Wartime Suffering and Survival

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey K. Hass
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
Personal Significance ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Face ◽  
Police Records

This book explores how people survive in the face of incredible odds. When our backs are against the wall, what are our interests, identities, and practices? When are we self-centered, empathetic, altruistic, or ambivalent? How much agency do the desperate have—or want? Such was the situation in the Blockade of Leningrad, nearly 900 days from 1941 to 1944, in which over one million civilians died—but more survived due to gumption and creativity. How did they survive, and how did survival reinforce or reshape identities, practices, and relations under Stalin? Using diaries, recollections, police records, interviews, and state documents from Leningrad, this book shows average Leningraders coping with war, starvation, and extreme uncertainty. Local relations and social distance matter significantly when states and institutions falter under duress. Opportunism and desperation were balanced by empathy and relations. One key to Leningraders’ practices was relations to anchors—entities of symbolic and personal significance that anchored Leningraders to each other and a sense of community. Such anchors as food and Others shaped practices of empathy and compassion, and of opportunism and egoism. By exploring the state and shadow markets, food, families, gender, class, death, and suffering, Wartime Suffering and Survival relays Leningraders’ stories to show a little-told side of Russian and Soviet history and to explore the human condition and who we really are. This speaks not only to rethinking the nature of the Soviet Union and Stalinism, but also to the nature of social relations, practices, and people more generally.

Flowers Through Concrete

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Fürst
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Stable Relationship ◽  
Youth Cultures ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Socialism

Flowers through Concrete: Explorations in Soviet Hippieland does what the title promises. It takes readers on a journey into a world few knew existed: the lives and thoughts of Soviet hippies, who in the face of disapproval and repression created a version of Western counterculture, skilfully adapting, manipulating, and shaping it to their late socialist environment. This book is a quasi-guide into the underground hippieland, situating the world of hippies firmly in late Soviet reality and offering an unusual history of the last Soviet decades as well as a case study in the power of transnational youth cultures. It tells the almost forgotten story of how in the late sixties hippie communities sprang up across the Soviet Union, often under the tutelage of a few rebellious youngsters coming from privileged households at the heart of the Soviet establishment. Flowers through Concrete recounts not only a compelling story of survival against the odds—hippies were harassed by police, shorn of their hair by civilian guards, and confined in psychiatric hospitals by doctors who believed nonconformism was a symptom of schizophrenia. It also advances a surprising argument: despite obvious antagonism the land of Soviet hippies and the world of late socialism were not incompatible. Indeed, Soviet hippies and late socialist reality meshed so well that the hostile, yet stable, relationship that emerged was in many ways symbiotic. Ultimately, it was not the KGB but the arrival of capitalism in the 1990s that ended the Soviet hippie sistema.

scholarly journals Dyplomacja Nicolae Ceauşescu wobec przemian politycznych w Polsce w 1989 roku

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 239-258
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Warsaw Pact ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Communist Leader ◽  
Armed Intervention ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Gorbachev Era ◽  
Nicolae Ceausescu

Nicolae Ceauşescu’s Diplomacy in the Face of Political Changes in Poland in 1989 In 1989, Romania belonged to the communist countries, which particularly strongly attacked communist Poland for carrying out democratic reforms. For many months the diplomacy of communist leader Nicolae Ceaşescu tried to organize a conference of socialist countries on the subject of Poland, but as a result of Moscow’s opposition it did not come to fruition. During the Gorbachev era, the Soviet Union rejected the Brezhnev doctrine, while Romania actually urged its restoration. This was in contradiction with the current political line of Ceauşescu in favor of not interfering in the internal affairs of socialist countries. However, in 1989 it was a threat to communism, which is why historians also have polemics about Romanian suggestions for the armed intervention of the Warsaw Pact in Poland. In turn, Romania did not allow Poland to interfere in the problems of the Polish minority in Bukovina.

The Stalinist Revision of History: The Case of Brest-Litovsk

1952 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Raymond L. Garthoff
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Historiography

The events leading to the rise of Stalin to sole prominence in the Soviet Union and the general political picture of the totalitarian Stalinist regime are now familiar, but specific forms of the evolution of “Stalinism” are often not adequately understood. Evolving Soviet historiography is an unusually informative mirror of these developments, since it not only attempts to describe them, but implicitly embodies them as well. The present article is an analysis of one theme from early Soviet history, treatment of which in Soviet historiography exemplifies both the trend of Soviet historiography as a whole, and the trend of Stalinism as an emergent totalitarian ideology based on Bolshevism.

