Russia & the former Soviet Union
Devastating HIV epidemic hits Russia
By Clara Weiss, 10 January 2017
A quarter century after the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, an HIV epidemic, closely bound up with massive heroin consumption, is raging in Russia.
The End of the USSR
By David North, 30 December 2016
On January 4, 1992, David North, national secretary of the Workers League (predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party), delivered a report which explained the historical background and significance of the end of the USSR. To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of this critical event, the World Socialist Web Site is posting North's report.
Behind hacking allegations: Explosive conflict over US policy toward Russia
By Patrick Martin, 12 December 2016
Behind the claims of Russian hacking in the 2016 elections is a raging dispute within the US ruling elite and its military-intelligence apparatus over what policy to adopt towards Moscow.
100 Years since the Russian Revolution
Mehring Books announces centenary edition of landmark documentary, Tsar to Lenin
By , 12 December 2016
Produced by the legendary Herman Axelbank and narrated by Max Eastman, Tsar to Lenin is the definitive documentary of a revolution that “shook the world” and changed the course of history.
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (1856–1918): His Place in the History of Marxism
By David North and Vladimir Volkov, 5 December 2016
On December 11, the international socialist movement marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of the “father of Russian Marxism,” Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov.
The provocation in Crimea and the threat of world war
By Bill Van Auken, 13 August 2016
The terrorist attack in Crimea and ratcheting up of the war threat in Eastern Europe have exposed the real purpose of the anti-Putin hysteria in both the US election campaign and the Rio Olympics.
What is behind the imperialist campaign over the Crimean Tatars?
Part 2: The imperialist exploitation of ethnic tensions on the Crimea—then and now
By Clara Weiss, 19 July 2016
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, leading media outlets of the imperialist powers, in particular the New York Times, have been waging a campaign ostensibly directed at defending the Crimean Tatars from oppression by Russia.
Toward a socialist future: Children’s picture books after the Bolshevik Revolution
By Thomas Scripps, 9 July 2016
A New Childhood: Picture Books from Soviet Russia, an exhibition at the House of Illustration gallery in London, brings to light the artistic impetus provided by the October Revolution to children’s book illustrations.
Doping allegations cited to ban Russian track and field team from Rio Olympics
By Barry Grey, 18 June 2016
The pretense that Russia is some kind of outlier and affront to the “Olympic spirit” is an absurd and cynical fraud.
German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung demands military deterrence against Russia
By Johannes Stern, 23 May 2016
In the lead-up to the NATO summit in Poland in early July the professional warmongers in the German media are intensifying calls for a military build-up in Eastern Europe.
US-NATO officials unveil Romania-based missile system
By Thomas Gaist, 13 May 2016
In a move Russian officials denounced as a “direct threat,” US and NATO officials presided over the formal launch of a new missile system based in Bucharest.
Military force “on the table” in relation to Russia, US commander says
By Bill Van Auken, 23 April 2016
The Obama administration’s nominee for US commander in Europe called for the permanent deployment of an armored brigade near Russia’s border.
Paul Mason launches campaign for UK Labour to pledge itself to nuclear war
By Chris Marsden, 22 April 2016
Former economics editor of Channel Four News Paul Mason’s latest statements are a devastating political exposure of an entire fetid petty-bourgeois milieu.
US-Russia tensions flare in Baltic Sea
By Jordan Shilton, 18 April 2016
Washington’s aggressive military build-up throughout Eastern Europe, in close collaboration with its NATO allies, has brought the entire region to the brink of war between nuclear powers.
Russia names United States, NATO as threats to its national security
By Alex Lantier, 5 January 2016
The contents of the Russian national security strategy testify to the bankruptcy of the world capitalist system and amount to an indictment of the reckless policy of the imperialist powers.
PBS documentary Putin’s Way: Half-truths and lies in the service of US warmongering against Russia
By Andrea Peters, 9 September 2015
The half-truths, omissions and hypocritical expressions of moral indignation that characterize this supposed exposé of Putin are intended to make the case for regime-change in Russia.
Release of grand jury transcript points again to frameup of the Rosenbergs
By Fred Mazelis, 18 July 2015
The new revelations undermine the post-Soviet effort to reaffirm the supposed guilt of the Rosenbergs.
