Category: History, Soviet Union

Stories of a Soviet Studier: My Experiences in Russia

Education, Academia, History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

Subject: Stories of a Soviet Studier: My Experiences in Russia Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2016 From: Stephen D. Shenfield <sshenfield@verizon.net> [New Book: Stories of a Soviet Studier: My Experiences in Russia] I recently published an e-book on Amazon Kindle entitled ‘Stories of a Soviet Studier: My Experiences in Russia’: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Soviet-Studier-Experiences-Studies-ebook/dp/B01EBG3RIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1460977096&sr=1-1&keywords=shenfield My summary This is a collection of stories about personal […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Chance to Change History” – Stratfor

History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

Twenty-five years ago, an unsuccessful coup attempt, known as the August Coup, was launched by a group of hawkish Communist Party members and security elites against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, in what was widely seen as one of the key moments that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. * * * A keen student of history, Vladimir Putin […]

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What Happened To The August 1991 Soviet Coup Plotters?

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Ron Synovitz – August 19, 2016) Eleven hard-liners in the Soviet government, military, Communist Party, and #KGB were named in a Russian court as the organizers of the failed August 1991 coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. They included the so-called “Gang of Eight” that had placed Gorbachev under house arrest — a short-lived, self-declared provisional […]

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Kremlin Propaganda Exploiting Five American Vulnerabilities, Kirillova Says

History, Soviet Union, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Religion, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Satellite Dishes

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 13, 2016) Lenin said that Marxism was powerful because it was true; his successors in the Kremlin have been as successful with their propaganda as they have been because they carefully tailor their messages and techniques to whatever audiences they hope to influence. One of the most damning indications of this […]

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Lack of Solidarity Among Russian Opposition an Ominous Echo of 1937, Pavlova Says

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 27, 2016) The reaction of many Russian opposition figures to the arrest of corrupt figures today eerily and ominously echoes the reaction of many ordinary Soviet citizens to the arrest and then execution of many corrupt officials in the late 1930s, according to Irina Pavlova, a US-based Russian historian. And the […]

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Five Rules for Living Through and Looking Beyond the Putin Stagnation

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, History, Soviet Union, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 20, 2016) Those who lived through the Brezhnev stagnation, commentator Dmitry Gubin says, know that “when the chances for change for the better don’t exist, one must particularly carefully filter information and choose one’s strategy of behavior.” Now, Russia is in another such period, and to help them, he offers five […]

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Brexit: Russia’s national interest versus its nationalist interest

Britain, UK, United Kingdom, Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
EU Map

Subject: Brexit: Russia’s national interest versus its nationalist interest Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 13:27:00 -0400 From: Ira Straus (IRASTRAUS@aol.com) The argumentative thrust of Putin’s Russia is friendly to Brexit. Indeed, it propagandizes for the most extreme parties of the far Right in Europe, coupled with providing financial sponsorship for them and some organizational support. This creates a resemblance to […]

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Russia Might Not Be a Failed State But It is a Failed Country, Shtepa Says

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Russia Regions Map

(Paul Goble – Staunton, June 14, 2016) The fact that Russians devote so little attention to their independence day even as they devote so much to Victory Day, Vadim Shtepa says, highlights a fundamental reality: Russia may not be a failed state according to the classic definitions, but it is a failed country, one that has not been able to […]

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VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: The Baltics Remember, Russia Forgets

Baltics, Estonia, History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Latvia, Lithuania
Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

(RFE/RL – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – June 15, 2016) [Video further below] Seventy-five years ago this week, an ethnic cleansing campaign began. Seventy-five years ago this week, tens of thousands of people were uprooted from their homes, from their lives, and from their families. Seventy-five years ago this week — when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were […]

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Russia Remains a Byzantine State and that May Doom It, ‘Gazeta’ Editors Say

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and River

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 1, 2016) The photographs of Vladimir Putin sitting on what many falsely supposed was the throne of Byzantine emperors have prompted many to laugh but others to note that “Russia even today in many ways remains an heir of the Byzantine empire,” according to the editors of Moscow’s “Gazeta.” Russians “borrowed […]

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RBTH: The Georgian on their mind: Why Russians still approve of Stalin

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Joseph Stalin file photo

Public opinion surveys show that today support for Stalin in Russia is the highest it has been since the fall of the Soviet Union. More than half of Russians believe that he played a positive role in the history of the country and the Communist Party is even planning to use the image of the Soviet leader in the next […]

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Degradation of Russian Elites Underlies Russia’s Decline, Pastukhov Says

