Soviet

The Soviet Union was founded by the Bolshevik Party in November 1917. Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, established Communist rule after the end of the Civil War in Russia in 1921. The Communist regime’s central beliefs were based on the theories and ideas of Karl Marx. Marx believed in the creation of a classless society where all citizens were equal. The components of communism affected multiple aspects of the nation. Economically, the Soviet Union achieved little to none economic or industrial…

Stalin’s death in 1953 transformed the Soviet Communism and way of life in many different ways. Essentially, the transformation of Soviet life after the Thaw can be said to have undergone three phases: introduction of reforms during Khrushchev’s era, the Brezhnev stagnation, and Gorbachev reforms that ultimately led to the Soviet Union dissolving in 1991. When Nikita Khrushchev rose to power, he made significant reforms including policies of peace between the Soviet and other nations and…

Even though The Soviet Union turned from a rural farming country to an industrialized power house in just a matter of years, Stalin’s plans were more harmful than helpful to the Soviet Union because of the famine he caused, and the millions that died because of his actions. Joseph Stalin was one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks or communist party that took control of Russia on October 24, 1917. During the Russian Revolution, he was a general who fought in major battles in the Russian Civil War…

The Cold War is a highly controversial topic amongst historians. The Soviet Union and the United States were allies during World War II and the both sides sacrificed a great deal contributing to winning the Second World War. There is a lot written about the distrust both sides had for each other, pre-dating the Cold War. Historians contemplate which super power was the aggressor, the intentions of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and who was at fault for the start of the war and for the duration. One…

“Бут”: A Micro Essay on Soviet Living “By returning to the early nineteenth century, which is usually nostalgically regarded by Russians as the paradisiacal dwelling-place of cultivation and enlightenment, an escape from the oppressions of the present, and representing this instead as a sphere of nightmare and paranoia, Baranskaya has, at last and in her last major story, entered the modern world.” (Kelly, 408) There is much truth provided in this quote from Catriona Kelly’s A History of…

Have you ever heard of the Soviet Union? Fought in both World Wars for the Allies, and made up of many countries. Some say one particular leader was one of the worst people in history. Well if you have then you might know the name Joseph Stalin. Joseph was born in Gori Georgia, December 21st 1879. His first leadership role was the Commissioner of Nationalities. He later makes a speech to grant freedom to the Russian people, and then got promoted to General Secretary of General…

defense alliances with Italy, Japan and most importantly Russia. Do to the location of Germanys position between the West and Russia, Hitler sought to avoid a war on both fronts. While Hitler and Stalin despised each other. Hitler proposed the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1936. The Pact divided the Poland and other countries between Russia and Germany. Hitler’s achieved his goal of creating another buffer zone between Russia. However, Russia would get Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia essentially creating…

“The implications of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan could pose the most serious threat to the peace since the Second World War.” In 1980, Jimmy Carter was able to recognize the political threat of the Soviet Union colonization and its potentially damaging consequences on global security. Amidst the political clash of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union engaged in an unsuccessful invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to expand their communist empire. The…

The Soviet-Afghan war would go down in history as the Soviet Union’s “Vietnam war”, was an attempt by the Soviet Union to enforce the Brezhnev Doctrine—Which states that any country that becomes socialist, Moscow would never allow it to return to capitalist roots. This was the first time the Soviet Union had attacked any country outside of the Eastern bloc, and constituted worldwide condemnation. Among many major participants in this conflict, the United States would play an active yet…

the circumstances that led to the Sino-Soviet “split” during the Cold War. The main body of this investigation will assess the political and ideological relations, national interests, as well as varying views of regimes between China (PRC) and the Soviet Union (USSR). The split devastated the international communist movement while laying down the path that would later spark relations between China and the United States in 1971. Two sources, Sino-Soviet Crisis Politics: A Study of…