European energy firms agree to expand Nord Stream pipeline with Gazprom
By Clara Weiss, 30 June 2015
Differences within the European Union, as well as between the EU and the US, are emerging over energy policy and relations with Russia.
G7 leaders escalate war threats against Russia
By Thomas Gaist, 9 June 2015
Government heads issued new threats against Russia a day after British officials announced that US nuclear weapons may once again be stationed on British soil.
A review of Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928: Part three
By Fred Williams, 3 June 2015
Stephen Kotkin’s first volume of a projected three-volume biography of Stalin, published by Penguin Press, is a travesty of historical writing.
NATO begins anti-Russian air drill in Arctic
By Patrick Martin, 26 May 2015
The Arctic Challenge Exercise involves warplanes from the US, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Norway, as well as non-NATO members Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.
Suspects arrested in Boris Nemtsov murder
By Andrea Peters, 9 March 2015
Five men were detained in the investigation into the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, while a sixth allegedly committed suicide.
Murder in Moscow: Why was Boris Nemtsov assassinated?
By David North, 3 March 2015
The assassination of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov arises out of the US-Russia confrontation and the struggle now underway within the Russian state.
Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov assassinated in Moscow
By Andrea Peters, 2 March 2015
Whoever authored the killing of Nemtsov, the US government and media are using his murder to further vilify the Putin regime and whip up anti-Russian hysteria.
Russian central bank cuts interest rate amid growing economic chaos
By Nick Beams, 2 February 2015
The rate cut is a sign of the deepening crisis of Russia’s economy resulting from the economic, diplomatic and military offensive led by Washington.
Russia and US end collaboration on nuclear disarmament
By Clara Weiss, 23 January 2015
Russia and the United States ended collaboration in the disposal of nuclear waste in mid-December, according to a report in the Boston Globe on Monday.
The Nazi war of annihilation against the Soviet Union: Part two
Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
By Clara Weiss, 13 January 2015
The volume provides insight into the criminal historical antecedents of the current siege of cities in eastern Ukraine by the Western-installed regime in Kiev, spearheaded by Ukrainian fascist forces.
The Nazi war of annihilation against the Soviet Union: Part one
Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
By Clara Weiss, 12 January 2015
The volume provides insight into the criminal historical antecedents of the current siege of cities in eastern Ukraine by the Western-installed regime in Kiev, spearheaded by Ukrainian fascist forces.
Putin approves new Russian military doctrine
By Clara Weiss, 31 December 2014
The new military doctrine identifies the expansion of NATO and attempts to destabilise Russia and neighbouring countries as the biggest security threats.
Putin appeals to the Russian oligarchs
By Clara Weiss, 24 December 2014
The Putin regime responds to Western pressure by seeking to appease imperialism and the Russian billionaires.
I Want To Live: The memoir of Izrail Agol
By Clara Weiss, 17 December 2014
The childhood memoir of the revolutionary, geneticist and Marxist theoretician of biology Izrail Agol (1891-1937) is an important document on the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia and the devastating impact of Stalinism.
Escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Balkan energy
By Paul Mitchell, 12 December 2014
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against NATO expansion in the region, which is seen as a provocation against Russia.
Putin accuses US of seeking to undermine Russian sovereignty
By Andrea Peters and David Levine, 11 December 2014
In his annual address to parliament last week, Putin charged the US with meddling in Russia’s sphere of influence, destabilizing international security and sponsoring separatism within Russia’s borders.
“Seeking for Utopia”—or were they? The Russian avant-garde and Soviet modernism in posters
Exhibition at the Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo
By John Watanabe, 3 December 2014
The recent exhibition in Tokyo included some 180 early Soviet posters, which have remarkable artistic and historic significance.
Interview with Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan, daughter of leading Soviet Left Oppositionist
By Clara Weiss, 27 October 2014
Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan (May 1919-September 2014) came from a remarkable family with longstanding revolutionary traditions. Not only her parents, but also her uncles and aunts were active participants in the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent Civil War.
Tatiana Ivarovna Smilga-Poluyan: May 22, 1919 – September 27, 2014
By Clara Weiss, 21 October 2014
Tatiana Ivarovna Smilga-Poluyan, daughter of the Left Oppositionist Ivar Smilga, dedicated her life to restoring historical truth about those who had been murdered and whose names had been besmirched by Stalinist reaction.
