Monthly Archives: March 2017

In reading about the description of the kompaniya intellegentsii, I was struck by their similarity to the underground cadres and secret societies that made up the Decembrist movement. This similarity was noted even by the kompanii themselves, saying that their “central questions … Continue reading →

As I read The Thaw Generation, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the article “Mourners Crushed at Stalin’s Funeral”, where the author tells his mother that he had seen Stalin (despite not literally seeing him) in the environment of … Continue reading →

Now that you’ve developed substantial expertise on revolutionary change in Russia, you may be interested in assessing your political bona fides. Have fun with this handy quiz form Arzamas Academy! http://arzamas.academy/materials/1269

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 →

In reading Hadji Murat, I was struck by the diversity of people that were mentioned sitting around Vorontsov’s table at Tiflis. Georgian, Armenian, French, and Russian aristocracy wine and dine peacefully. While we have already noted the prevalence of French … Continue reading →

I’m interested in the Bushkovich reading and Hadji Murat in the context of Russia’s continuous attempts at Westernization. Bushkovich describes Russia’s territorial annexation as a mimicking of the successes of European colonial empires. Russia has been consistently referred to as … Continue reading →