Just Finished Reading: Revolutionary Russia – 1891-1991 by Orlando Figes (FP: 2014)

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way – not there and not then. Definitely not under those circumstances. Karl Marx had predicted that the inevitable fall of Capitalism and the emergence of the final Communist State would happen in the most advanced countries on the Earth – Britain or possibly Germany with their mass proletariat and clear signs of Capitalistic contradictions. The one place where the Revolution was not going to happen was in a rural backwater like Russia. It was all wrong. But revolution was indeed bubbling under the surface – after military defeat abroad and famine at home. The first mass revolt was bloodily repressed but the aristocratic government failed to learn the lesson they had been given. The next revolt failed too but concessions were made and a fuller freedom looked at least theoretically possible. But power stayed in the hands of the Emperor Czar and his less than able cronies. Only with another series of defeats in yet another war – against Germany this time – was the system weakened enough and the people energised enough to push the tottering state to one side. In the mix, in the thick of it, was a small band of Communists led by Lenin who saw the opportunity for power. When the blow was struck in 1917 they had the power, barely, to impose their views and their ideology on a country still reeling from its involvement in WW1. But they singularly did not have enough power to take control of the entire country.

The Civil War that followed was by any standards brutal. As Whites fought Reds and thousands died on both sides the recently victorious Allies intervened – somewhat half-heartedly – to destroy the Bolshevik menace at its birth. They and the White army failed and Soviet Russia burst onto the world stage. Realising that they were ideologically an aberration Lenin and his compatriots awaited revolution throughout Europe. When the arrow of History failed to point in their direction, and attempts to make it do so failed, Russia turned inwards to create a singular Communist State in one country and so the tragedy dragged on. Tragedy it was when the founder’s guidance died with Lenin and Stalin came to prominence and then power against all the odds and all the expectations of the Communist elites. When events, both personal and national, conspired to feed Stalin’s paranoia those who helped him gain power lived (briefly) to regret it. Many millions more would have died in Stalin’s purges and farm collectivisations if WW2 had not intervened. Many millions died in the Great Patriotic War to protect Soviet Russia in the face of an implacable enemy. Many of those who fought so bravely (briefly) lived to regret saving comrade Stalin to extend his terror into the 1950’s until his sudden death in 1953.

With the post-Stalin thaw the Soviet Union (having expanded into Eastern Europe) arguably entered its (brief) ‘golden age’ before freezing again in the face of breakaway forces from Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Stagnating into the 1970’s and beyond Russia and its satellite states settled in to a slow decline. Until a new breed of leader appeared with new ideas and new energy to reform and repair the Union by a return to ideas originally espoused by Lenin himself. One such leader was Mikhail Gorbachev whose plan to revitalise the Soviet Union ultimately undermined it to a fatal extent resulting in its sudden and surprisingly peaceful collapse followed by the end of Communism in Russia itself shortly afterwards.

After reading this detailed and fascinating history of Russia I now know far more about that country and the series of trials and tribulations it has gone through. All that happened in the century long span covered here helped me understand, or at least appreciate, why Russia is the way it is today. Perspective is a wonderful thing and although Putin is hardly mentioned here looking back on that countries very troubled history it becomes much easier to understand why the people want someone like him in charge of things. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in world history and for those who wonder what we can ‘look forward to’ in the next few decades.         

Cartoon Time.

Oh look… Books!

As there are no burning issues bubbling in the back of my brain presently requiring putting finger (singular) to keyboard I thought I’d say something about upcoming reads. Presently I’ve got a stack of 12 books in my ‘read next’ pile. I’m not going to list them (ruining the later surprises) but they do indicate some of the upcoming themes and ‘series’ of books I’m planning to read during the last quarter of 2018 and into 2019 and beyond.

I recently finished a history of Russia (yes, finally) and that will be followed by two more books based around the Revolution of 1917. There will be more on Russia to follow later. The Russian books will be followed by 3 on the RAF and 3 on European interactions with China (history again). I’m just about to finish a rather chunky book on the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and this will be followed by – presently – 9 more books on various elements of Economics which I’m finding both fascinating and all rather enlightening. Then we’re back into fiction again continuing my 10 20th century classics. I’m about half way through and will be following that with 10 Historical crime novels. Then we’re onto Politics (history/philosophy) and – presently – this theme has around 10 more (generally from the Left naturally) in another pile ready to go.