Russian metallurgy giant Mechel faces bankruptcy
By Andrea Peters, 1 October 2014
Mechel’s looming bankruptcy is one sign of Russia’s mounting industrial and monetary crisis, made worse by the imposition of Western sanctions.
White House threatens Russia over alleged incursion into eastern Ukraine
By Niles Williamson, 29 August 2014
The White House is strongly backing the Ukrainian government as it carries out a brutal war against predominantly Russian-speaking cities in the east.
Western powers talk “peace” while eastern Ukraine is decimated
By Julie Hyland, 20 August 2014
Talks between the foreign ministers of Germany, Ukraine, France and Russia failed to produce an agreement while Ukraine continued to attack Luhansk and Donetsk.
US, NATO support the Ukrainian army’s bloody offensive
By Christoph Dreier, 8 August 2014
Representatives of the United States, NATO and the EU have given their support to the bloody military offensive by the Ukrainian army on Thursday.
The diary of Lena Mukhina: An important document on the Leningrad blockade
Lenas Tagebuch, translated by Lena Gorelik and Gero Fedtke, Munich, 2013
By Clara Weiss, 11 June 2014
Lena’s Diary is an important historical document relating to one of most horrific, although often forgotten, war crimes of German imperialism.
New Ukraine government launches airstrikes, prepares austerity measures
By Thomas Gaist, 27 May 2014
Newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko vowed to crush resistance in the east Monday, launching strikes against separatist militants in and around an airport in Donestsk.
Unease in UK’s political elite after Prince Charles compares Putin to Hitler
By Julie Hyland, 27 May 2014
For the last weeks, the main political parties and the media have sought to draw a veil of silence over events in Ukraine.
Mariupol killings: US backs Ukrainian regime’s reign of terror
By Mike Head, 10 May 2014
After tanks, armoured personnel carriers and heavily armed troops were unleashed on unarmed civilians in Mariupol, the Kiev regime claimed to have killed some 20 people.
Anti-Semitism and the Russian Revolution: Part three
By Clara Weiss, 1 May 2014
This is the final part of a three-part review of a historical study by Ulrich Herbeck on the history of anti-Semitism in Russia from the tsarist empire until the end of the Civil War in1922.
Anti-Semitism and the Russian Revolution: Part two
By Clara Weiss, 30 April 2014
This is the second part of a three-part review of a historical study by Ulrich Herbeck on the history of anti-Semitism in Russia from the Tsarist empire until the end of the Civil War in 1922.
Anti-Semitism and the Russian Revolution: Part one
By Clara Weiss, 29 April 2014
This is the first part of a three-part review of a historical study by Ulrich Herbeck on the history of anti-Semitism in Russia from the Tsarist empire until the end of the Civil War in 1922.
US-backed crackdown threatens civil war in Ukraine
By Johannes Stern, 16 April 2014
Having received the green light from Washington, the Kiev regime launched a bloody crackdown on protests in eastern Ukraine, threatening to unleash a full-blown civil war.
Russia warns NATO over military build-up in eastern Europe
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 4 April 2014
NATO’s reckless military build-up in Eastern Europe, carried out over the Kremlin oligarchy’s warnings of escalation, poses the risk of war.
NATO maneuvers with Georgia, Ukraine threaten war with Russia
By Alex Lantier, 3 April 2014
The NATO military alliance is provocatively seeking to install its forces on Russia’s borders.
EU-Ukraine trade pact paves way for brutal austerity
By Mike Head, 22 March 2014
Amid intensifying sanctions and military provocations against Russia, the EU and the Western-backed government in Ukraine yesterday signed a pact that paves the way for brutal austerity measures and free market “reforms.”
US/European military provocations greet Russian annexation of Crimea
By Chris Marsden, 19 March 2014
The United States is lining up its puppet regime in Ukraine and its regional allies to prepare a series of military provocations against Russia.
Kiev to build new army, impose austerity as civil war threatens Ukraine
By Alex Lantier, 12 March 2014
With Ukraine facing the likely secession of Crimea, the far-right regime in Kiev is moving to slash social spending and build a new army.
