David Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198275282
- eISBN:
- 9780191598739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198275285.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
International society in the nineteenth century witnessed the assertion of special rights for great powers and some strengthening of the Westphalian bases of international order in the Concert of ...
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International society in the nineteenth century witnessed the assertion of special rights for great powers and some strengthening of the Westphalian bases of international order in the Concert of Europe. The system collapsed with the First World War and faced its strongest challenge to date from the Russian Revolution. The ideological challenge of Marxism and the Russian Revolution stemmed from its claim that class was the motive force of history and that the Communist Party possessed a unique insight into the laws of history. However, revolutionary internationalism in Soviet foreign policy was soon accompanied by more cautious policies, amounting to a partial socialization. This process reached a peak under Mikhail Gorbachev who brought to a crisis point the central paradox of the Soviet state: that its legitimacy rested upon its claim to be the ‘socialist fatherland’ but it could not avoid an identity as an orthodox state.Less
International society in the nineteenth century witnessed the assertion of special rights for great powers and some strengthening of the Westphalian bases of international order in the Concert of Europe. The system collapsed with the First World War and faced its strongest challenge to date from the Russian Revolution. The ideological challenge of Marxism and the Russian Revolution stemmed from its claim that class was the motive force of history and that the Communist Party possessed a unique insight into the laws of history. However, revolutionary internationalism in Soviet foreign policy was soon accompanied by more cautious policies, amounting to a partial socialization. This process reached a peak under Mikhail Gorbachev who brought to a crisis point the central paradox of the Soviet state: that its legitimacy rested upon its claim to be the ‘socialist fatherland’ but it could not avoid an identity as an orthodox state.
SHEILA FITZPATRICK
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264584
- eISBN:
- 9780191734069
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264584.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This lecture presents the text of the speech about the ending of the Russian Revolution delivered by the author at the 2008 Elie Kedourie Memorial Lecture held at the British Academy. It addresses ...
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This lecture presents the text of the speech about the ending of the Russian Revolution delivered by the author at the 2008 Elie Kedourie Memorial Lecture held at the British Academy. It addresses the problems for historians in determining the meaning and moral of a revolution. The lecture analogizes the French and Russian Revolution and suggests that the Russian Revolution and its historiography has always been to some extent in the shadow of the French.Less
This lecture presents the text of the speech about the ending of the Russian Revolution delivered by the author at the 2008 Elie Kedourie Memorial Lecture held at the British Academy. It addresses the problems for historians in determining the meaning and moral of a revolution. The lecture analogizes the French and Russian Revolution and suggests that the Russian Revolution and its historiography has always been to some extent in the shadow of the French.
Ian Clark
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297009
- eISBN:
- 9780191711428
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297009.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Perhaps the least discussed aspect of the 1919 settlement is its provisions on social justice, and yet an entire section of the Versailles Treaty and an article of the League Covenant were devoted to ...
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Perhaps the least discussed aspect of the 1919 settlement is its provisions on social justice, and yet an entire section of the Versailles Treaty and an article of the League Covenant were devoted to the international regulation of labour, which resulted in establishment of the International Labour Organization. These developments reflected the activities of the trade union movement, and particularly its Congresses during the war, as well as heightened sensitivity to labour in the context of both the war and the outbreak of the Russian revolution. It is clear that inclusion of a section on labour was sponsored by all of the Big Three powers for various political and instrumental reasons. What was radically new about the structure of the ILO was that it allowed membership from state representatives, but also from business and labour, thereby recognizing world society membership in an otherwise international society forum. The decisive argument was that social justice was properly the business of international society because it was fundamental to achieving international peace.Less
Perhaps the least discussed aspect of the 1919 settlement is its provisions on social justice, and yet an entire section of the Versailles Treaty and an article of the League Covenant were devoted to the international regulation of labour, which resulted in establishment of the International Labour Organization. These developments reflected the activities of the trade union movement, and particularly its Congresses during the war, as well as heightened sensitivity to labour in the context of both the war and the outbreak of the Russian revolution. It is clear that inclusion of a section on labour was sponsored by all of the Big Three powers for various political and instrumental reasons. What was radically new about the structure of the ILO was that it allowed membership from state representatives, but also from business and labour, thereby recognizing world society membership in an otherwise international society forum. The decisive argument was that social justice was properly the business of international society because it was fundamental to achieving international peace.