As my reading is slacking off these days (180 hours of No Man’s Sky definitely not helping here) part of my remedy is to read shorter books (less than 250 pages) more often. There are 2 in my pile of 12 and around 25+ in another associated pile ready to go. Subject wise they’re all over the place and the only common factor is brevity. Next up is my (kind of) focus category these days: R4 (Revolt, Rebellion, Resistance and Revolution). There’s 3 – I think – in the pile of 12 with another 15+ so far in the pile behind them. Again, with R4 being a very wide subject they’ll be covering a great deal of territory from politics, history, biography and much else. Another theme I’m following presently is mankind’s relationship with technology. There’s one in the read next pile with another half dozen or so in the wings covering on-line life, AI, cyber security and, of course, gaming.

Following up on my recent WW1 reading I have a ‘series’ of books relating to the end of the war and the consequences of the peace. It will cover one of the periods I’m most interested in – 1919-1939. Again, as you might imagine, the subject matter is huge so expect a scattergun approach to the Jazz Age. Finally, from the 12 books sitting on my couch, is another book on Human biology. There’s more coming after that plus anthropology, microbiology and, just because I can, a few books about birds.

Then we move ‘off-piste’ to future reading plans. I’ve already mentioned my plan to start reading about Winston Churchill’s rise to power starting over my long Christmas break (need to start taking more time off work before I either fall asleep at my desk or they send me home). I’ll be starting with an overview of Britain in the 1930’s before moving on to Chamberlain’s failed appeasement, Winston becoming PM, the fall of France, Dunkirk and so on. I presently have around 25 books in that theme group. Other longer term plans include World War to Cold War – the Post 1945 world, Historical Women (again around 25 books) trying to address the silly idea that there are no female role models out there. There are actually lots of them if you look hard enough. Then there’s Espionage (around 10-12 books) mostly focusing on the World Wars but also into the Cold War too. In somewhat smaller groups (although I’m working on that!) I’m trying to accumulate quality books looking at the present bizarre situation we find ourselves in. It’s the knowledgeable analysis I’m really desperate for rather than waking up each morning thinking WTF even before I drag myself out of bed.

No doubt I’ve forgotten quite a bit of what I intend to read in the near future. It’s one of the downsides of having a butterfly mind with too many interests. But at least my reading will never bore me and I hope it’ll interest you from time to time too. Let me know what you think on Thursdays.   

It's October - and that means Monster/Horror Month here @ SaLT. Be warned.....and get ready to shiver in your boots!!!

Cartoon Time.

Best friends forever; How friendship boosts pupils' grades

By Hannah Richardson for BBC News

27 September 2018

Best friends forever? Well, maybe not - but schoolchildren who keep the same best mate as they move to secondary have been found to get better results. A study of 593 found "substantial instability" in their friendships as they changed schools, with only 27% keeping the same best friend. But the ones who did achieved better results and had fewer behaviour issues. The researchers compared what they said about their friendships with how they performed in end of Year 7 assessments.

The University of Surrey study, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, said: "During the transition, children may be more likely to lose best friends prematurely due to imposed school change rather than conflict or low-quality relationships, which may be the prevailing reasons under normal circumstances. Some commentators have suggested that the secondary transition may be a good opportunity to break ties with low-quality friendships because of the negative effects these can have. But little research has looked at the impact of keeping high quality friends."

Lead author Terry Ng-Knight, said: "We found that children who kept the same best friend over the transition tend to do better. Children's best friends change for all sorts of reasons but the transition is likely a big factor disrupting friendships. If we can find ways to support friendships during this time, this may help us to improve attainment and behaviour."

Most of those who had kept their best friend had gone to the same secondary school as them, according to the study. Dr Knight added that secondary schools varied in the extent to which they actively supported pupil friendships. Some schools asked children and parents to nominate friends they would like to remain with - but many others did not take friendship groups into consideration.

[I ‘transitioned’ with a group of friends from Junior school to Senior school aged 11. Not too much of a shock really as, at that time, there was only two High schools to choose from. I remember on the first day meeting up with three of my friends at one of their houses before making our way to our new school together. An abiding memory was of measuring how ‘flaired’ our trousers were – it was late 1971 – and laughing as we handed round a plastic 6” ruler. I imagine it would have been really stressful going to a school of over 500 pupils on my own. Fortunately I didn’t have to.] 

"Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain."

Napoleon Bonaparte.