War propaganda in the German media
By Ulrich Rippert, 12 March 2014
On the issue of the conflict in Ukraine leading German newspapers have replaced any serious attempt to convince their readers with a barrage of propaganda.
The political fraud of International Viewpoint’s statement on Ukraine
By the International Committee of the Fourth International, 3 March 2014
The attribution of this statement to the ICFI is a political provocation whose purpose is to discredit Trotskyism by associating it with the right-wing politics of the neo-Pabloite organizations.
The geopolitical dimensions of the coup in Ukraine
By Peter Schwarz, 27 February 2014
What is at stake in the Ukraine is an international struggle for power and influence that stretches back a quarter of a century.
Clashes in Ukraine signal escalation of US-EU intervention
By Oliver Campbell and Peter Symonds, 19 February 2014
The bloody scenes in Kiev are the direct outcome of the campaign waged by the US and Germany to oust Ukrainian President Yanukovych.
As Ukrainian regime totters, oligarchs call for talks with right-wing opposition
By Alex Lantier, 28 January 2014
The intervention of the oligarchs underscores the anti-working class austerity agenda driving both the regime and the far-right opposition.
Stand-off in Ukrainian power struggle continues
By Peter Schwarz, 12 December 2013
Pro-European Union protesters continued to occupy Independence Square in Kiev yesterday after riot police failed in an attempt to force them off the streets.
Nationalists stage violent protests in southern Russia
By Clara Weiss, 15 July 2013
Right-wing forces are exploiting the social crisis in Russia to divert the population’s discontent into reactionary channels.
The strange death of Boris Berezovsky
By Joseph Santolan, 26 March 2013
Berezovsky was the personification of the plutocrats whose wealth was acquired through the looting of the Russian economy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Australia: Keen interest in socialist perspective at Tsar to Lenin screenings
By our correspondents, 17 December 2012
There was intense interest in socialism, the history of the revolutionary movement and the life and writings of Leon Trotsky.
Workers and youth speak about the relevance of the Russian Revolution today
By our correspondents, 17 December 2012
Audience members in Melbourne and Sydney spoke with the WSWS about the Russian Revolution and its contemporary significance.
The definitive film record of the 1917 Russian Revolution
Mehring Books announces release of Tsar to Lenin in DVD format
By , 5 July 2012
Tsar to Lenin, first released in 1937, ranks among the twentieth century’s greatest film documentaries. It presents an extraordinary cinematic account of the Russian Revolution—from the mass uprising which overthrew the centuries-old Tsarist regime in February 1917, to the Bolshevik-led insurrection eight months later that established the first socialist workers’ state, to the final victory in 1921 of the new Soviet regime over counter-revolutionary forces after a three-year-long civil war.
Preface to Yakhot’s history of early Soviet philosophy
By Frederick Choate, 25 June 2012
Yehoshua Yakhot’s The Suppression of Philosophy in the USSR (The 1920s & 1930s) is essential reading for an understanding of the devastating impact of Stalinism on philosophy in the Soviet Union. The translator’s preface being published today provides an introduction to this new English translation.
Leipzig Book Fair 2012
Mehring Publishers presents new German edition of Alexander Rabinowitch’s The Bolsheviks Come to Power
By Wolfgang Weber, 21 March 2012
The new German edition of Alexander Rabinowitch’s book on the October Revolution is an achievement of archival scholarship that exposes the pseudo-intellectualism and reactionary politics of the post-modernist camp.
Twenty years since the dissolution of the USSR
The capitalist crisis and the radicalization of the working class in 2012
By David North, 30 January 2012
This report was given by David North to a series of regional aggregate meetings of the Socialist Equality Party (US) held during the month of January.
A blow against the Post-Soviet School of Historical Falsification
By Wolfgang Weber, 31 December 2011
The letter of 14 historians to the Suhrkamp publishing house in Germany calling on it to abandon publication of Robert Service’s biography of Leon Trotsky has opened the door for an honest and thorough examination of the role of Trotsky and the rise and fall of Soviet power.
Historian Alexander Rabinowitch speaks in Vienna on the Russian Revolution
By our correspondents, 15 June 2011
Professor Rabinowitch’s lecture on his recent research into the Russian Revolution was enthusiastically received by a large audience at the University of Vienna.
