On June 12th of 1987 Ronald Reagan delivered his now famous speech in front of a large West German crowd near the Berlin wall. Officially, President Reagan was commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin. In reality, his speech harshly mocked the increasingly contradictory nature of the Soviet Union during the 1980′s. Soviet policies under Gorbachev had gradually […]
Students’ Choice
Here comes the BAM, now where’s the Boom!
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The Trans-Siberian railroad was an enormous feat for Russia when it was built. The 5000 miles of railroad stretched across the tundra of Russia to connect one end of the largest country in the world with the other. It opened … Continue reading →
The Corn Campaign
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The 1960s brought with them a multitude of agricultural and economic changes beginning with the realization that in order to improve anything, the Soviets needed to grow more crops to feed the livestock. Nikita Khrushchev stated in 1954, “There will be no communism if our country has as much metal and cement as you like […]
Crimea River
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In recent news and occurrences, the word Crimea has become a common word exchanged between persons when talking about the foreign policy of the United States. The peninsula, to the south of mainland Ukraine, is the homeland of years of violence of political and cultural beliefs. The majority of people living there, ethnic Russians, apparently […]
Treblemakers in a national cause
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When you hear about a singing revolution, what comes to mind? A group of people making a statement or an entire nation standing up for liberty? A little country that no one heard of (and still doesn’t know about) had … Continue reading →
The Mustache the Masses Loved… Or Did They?
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Joseph Stalin became the center of the Communist Party as the 1930′s passed. Stalin had the short history of the Bolshevik party and the revolution re-written by a group of “objective” historians, to portray a history of the Communist Party … Continue reading →
Rozalina the Riveter: Women’s Roles in the Russian Revolution
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Russia really became an interesting place during March/February(who really cares you get the point) of 1917. For the first time in Russian history, the the common people were finally having their voice heard. Surprisingly, out of the woodwork the voice of the Russian women was heard the loudest. The women of Russia demanded to have […]
Social Women: This one’s for the girls
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“The Liberation of Women Workers is the affair of the Women themselves!” – N. Lenin In the years after the 1917 Revolution, the Bolsheviks began a new war, one that targeted the old society which had been based on oppression, … Continue reading →
The Russo-Japanese War: Declining Russian Imperialism
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Students Choose Cossacks and Crimea
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We all agreed that the discussion in the comments this week was exemplary. Indeed many of the comments were so substantial as to warrant a post of their own. We salute the discussion of War in Crimea, 19th-Century Russia and the response to the post about the Cossacks as the “student choice” winners for this round. Thanks to everyone who responded with queries and elaborations this week. You editorial team looks forward to a terrific semester of debate and enlightenment.