Monthly Archives: September 2017

Catherine’s Education Policy sounds like Reed’s “Life of the Mind”

It is said that education of the masses is the best way to prove society and that is kind of commons sense. Educated people are able to make better decisions in their country, such as being an educated voter in … Continue reading

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Catherine The Great and Censorship

For me, the main question that came to mind from today’s reading was how to wrap my mind around how Catherine II sent Radischev to Siberia in 1791, thus setting a harsh precedent for the legalities of and consequences meted … Continue reading

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Peter the Great Music Video!

Special thanks to Dasha for finding this hilarious (and fairly accurate) music video starring Peter the Great. Please note that he has no beard and is dressed in Western European attire:

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Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who’s the Swearer of Them All?

The Honorable Mirror for Youth is the ultimate guide of behavior for children during Peter’s time. It comes an abundance of actions for possibly all encounters a young man should have. It’s like that awkward puberty book that my mom … Continue reading

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The Emperor’s New Suit

Among Peter’s social reforms, he introduced the mixing of genders, new holidays/ways of celebrating, and new rules on personal appearance and clothing. As we know that his goal was to pull Russia onto the European stage, these reforms make sense. … Continue reading

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Discussion question: Was the intitial muddled era of “De-Stalinization” post-“Secret Speech” purposeful? What effect could changes regarding party policy have had in this regard?

When Joseph Stalin died on March 3, 1953, the collective response was swift and dramatic as the loss of the leader of the Soviet Union seemed an unfathomably devastating occurrence. The chaos and uncertainty that occurred at his funeral, in … Continue reading

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A Trio of Discussion Questions about the Russian Revolution

Per Clausewitz, war is the continuation of politics by other means. In the summer of 1917 during the height of political turmoil, Alexander Kerensky launched a new major offensive in Galicia (now a part of Poland and Ukraine) to build … Continue reading

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Discussion Question: To what extent was the Decembrist movement based upon ideas of Russian nationalism and a belief in the uniqueness of the Russian/Slavic people?

An interesting facet of the Decembrist movement is the fact that, despite the fact that it was inspired by the French Revolution and the overall liberalization of Europe, it was very much based within ideas of Russian nationalism. On the … Continue reading

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Was secrecy necessary for the Decembrists?

As Saunders writes, the Decembrists were primarily an organization of military intelligentsia – 253/289 men sentenced were officers at one point or another (pp. 97). In popular culture, they are often remembered as bureaucrats, writers, academics, and Freemasons, but what they had … Continue reading

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