“The October Revolution was the most important event of the 20th century”
Interview with Alexander Rabinowitch
By Wolfgang Weber, 1 June 2011
Russian historian Alexander Rabinowitch will be giving a lecture in Vienna on June 6. The WSWS spoke to the professor on his book, The Bolsheviks in Power, and the main themes of his research.
The Bolsheviks in Power―The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd: Guest lecture by Prof. Alexander Rabinowitch in Vienna
By , 28 April 2011
The American historian Alexander Rabinowitch will present his book The Bolsheviks in Power―The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd in Vienna on 6 June.
Reflections on the Bolsheviks, the October Revolution, and early Soviet state building in Petrograd
By Alexander Rabinowitch, 2 December 2010
This report was presented by Professor Alexander Rabinowitch of Indiana University at a meeting in Berlin on October 14, introducing the new German translation of his book, The Bolsheviks in Power.
An interview with Richard Pare, photographer and expert on Soviet Modernist architecture
By Tim Tower, 13 November 2010
A version of the following interview with Richard Pare, conducted by Tim Tower of the WSWS, was originally posted in March 2008, Tower and Pare spoke again recently to update the piece to accompany a new exhibition, “Building the Revolution.”
Great interest in lecture by Professor Rabinowitch in Berlin
By our correspondent, 16 October 2010
The American historian Alexander Rabinowitch introduced his new book The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Bolshevik Rule in Petrograd at a meeting Thursday evening at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Marxism and the Holocaust
By Nick Beams, 15 May 2010
The following is an addendum to the lecture “Imperialism and the political economy of the Holocaust,” delivered by Nick Beams at San Diego State University on April 29.
Imperialism and the political economy of the Holocaust
By Nick Beams, 12 May 2010
This lecture was delivered at San Diego State University on April 29. It was the eighth in a series entitled "Killing for a higher cause: Political violence in a world in crisis" sponsored by the Institute on World Affairs within the Political Science Department of the San Diego State University.
Mehring Books featured title
Fundamental Problems of Marxism by Georgi Plekhanov
By , 28 April 2010
This week’s featured title by Mehring Books provides an outline of historical materialism in the context of the development of Marxist philosophy.
David North to speak on May 5 at the University of Oxford
Political Biography and the Historical Lie: An Examination of Robert Service’s Trotsky
By , 1 April 2010
The Socialist Equality Party (Britain) and the International Students for Social Equality are hosting a lecture by David North, international editorial board chairperson of the World Socialist Web Site, at the University of Oxford.
Trotsky the subject of cultural events in Russia
By Vladimir Volkov, 24 March 2010
In recent months Leon Trotsky has been the subject of two cultural events in Russia – an exhibition at the State Museum of Political History in Saint Petersburg and a documentary film aired on television. While both provide a more objective evaluation of his historical role than what typically found in Russia, they each had significant limitations.
Bolshevism and the avant-garde artists (1993)
By David Walsh, 17 February 2010
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, in 1992-1993, was a major event. David Walsh wrote a series of articles in the Bulletin, a predecessor of the WSWS, which we began republishing February 13 in three parts. Here is the entire piece.
Bolshevism and the avant-garde artists (1993)—Part 3
By David Walsh, 16 February 2010
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, in 1992-1993, was a major event. David Walsh wrote a series of articles in the Bulletin, a predecessor of the WSWS, which we began republishing February 13.
Bolshevism and the avant-garde artists (1993)—Part 2
By David Walsh, 15 February 2010
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, in 1992-1993, was a major event. David Walsh wrote a series of articles in the Bulletin, a predecessor of the WSWS, which we began republishing February 13.
Bolshevism and the avant-garde artists (1993)—Part 1
By David Walsh, 13 February 2010
The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, in 1992-1993, was a major event. David Walsh wrote a series of articles in the Bulletin, a predecessor of the WSWS, which we begin republishing today.
Successful launch of In Defence of Leon Trotsky at Sydney’s Gleebooks
By our correspondent, 4 February 2010
An appreciative audience of 150 filled the upstairs auditorium of Sydney’s Gleebooks bookstore last night to hear David North launch his In Defence of Leon Trotsky: A Reply to the Falsifications of Robert Service.
