Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Shining Lights In A Crooked Generation: The Experiences And Impact Of Soviet Evangelical Youth, Abigail Coker

Masters Theses

Despite facing severe pressure from their secular surroundings, Soviet evangelical youth displayed resilience and creativity throughout the Soviet era, becoming key figures in the preservation and growth of the Russian Baptist church. Up until now, western scholars have largely ignored this story or treated it peripherally. This research seeks to address this gap by examining the experiences and impact of Soviet evangelical youth. Throughout the Soviet period, the content of the evangelical youth experience remained essentially unchanged, focusing on fellowship, service, and Bible teaching through preaching, singing, and poetry readings. The period from 1908 – 1929 became a foundational one …

Silent Voices: The Missing Historiography Of Soviet Evangelicalism, Abigail Coker

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The historiography of Soviet evangelicalism has suffered from both lack of attention and lack of detail-oriented, scholarly research. These failings are not surprising, considering the limitations exerted by the Cold War and the nature of the Soviet system. From the 1920s to the 1990s, the primary limitation to research of Soviet evangelicalism lay in the creation of and access to primary sources. This lack of primary sources, combined with the incautious use of government sources, marks the early works on Soviet religion. Indeed, the problem of sources was not entirely resolved until the 1980s and 1990s, when Gorbachev’s liberalization measures …

Navigating The Soviet Experiment: Travels And Writings Of John Dos Passos And Edmund Wilson In Soviet Russia, 1928-1935, Robert Allan Winslow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The travel accounts of Soviet Russia by John Dos Passos (1896-1970) and Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) vividly demonstrate how Western writer-travelers were drawn into Soviet cultural experiments. Only rarely was this process one of literary influence. This thesis focuses on published travel writings by Dos Passos (In All Countries, 1934) and Wilson (Travels In Two Democracies, 1936), as well as journals, letters, and essays, in terms of Soviet cultural developments both writers noted as historically significant in shaping Western views of the Soviet state, and of the methods involved in building socialism and Communism.

In the …

Vasily Grossman And Ilya Ehrenburg: Soviet Jews On The Nazis And Soviets, Joshua Heisel

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Vasily Grossman and Ilya Ehrenburg were both significantly influential writers in the Soviet Union during and after World War II. Grossman and Ehrenburg were both Jewish war correspondents and witnessed Nazi war crimes. Prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trial used The Hell of Treblinka, written by Grossman, as evidence. Following the war, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union began to implement increasingly anti-Semitic policies. Jewish citizens faced discrimination, the Soviet state opposed “dividing the dead” of World War II, and it culminated in the Jewish Doctors Plot in 1953. Both writers covered extensively the Holocaust and how to treat Germany after …

Living In The Ruins Of Utopia: The Collapse Of The Soviet Union And The Formation Of Russia's Postcolonial Identity, Erik G. Livingston

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

For The Father Of A Newborn: Soviet Obstetrics And The Mobilization Of Men As Medical Allies, Amy E. Randall

History

This article introduces the translated pamphlet For the Father of a Newborn by contextualizing it in Soviet medical eff orts to deploy men as allies in safeguarding reproduction and bolstering procreation in the 1960s and 1970s. It examines the pamphlet as an illustration of how doctors and other health personnel tried to educate men to protect their wives’ pregnancy and the health of their wives and newborns in the postpartum period, and it considers the implications of these initiatives for women’s bodies, gender norms, sexual practices, models of masculinity, and the socialist goal of promoting women’s equality.

Retelling Mecca: Shifting Narratives Of Sacred Spaces In Volga-Ural Muslim Hajj Accounts, 1699–1945, Danielle Ross

History Faculty Publications

This article examines how Volga-Ural Muslims narrated their encounters with the sacred spaces visited during the hajj. It examines nine accounts hajj composed from the 1690s to the 1940s, to consider how changes in international politics, Russia’s domestic politics, and the culture of Islamic learning within the Volga-Ural Muslim community led to writers to revise narratives of why the sacred spaces of Mecca were sacred, how best to experience the power of these sacred spaces, and how these sacred spaces fit into the local culture of Volga-Ural Islam under Russian and Soviet rule.

