This Week in Space Exploration - Vladimir Komarov's Death

This Week's Historical Theme: Space Exploration

 

24 April 1967

A significant event throughout the history of space exploration that occurred in April was the death of Soviet cosmonaut, test pilot and aerospace engineer, Colonel Vladimir Komarov. Komarov was testing the spacecraft Soyuz 1 during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. After 24 hours and 16 orbits of the earth, Komarov was scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere, but ran into difficulty handling the vessel. It took 2 more orbits around the earth before he could manage re-entry. When Soyuz 1 reached an altitude of 23,000 feet, a parachute was supposed to deploy and bring Komarov safely to earth. However, the lines of the chute had gotten tangled during the re-entry difficulties and there was no back up chute. Komarov plunged to the ground at 144km/h and was killed on impact. This was the first fatality of a space flight.

There was a vast public morning of Vladimir Komarov in Moscow and his ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin. Komarov's wife, Valentina, had not been told about the launch of Soyuz 1 until after Komarov was already in orbit and thus didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her husband. Earlier in 1967, the US experienced its own space related tragedy where 3 NASA astronauts in the Apollo program (Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chafee) were killed in a fire during tests on the ground. Despite the dangers, the US and the Soviet Union continued their space exploration program and 2 years later in 1969 the US landed the first man on the moon.

Want to find out more about Soyuz 1? Click here for more information, or here for more about the space race.

This Week in World War II - The Liberation of Warsaw

This Week's Historical Theme: World War II

 

17 January 1945

 

A significant event throughout the history of World War II that occurred in January was the liberation of Warsaw from German occupation. Warsaw had served as a battleground since the opening day of fighting in Europe. Germany had declared war by launching an air raid in September 1939, which was followed up with a siege that killed tens of thousands of Polish civilians. Warsaw was forced to surrender to the Germans soon after, as they were deprived of electricity, water, and food, with also 25% of the city's homes being destroyed.

 

Since the Soviets had snatched a part of Poland in the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, they soon found themselves at war with their 'ally'. In August 1944, the Soviets attempted to push the Germans west, and advance on Warsaw. An uprising was led against the German occupiers by the Polish Home Army, hoping to defeat the Germans themselves and not have the Soviets set up a post-war communist government. The Soviets, rather than aiding the Polish uprising, stood by and watched as the Germans slaughtered the Poles, thus destroying any Polish resistance to a pro-Soviet government. The city was finally later liberated from the Germans by Georgy Zhukov's troops.

 

Want to find out more about the liberation of Warsaw? Click here for more information, or here for more about communist Warsaw during the Cold War.

This Week in Communism - The Collapse of the Soviet Union

This Week's Historical Theme: Communism

 

25 December 1991

 

A significant event throughout the history of communism that occurred in December is the collapse of the Soviet Union, after Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation as the president of the nation. He had lost much of his power and prestige in the Soviet Union, and the economy was very unstable. No Soviet was pleased by Gorbachev, as some opponents demanded even more political freedom whereas hard-liners opposed any movement toward reform. He survived an attempted coup in August, but only through the assistance of Boris Yeltsin, the Russian Federation president. Yeltsin subsequently became a vocal critic of the slow pace of the country's economic and political reforms.

 

Despite this announcement, representatives from Soviet republics has already declared that they would no longer be part of the Soviet Union. Instead, they announced that they would establish a Commonwealth of Independent States. As the three Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia had already declared their independence from the Soviet Union, only one of its 15 republics, Kazakhstan, remained. Gorbachev was ultimately disappointed in the dissolution of his nation, hence his resignation. Despite this, it was a peaceful end to a long and terrifying decade, known as the Cold War.

 

Want to find out more about the fall of the Soviet Union? Click here for a video with more information, or here for more about the history of the Cold War.

November 3 - The USSR Sends the First Animal into Space

This Day in History: 3 November 2020

 

3 November 1957

 

63 years ago, today, the Soviet Union launched the first animal into space, a dog named Laika, aboard the 'Sputnik 2' spacecraft. Laika was part Siberian husky, who had lived as a stray on the Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space program. She survived for several days as a passenger in the Soviet Union's second artificial Earth satellite, kept alive by a sophisticated life-support system. Electrodes were attached to her body, and enabled scientists on the ground to gain important information about the biological effects of space travel. Sadly, Laika died after the batteries of her life-support system ran down.