Hassan Malik
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691170169
- eISBN:
- 9780691185002
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691170169.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This introductory chapter argues that the story of the Russian investment boom and bust of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is based on, among other things, financial and economic ...
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This introductory chapter argues that the story of the Russian investment boom and bust of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is based on, among other things, financial and economic data, as well as the correspondence, reports, and other documents in government and private banking archives in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Paris, London, and New York. The 1918 Bolshevik repudiation of debts contracted by the Tsarist and Provisional governments—the largest default in history—punctuated the end of an era during which Russia had become the leading net international debtor in the world. It is relevant to an extensive academic literature that stretches across the disciplines of history, economics, and political science. The secondary literature cited in these sources relates to the Russian Revolution, banking and business history, the historical sociology of revolutions, and international capital flows. Given the crucial importance of the last of these, the story is international, touching on aspects of the histories of nations such as Russia, France, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.Less
This introductory chapter argues that the story of the Russian investment boom and bust of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is based on, among other things, financial and economic data, as well as the correspondence, reports, and other documents in government and private banking archives in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Paris, London, and New York. The 1918 Bolshevik repudiation of debts contracted by the Tsarist and Provisional governments—the largest default in history—punctuated the end of an era during which Russia had become the leading net international debtor in the world. It is relevant to an extensive academic literature that stretches across the disciplines of history, economics, and political science. The secondary literature cited in these sources relates to the Russian Revolution, banking and business history, the historical sociology of revolutions, and international capital flows. Given the crucial importance of the last of these, the story is international, touching on aspects of the histories of nations such as Russia, France, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.
Sören Urbansky
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691181684
- eISBN:
- 9780691195445
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691181684.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
This chapter studies the revolutionary political struggles and indigenous secessionist movements following the collapse of imperial rule in China and Russia in 1911 and 1917, respectively. It shows ...
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This chapter studies the revolutionary political struggles and indigenous secessionist movements following the collapse of imperial rule in China and Russia in 1911 and 1917, respectively. It shows that China's 1911 revolution opened an interregnum decade. When the Qing dynasty was overthrown, autochthonous people, ever dissatisfied with Chinese and Russian incursions into their native lands, claimed independence from Beijing. Their aspirations to sovereignty did not last long, however. Meanwhile, the Russian Revolution and the Civil War triggered changes in the structure of authority on the Russian side as well. At first, however, these produced a vacuum of power. As a result anarchy prevailed on the China–Russia frontier.Less
This chapter studies the revolutionary political struggles and indigenous secessionist movements following the collapse of imperial rule in China and Russia in 1911 and 1917, respectively. It shows that China's 1911 revolution opened an interregnum decade. When the Qing dynasty was overthrown, autochthonous people, ever dissatisfied with Chinese and Russian incursions into their native lands, claimed independence from Beijing. Their aspirations to sovereignty did not last long, however. Meanwhile, the Russian Revolution and the Civil War triggered changes in the structure of authority on the Russian side as well. At first, however, these produced a vacuum of power. As a result anarchy prevailed on the China–Russia frontier.
David Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198275282
- eISBN:
- 9780191598739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198275285.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on ...
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Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.Less
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.
Matthew Rendle
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199236251
- eISBN:
- 9780191717154
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236251.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The Russian Revolution of 1917 has long been seen in terms of the political manoeuvrings of revolutionary politicians and the actions of lower social groups. This book argues that elite groups, ...