Carpets As Signifiers Of Historical Change: The Azerbaijani Carpet Industry From The Mid-Nineteenth To Late Twentieth Century, Jill Boggs

Senior Theses

The Azerbaijani carpet industry, long recognized as an important piece of Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage, transformed dramatically between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries in response to political, economic, and social changes that took place under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. During this period, the carpet industry began to use modern weaving techniques and materials, favored factory production over traditional hand-woven designs, and created pieces for exportation rather than personal or community use. These developments contribute to two historical schools that view the Soviet Union as either a prison of nations, stifling non-Russian cultures, or a nursery of ethnic identities, …

From The Volga To The Mississippi: African Americans And The Soviet Experiment, Daniel Candee

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis investigates the role of African American Communists in the struggle for Black liberation during the interwar period. Making a vital intervention into the field, this work attempts to debunk the harmful Cold-War stereotype of African American Communists as “puppets of Moscow” while simultaneously engaging critically with the relationship between Black liberation and international Communism. Drawing on a vast array of secondary and archival sources, this work charts a course between a vision of the Comintern as an avenging anti-colonial angel, and a cynical force disinterested in Black Liberation.

Tracing the developing relationship between Black intellectuals and the Comintern …

"Unite The Left": Contextualizing Bukharin's Abc Of Communism And Berkman's Abc Of Anarchism, David Hayter

Theses and Dissertations

In 1919, Nikolai Bukharin, the leading theoretician of the Bolshevik Party, published a manual entitled The ABC of Communism meant to put the governing ideology of the newly formed Soviet State into eminently readable terms. Alexander Berkman, a Russian Anarchist who strongly supported the October Revolution, became disillusioned with the new regime in 1921 and left the country. He later published his own tract entitled The ABC of Anarchism. This thesis pits these two theoretical works against each other as historical documents embodying the nature of leftist polemics that has characterized the movement since the dissolution of the First …

‘Phantom Limb’: Russian Settler Colonialism In The Post-Soviet Crimea (1991-1997), Maksym Dmytrovych Sviezhentsev

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Where does the myth that ‘Crimea has always been Russia’ come from? How did the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union ‘make’ Crimea Russian? This dissertation shows how the they applied settler colonial practices to Crimea, displacing the indigenous population and repopulating the peninsula with loyal settlers and how Crimean settler colonial structures survived the fall of the Soviet Union. It argues that this process defines post-Soviet history of the peninsula.

For centuries Crimean existed within the discourse of Russian imperial control. This dissertation challenges the dominant view by applying settler colonial theory to Crimea’s past and present for the …

Politics At Play: The 1985 World Festival Of Youth And Students And Its Role In Soviet And Cold War History, Michaela Lewalski

Wayne State University Theses

The Twelfth World Festival of Youth and Students that took place in Moscow in 1985 has largely been forgotten, but historical analysis of the event reveals that it had significant implications for the Soviet Union and Cold War. This thesis argues that the festival was a public ceremony that the Soviet Union used to prove its domestic stability and its role as a leader in the fight for world peace to its own people, counterparts in the West, and allies and potential allies in the South and East. The symbols and concrete measures that the Soviet Union used—and the reactions …

Quiet River, Heavy Waters: Un-Silencing Narratives Of Social-Environmental Inequalities In The Cradle Of Soviet Plutonium, Rosibel Roman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In December 1948, the Soviet Union’s first plutonium production facility, Mayak Production Association (PO Mayak), began operation in the Southern Urals region of Russia, at the western edges of Siberia, near the restricted city of Chelyabinsk-40, known in the present day as Ozyorsk. Since then, rural communities located downstream from PO Mayak have experienced health, economic, ecological and social impacts of contamination from high-level radioactive wastes released by the facility into the Techa River and its surrounding ecosystem. My research, drawing from archival research conducted in Russia and the United States, as well as secondary sources in English and Russian, …

Agents Of Soviet Decline: Mass Media Representations Of Prostitution During Perestroika, Emma C. Downing

Honors Papers

In 1986, the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya pravda printed an article titled “Nina of Minsk” detailing the scandalous adventures of a prostitute-turned-brothel owner. The first of its kind, this article horrified and fascinated the Soviet reading public in equal measure, serving as an initial exposure to the topic of prostitution in the mass media.