Russian Organized Crime: Its History, Structure and Function

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Albini ◽  
R.E. Rogers ◽  
Victor Shabalin ◽  
Valery Kutushev ◽  
Vladimir Moiseev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Client Relationships ◽  
And Function

In analyzing Russian organized crime, the authors describe and classify the four major forms of organized crime: 1) political-social, 2) mercenary, 3) in-group, and 4) syndicated. Though the first three classifications of the aforementioned types of organized crime existed throughout Soviet history, it was the syndicated form that began to emerge in the late 1950's, expanding during the corrupt Breznev years (1964–82), exploding during perestroika, and reaching pandemic levels after the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. The abrupt transformation of the Russian society from a centralized command economy to one driven by the forces of market capitalism created the socio-pathological conditions for the malignant spread of mercenary and especially syndicated organized crime. New criminals syndicates were created by an alliance of criminal gangs/groups and former members of the Soviet Union's communist nomenklatura (bureaucracy) and the consequence was the criminalization of much of the Russian economy. The social structure of these syndicates is based on a loose association of patron-client relationships rather than a centralized hierarchical system; their function is to provide illicit goods/services desired by the people. The authors conclude their study by emphasizing that what has taken place in Russia is not peculiar to the Russian people, but exemplifies what can happen to societies that experience rapid and intense social change.

Soviet Selves

2019 ◽  
pp. 60-81
Author(s):  
Justine Buck Quijada
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War ◽  
Symbolic Form ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Religious Actors

Chapter 2 presents the Soviet chronotope embodied in Victory Day celebrations. Victory Day, which is the celebration of the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II, presumes the familiar Soviet genre of history, in which the Soviet Union brought civilization to Buryatia, and Buryats achieved full citizenship in the Soviet utopian dream through their collective sacrifice during the war. The ritual does not narrate Soviet history. Instead, through Soviet and wartime imagery, and the parade form, the public holiday evokes this genre in symbolic form, enabling local residents to read their own narratives of the past into the imagery. This space for interpretation enables both validation as well as critique of the Soviet experience in Buryatia. Although not everyone in Buryatia agrees on how to evaluate this history, this genre is the taken-for-granted backdrop against which other religious actors define their narratives.

The Molotov – Ribbentrop pact as fateful sentence of the European continent

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Yulia Ryzhkova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Main Body ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Face ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
The One

Problem setting. Many decades have passed since the Pact was signed, and the essential nature of the it continues to spark debate among historians and scholars. The main criterion that continues debates is the fact that the signing of the act resulted in a change of the entire European continent and a change in the geopolitical balance. Therefore, the relevance of the topic is that today there is no clear political and moral assessment of the pact on the basis of which a rational international significance of the document could be established. Target of research. The purposes of this study are to establish the legal characteristics and nature of the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact; to analyze the consequences of which the document has been signed; to distinguish the positive and negative sides of the act in combination with the proposal of its international significance. Analysis of resent researches and publications. The following scientists were engaged in research of the specified question: M. Shvagulak, S. Pron, I. Khalupa, Nicolas Burns and Andreas Ortega. Article’s main body. This publication discusses the document – the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which has had a significant impact on both political and social development and the future potential of dozens of countries across the European continent. The Pact still defines many geopolitical realities in modern Europe. Discussions about the historic role of the non-aggression treaty and secret protocols are still relevant. The article deals with the legal characterization and essence of an international act of political and legal nature. The consequences of the signature of the “fateful sentence” are analyzed, as well as the positive and negative sides of this document, in combination with the establishment of its international significance, are highlighted and presented in detail. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Thus, as can be seen from all the work, the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact has a rather contradictory character, both in relation to the countries it has in some way concerned and to history in general. So, on the one hand, this treaty was really beneficial and needed by the countries that signed it, namely Germany and the Soviet Union. However, the benefits in each of these countries were different. Discussions are still ongoing about the legal force of the treaty, as well as its international legal assessment. But from the point of view of international law, the Pact should be regarded as a huge violation that has influenced the development of new rules and principles in modern society. That is why the author believes that it is the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact that became the signature of both states in the face of the forthcoming explosion of the largest Second world war.

