The Soviet Union Today
Author: National Geographic Book Service
Publisher:
Published: 1990-01-01
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9780870448171
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Author: Vladislav M. Zubok
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2021-11-30
Total Pages: 468
ISBN-13: 0300262442
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945 the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it had an army four million strong with five thousand nuclear-tipped missiles and was the second biggest producer of oil in the world. But soon afterward the union sank into an economic crisis and was torn apart by nationalist separatism. Its collapse was one of the seismic shifts of the twentieth century. Thirty years on, Vladislav Zubok offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable. Instead, Zubok reveals how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms, intended to modernize and democratize the Soviet Union, deprived the government of resources and empowered separatism. Collapse sheds new light on Russian democratic populism, the Baltic struggle for independence, the crisis of Soviet finances—and the fragility of authoritarian state power.
The Last Empire
Author: Serhii Plokhy
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2015-09-08
Total Pages: 522
ISBN-13: 0465097928
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe New York Times bestselling author of The Gates of Europe offers “a stirring account of an extraordinary moment” in Russian history (Wall Street Journal) On Christmas Day, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades -- with disastrous consequences for American standing in the world. As prize-winning historian Serhii Plokhy reveals in The Last Empire, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the United States. Bush, in fact, was firmly committed to supporting Gorbachev as he attempted to hold together the USSR in the face of growing independence movements in its republics. Drawing on recently declassified documents and original interviews with key participants, Plokhy presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union's final months, providing invaluable insight into the origins of the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the outset of the most dangerous crisis in East-West relations since the end of the Cold War. Winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize Winner of the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize Choice Outstanding Academic Title BBC History Magazine Best History Book of the Year
Russia, Ukraine, and the Breakup of the Soviet Union
Author: Roman Szporluk
Publisher: Hoover Press
Published: 2020-02-24
Total Pages: 579
ISBN-13: 0817995439
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book chronicles the final two decades in the history of the Soviet Union and presents a story that is often lost in the standard interpretations of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR. Although there were numerous reasons for the collapse of communism, it did not happen—as it may have seemed to some—overnight. Indeed, says Roman Szporluk, the root causes go back even earlier than 1917. To understand why the USSR broke up the way it did, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the two most important nations of the USSR—Russia and Ukraine—during the Soviet period and before, as well as the parallel but interrelated processes of nation formation in both states. Szporluk details a number of often-overlooked factors leading to the USSR's fall: how the processes of Russian identity formation were not completed by the time of the communist takeover in 1917, the unification of Ukraine in 1939–1945, and the Soviet period failing to find a resolution of the question of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The present-day conflict in the Caucasus, he asserts, is a sign that the problems of Russian identity remain.
The Unmaking of Soviet Life
Author: Caroline Humphrey
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780801487736
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Unmaking of Soviet Life brings together ten essays from award-winning author Caroline Humphrey. Humphrey explores such topics as the mafia, barter, bribery, and the new shamanism, locating them in the experiences of a wide range of subjects.
The Future of the Soviet Past
Author: Anton Weiss-Wendt
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2021-10-05
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13: 0253057604
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn post-Soviet Russia, there is a persistent trend to repress, control, or even co-opt national history. By reshaping memory to suit a politically convenient narrative, Russia has fashioned a good future out of a "bad past." While Putin's regime has acquired nearly complete control over interpretations of the past, The Future of the Soviet Past reveals that Russia's inability to fully rewrite its Soviet history plays an essential part in its current political agenda. Diverse contributors consider the many ways in which public narrative shapes Russian culture—from cinema, television, and music to museums, legislature, and education—as well as how patriotism reflected in these forms of culture implies a casual acceptance of the valorization of Stalin and his role in World War II. The Future of the Soviet Past provides effective and nuanced examples of how Russia has reimagined its Soviet history as well as how that past still influences Russia's policymaking.
Soviet Disunion
Author: Bohdan Nahaylo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 464
ISBN-13: 0029224012
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEthnic upheaval throughout the USSR now threatens the very reforms introduced by Gorbachev and may well decide the fate of his government. This volume describes the histories of the suppressed and angry nationalities, their drive for the restoration of national rights, and the implications for the future. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
An Economic History of the U.S.S.R.
Author: Alec Nove
Publisher: IICA
Published: 1969
Total Pages: 420
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKStudy in historical perspective of developments in economic policy in the USSR - covers economic structures and economic administration prior to and during the 1st world war, the position during the 50 years of the communist regime, political leadership of the country, the collective economy, industrialization, political problems, economic growth, etc. Bibliography pp. 389 to 391, and statistical tables.
A Concise History of the Russian Revolution
Author: Richard Pipes
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 2011-04-27
Total Pages: 461
ISBN-13: 030778858X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn authoritative history of the Russian Revolution and the "violent and disruptive acts" that created the first modern totalitarian regime, portraying the crisis at the heart of the tsarist empire "A deep and eloquent condemnation of the revolution and its aftermath." —The New York Times Drawing on archival materials released in Russia, Richard Pipes chronicles the upheaval that began as a conservative revolt but was soon captured by messianic intellectuals intent not merely on reforming Russia but on remaking the world. He provides fresh accounts of the revolution's personalities and policies, crises, and cruelties, from the murder of the royal family through civil war, famine, and state terror. Brilliantly and persuasively, Pipes shows us why the resulting system owes less to the theories of Marx than it did to the character of Lenin and Russia's long authoritarian tradition. What ensues is a path-clearing work that is indispensable to any understanding of the events of the century.
Meltdown
Author: Paul Craig Roberts
Publisher: Cato Institute
Published: 1990-09-01
Total Pages: 173
ISBN-13: 1937184188
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book describes the irrational life of Soviet producers, the monstrous deprivation of Soviet consumers, and the ideological origins of the Soviet economy that have resulted in a system unable to bear the weight of being a superpower. The authors spell out the challenges that Gorbachev and his successors face. The penultimate chapter deals with the privatization of the Soviet economy. In the last chapter they document the failure of Western experts and pundits to create a true picture of the Soviet system.