The conversation surrounding prostitution became more heated in light of the Soviet Union’s failing economy, as well as the policy of glasnost’, which freed the press from rigid censorship. Prostitution rapidly became a popular topic of debate due to its illicit nature and impact on labor and …

Aggression Or Desperation: Reevaluating The Soviet Motivations For Invading Afghanistan, Kyle Sallee

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

The pervading historical viewpoint of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 has centered on the notion of Soviet expansionism and aggression. Yet recently declassified Soviet documents offer new insights into the motivations for the invasion and necessitate the review of existing historic accounts of the Russo-Afghan War. Utilizing declassified Politburo memos, secret Soviet letters and telegrams, and news reports, this essay sheds light on the heated debate amongst the Soviet intelligentsia over its Afghanistan policy and questions the Western interpretations and responses to the invasion.

Armed Movement Against The Soviet Regime In Turkestan In The Objective Of The Periodical Press, N. Hamaev

Scientific journal of the Fergana State University

The article deals with the coverage of the armed struggle in Turkestan on the pages of the periodical press against the Soviet regime. The newspaper material revealing the nature and main factors of this movement and the reasons for it’s occurrence is analyzed

Dancing In The Airfield: The Women Of The 46th Taman Guards Aviation Regiment And Their Journey Through War And Womanhood, Yasmine L. Vaughan

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to allow women to join the Air Force. Three regiments were formed, comprised of all female personnel. The three regiments flew over 30,000 combat missions and produced thirty Heroes of the Soviet Union (HSUs) in their three years of service. The 588^th, later renamed the 46^th, was the most successful and well-known of the female regiments, famous for its combat record and stunning achievements.This paper seeks to put into context the unique social constructions that allowed for the recruitment, training, and …

A Historian's Perspective On A Summer In Saxony, Samuel Aly

Tenor of Our Times

No abstract provided.

Classical Literature And The Retroaction Of Socialist Ideology—The Sovietization Of A Medieval Georgian Epic Poem And Its Mysterious Author, Diego Benning Wang

Madison Historical Review

Shota Rustaveli, presumed author of the medieval Georgian epic poem vepkhistqaosani (The Knight in the Panther's Skin), was one of the most celebrated cultural and historical figures in Soviet Georgia. However, not much is known about Rustaveli apart from his work. In this essay, I argue that a series of policies under the Soviet government transformed Rustaveli into a national symbol of Georgia, but the celebration of Rustaveli and his poem scarcely deviated from the ideological guidelines of the Soviet state. In discussing the impact and legacy of the Soviet promotion of Rustaveli, I purport to highlight the "national in …

Science And Culture On The Soviet Screen : Russian And Member Republic Biographical Films During The Early Cold War, 1946-1953, Bryan Keith Herman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Between 1947 and 1953, the Soviet Union produced fourteen biographical films about writers, composers, and scientists. These films supported the cultural policies of the zhdanovshchina, a period characterized by Andrei Zhdanov’s policies asserting Russia’s leading role in world science and culture while downplaying Western influence. These biographical films involved some of the top cinematic talent in the Soviet Union, including Nikolai Cherkasov, Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Grigorii Kozintsev. Although national pride was central to all the biographical films, this dissertation argues that once their historical context is restored, the cultural and scientific biographical films comment on the demonization of …

Soviet Kitsch During Stalin's Purges, Jenna Marco

Oglethorpe Journal of Undergraduate Research

This article explores the applications of Modris Eksteins' concept of kitsch to Stalin's reign in the Soviet Union, particularly the period of the Party purges in the 1930s. It traces the construction and development of Soviet kitsch under Stalin in the political, social, cultural, and artistic spheres. Overall, the article argues that the presence of kitsch was ultimately harmful to Soviet politics and culture. In conclusion, the article briefly poses the question of whether or not kitsch fully died out in the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin, and if kitsch is still present in current Russian politics and …

Soviet Defectors: Sexuality, Gender, And The Family In Cold War Propaganda, 1960-1990, Scott A. Miller