PUPILS' EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL AND FAMILY LIFE. A COMPARISON BETWEEN ESTONIA AND RUSSIA

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-209
Author(s):  
Egil Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
The Soviet Union

In spite of common regime under the Soviet Union, Russia and Estonia have different traditions and cultural backgrounds, which may influence the parents' upbringing of the children.The focus of this study is teenagers' perception of their upbringing and the perceived demands on them from adults as well as from peers. In total 1.040 pupils, ranging in age from 12 to 14, took part. Of these, 548 were from Estonia and 492 from Russia. The pupils answered a questionnaire including questions about interests, parents' demands, schoolwork and social relations with their families and with their peers. Factor analyses of data were made separately for the two countries as well as for the whole study and the pupils' answers in Estonia and Russia were compared, with country and sex as independent variables. Some of the results indicate cultural differences as well as differences in external living conditions.

The Life of the Soviet Worker

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Skill Level ◽  
Industrial Change ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Worker Identity ◽  
Do So ◽  
Soviet Experience

The Soviet Union was the workers’ state and worker culture, broadly defined, coloured the whole of the Soviet experience. At the centre of the most transformative Soviet project of all, Stalin’s industrial revolution of 1928–41, workers benefited from specific privileges and from affirmative action, though they also suffered the misery of rapid industrial change. After 1953, they enjoyed a heyday of modest material advances and moral certainties, marked by the sense that society respected at least some of their values and would do so forever. But this sense was not shared by all Soviet workers, and lifestyles varied by industry, skill level, and region. And the heyday faded as shortages became increasingly difficult to endure, and then ended, as Gorbachev’s reforms destroyed the comforts that remained. A positive worker identity, but not a coherent class consciousness, survived through toperestroika, and helped to sustain the dynamic of Soviet history.

Agricultural Involution in the Postwar Soviet Union

2014 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Jenny Leigh Smith
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Agricultural Labor ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Agricultural Ecosystem ◽  
Rice Agriculture ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Face ◽  
Environmental Limits ◽  
Additional Labor

AbstractThis article describes a form of agricultural labor intensification common in the postwar Soviet Union that shares some important similarities to Clifford Geertz's notion of agricultural involution, first devised to describe Javanese wet rice agriculture. Using the examples of hog farming and cotton production, this paper describes the phenomenon of postwar agricultural involution, and explores its limits and possibilities. The most important divergence from Geertz's original model is that in the Soviet cases, agricultural involution did not attain any form of environmental equilibrium; in fact, because of agricultural involution, the Soviet Union was forced to confront the environmental limits of agricultural intensification. The concept of agricultural involution provides a way of thinking about the relative flexibility or rigidity of agroecological health in the face of labor intensification. This quality—how much additional labor and how many extra humans an agricultural ecosystem is able to support—is critical in evaluating how robust or fragile a landscape is.

The Oil Deal: Nariman Narimanov and the Sovietization of Azerbaijan

Slavic Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 372-394
Author(s):  
Sara Brinegar
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Soviet Power ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Russia

This essay, with a focus on Baku, Azerbaijan, demonstrates that the need to secure and hold energy resources—and the infrastructures that support them—was critical to the formation of the Soviet Union. The Azerbaijani statesman Nariman Narimanov played a pivotal role in the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan by attempting to use Baku's oil to secure prerogatives for the Azerbaijan SSR. In part, Narimanov gained his position by striking a deal with Vladimir Lenin in 1920, an arrangement that I am calling the oil deal. This deal lay the foundations of Soviet power in the south Caucasus. Lenin charged Narimanov with facilitating connections between the industrial stronghold of Baku and the rural countryside of Azerbaijan and Narimanov agreed to do what he could to help supply Soviet Russia with oil. Lenin put Narimanov in charge of the Soviet government of Azerbaijan, with the understanding that he would be granted significant leeway in cultural policies. Understanding the role of the south Caucasus in Soviet history, then, is also understanding how the extraction and use of oil and other natural resources were entangled with more familiar questions of nationalities policy and identity politics.

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