrast, this article argues that by the spring and summer of 1939 VOKS was recovering from stagnation and reintroducing customs from before the Great Terror. Through a micro-historical analysis of Finnish writer Olavi Paavolainen’s exceptionally long visit to the Soviet Union between May and August 1939, the article demonstrates how case studies of select VOKS operations can explain many of the dilemmas and peculiarities of Soviet cultural diplomacy during the thus far scantily researched 1939–41 period. By focusing on the interactions between Paavolainen, the VOKS vice-chairman Grigori Kheifets and Soviet writers, the article illustrates that after the purges, VOKS continued its efforts to disseminate a positive and controlled image of Soviet life by complex means that linked propaganda with network-building. Finally, the article highlights the role of individuals in cultural diplomacy and explores how an outsider perceived the Great Terror’s effects on Soviet cultural intelligentsia.

scholarly journals Ivan the Terrible and Russian Feudalism in the Works of Hungarian and Russian Historians of the Soviet Era

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Halperin
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Ivan The Terrible ◽  
Soviet Historiography

In his book An Attempt at Microhistoriography (Rus. Опыт микроисториографии), Gyula Szvák, an outstanding Hungarian specialist in Russian history, republishes seven of his earlier articles and presents a previously unpublished eighth article on the Soviet historiography of the key issues of 16th-century Russian history. The articles consider Ivan Peresvetov’s works, reforms and oprichnina between the middle and second half of the sixteenth century; also, they compare the reigns and personalities of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. Additionally, the author explores the personal stories of his mentors, Russian historian Ruslan Skrynnikov and Hungarian József Perényi. The book reviewed presents a kind of panorama of two historiographic traditions of studying the Russian Middle Ages in the Soviet Union and Hungary before the collapse of the communist regime there. The author returns to the peculiarities of Russia’s historical development and comprehension of the concept of “Russian feudalism” and reflects on the fate of historians who were engaged in the study of mediaeval Russia under rigid ideological principles.

scholarly journals Communities in Fukushima and Chernobyl—Enabling and Inhibiting Factors for Recovery in Nuclear Disaster Areas

2020 ◽  
pp. 211-232
Author(s):  
Tetsuya Okada ◽  
Serhii Cholii ◽  
Dávid Karácsonyi ◽  
Michimasa Matsumoto
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Compare And Contrast

Abstract This chapter provides case studies on disaster recovery in the context of community participation. It presents two cases that explore, compare and contrast the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. Despite differences in the socio-economic circumstances between the Soviet Union (Soviet–Ukraine) in 1986 and Japan in 2011, the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters provide an opportunity to discuss power relations in disaster management and the role of local communities. These large-scale nuclear disasters are amongst the most traumatic experiences for the disaster-impacted communities worldwide. This chapter discusses the implementation of relocation and resettlement measures with socio-political power relations within and between the stakeholders. The combination of these is shown to significantly affect the everyday lives of those within the communities throughout the recovery process. Along with government documentation, the interviews with evacuees, community leaders and decision-makers conducted between 2012 and 2016 form the basis of the case studies discussed in this chapter.

Emigration

2019 ◽  
pp. 129-150
Author(s):  
Paul Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Vladimir Putin

This chapter concerns Russian emigration. Historians have contrasted the political weakness of the Russian emigration with its vibrant artistic and intellectual life. In 1922, the Bolsheviks expelled 220 of Russia's leading intellectuals on the so-called “philosophers' steamer.” They and other émigrés made important contributions to a large range of subjects, including philosophy and history, while émigré communities produced hundreds of journals and newspapers. In the post-Soviet era, as Russian politicians and intellectuals have sought non-communist sources of inspiration, many have turned to émigré writings. Important political figures such as President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have cited émigré thinkers in their speeches. Although it was cut off from the vitally important developments taking place in the Soviet Union, the emigration is an integral part of Russian history.

Region Building and Regional Cooperation in Response to Environmental Challenges: A Case Study from the Barents Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-157
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Mackie
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Environmental Challenges ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Barents Region ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

During the Cold War, the border between Norway and the Soviet Union was almost completely closed and there were few diplomatic relations between the Arctic regions of northern Europe and the Soviet Union. Within weeks of the end of the Soviet Union, however, the Norwegian government began negotiations over regional cooperation which led to what is now the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation.This article argues that one of the significant incentives which led to the formation of the Barents region at the time that the Soviet Union collapsed was the common environmental threats faced by each of the Arctic nations of Europe and northwest Russia. This article considers the sources of the environmental challenges and the work that has been undertaken to tackle those shared threats. It also considers the region building that has taken place as a result of the cooperation which, although it began as a means of solving the environmental threats but has now spread much further with cohesion and cooperation in many other policy areas. The article concludes with a discussion of how this model could be used as a means of encouraging regional cooperation in other parts of the world, particularly in areas where there is a history of conflict or where there are shared environmental concerns.

The Paradoxes of Citizenship Removal

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Herzog
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Dual Citizenship ◽  
Traditional Conception ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Right ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Relationship

The Soviet Union and post-communist states are outstanding case studies of the changing meaning of expatriation and citizenship. The historical shifts in voluntary and forced expatriation and the relationship between the two signify the changing perceptions of citizenship. Although there appears to be a disjunction between the two periods, I argue that this difference is mainly in scale and is symbolic rather than a transformation of the philosophical principle that allows free movement and free emigration. Both philosophically and legally, the right to exit one’s country and emigrate is considered a basic democratic human right. However, like all philosophical and actual manifestations of this right, during both the communist and post-communist periods the right to leave was conditional. Similarly, most post-communist countries adhere to the traditional conception of citizenship that sees dual citizenship as a violation of the exclusiveness of national political membership.

The “kgb People,” Soviet Americanists and Soviet-American Academic Exchanges, 1958–1985

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergei Zhuk
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Social History ◽  
American Studies ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
American Academic

Using various case studies – from Oleg Kalugin to Grigorii Sevostianov and Nikolai Sivachev in Russia, and Askold Shlepakov in Ukraine, this article examines different instrumental functions of the KGB people among Soviet Americanists, specialists in the US history, politics, literature and films. It focuses on the KGB influences in the field of American studies in the Soviet Union since the beginning of Soviet-us academic exchanges programs in 1958 till the beginning of perestroika. This article is a part of the larger project about cultural and social history of Soviet Americanists during the Cold War.

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