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the rhetoric of gender, sexuality, and the family used by the media of the Soviet Union to discuss American and Soviet defectors from 1960 to 1990. Utilizing previously established historiographies of gender, sexuality and the family as well as statements from Soviet and American government officials, it is shown that the Soviet government linked gender, sexuality and family “perversions” to the individualistic and capitalistic ideology of American society, by contrast with the Soviet collectivist and socialist “purity.” This analysis fills in the gaps in the historiography by connecting studies of gender, sexuality …

The Russian Gulag: Understanding The Dangers Of Marxism Combined With Totalitarianism, Mark C. Riley

Senior Honors Theses

This study examines the Soviet Gulag, the main prison camp administration implemented in the Soviet Union. The GULAG represents an institution that is not well known, and this paper will explain why it existed and why it remains in the shadows of history. Terror, propaganda, and belief in progress represent the three ideas that directed the Soviet totalitarian system. This thesis will accordingly explore the ideology behind totalitarian government and Marxist practice in order to understand why the Gulag was allowed to exist. Finally, it investigates the reasons why the Gulag has not taken a priority position in human knowledge …

Эрнест Кольман: «Мы Не Должны Были Так Жить», Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

The article is devoted Ernest Kolman (1892-1979) - to one of visible organizers of the Soviet science of 30th years and a Czechoslovak science of the post-war period, the Doctor of Philosophy, the academician of Academy of Sciences of Czechoslovakia.

World Literature As A Communal Apartment: Semyon Lipkin’S Ethics Of Translational Difference, Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

Review Of Islam And Sufism In Daghestan, Moshe Gammer, Ed. And Daghestan And The World Of Islam, Ed. Moshe Gammer And David J. Wasserstein., Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould

No abstract provided.

Bolshevik For Capitalism: Ayn Rand & Soviet Socialist Realism, Peter Jebsen

CMC Senior Theses

Since the late 1950s, Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand has been “the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right.” Her philosophy – “Objectivism” – combined militant atheism, libertarian natural rights, and a philosophical commitment to what she called “the virtue of selfishness,” and earned her the admiration of such luminaries as Alan Greenspan: a remarkable achievement for an immigrant woman who learned to speak English in her late 20s. What is less-often observed is that Rand’s work, especially her mature novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), bear a close stylistic resemblance to the Soviet Socialist Realist …

Georgia: Frozen Conflict And The Role Of Displaced Persons, Kate Elizabeth Zimmerly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though commonly overlooked, communities of displaced persons often play a complex and significant role in the emergence and perpetuation of ethnic conflict. This paper looks at the intersection of these themes in the conflict between the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and the separatist region of Abkhazia. In particular it looks at the nature of protracted or "frozen" conflict with particular attention to the role of the displaced community in the conflict's entrenchment. Specifically, it seeks to answer the question: why do certain conflicts go unresolved for so long, and what role do refugees play in this resolution resistance?

The …

How Soviet Russia Liberated Women: The Soviet Model In Clara Zetkin's Periodical 'Die Kommunistische Fraueninternationale', Liberty Peterson Sproat

Theses and Dissertations

Clara Zetkin was celebrated in both Germany and the Soviet Union before World War II because of her active involvement in the communist movement. She wrote prolifically and preached the virtues of socialism. She concerned herself particularly with women's needs, arguing that women would respond best to a different form of agitation than that used among men. Zetkin asserted that communism was the only way to respond to women's concerns as mothers and that only state involvement in domestic life would allow women to be fully emancipated. Women needed freedom from household work and increased training and support to aid …

Формирование Государственной Политики В Отношении Науки И Высшей Школы Во Второй Половине 30-Х Годов Xx Века, Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

Leonid G. Berlyavskiy

The Stalin scientific policy of second half 30th years was orientated on formation of the Soviet science as an element of mobilisation social and economic model that assumed: strengthening of command control system by scientific activity, nationalisation of all without an exception of elements of system of the organisation of science, priority of the texnocratic approach, applied science over fundamental, high degree of submission to control to machinery of state is social-humanities, Marxism as scientific methodology, the statement of scientific monopolism, science vulgarization - its simplification on purpose to make accessible to broad masses, admissibility of intervention of political management …