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The Russian Revolution of 1917 has long been seen in terms of the political manoeuvrings of revolutionary politicians and the actions of lower social groups. This book argues that elite groups, especially nobles, landowners, and officers, also played an important role. The alienation of tsarist elites from the Tsar during the First World War and their support for the new Provisional Government in February 1917 secured the initial success of the revolution. The book describes how elites engaged with revolutionary politics, serving in the government, and forming unions to promote their interests and gather wider support. These activities fostered fears of counter‐revolution among a population who saw 1917 as being for the lower social classes. These fears helped radicalize the popular mood, paving the way for Bolshevism. The book argues that, although increasingly disillusioned with events, elites were not solely counter‐revolutionary and far from united. The divisions among them that are visible prior to 1917 were exacerbated by the revolution. A poorly‐supported military revolt in August 1917 demonstrated different aspirations for the future, whilst as many served the Bolshevik regime after October 1917 as opposed it. This undermined the Whites armies' opposition to Bolshevism during Russia's civil war. Nevertheless, Bolshevik fears of ‘class enemies' were endemic, and their actions to remove them laid the foundations of the repressive soviet regime. By focusing on elites, this book helps provide a more comprehensive picture of the Russian Revolution.Less
The Russian Revolution of 1917 has long been seen in terms of the political manoeuvrings of revolutionary politicians and the actions of lower social groups. This book argues that elite groups, especially nobles, landowners, and officers, also played an important role. The alienation of tsarist elites from the Tsar during the First World War and their support for the new Provisional Government in February 1917 secured the initial success of the revolution. The book describes how elites engaged with revolutionary politics, serving in the government, and forming unions to promote their interests and gather wider support. These activities fostered fears of counter‐revolution among a population who saw 1917 as being for the lower social classes. These fears helped radicalize the popular mood, paving the way for Bolshevism. The book argues that, although increasingly disillusioned with events, elites were not solely counter‐revolutionary and far from united. The divisions among them that are visible prior to 1917 were exacerbated by the revolution. A poorly‐supported military revolt in August 1917 demonstrated different aspirations for the future, whilst as many served the Bolshevik regime after October 1917 as opposed it. This undermined the Whites armies' opposition to Bolshevism during Russia's civil war. Nevertheless, Bolshevik fears of ‘class enemies' were endemic, and their actions to remove them laid the foundations of the repressive soviet regime. By focusing on elites, this book helps provide a more comprehensive picture of the Russian Revolution.
William Bain
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199260263
- eISBN:
- 9780191600975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199260265.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of ...
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Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of the idea of trusteeship, then the League of Nations mandates system might be understood as representing its institutionalization in international society. Examines the current of ideas from which the institutionalization of trusteeship arose out of the debates concerning the disposal of German colonies conquered during the First World War, and the subsequent compromise that resulted in the creation of the mandates system, which stands as a response to the problem of ordering relations of Europeans and non‐Europeans by reconciling the obligations of trusteeship and the search for national security in a single institutional arrangement. The victorious Allied powers divided Germany's colonial possessions amongst themselves, in no small part for reasons of national security, but in assuming administrative responsibility for these territories they also accepted the oversight of ‘international machinery’ to ensure that the work of civilization was being done. The seven sections of the chapter are: War and the Old Diplomacy; Trusteeship or Annexation?; From the New World—the effect of the Russian revolution and the entry into the First World War of the US on the French and British annexation policy and Woodrow Wilson's ideas for peace; The Mandates System—the birth of the League of Nations; Impasse at Versailles—the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the Versailles Peace Treaty; Trusteeship or Deception—the obligations and defects of the League of Nations Covenant; and Novelty and Tradition—the compromise of the League of Nations system.Less
Starts by pointing out that if the Berlin and Brussels Acts and the experience of the Congo Free State (as discussed in the last chapter) are understood as representing the internationalization of the idea of trusteeship, then the League of Nations mandates system might be understood as representing its institutionalization in international society. Examines the current of ideas from which the institutionalization of trusteeship arose out of the debates concerning the disposal of German colonies conquered during the First World War, and the subsequent compromise that resulted in the creation of the mandates system, which stands as a response to the problem of ordering relations of Europeans and non‐Europeans by reconciling the obligations of trusteeship and the search for national security in a single institutional arrangement. The victorious Allied powers divided Germany's colonial possessions amongst themselves, in no small part for reasons of national security, but in assuming administrative responsibility for these territories they also accepted the oversight of ‘international machinery’ to ensure that the work of civilization was being done. The seven sections of the chapter are: War and the Old Diplomacy; Trusteeship or Annexation?; From the New World—the effect of the Russian revolution and the entry into the First World War of the US on the French and British annexation policy and Woodrow Wilson's ideas for peace; The Mandates System—the birth of the League of Nations; Impasse at Versailles—the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the Versailles Peace Treaty; Trusteeship or Deception—the obligations and defects of the League of Nations Covenant; and Novelty and Tradition—the compromise of the League of Nations system.
