Tag Archives: Soviet Union

The Strange, Strange Story of Colonia Dignidad in Chile

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 25 September 2023

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Remembering Korea: The First “Hot War” of the Cold War

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 20 September 2023

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The First Proxy War of the Cold War in Greece

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 16 September 2023

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The Devastation of South Africa is What Always Happens When a Soviet Asset Gets to Power

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 14 September 2023

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The American Crackdown on Nazi Supporters During the Second World War: A “Brown Scare”?

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 15 August 2023

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A Note on Zhdanovism

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 7 August 2023

Andrey Zhdanov was one of the key figures in the Soviet Great Terror (Yezhovshchina) and, indeed, during Stalin’s reign more generally until his death in 1948. Zhdanov is perhaps best remembered for the strictures he imposed on Soviet cultural life in 1946, known as Zhdanovism (or Zhdanovshchina).

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NKVD Order No. 00447 (English Translation)

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 6 August 2023

The head of the Soviet NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov, issued Prikaz (Order) Number 00447 on 30 July 1937, a secret instruction soon signed-off by Joseph Stalin, which vastly expanded the scope and scale of the Great Terror within the Soviet Union. The 2008 book, The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939, by J. Arch Getty and Oleg V. Naumov, as translated by Benjamin Sher, contains nearly the full text of the order (pp. 473-80), which is reproduced below.

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The Death of Al-Qaeda’s Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri: One Year On

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 31 July 2023

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Did Russia Ever Start a Democratic Transition? Can It?

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 16 July 2023

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The Soviet Capture of Australia’s Intelligence System

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 25 June 2023

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