History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russia Map

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 24, 2016) “The thinning out of the Russian ‘cultural stratum’ and, as a result, the degradation of elites who have turned out to be incapable of responding to new historical challenges,” Vladimir Pastukhov says, is the underlying cause of the current decline of the country. All other causes, technological, societal and […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine defeated Russia – at Eurovision. Here’s why that matters.” – Washington Post/Robert Seely

History, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

… [the] Russian regime was musically mugged at the Eurovision Song Contest by Susana Jamaladinova — known as Jamala — a Crimean Tatar who won by singing about Moscow’s oppression of her kin. … About 200 million viewers watched Jamala perform “1944,’ an emotional lament that mixes Turkish-style harmonies with a cool, Western beat and tells how the Soviet Union deported Tatars from their […]

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A Euro ‘vision’ of discord: The reaction from Russia and Ukraine

Europe, EU, History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Joseph Stalin file photo

Eurovision, Europe’s most popular song contest, has pitted Russia against Ukraine. The winning song and the results of the jury have prompted considerable commentary in both countries, turning an apolitical show into yet another frontline in an ongoing media war. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLEG YEGOROV, YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – May 17, 2016) The Eurovision 2016 winning […]

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Eurovision meets its Waterloo as Russia-Ukraine rivalry takes center stage

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Joseph Stalin file photo

While Russian officials lost no time in lashing out over Ukraine’s Eurovision victory with a song about the Stalinist deportations of the Crimean Tatars, the results of the public vote suggest that Russia-Ukrainian enmity doesn’t extend to the general public. But the overtly political nature of the winning song may mark a watershed for the competition. (Russia Beyond the Headlines […]

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What to tell our children; The head of RBTH’s English desk tries to put into words what for her is important about the May 9 holiday, the legacy of World War II and what it means to future generations.

History, Soviet Union, Military
Battle of Stalingrad file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – OLGA VLASOVA, RBTH – May 9, 2016) Ever since I became an adult I always spend the morning of May 9 according to the same routine. I wake up early while everyone is still in bed and watch a couple of old Soviet films about how boys and girls lived and died in […]

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NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “What does Victory Day mean for Russia after Ukraine and Syria? Today Russians look at Victory Day through the lens of the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s Syria military operation. However, it might bring about three negative implications both for Russia and the world.”

History, Soviet Union, Military, Newslinks, Syria, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
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In the Flesh: Russian Scientists Work to Preserve Lenin’s Corpse

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square, Kremlin Walls

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – May 5, 2016) He lies in a glass sarcophagus. His eyes are closed, reddish beard and mustache trimmed, and his hands rest calmly on his thighs. Dressed in an austere black suit, Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader, looks, on first impressions, to be sleeping. His image is so lifelike that it […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with members of Legislators’ Council

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Tauride Palace file photo - adapted from image © A.Savin, Wikimedia Commons

(Kremlin.ru – April 29, 2016) Vladimir Putin took part in a meeting of the Federal Assembly’s Council of Legislators timed for the Day of Russian Parliamentarianism and the 110th anniversary of Russia’s first State Duma. The meeting at the Tauride Palace is attended by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and speakers of regional parliaments. President […]

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Atomic energy and political power in Russia

History, Soviet Union, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Nuclear Plant File Photo

In Russia, the space for environmental activism and advocacy is changing under increasing state pressure. An interview with one of Russia’s leading ecological organisations about the prospects for anti-nuclear activism today. (opendemocracy.net – EDITORS OF OPENDEMOCRACY RUSSIA, VLADIMIR SLIVYAK, NAILYA IBRAGIMOVA – April 25, 2016) In the coming days, much of the coverage of the Chernobyl disaster in Russia is […]

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Why Ukraine is at risk of forgetting the lessons of Chernobyl

Environment, History, Soviet Union, Nuclear, Missile Defense, Oil, Gas, Energy, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Chernobyl File Photo

Thirty years after the explosion at the nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl, one Russian expert argues that, by using American fuel in Soviet-built reactors and pushing the power-producing capabilities of its nuclear plants, Ukraine is putting itself at potential risk of another disaster. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANDREI RETINGER, SPECIAL TO RBTH – […]

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Russians Will Stop Supporting Putin Only When They See His Weakness, Yakovenko Says

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin Descending a Staircase

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 24, 2016) Given the longstanding servility of the Russian people, Vladimir Putin can be deprived of popular support only by showing how weak he in fact is, according to commentator, something that requires the opposition within Russia to unite and the West to reduce to a minimum any contacts with him. […]

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More Than Half of Russians Want New Soviet State – Poll

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 21, 2016) More than half of Russians would like to see the restoration of the Soviet Union, according to a poll released Tuesday. Although 58 percent of respondents said they would like to see a new socialist system, only 14 percent believed that it was likely to happen, the report by the independent Levada […]

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Interfax: Positive attitude to Lenin in Russia tops 50% – poll