Roman Szporluk
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195051032
- eISBN:
- 9780199854417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195051032.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The ideas of Marx and List impacted on the revolutionary period in Russia. The events of that period marked a turning point in the history of socialism, Marxism, and the international labor movement. ...
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The ideas of Marx and List impacted on the revolutionary period in Russia. The events of that period marked a turning point in the history of socialism, Marxism, and the international labor movement. They were all equally important to Russia, Russia nationalism, and nationalism everywhere. However Marxism or Marxism-Leninism is a variant of nationalism. Thus, Marixm-Leninism became a doctrine of national liberation. Marxism won in Russia but it only did if it transformed to nationalism. This new nationalism had three components: Marxism, Listianism, and Russian political tradition. The truth is Nationalism cannot be contained in a pigeonhole of capitalism or communism. Nationalism has established itself, in the Third World, as the third force. It can be an ally or a rival of capitalism and communism. The history of the world was transformed by Marxism and nationalism but the world is continuously changing due to the impact of science.Less
The ideas of Marx and List impacted on the revolutionary period in Russia. The events of that period marked a turning point in the history of socialism, Marxism, and the international labor movement. They were all equally important to Russia, Russia nationalism, and nationalism everywhere. However Marxism or Marxism-Leninism is a variant of nationalism. Thus, Marixm-Leninism became a doctrine of national liberation. Marxism won in Russia but it only did if it transformed to nationalism. This new nationalism had three components: Marxism, Listianism, and Russian political tradition. The truth is Nationalism cannot be contained in a pigeonhole of capitalism or communism. Nationalism has established itself, in the Third World, as the third force. It can be an ally or a rival of capitalism and communism. The history of the world was transformed by Marxism and nationalism but the world is continuously changing due to the impact of science.
Marc Mulholland
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199653577
- eISBN:
- 9780191744594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653577.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Ideas
The outbreak of the Great War was not immanent in capitalism as such. However, industrial militarism shaped its form, and capitalism became significantly ‘corporatized’ during its course. For Lenin, ...
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The outbreak of the Great War was not immanent in capitalism as such. However, industrial militarism shaped its form, and capitalism became significantly ‘corporatized’ during its course. For Lenin, the war marked the point at which the progressive role of the bourgeoisie exhausted itself. The October 1917 Revolution spread the revolutionary gospel of soviets and the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, and the Communist international (Comintern) abandoned the parliamentarianism of pre-war socialists. The post-war revolutionary wave in Europe was significant, but its energies divided between the inspirations of Wilsonianism and Bolshevism. Majority opinion outside Russia was somewhat pro-democracy but against socialist transformation.Less
The outbreak of the Great War was not immanent in capitalism as such. However, industrial militarism shaped its form, and capitalism became significantly ‘corporatized’ during its course. For Lenin, the war marked the point at which the progressive role of the bourgeoisie exhausted itself. The October 1917 Revolution spread the revolutionary gospel of soviets and the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, and the Communist international (Comintern) abandoned the parliamentarianism of pre-war socialists. The post-war revolutionary wave in Europe was significant, but its energies divided between the inspirations of Wilsonianism and Bolshevism. Majority opinion outside Russia was somewhat pro-democracy but against socialist transformation.
Hassan Malik
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691170169
- eISBN:
- 9780691185002
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691170169.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Following an unprecedented economic boom fed by foreign investment, the Russian Revolution triggered the worst sovereign default in history. This book tells the dramatic story of this boom and bust, ...
