The Soviet collapse in 1991 was so sudden and comprehensive that it came to seem inevitable. New work by historians of the USSR asks whether the system’s crisis could have ended in reform of its ...

Fitzpatrick, a doyenne of Soviet historians, offers the lay reader a concise, chronological account of the Soviet Union premised on the notion that accidents, rather than inevitabilities, drive human ...

The Soviet anthem hailed the socialist union that it celebrated as “indestructible”. Yet 30 years ago this week, the then Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, together with the leaders of Ukraine and ...

Picture a long table covered end to end in crystal bowls filled with cured fish, pickled foods, and salads with an alarming amount of mayonnaise. There’s vodka and black bread on the table too. A man ...

Imagine that in 2023, in the fourth year of a pandemic that has exacerbated tensions and damaged the economy, after months of wrangling over internal borders and a sharp rise in the prestige of state ...

The Soviet Union ceased to exist as a nation 30 years ago today. On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union. The Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered ...

In contemporary times, when you mention intelligence gathering, the first thoughts that likely come to mind are spy satellites, drones, and AI-backed computers. However, nearly 60 years ago, during ...

Reason's December special issue marks the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This story is part of our exploration of the global legacy of that evil empire, and our effort to be ...

In the summer of 1924, Palace Square in Leningrad - today St. Petersburg - became the setting for a remarkable human chess ...

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