Author Archives: gomezgu

Toward the middle of his account of its decline, Jeffrey Taylor offers a brief history of Russia since before it was a nation, country, or empire right up until “Putin the Terrible.” Along the way, he emphasizes Russia’s isolation from … Continue reading →

In his Address on Crimea, Putin reminds his audience of Crimea’s military and naval relevance in Russian history, and commends the popular vote to leave Ukraine rejoin Russia, rebuilding a shared past and establishing a sense that Crimea’s culture, language, … Continue reading →

In her analysis of the Soviet novel and the meaning of Soviet realism, Katerina Clark argues that the canon of works that served as models for Soviet realism and the notion of their significance were created after the fact, a … Continue reading →

In “The Proletariat and Leftist Art,” B. Arvatov describes a vision of revolutionary art that is practical, industrial, and grounded in everyday life. Meanwhile, he criticizes bourgeois art as bearing little relationship to real life, being ridden with fetishism, and … Continue reading →

In Peter the Great’s eulogy, he was praised for having “transformed the existing architecture, [which was] coarse and deformed in the utmost degree; or rather, he caused architecture to be born in this country” (Cracraft, 78). Cracraft goes on to … Continue reading →

From Peter the Great’s technical schools to Catherine’s allusions to widespread education in the Nakaz, rulers in Russia have strived or at least leaned in the direction of reforming the nation’s social sphere through education. However, these efforts were not … Continue reading →

Russia’s recurring pursuit of expansion into warmer territory and attempting to rule over non-Russian ethnic groups in the Black Sea, Caucasus, and Central Asia became problematic in the 1880s as the nation sought a modern colonial empire similar to other … Continue reading →

As we learned before and throughout today’s readings, Peter the Great was keen on revolutionizing Russia by transplanting Western European styles, ideas, and customs to Russian society, most notably to the nobility and urban dwellers. The Honorable Mirror for Youth … Continue reading →

In the last section of the Petrine Reform Legislation, Peter the Great is honored in a eulogy as having “raised Russia as if from among the dead and elevated her to such heights of power and glory; or better still, … Continue reading →