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Following an unprecedented economic boom fed by foreign investment, the Russian Revolution triggered the worst sovereign default in history. This book tells the dramatic story of this boom and bust, chronicling the forgotten experiences of leading financiers of the age. Shedding critical new light on the decision making of the powerful personalities who acted as the gatekeepers of international finance, the book explains how they channeled foreign capital into Russia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While economists have long relied on quantitative analysis to grapple with questions relating to the drivers of cross-border capital flows, this book adopts an historical approach, drawing on banking and government archives in four countries. It provides rare insights into the thinking of influential figures in world finance as they sought to navigate one of the most challenging and lucrative markets of the first modern age of globalization. The book reveals how a complex web of factors—from government interventions to competitive dynamics and cultural influences—drove a large inflow of capital during this tumultuous period in world history. The book demonstrates how the realms of finance and politics—of bankers and Bolsheviks—grew increasingly intertwined, and how investing in Russia became a political act with unforeseen repercussions.Less
Following an unprecedented economic boom fed by foreign investment, the Russian Revolution triggered the worst sovereign default in history. This book tells the dramatic story of this boom and bust, chronicling the forgotten experiences of leading financiers of the age. Shedding critical new light on the decision making of the powerful personalities who acted as the gatekeepers of international finance, the book explains how they channeled foreign capital into Russia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While economists have long relied on quantitative analysis to grapple with questions relating to the drivers of cross-border capital flows, this book adopts an historical approach, drawing on banking and government archives in four countries. It provides rare insights into the thinking of influential figures in world finance as they sought to navigate one of the most challenging and lucrative markets of the first modern age of globalization. The book reveals how a complex web of factors—from government interventions to competitive dynamics and cultural influences—drove a large inflow of capital during this tumultuous period in world history. The book demonstrates how the realms of finance and politics—of bankers and Bolsheviks—grew increasingly intertwined, and how investing in Russia became a political act with unforeseen repercussions.
Matthew Rendle
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199236251
- eISBN:
- 9780191717154
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236251.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The introduction examines the conditions underpinning the participation of tsarist elites in the Russian Revolution. It outlines the composition of the elite on the eve of the First World War, with a ...
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The introduction examines the conditions underpinning the participation of tsarist elites in the Russian Revolution. It outlines the composition of the elite on the eve of the First World War, with a particular focus on nobles, landowners, and officers. It notes that elites were far from united and that, increasingly, occupational interests played a greater role than class loyalties. This paved the way for their participation in 1917, when the corporate nature of democracy influenced a range of social and professional groups, regardless of their size. Whilst most elites were conservative in their political outlook, very few were reactionaries, but they lacked a widespread desire for change prior to 1914.Less
The introduction examines the conditions underpinning the participation of tsarist elites in the Russian Revolution. It outlines the composition of the elite on the eve of the First World War, with a particular focus on nobles, landowners, and officers. It notes that elites were far from united and that, increasingly, occupational interests played a greater role than class loyalties. This paved the way for their participation in 1917, when the corporate nature of democracy influenced a range of social and professional groups, regardless of their size. Whilst most elites were conservative in their political outlook, very few were reactionaries, but they lacked a widespread desire for change prior to 1914.
Kornei Chukovsky
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106114
- eISBN:
- 9780300137972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106114.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This is an abridged version of Kornei Chukovsky's diary, a voluminous document spanning seven decades and three generations (1901–1969), beginning in pre-revolutionary Russia and encompassing almost ...
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This is an abridged version of Kornei Chukovsky's diary, a voluminous document spanning seven decades and three generations (1901–1969), beginning in pre-revolutionary Russia and encompassing almost the entire Soviet era. Contained in twenty-nine notebooks, the diary is a commentary on some of the most important historical events of the period, including the Russian Revolution of 1917. Chukovsky also writes about the literary ferment that began in the late 1950s and persisted into the early 1960s, and how he listened closely and avidly to the new voices in Russian literature. In addition, he speaks about censorship under Joseph Stalin, and describes his friendship with such major literary figures as Anna Akhmatova and Isaac Babel.Less
This is an abridged version of Kornei Chukovsky's diary, a voluminous document spanning seven decades and three generations (1901–1969), beginning in pre-revolutionary Russia and encompassing almost the entire Soviet era. Contained in twenty-nine notebooks, the diary is a commentary on some of the most important historical events of the period, including the Russian Revolution of 1917. Chukovsky also writes about the literary ferment that began in the late 1950s and persisted into the early 1960s, and how he listened closely and avidly to the new voices in Russian literature. In addition, he speaks about censorship under Joseph Stalin, and describes his friendship with such major literary figures as Anna Akhmatova and Isaac Babel.
Elizabeth Kendall
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199959341
- eISBN:
- 9780199346028
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199959341.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance, History, Western
This book is a dual biography of the early lives of two key figures in Russian ballet: famed choreographer George Balanchine and his close childhood friend and extraordinary ballerina Liidia ...