In Defence of Leon Trotsky: David North to speak at Sydney’s Gleebooks
By , 20 January 2010
German Socialist Equality Party holds meeting on 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall
By our correspondent, 10 December 2009
On November 29, the German Socialist Equality Party (Partei für Soziale Gleichheit—PSG) held a well-attended meeting in Leipzig entitled “20 Years Since the Fall of the Wall: From Stalinism to Capitalism.”
Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall
By Peter Schwarz, 10 December 2009
The following lecture was delivered by Peter Schwarz, secretary of the International Committee of the Fourth International, at a meeting of the Socialist Equality Party of Germany held November 29, 2009 in Leipzig.
Red Star Over Russia
A Visual History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Death of Stalin
By , 15 September 2009
Mehring Books is pleased to make available to readers of the World Socialist Web Site the new book by British photojournalist David King, Red Star Over Russia.
70 years since the Hitler-Stalin Pact
By Alex Lantier, 24 August 2009
Seventy years ago, Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov met in Moscow to sign a hastily-negotiated Non-Aggression Pact between Hitlerite Germany and the USSR.
Lecture 2
“Socialism in One Country” and the Soviet economic debates of the 1920s—Part 2
By Nick Beams, 7 May 2009
This is the second of two lectures delivered at an SEP summer school in August 2007 that deal with some of the crucial conflicts over economic policy in the Soviet Union during the 1920s.
“Socialism in One Country” and the Soviet economic debates of the 1920s—Part 2
By Nick Beams, 5 May 2009
This is the first of two lectures, delivered at an SEP summer school in August 2007, dealing with some of the crucial conflicts over economic policy in the Soviet Union during the 1920s.
After the slaughter: political lessons of the Balkan War
By David North, 30 March 2009
March 24 marked the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the 11-week US-NATO bombardment of Serbia and Kosovo. This statement by David North, chairman of the international editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, was originally published on June 14, 1999.
The Bolsheviks in Power
The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd
By , 22 January 2009
Mehring books is proud to offer The Bolheviks in Power by Alexander Rabinowitch.
Stalin, Trotsky and the 1926 British general strike
By Chris Marsden, 27 December 2008
More than 80 years on, the May 1926 British General Strike remains a defining moment in the history of the workers’ movement. Its lessons are essential for the development of a revolutionary strategy, not just in Britain but the world over.
Uncovering the truth about Trotsky and the Russian Revolution “continues to run my life”
A conversation with the remarkable David King
By David Walsh, 4 December 2008
David King--artist, designer, editor, photohistorian and archivist--is about to publish a new book, Red Star Over Russia, a visual history of the Soviet Union. WSWS arts editor David Walsh recently spoke to King in London.
Leon Trotsky, Soviet Historiography, and the Fate of Classical Marxism
By David North, 1 December 2008
This paper was presented by David North at a panel on “The Intellectual and Political Legacy of Leon Trotsky” at the recent 2008 National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies in Philadelphia.
A Marxist perspective on jurisprudence
By Kevin Kearney, 26 November 2008
Michael Head’s book, Evgeny Pashukanis, A Critical Reappraisal, shines the light of day on one of the most important legal theories to come out of “the boldest and most sweeping experiment of the 20th century”—the October 1917 Russian Revolution.
Declassified grand jury transcripts confirm frame-up of Ethel Rosenberg
The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
By Tom Eley, 13 September 2008
The recent release of previously secret grand jury transcripts has revealed that crucial testimony was perjured in the conviction and 1953 execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.
Trotskyism in postwar USSR: the record of an anti-Stalinist youth group in the early 1950s
By Vladimir Volkov, 5 June 2004
In the Soviet Union throughout the post-World War II era anti-Stalinist opposition groups continuously emerged that opposed the bureaucratic regime from the left—from the point of view of the necessity of reviving Soviet democracy and internationalism, as well as restoring the norms of party life that existed in the Bolshevik Party in the first years following the October Revolution of 1917.
Women in the Russian Revolution
The letters of Natalia Sedova to Leon Trotsky
By Vladimir Volkov, 1 July 2003
The 1917 Revolution in Russia not only raised millions of workers and peasants to historical life. It also advanced to the center stage of world events a whole layer of distinguished representatives of the socialist intelligentsia, bearers of the revolution’s political consciousness, who had imbibed the international traditions of European social democracy and the best heritage of European culture in general.
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