Author Archives: dahler

We learned from Stites (1989, 88-89) that Lenin insisted on decorating cities with monuments, inscriptions, and inscriptions on monuments. Stites writes, “Between 1918 and 1921 about 50-60 such monuments were erected, mostly in Moscow, as well as dozens of inscriptions.” … Continue reading →

Reading Cracraft left me wondering about one specific phrase in the following passage. “New ways of dress, deportment, communication, navigation, building, gardening, gunnery, drawing, computing, measuring, sculpting, writing, visualizing, indeed of thinking had to be adopted along with new vocabularies … Continue reading →

In “Stalin and the Making of a New Elite,” Fitzpatrick argues that Stalin believed his new cadres to have “specific qualifications that were essential for Soviet leadership.” (1992, 150). Fitzpatrick goes on to claim that Stalin’s Great Purge was a means … Continue reading →

In 1783, Catherine allowed individuals to operate private printing presses, on the condition that the individuals register their press with and submit their work to the censor. According to Madariaga (1990, 98), this innovation represented Catherine’s desire “to encourage social … Continue reading →

Alexander’s 1861 Manifesto (Cracraft 1994, 341) bestows on the serfs “the full rights of free rural inhabitants.” What are these rights? They do not seem to be fully specified in the Manifesto. Alexander outlines some principles and a general direction to be … Continue reading →

In early Modern Europe, “dynastic aggrandizement” was the name of the game, its nature: self-reinforcing. Cracraft (2003, 54) defines dynastic aggrandizement as “the relentless pursuit of territorial expansion by hereditary rulers seeking economic gain and strategic security against the similar pretensions … Continue reading →