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This book is a dual biography of the early lives of two key figures in Russian ballet: famed choreographer George Balanchine and his close childhood friend and extraordinary ballerina Liidia (Lidochka) Ivanova. Tracing the lives and friendship of these two dancers from years just before the 1917 Russian Revolution to Balanchine's escape from Russia in 1924, this book sheds new light on a crucial flash point in the history of ballet. The book weaves a fascinating tale about this decisive period in the life of the man who would become the most influential choreographer in modern ballet. Abandoned by his mother at the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet Academy in 1913 at the age of nine, Balanchine spent his formative years studying dance in Russia's tumultuous capital city. It was there, as he struggled to support himself while studying and performing, that Balanchine met Ivanova. A talented and bold dancer who grew close to the Bolshevik elite in her adolescent years, Ivanova was a source of great inspiration to Balanchine—both during their youth together, and later in his life, after her mysterious death just days before they had planned to leave Russia together in 1924. The book shows that although Balanchine would have a great number of muses, many of them lovers, the dark beauty of his dear friend Lidochka would inspire much of his work for years to come.Less
This book is a dual biography of the early lives of two key figures in Russian ballet: famed choreographer George Balanchine and his close childhood friend and extraordinary ballerina Liidia (Lidochka) Ivanova. Tracing the lives and friendship of these two dancers from years just before the 1917 Russian Revolution to Balanchine's escape from Russia in 1924, this book sheds new light on a crucial flash point in the history of ballet. The book weaves a fascinating tale about this decisive period in the life of the man who would become the most influential choreographer in modern ballet. Abandoned by his mother at the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet Academy in 1913 at the age of nine, Balanchine spent his formative years studying dance in Russia's tumultuous capital city. It was there, as he struggled to support himself while studying and performing, that Balanchine met Ivanova. A talented and bold dancer who grew close to the Bolshevik elite in her adolescent years, Ivanova was a source of great inspiration to Balanchine—both during their youth together, and later in his life, after her mysterious death just days before they had planned to leave Russia together in 1924. The book shows that although Balanchine would have a great number of muses, many of them lovers, the dark beauty of his dear friend Lidochka would inspire much of his work for years to come.
Keith Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719080555
- eISBN:
- 9781781702406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719080555.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
Despite a general agreement as to the essential political alignment of fascism, the parties of the left differed concerning its relationship to the state and other social forces, as well as over how ...
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Despite a general agreement as to the essential political alignment of fascism, the parties of the left differed concerning its relationship to the state and other social forces, as well as over how best to oppose it. These elements of concurrence and divergence regarding fascism can be seen in the left's responses to earlier and parallel movements. The differences in their analyses lay in the fundamentally different psychologies of reformist and revolutionary parties, and in the contrasting conclusions each drew from their experience of the war itself and from the bitter struggles that convulsed Europe between the Russian revolution of 1917 and Mussolini's assumption of power in Italy in 1922. It was these formative events that set in place the prism through which fascism was initially perceived by the British left. An examination of certain features of these years, which perhaps seem disparate and unrelated at first glance, but which later emerge either as aspects of fascist movements, regimes or ideology, is therefore valuable.Less
Despite a general agreement as to the essential political alignment of fascism, the parties of the left differed concerning its relationship to the state and other social forces, as well as over how best to oppose it. These elements of concurrence and divergence regarding fascism can be seen in the left's responses to earlier and parallel movements. The differences in their analyses lay in the fundamentally different psychologies of reformist and revolutionary parties, and in the contrasting conclusions each drew from their experience of the war itself and from the bitter struggles that convulsed Europe between the Russian revolution of 1917 and Mussolini's assumption of power in Italy in 1922. It was these formative events that set in place the prism through which fascism was initially perceived by the British left. An examination of certain features of these years, which perhaps seem disparate and unrelated at first glance, but which later emerge either as aspects of fascist movements, regimes or ideology, is therefore valuable.
Robert Daniels
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106497
- eISBN:
- 9780300134933
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106497.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
In pursuing their ultimate goal, revolutionaries believed that the end justifies their violent means. However, great revolutions do not often begin deliberately; they result from a confluence of ...
