I’m on a bit of a hiatus from my coursework, having finished my first class with the University of Edinburgh about a month ago, the term paper for which is here. Now, I’m waiting to hear about admission to a different Master’s program, which would save me a significant amount of money on tuition. I’m …
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Jewish Refugees in the Kresy: Soviet Loyalty Testing
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, a large number of Jews fled east. When the Red Army invaded Poland from the east sixteen days later, these Jewish refugees found themselves under Soviet rule. By the time the border was formalized between the Soviet and German zones of occupation, thousands of Jewish refugees …
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Russia v. Ukraine: Causes and Consequences
What are the causes and consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict? It seems pretty clear the causes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine consist of a combination of ethnolinguistic divisions and security concerns, with some small historical factors thrown into the mix. I’m a big fan of maps as a means of understanding issues. Below …
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The Medvedev Interregnum
6.1. What was the significance of the Medvedev interregnum? I think the greatest significance of the Medvedev interregnum was that the period signaled to the world and the country itself that Russia would at least continue to give the outward appearance of democracy, even while ultimate political power continued to be wielded by Putin. For …
Failure of Democracy in Post-Soviet Russia
5.2. Why has the post-Soviet space not democratized? To some extent, I think, to recognize why the post-Soviet space has not democratized, it’s necessary to recognize why other places have. The so-called Western democracies democratized slowly over the course of decades if not hundreds of years, so it’s perhaps fair to ask whether we might …
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Why Did the USSR Collapse?
5.1 Is the collapse of the USSR more attributable to personality, institutional or structural features?I think the collapse of the USSR was attributable to all three of the features: personality, institutional, and structural. Presuming that Mikhail Gorbachev is the person referred to in the first regard, I think it’s fair to say that his personality …
Brezhnevism or Neo-Stalinism?
4.2.3. Is there such a thing as Brezhnevism? What, if anything, characterises the ideological politics of Brezhnev’s long term in office? There is such a thing has Brezhnevism, but I don’t think Brezhnevism is the right word to use for it. On the one hand, there certainly was a series of policies and actions undertaken …
Was Khrushchevism a Period of De-Stalinization?
4.1.3. It is sometimes suggested that historians ought to swap the term “De-Stalinisation” for Khrushchevism. What do you think? Is there such a thing as ‘Khrushchevism’? Can more insight into the transition from Stalinism be gained by focusing on what was distinctive about the ideological politics of the Khrushchev era? While I am unsure whether …
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Revisionism in Stalinist Historiography
What are the (relative) advantages of the revisionist interpretations of Stalinism? I think one of the most important advantages of the a revisionist interpretation of Stalinism is that it becomes easier through one to understand how and why Stalin undertook the mass repressions that he did. For instance, although the “traditional” historians and revisionists both …
Stalinist Totalitarianism
3.1. Stalin’s regime is an archetype (or model) of totalitarianism. Do you agree? I don’t think it’s much of a question of whether Stalin’s regime was totalitarian. Rather, I think the dispute that has arisen is not over whether it was totalitarian but rather over how well and accurately the term had been defined before …
Inevitable Historicity 