 

In the next few years, at least a dozen more Russian dogs were launched into space in preparation for the first manned Soviet space mission, and at least five of these dogs died in transit. Other non-human animals that have been launched into space include monkeys, apes, cats, tortoises, mice, frogs and insects. Seven national space programs have flown animals into space: the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Argentina, China, Japan, and Iran. In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to ever travel into space, aboard the spacecraft 'Vostok 1'. He orbited Earth before he landed safely back in the USSR.

 

Want to find out more about the history of animals in space? Click here for more information, or here for more about Laika.

Between Shades of Grey

Between Shades of Grey*, by Ruta Sepetys, is the story from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian, Lina, who, in 1941, is arrested and deported from her home along with her mother, brother and eventually 130000 other Lithuanian civilians, to Siberian labour camps under the orders of Stalin. Lina’s father is separated from the rest of the family, and classed as an enemy resistance member.

The main quality of this novel which makes it stand out among other books about Stalin’s invasion and takeover of the Baltic states is Lina’s incredible ability to hope for a better outcome, despite the hardships which she has to face along the way. Part of this is due to her relationship with a fellow teenager, Andrius (the epilogue reveals what happens to him). However, another key figure is a Soviet guard, Kretsky, who tries to help her mother contact their father, despite Lina’s prejudice against Russians as a whole.

Although Lina’s narration being incomplete (for instance she has no idea why she was deported) and not as aware of her situation as an adult would be, there are plenty of plot details that would almost too hard to read but are tempered with a slight sense of humour and the resilience that she shows.

DK

*Disclaimer: do not confuse this title with another that has a completely different story.

Stalingrad

This book covers the operations and attacks during WW2 between the German and Russian sides with a detailed account of the hardships that the Russian soldiers faced and the brutality and extremism of the Red Army among its own men. After reading this book you understand how incredibly important loyalty is to Stalin and the Red Army as a whole with even the slightest deterrence from their own side and they would be executed as a result of taking part in “anti-Soviet activities”. To replace those that died, civilians would then be brought in with no uniform so would have to scavenge off dead bodies to gather up suitable clothing for the harsh winters. However, it was not just Stalin’s rule that was intense, Hitler himself was constantly cautious in anything he did, even down to eating, where he would have another person try everything before he consumed it as to be cautious of poisoning. Overall the novel highlights the longevity of the attack on Stalingrad and it is made evident the draining effect that the battle had on the German Army as a whole after the SIxth Army were bled dry and why it was such an important event in the overall outcome of the war.  

CL

Revolutionary Russia

‘Revolutionary Russia’ explores the Russian revolution not as a single event but as a one hundred year cycle starting with the decline of the Tsar and ending with the fall of the Soviet Union. Though the book is relatively short when considering the broad period it covers, Figes does not seem to compromise the quality and detail in which he tells the story of the revolution. Instead the book looks closely at many features of the Revolution such as the October Revolution, the Civil War and Stalin’s Reign of Terror. The book also closely evaluates the importance of aspects such as the peasant culture in Russia and the glorification of Lenin and how this affected the events of the revolution.

The style in which the book is written makes it clear that it has been extremely well researched with the referencing to individual stories and direct quotes making it particularly insightful as well as making the period of history more accessible for the reader. The book answers many questions about Russian history whilst leaving the reader with many more, due to its thought provoking style. I found the ending of the book particularly interesting with its reflection on how despite how most Russians today acknowledge the atrocities committed under Stalin, most will continue to believe that these were justified. This serves to show just how indoctrinating the Russian regime was under Stalin and how the horrors of his reign did not die with him.

The author also refrains from injecting his personal political outlook into the book and remains mostly impartial, thus allowing the reader to form their own judgement. Overall, Figes has managed to write a book that does not over simplify Russian history yet still remains an enjoyable and manageable read.

AM

Sashenka

The presentation of Stalin as a person in ‘Sashenka’ contrasts with that of the Soviet scheme and system of fear that he ran to portray the common view of the dictator according to the view of contemporary public in the USSR.