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In pursuing their ultimate goal, revolutionaries believed that the end justifies their violent means. However, great revolutions do not often begin deliberately; they result from a confluence of circumstances. A revolution is a process rather than an event, one that develops over a period of years in characteristic phases: the overthrow of the Old Regime, the rise of the moderates, the breakdown of the old institutional fabric, the emotional mobilization and polarization of the population, and the conflict between left-wing extremists and right-wing counterrevolutionaries in their struggle for power. This chapter examines the factors that account for the triumph of revolutionary extremism and the success of the Bolsheviks in Russia. It looks at how the Bolsheviks assimilated the anticapitalist principle, the role of capitalism and anticapitalism in the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Communists' rejection of social revolution. It argues that the Russian Revolution was a struggle not only of cultures but also of classes.Less
In pursuing their ultimate goal, revolutionaries believed that the end justifies their violent means. However, great revolutions do not often begin deliberately; they result from a confluence of circumstances. A revolution is a process rather than an event, one that develops over a period of years in characteristic phases: the overthrow of the Old Regime, the rise of the moderates, the breakdown of the old institutional fabric, the emotional mobilization and polarization of the population, and the conflict between left-wing extremists and right-wing counterrevolutionaries in their struggle for power. This chapter examines the factors that account for the triumph of revolutionary extremism and the success of the Bolsheviks in Russia. It looks at how the Bolsheviks assimilated the anticapitalist principle, the role of capitalism and anticapitalism in the Russian Revolution, and the Russian Communists' rejection of social revolution. It argues that the Russian Revolution was a struggle not only of cultures but also of classes.
David Ayers
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780748647330
- eISBN:
- 9781474453820
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748647330.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
Modernism, Internationalism and the Russian Revolution examines responses to the Russian Revolution and the formation of the League of Nations in literature and journalism in the years following ...
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Modernism, Internationalism and the Russian Revolution examines responses to the Russian Revolution and the formation of the League of Nations in literature and journalism in the years following 1917. It examines early attempts to assess the Revolution, how the Bolsheviks intervened in the British public sphere, how visitors to Moscow responded to meeting Lenin and Trotsky, and the manner in which the League and Revolution occupied the work of such figures as T.S. Eliot, Leonard Woolf, Maynard Keynes, Clare Sheridan and H.G. Wells. This study reveals the extent and complexity of the debate about revolution and nationalities which was a dominant feature of public discourse. Drawing on the responses of journalists and literary authors, including some figures rarely considered in the context of literary modernism, such as Tomáš Masaryk and Henry Noel Brailsford, it gives new insights into the relationship between modernist literature and the geopolitical shifts which governed the period, and demonstrates how a new age of transnational politics began.Less
Modernism, Internationalism and the Russian Revolution examines responses to the Russian Revolution and the formation of the League of Nations in literature and journalism in the years following 1917. It examines early attempts to assess the Revolution, how the Bolsheviks intervened in the British public sphere, how visitors to Moscow responded to meeting Lenin and Trotsky, and the manner in which the League and Revolution occupied the work of such figures as T.S. Eliot, Leonard Woolf, Maynard Keynes, Clare Sheridan and H.G. Wells. This study reveals the extent and complexity of the debate about revolution and nationalities which was a dominant feature of public discourse. Drawing on the responses of journalists and literary authors, including some figures rarely considered in the context of literary modernism, such as Tomáš Masaryk and Henry Noel Brailsford, it gives new insights into the relationship between modernist literature and the geopolitical shifts which governed the period, and demonstrates how a new age of transnational politics began.
Simon Rabinovitch
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804792493
- eISBN:
- 9780804793032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804792493.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
This chapter examines the role of the Russian revolution of 1905–7 in politicizing Russian Jewry and bringing the issue of national rights to the fore. During these revolutionary years and ...
