Soviet Union

In Post-Soviet Russia, Children Have Been Propaganda Instruments

by Clementine Fujimura

Russian regimes since the fall of Communism have inherited and created crises of mass orphanage; their policy responses to parentless children have been informed by politics and nationalism at the expense of child welfare. Removal of orphans from Ukraine to Russia is just the latest instance. 

Jared McBride Sheds Light on the Darker Parts of Ukraine's History

by James Thornton Harris

The issue of Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi genocide has been a propaganda point in the war with Russia. Historian Jared McBride talks about the complexities of ethnic violence and the complications of archival research in Russia and eastern Europe. 

"Mr. Jones" Shows Fake News Has Always Been a Weapon Against Ukraine

by Walter G. Moss

The new Amazon feature "Mr. Jones" details the famine imposed on Ukraine by Stalin's policies in the 1930s, and the battle among journalists to control the story. It's a timely reminder of the connection of information and power. 

Russia's Invasion Threatens Soviet Secret Police Archives in Ukraine—and Families' History

by Megan Buskey

During a brief recent window of time, records of Soviet secret police activities in Ukraine, including voluminous files kept on ordinary civilians, have become available to researchers. While pro-Russian politicians once kept them classified, Russian munitions now threaten their physical existence. 

How the Russian Jews Became Soviet

The novelist Gary Shteyngart, who emigrated from the USSR to the US as a child, reviews Sasha Senderovich's "How the Soviet Jew was Made," a work that gives short shrift to neither the "Soviet" nor "Jewish" sides of the question. 

What's Hiding in Putin's Family History?

by Chris Monday

The details of Vladimir Putin's personal and family life are surprisingly (and by design) difficult to pin down. A historian suggests that his grandfather was more powerful, and more influential on the future Russian leader's fortunes, than Putin's common man mythology suggests. 

Look to Russia's Civil War to Explain Current Carnage in Ukraine

by Adam Hochshild

The brutality of the Russian war against Ukraine shows few of the linguistic, ethnic, or religious markers that have often accompanied human rights abuses by armies. Thinking of the conflict as a war to maintain empire explains the scope and nature of violence.

Russians' Disapproval of Gorbachev Shouldn't Dominate How He is Remembered

by Walter G. Moss

The combination of post-Soviet hardship, resurgent nationalism, and the destructiveness of the Ukraine war have led many Americans to embrace Russians' dim view of Mikhail Gorbachev. A historian of Russia says the leader had his faults, but his furtherance of humane values has been underrated. 

Gorbachev Became a Hero to the West Through Massive Failure

by Erik Loomis

Americans need to evaluate Gorbachev outside of their own nationalist perspective, despite feeling that the end of the Cold War was a good thing. The people he affected most see him as a failure. 

The Contradictory Legacy of Gorbachev and "Revolution From Above"

by Ronald Suny

"A great emancipator, Gorbachev left a mixed legacy. He expanded freedom for millions but at the same time unleashed roiling waves of nationalism and left the upturned soil for renewed authoritarianism."

Gorbachev Never Understood What He Set in Motion

by Anne Applebaum

Sometimes seen as a visionary reformer, Gorbachev may have started the USSR's economic death spiral by restricting the sale of vodka to increase worker productivity. 

Gorbachev's Greatness Was in His Failure

by Tom Nichols

Gorbachev's personal decency made him the wrong man for his chosen task of saving Soviet Communism from collapse; today his reputation is far higher in the west than in the former USSR. 

Gorbachev's Vacuum: His Legacy and Russia's Wars

by Michael Kimmage

The last Soviet leader failed to intuit the ultimate consequences of the changes he unleashed, from the collapse of the USSR to the revival of Russian imperialsm. 

80 Years Ago, the Soviet Defense of Stalingrad Began

Jochen Hellbeck explains that both Hitler and Stalin identified the city as a critical battle, committing both armies to the carnage that turned the course of the Eastern Front. 

Ukraine's Struggle for Independence is a Century Old, Despite Putin's Claims

by Joshua D. Zimmerman

Ukrainian nationalists have worked for independence since the upheaval of the first world war. 

A Soviet Retreat from a Danish Island after World War II Suggests how Putin Could Find an "Off Ramp"

by Caroline Kennedy Pipe and James Rogers

Red Army troops remained on the strategically significant island of Bornholm until 1946, when Stalin negotiated a withdrawal in exchange for a pledge that foreign troops would not be stationed on the island. It's likely that a similar concession will be needed to end fighting in Ukraine. 

"We Need New Stories of Post-Soviet Jews"

A team of historians and Jewish and Russian Studies scholars introduce a project to examine the more recent history of Jews in the former Soviet Union. 

Putin is Carrying on Stalin's War on Self-Determination

by Uriel Abulof

Before Woodrow Wilson, Lenin advanced the ideal of national self-determination as part of communist revolution. Stalin made the term a cynical tool of Russian imperialism, a move Putin's approach to Ukraine emulates. 

The Anniversary of Stalin's Death Shows Authoritarianism is Bigger than One Authoritarian

by Julia Ioffe

Liberal Russians reflect on Stalin's death 69 years later and observe parallels with Putin's approach to internal dissent. 

A Tale of Two Dictators: Putin's Relationship to Stalin's Legacy

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Despite their ideological incompatibility, Putin's nationalism depends on the cult of fear and repressive apparatus of the Stalinist era, which was never comprehensively demolished after the fall of Communism.