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.
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.
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.
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