The terror of the 1930s under Soviet control is never attributed directly to Stalin himself in the novel, in the same way that he would not have been openly blamed by citizens of the USSR at the time, for fear of suffering the same ordeal that they were associating him with. This suppression through fear is also presented through Sashenka’s job editing a Soviet magazine, which produces propaganda in support of the political system, and censoring any writing portraying it honestly. When she is presented with an article highlighting the negative aspects of a Soviet orphanage she explains that ‘the Party Committee would denounce’ the author and send them to a Gulag – one of the labor camps run under Stalin where ‘enemies of the people’ would be sent and forced to work tirelessly, tortured and often killed. In spite of the brutality applied through Stalinism Sashenka believes that ‘Comrade Stalin knows’ that she is innocent and maintains her devoted admiration and reverence of him throughout her suffering in the prison at the hands of his workers.

Stalin’s image was seen as incorruptible and his reputation as a good leader undoubtable from within the Communist party and Sashenka’s genuine belief in his virtue despite the knowledge of what was happening to innocent people under his instruction emphasises the extent to which his authoritarianism stretched, not just preventing people from voicing their negative opinions against Stalin, but indoctrinating them to convince them that his system was just. This conditioning influence did not end entirely after his death, or even the breakdown of the USSR as the final section of the novel, set in 1994, shows people still wary to investigate and expose the faults of Stalinism.

Contrary to the cruelness of his regime, Stalin is presented as personable and charming face-to-face. His likeable personality contradicts the inhumanity of his policies to create an enigmatic and intimidating leading figure who cannot be challenged, incorporating a political concept as well as an affable individual as a respectable figurehead of the Soviet system and for Communism.

MF

Svetlana - Stalin's Daughter

Svetlana Peters, Josef Stalin's daughter, has died in the US aged 85. Her life was fascinating (and very complicated!). She was the only daughter of Stalin and Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who committed suicide in 1932. She was married 3 times in the USSR - her first marriage was at the age of 18 against her father's wishes to a Jewish student who was later sent to a labour camp.  In 1967 the CIA helped her to escape from the Soviet Union - she then denounced communism and called her father a "moral and spiritual monster". She married again but continued to move around - she even went back to the USSR for a short while to be reunited with her children before returning to the USA and writing her memoirs, "Twenty Letters to a Friend".  It will be interesting to see how Russia reacts to her death given their somewhat ambiguous attitude towards her father.

10 Myths about Afghanistan

This Guardian article questions many of our preconceived views about Afghanistan, such as whether any foreign army has succeeded in the country, and whether the Soviets were "defeated" by the Mujahideen.  It is well worth reading, particularly when considering Afghanistan's role in the Cold War and the USSR's recent history, as well as its significance today.

Made in the USSR

Here is a fascinating article from the Guardian examining the state of design in the Communist USSR. This brings up a stereotype of drab, slightly comical consumer goods like the Zaporozhets car shown above compared to their glamorous Western (particularly American) counterparts. Richard Nixon emphasized this in 1959 when he asked Nikita Khruschev, "Would it not be better to compete in the relative merit of washing machines than in the strength of rockets?" This prickly exchange became known as the "Kitchen Debate". However, although there were many Soviet designs which were clearly knock-offs of their western counterparts, others were genuine classics, such as the Lomo camera and avos shopping bag, with their most impressive features being their simplicity and durability in comparison to the throwaway culture of the west.


You can read more about Soviet design in Michael Idov's book "Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design" - this is perhaps a subject A2 students can explore further within their extended essay.

PS: If you liked the Zaporozhets, there is much more of this sort of thing at oldrussiancars.com

Yuri Gagarin

Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space - the first human being ever to do so. You can watch a video of him in action and read about why he is still considered such a great hero in Russia here.

Gorbachev defends his legacy

Mikhail Gorbachev was interviewed by the BBC over the weekend about his role in the events of 1989 that led to the removal of communism in Eastern Europe. He was remarkably relaxed about it, saying that he though that, "1989 was certainly change for the better - no doubt about it. We did not have… the necessary freedom, particularly freedom of speech."

He admits some western leaders, including Margaret Thatcher and President Mitterand, were against German unification, but expected him to block the process on their behalf. Further comments, including his concerns about Vladimir Putin, can be found here.

Soviet Posters at the Tate

Nonsuch HP went to Tate Modern on Saturday and found an impressive collection of Soviet Propaganda posters on display. They show images from the 1917 Revolution through to World War 2 and are well worth seeing, particularly for students beginning the A2 course. You can find them on the 5th floor in room 11 of the "States of Flux" exhibition (free entry). More details can be found here. This website doesn't show the pictures but googling the names of the artists mentioned quickly finds some good examples. www.soviethistory.org is another good source for images.