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This chapter examines the role of the Russian revolution of 1905–7 in politicizing Russian Jewry and bringing the issue of national rights to the fore. During these revolutionary years and thereafter, politically active Jews in Russia became convinced that if the Jews did not create a program for nonterritorial Jewish autonomy, they would be left without the autonomous rights of the other national minorities. Particular attention is paid to the Union for Full Rights for the Jews of Russia and its debates over national rights and autonomy. As new Jewish parties were founded and others became legally allowed, the demand for Jewish national rights and autonomy was adopted and adapted in various forms by all parties, such as Zionists and socialists, who took up demands for Jewish national rights in Russia alongside their demands for a Jewish state or proletarian revolution.Less
This chapter examines the role of the Russian revolution of 1905–7 in politicizing Russian Jewry and bringing the issue of national rights to the fore. During these revolutionary years and thereafter, politically active Jews in Russia became convinced that if the Jews did not create a program for nonterritorial Jewish autonomy, they would be left without the autonomous rights of the other national minorities. Particular attention is paid to the Union for Full Rights for the Jews of Russia and its debates over national rights and autonomy. As new Jewish parties were founded and others became legally allowed, the demand for Jewish national rights and autonomy was adopted and adapted in various forms by all parties, such as Zionists and socialists, who took up demands for Jewish national rights in Russia alongside their demands for a Jewish state or proletarian revolution.
Stephen Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781501756276
- eISBN:
- 9781501756306
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501756276.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
This chapter examines the question of how a state as strong as Vladimir Putin's Russia could yet be afraid of its own population. It explores the fear of a Russian color revolution, the importance of ...
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This chapter examines the question of how a state as strong as Vladimir Putin's Russia could yet be afraid of its own population. It explores the fear of a Russian color revolution, the importance of stability and economic growth to Putin's legitimacy, and his use of class divisions and nationalist rhetoric to divide real and potential opponents. The increased fear of a color revolution clearly stemmed from the events next door in Ukraine. It was also driven by concerns about the economy, specifically regarding the sudden drop in oil prices, which also occurred in 2014, the same year as the Maidan revolution. However, the potential for a Russian color revolution is fairly low. Many of the color revolutions elsewhere have arisen over charges of widespread fraud in elections, whereas support for President Putin, and even United Russia, has been sufficiently high so that — at least so far — blatant fraud to change election outcomes has not been needed. Moreover, when political protests did break out over charges of electoral fraud in 2011–2012, Putin succeeded in heightening social divisions between “real Russians” in the industrial and rural hinterlands and the cosmopolitan professionals in the major cities.Less
This chapter examines the question of how a state as strong as Vladimir Putin's Russia could yet be afraid of its own population. It explores the fear of a Russian color revolution, the importance of stability and economic growth to Putin's legitimacy, and his use of class divisions and nationalist rhetoric to divide real and potential opponents. The increased fear of a color revolution clearly stemmed from the events next door in Ukraine. It was also driven by concerns about the economy, specifically regarding the sudden drop in oil prices, which also occurred in 2014, the same year as the Maidan revolution. However, the potential for a Russian color revolution is fairly low. Many of the color revolutions elsewhere have arisen over charges of widespread fraud in elections, whereas support for President Putin, and even United Russia, has been sufficiently high so that — at least so far — blatant fraud to change election outcomes has not been needed. Moreover, when political protests did break out over charges of electoral fraud in 2011–2012, Putin succeeded in heightening social divisions between “real Russians” in the industrial and rural hinterlands and the cosmopolitan professionals in the major cities.
Robert Daniels
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300106497
- eISBN:
- 9780300134933
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300106497.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines the extent to which the philosophy of Marxism was embodied by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik movement, and the Soviet regime, or the degree to which they were instead products of ...
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This chapter examines the extent to which the philosophy of Marxism was embodied by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik movement, and the Soviet regime, or the degree to which they were instead products of Russian history. It can be argued that Lenin abandoned his Marxian heritage in favor of the ideas championed by the revolutionaries of Russia who came before him. Despite the Bolsheviks' Marxist language, the Russian Revolution was shaped by Russian beliefs, the result of which was intrinsically Russian—namely, that it was Lenin's revolution rather than Karl Marx's. The chapter also discusses the proletariat, Bolshevism, and historical materialism in the eyes of Lenin.Less
This chapter examines the extent to which the philosophy of Marxism was embodied by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik movement, and the Soviet regime, or the degree to which they were instead products of Russian history. It can be argued that Lenin abandoned his Marxian heritage in favor of the ideas championed by the revolutionaries of Russia who came before him. Despite the Bolsheviks' Marxist language, the Russian Revolution was shaped by Russian beliefs, the result of which was intrinsically Russian—namely, that it was Lenin's revolution rather than Karl Marx's. The chapter also discusses the proletariat, Bolshevism, and historical materialism in the eyes of Lenin.