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

(Interfax – April 20, 2016) The share of Russian citizens who positively assess the historical role of Vladimir Lenin has grown from 40 percent to 53 percent in the past ten years, the Levada Center told Interfax. The opinion was mostly voiced by pensioners (67 percent), Russians older than 55 (66 percent), people with primary education (59 percent), people with […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics. Putin Returns to the Historical Pattern.” – Foreign Affairs/Stephen Kotkin

Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, NATO, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

For half a millennium, Russian foreign policy has been characterized by soaring ambitions that have exceeded the country’s capabilities. Beginning with … Ivan the Terrible … Russia managed to expand at an average rate of 50 square miles per day for hundreds of years, eventually covering one-sixth of the earth’s landmass. * * *  Throughout, the country has been haunted […]

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How Greed and Incompetence Put Russia’s Heritage at Risk

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, History, Soviet Union, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Novodevichy Convent file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ekaterina Motyakina – April 14, 2016) The Novodevichy convent is a rare glimpse of tranquility in Russia’s bustling capital. Perched on the banks of the Bolshoi Novodevichny Lake, the convent’s golden domes and soaring bell towers have given refuge to Moscow’s needy since the 16th century. When cultural and scientific agency UNESCO designated it a […]

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Russia’s Inability to Deal with Its Past Imperils Its Future, Inozemtsev Says

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Balaklava harbour, the cattle pier, Crimea, Ukraine, 1855; adapted from image at loc.gov; Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869, photographer;

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 7, 2016) Russians love to compare themselves and their country with others and especially with the United States and to ask why others have done better than they have, Vladislav Inozemtsev says; but in general, Russians focus on differences in economic, legal or belief systems rather than on the critical problem […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Three Rules of Kremlin Power” – New York Times/Maxim Trudolyubov

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

… Stalin and … Putin … are very different leaders living in very different times. I just cannot help noticing that they seem to follow the same playbook for being a successful autocrat. … Rule No. 1 calls for attributing all victories to oneself — regardless of who or what contributed to the perceived success. … Rule No. 2: Failures […]

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The Soviet Adventures Of Steve Jobs

History, Soviet Union, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering
Mac Computer file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – April 1, 2016) In the summer of 1985, a young commercial attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow sat down with two representatives of the California computer company Apple who were visiting the heart of the Soviet empire. One was an “older guy,” the attache, Mike Merin, recalls. The other was “this lanky, […]

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Battle in the Archives – Uncovering Russia’s Secret Past

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – March 24, 2016) The year is 1941, and hundreds of miles from Germany, Nazi armored divisions gather speed along newly-frosted soil. They are almost within striking distance of Moscow, the Soviet capital. Eventually, the charge is halted before the city by a series of bloody, desperate battles. Famously, 28 members of the […]

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NEWSWATCH Newsweek/Damien Sharkov: “Gorbachev wanted to Preserve the Soviet Union”

History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

… Gorbachev told Russian radio RSN that he was among those who voted for the Soviet Union not to be dissolved and instead seek internal reform. ‘I was of the position that the union should be democratised,’ Gorbachev said …. ‘Centralised government was in the way of everything that was going on in each republic. It was necessary to give […]

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Russia Missed Its Chance to Be Like America

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – March 4, 2016) Many Russians feel the U.S. and their country are much alike. Both are vast, they share a sense of adventure, along with underlying lawlessness and violence, and in both, the infrastructure often is an afterthought. So what is keeping Russia from turning into another America — a democratic nation and […]

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Nancy Reagan played important role in improving U.S-USSR relations – Gorbachev

History, Soviet Union, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

MOSCOW. March 7 (Interfax) – Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has expressed grief over the death of former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan. “It was with deep sorrow that I learnt the sad news and I can rightfully say: well done, Nancy! She said to Ronald Reagan: when you quit the post of U.S. president, you need to go as […]

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Moscow grateful to U.S. for return of stolen archive documents, expect such cooperation in other areas – foreign ministry

History, Soviet Union, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
foreign-ministry-200

MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry hails the return from the U.S. of the documents that disappeared from Russian archives, back in 1990s, and hopes that this experience in Russia-U.S. cooperation will be in demand in other areas too. “We are grateful to the American side for the cooperation in the discovery and repatriation to Russia of […]

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Gorbachev: Russia’s savior, or a symbol of the country’s collapse?

History, Soviet Union
File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

On March 2, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR and the man who began perestroika in the Soviet Union, turns 85. RBTH presents a selection of quotes about the Soviet leader by his contemporaries. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY TIMOFEYCHEV, RBTH – March 2, 2016) Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German Foreign Minister, 1974-1992: Mikhail Gorbachev opened a […]

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