No matter what try to write about in this class, I always end up making some sort of connection to a moment in American history. While the order in which they appear and the outcomes may be completely different, society still tends to play the same cards. Of of the most hilarious similarities I have […]
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Give Me Latvia or Give Me Death
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Once all the dust had settled from the tragedy that was WW1, three nation-states emerged in Northeastern Europe: Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. These three countries lived in relative peace from other nations until 1939 when Stalin and Hitler made a backroom deal that not only angered these Baltic nations, but the rest of the world. […]
Prohibiton in Russia
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In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev shocked the people of Russia when he launched his Anti-Alcohol campaign. Not two months after being elected as General Secretary Gorbachev…
Chernobyl: Crisis in a Crucial Time
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Even on its own, the meltdown at Chernobyl in April of 1986 is one of the worst man-made disasters in history. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by this disaster — some relocated, some faced severe health effects and … Continue reading →
The Iron Curtain Fears A Little Bit of Rock n’ Roll
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In the 1980′s, youth culture was rapidly changing and the newer generations were always after the most hip fashions, music, and styles from the West. The USSR had little in terms of pop culture flair, so Russia youths always tried to get their hands on music from the US and UK. Rock music, especially what […]
Final Blog Post Guidelines
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Perestroika. Glasnost’. Acceleration. Democracy (1985)
As the Pizza Hut ad we watched today suggested, Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership ushered in an era of increased freedom, opportunity, and hope for Soviet citizens, even as it fostered economic uncertainty, political instability, and the threat of chaos. For your final blog post, please choose a topic that gives you some insight on the collapse of Soviet communism and the social transformation that accompanied it.