Author Archives: alzelenak

All of our sources for today come from a western perspective. Yet insofar as there is such a thing as a national character, we see the Russian one very clearly, especially in Tayler’s article. The demise of the hope spot … Continue reading →

The Soviet government’s attitude toward how much western influence was allowable seems rather arbitrary. For example, “Even during the years when jazz was under extreme attack Soviet orchestras occasionally played jazz tunes that were arranged in the style of Soviet … Continue reading →

I was interested in the justification for torture that Pyotr/Pushkin describes and the argument he uses against it: “In the old days torture was so ingrained in legal procedure that the beneficial decree that abolished it long remained without any … 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 →

If there’s one thing Russia has no shortage of, it’s land. Thus, it should be easy to see why land ownership was seen as essential to freedom and prosperity. “Until Catherine’s reign, the moral right to own serfs had never … Continue reading →

According to Riha, “The Soviets view[ed] [Radischev] as the first Russian revolutionary” (261). This seems to conflict with the idea that the Decembrists were the first Russian revolutionaries, as they came decades later. Furthermore, Radischev seems overall a more admirable … Continue reading →

I was interested in the way that Lenin talks about terror in the Concept of the Revolutionary Party. Is it similar to modern notions of terrorism? No one thinks of themselves as a terrorist, but Lenin is emphatic in not … Continue reading →