Soviet and Russian Communism
April 26th, 2008
More than 80 years after his death, Russians are still divided about the legacy of Vladimir Lenin. Last week saw the 138th anniversary of Lenin’s birth. In the past, his home town was renamed in his honor, but now there’s talk of returning the city’s original name. Here’s an interesting piece from Russia Today covering the controversy.
April 23rd, 2008
With May Day approaching, we bring you a collection of Soviet May Day postcards. These are great examples of soviet art and we hope you will enjoy them. These were originally posed to Flickr by iwasayeyeman.
May 1st, 2007
Here is a short American news clip from 1961 covering the May 1st celebrations in both the Soviet Union and Cuba. While the clip shows little about the actual May Day events, it does provide examples of both American and Soviet Cold War propaganda.
April 3rd, 2007
The Schusev State Museum of Architecture has some very nice online galleries featuring photos and drawings from the Stalin era. The first gallery features drawings of grandiose, yet unrealized, architectural projects. The second gallery, entitled “Life Became Better, Comrades, Life Became More Cheerful”, features photos of Moscow celebrations and construction projects from the same era.
Link: The Architecture of Moscow from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Unrealized projects
Link: Life Became Better, Comrades, Life Became More Cheerful
January 30th, 2007
From 1925 until the fall of the Soviet Union, hundreds of thousands of children vacationed near the Black Sea at the Artek Pioneer Camp. This was the premier camp for young pioneers and it was considered an honor to be able to vacation at Artek. Not only Soviet children spent time at Artek but also many international kids as well. Here is a collection of old photos from the Artek camp posted by Jens Toftegaard on Flickr.
1970s Postcard From Artek
Two Little Pioneers at Artek (1930s)
Pioneers Marching in Artek
Parade in Lasurnaya, one of ten compounds comprising the Artek pioneercamp, 1970s.
Four pioneers from Guinee at Artek, summer of 1976.
International friends at Artek. Danish girl, Charlotte, susu boy, Samba from Guinee.
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