http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/soviet-union Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:00:57 -0400 Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:00:57 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1841/molding-the-peasantry-on-the-road-to-modernity-state-and-peasant-relations-in-russia-and-the-soviet-union By Sophia Hernandez Tragesser - This paper examines the peasantry's response to modernization measures taken by Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the pursuit of modernity, the Tsarist Russian and early Soviet regimes altered the nature of the peasantry through domestic policy and reactions to international crises. The shifting social spheres among peasants prompted two reactions: resistance to governmental forces or adaptation to the new order to maximize personal gain. In both cases, peasants exerted great agency over their situations and although subject to governmental... Thu, 19 Nov 2020 11:13 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1841/molding-the-peasantry-on-the-road-to-modernity-state-and-peasant-relations-in-russia-and-the-soviet-union http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1646/the-red-army-faction-understanding-a-measured-government-response-to-an-adaptive-terrorist-threat By Ari Weil - The present article will analyze all three components of the West German counterterrorism strategy. The first section surveys the historical background of the RAF, with a particular focus on its organizational and ideological underpinnings to understand its critical strengths and weaknesses. Second is a brief overview of the various police, paramilitary, and legal measures put in place. The article then moves on to an examination of the effectiveness of each measure, the public perception of the policies put in place, and the role they each played in the downfall of the RAF. Finally, this article... Mon, 22 May 2017 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1646/the-red-army-faction-understanding-a-measured-government-response-to-an-adaptive-terrorist-threat http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1278/did-stalin-plan-to-attack-hitler-in-1941-the-historiographical-controversy-surrounding-the-origins-of-the-nazi-soviet-war By Christopher J. Kshyk - The controversy surrounding the origins of the Nazi-Soviet War in 1941, namely over the issue of whether or not Stalin intended to launch an offensive against Nazi Germany that year, has produced a contentious debate between revisionist (i.e. those who believe that Stalin was preparing for an offensive) and orthodox historians (i.e. those who reject the notion of a soviet offensive in 1941). First popularized by Victor Suvorov, the ensuing debate between orthodox and revisionist historians over Stalin’s intentions in 1941 has produced an abundance of scholarly literature, and it is the purpose... Tue, 03 Nov 2015 07:51 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1278/did-stalin-plan-to-attack-hitler-in-1941-the-historiographical-controversy-surrounding-the-origins-of-the-nazi-soviet-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1120/pottermania-capitalist-eye-candy-viewed-through-a-neo-marxist-lens By Tinatin Japaridze - “Beware: Capitalist-Consumerism poses a danger to our Socialist ideals,” the Soviet-propaganda papers such as Pravdaand Izvestyahad proclaimed since the harrowing days of the Cold War. But by the early 1990s, the evergreen motto of the USSR, “We have everything,” had been supplanted for a new post-communist mantra: “Everything can be bought for money.” The hard currency shops in the USSR that exclusively catered to foreign visitors had finally lifted the iron curtain for their own citizens. Arbat Irish House, one of Moscow’s first Western-style grocery... Fri, 11 Sep 2015 08:55 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1120/pottermania-capitalist-eye-candy-viewed-through-a-neo-marxist-lens http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1190/muslims-in-moscow By Caitlin Toto - Since then, an inherent intolerance for Muslims has been embedded within the foundation of the country’s national identity. The recent influx of Muslims, precipitated by stagnant development in the Caucuses and Central Asia, have highlighted and reinforced the ideal that Muslims pose as an inferior, yet dangerous “other” in Muscovite society. Paradoxically, Moscow’s economy has become increasingly dependent upon an “outsider” workforce that many of its citizens hold a prejudice against; thus, the Russian government must soon find a way to alleviate the bitter... Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1190/muslims-in-moscow http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/731/the-soviet-nationality-policy-in-central-asia By Salvatore J. Freni - The Soviet nationality policy for Central Asia in the early twentieth century was an acceleration of the processes of modernization that the Russian Empire had already begun. However, building socialism in a region where no working class existed and intellectuals based their knowledge primarily on religious texts presented inherent challenges. The primary means of identification for an individual lay within a particular tribe, valley, or oasis rather than in the Western concepts of ‘nationality’ or ‘ethnicity.’ Expanding over an enormous territory and inhabited by a multitude... Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/731/the-soviet-nationality-policy-in-central-asia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/722/causes-of-violent-conflict-in-the-caucasus-since-the-collapse-of-communism By Salvatore J. Freni - Nonetheless, the Abkhaz retained the highest proportion of positions in their local government over all other ethnicities in Abkhazia. Like Abkhazia, Adyghea was named after its local Adyghe or Circassian ethnic group, but does not make up a majority there and their ethnic-brethren are also found in Karachai-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria (Rezvani 2008). Neither Adyghea nor the other territories where Circassians are present erupted in conflict, despite significant mobilization based on Circassian identity. The lack of demands for separatism among the Circassians could have to do with the dispersed... Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:10 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/722/causes-of-violent-conflict-in-the-caucasus-since-the-collapse-of-communism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/702/from-proto-state-to-para-state-accountability-russian-political-regimes-under-yeltsin-putin-and-medvedev By Moritz A. Pieper - When on September 24th,  2011 Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin announced his bid to run for president in the presidential elections in March 2012, a supposition in Russia's political regime was confirmed that many observers suspected would come true ever since the assumption of office of president Dmitri Medvedev in May 2008. With a constitutionally correct departure from the presidency, Putin still remained the influential political heavy weight in Russian politics, making Medvedev appear to be merely a pale place holder for Putin's return to the presidential driver's seat in 2012,... Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:12 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/702/from-proto-state-to-para-state-accountability-russian-political-regimes-under-yeltsin-putin-and-medvedev http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/672/containment-and-the-cold-war-reexaming-the-doctrine-of-containment-as-a-grand-strategy-driving-us-cold-war-interventions By Moritz A. Pieper - By retracing shifts in the meaning, usage, and perception of the doctrine of ‘Soviet containment’, this article provides a balanced account of the extent to which US Cold War interventions were in fact driven by such a Grand Strategy. It argues that the US strategically sought to uphold spheres of influence and a global network of regional proxies out of essentially pragmatic politico-economic considerations in a wider context of containment of Soviet influence as a  Grand Strategy of foreign policy discourse. While the openly confrontational containment policy of the early Cold... Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/672/containment-and-the-cold-war-reexaming-the-doctrine-of-containment-as-a-grand-strategy-driving-us-cold-war-interventions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/600/comparing-the-tsarist-russian-and-soviet-empires By Magdalena Noga - Compared to other empires throughout history, the USSR was an exception. The rulers of the Soviet Union viewed empire and imperialism in ideological terms as ‘the highest and final stage of capitalism’.[1] By this Leninist definition, the Soviet Union did not identify itself as an empire, and instead, its leaders vehemently denounced imperialism that was carried out by its enemies and competitors: the capitalist states. Despite its own anguish over being identified as an empire, the Soviet Union indeed was one. While the meaning of ‘empire’ has shifted over time, for the... Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/600/comparing-the-tsarist-russian-and-soviet-empires http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/580/the-legacy-of-international-cooperation-at-the-nuremberg-trials By Melissa S. McHugh - The trial itself commenced on November 21, 1945 and continued until October 1, 1946. Twelve smaller trials were held subsequently between 1946 and 1949, but they were not prosecuted jointly by the Allied powers but rather only by the American prosecution under the direction of Telford Taylor, who had worked on Robert Jackson’s staff during the first trial. Allied powers had been negotiating the fate of the Nazi leaders since the first meeting of American President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran. As the war... Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:06 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/580/the-legacy-of-international-cooperation-at-the-nuremberg-trials http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1229/the-problems-of-former-ussr-citizens-in-russian-latvian-relations By Konstantin Pakhorukov - The problem of migration is one of the most urgent ones in the modern world. As a rule, people migrate voluntarily. In the USSR, however, migration against people's free will was quite a widespread phenomenon. Thus, many Russians found themselves in the Baltic Soviet Socialist Republics. The USSR broke up, but the consequences of its disintegration still influence Russian-Latvian relations. About 15 percent of the Latvian population, mostly Russians, have the status of non-citizens and are therefore restricted in their rights compared to ordinary citizens. There are also other difficulties with... Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1229/the-problems-of-former-ussr-citizens-in-russian-latvian-relations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/262/lenins-new-economic-policy-coverage-of-the-policy-by-the-new-york-times By Melissa Aaronberg - When Lenin ushered in the New Economic Policy in August 1921, many Bolsheviks and their sympathizers lost faith in the Soviet government. Throughout August to September 1921, The New York Times’ Walter Duranty vacillated between recognizing the Soviet regime as a legitimate authority, and foreseeing its imminent collapse. While Russia was in the midst of a devastating famine, Duranty was at times critical of the Soviet leadership’s actions leading up to and after the New Economic Policy’s arrival. Although not a communist in 1921, Duranty’s reports on the New Economic Policy... Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/262/lenins-new-economic-policy-coverage-of-the-policy-by-the-new-york-times http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/221/birobidjan-the-story-of-the-first-jewish-state By Michael C. Wiseman - The world's largest menorah is not in Jerusalem, Lakewood or even in Crown Heights; it can be found in the town square of  Birobidjan, the capital city of the eponymous Jewish Autonomous Oblast of the Soviet Union. The menorah is 21 meters high, uses nine 500 W lamps and is visible from a great distance away from the town. (Chabad) The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a far Eastern, landlocked Russian province on the border with China. It is approximately the shape and about half the size of West Virginia (Some time after 1951, Birobidjan's northern finger was ceded to other provinces so the resemblance... Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:12 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/221/birobidjan-the-story-of-the-first-jewish-state http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/116/book-review-stephen-kotkins-armageddon-averted By Peter Crowley - As the world's first real Marxist experiment, the Soviet Union, by virtue of lasting seventy odd years, proved Western intelligentsia wrong. The latter had long thought it was doomed to fail. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union disintegrated two years later, Western conservatives and liberals alike felt vindicated. United States conservatives would point to Reagan's military arms buildup which the Soviet Union could not keep pace with, while liberal capitalists believed in the inherent unfeasibility of a nonmarket system. Contrary to these suppositions, Stephen Kotkin's Armageddon... Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:13 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/116/book-review-stephen-kotkins-armageddon-averted http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1670/lenins-new-economic-policy-what-it-was-and-how-it-changed-the-soviet-union By Helene M. Glaza - After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917,  Vladimir Lenin and his party found themselves contemplating what would be appropriate for Russia’s economy which, at this time, was suffering from social challenges. Before the Revolution, there were basically only three classes of people: Peasants, Nobles, and Romanovs. Although certain reforms had been made, the peasants were still treated poorly and taken advantage of by the nobles. At the same time, World War One was taking place which not only negatively effected Russia’s economy but also had a great effect on Russian society as well... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:47 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1670/lenins-new-economic-policy-what-it-was-and-how-it-changed-the-soviet-union http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1684/stalin-and-the-drive-to-industrialize-the-soviet-union By Joshua R. Keefe - According to Marxist theory, only through a modern industrialized economy could a true proletariat class be developed as Marx makes no mention of a peasant class. Marxist theory aside, the need to industrialize was also a pragmatic matter of self-defense. Stalin, either as a result of paranoia or a simple distrust of the capitalist West, assumed his country would have to fight for its survival. He presented the need to industrialize as a life or death struggle. “Do you want our socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence?” he asked in a famous February, 1931 speech... Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1684/stalin-and-the-drive-to-industrialize-the-soviet-union