The largest country in the world, spanning territory from the eastern edge of Europe to Siberia in northern Asia.
24
votes
2answers
1k views
Why did Britain not purchase Alaska when Russia had it up for sale?
One thing that comes up often when discussing "what-ifs" with family or friends is why the British government never nabbed Alaska when Russia had placed it up for sale and made it into Canada's fourth ...
16
votes
6answers
1k views
How Did Moscow Become the Capital/Most Important City in Russia?
Early in the past millennium, Kiev was probably the largest, most modern city in the former Soviet Union, at least until the Mongols came. One might have expected it to be the capital of the Soviet ...
15
votes
3answers
467 views
Where does the name of the country “Belarus” come from?
I've read the German and English Wikipedia on this topic as well as the translated Belarussian version and some sites I googled.
They all seem to argue that the 'Rus' part stems from the Region called ...
13
votes
4answers
658 views
Why doesn't Russia maintain significant numbers of Aircraft carriers?
The United States has 11 aircraft carriers in total. Russia has only one. We saw in the past that the USSR also didn't put much importance on constructing aircraft carriers and putting them into ...
12
votes
3answers
206 views
Were British fears of Russia using Afghanistan as a staging post for an invasion of India unfounded?
I know that "The Great Game" was originally concerned with Russian-British competition in Central Asia, but my question is was this competition and British fear founded on anything? My understanding ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
What does Russia want with Chechnya
I have heard that Russia has been fighting with the Chechens on and off for about 300 years, occasionally losing control and reconquering. What exactly does Russia have to gain by retaining control of ...
11
votes
3answers
286 views
What role did the space race play in reducing the nuclear threat during the 1960s?
Today I visited again the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, a space flight history museum, and noticed for the first time the claim that part of John F. Kennedy's motivation for pushing for a ...
11
votes
1answer
150 views
Who were the target audiences of this propaganda lithograph?
What was the main purpose of the image below, who was the audience (except Japanese people themselves)?
It is a Japanese lithograph depicting the capture of Blagoveshchensk, Siberia, by the Imperial ...
10
votes
1answer
612 views
What was Lenin's major criticism of or differences with Marx?
I'm interested in what specific differences in Lenin's writing might address what he perceived to be the shortcomings of Marx's work. Wikipedia is weak on this topic.
10
votes
3answers
166 views
What was the basis for valuating large territorial purchases by USA?
There were at least 2 times when USA extended its territory by purchasing it outright - Louisiana+ from French and Alaska from Russians.
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United ...
9
votes
1answer
297 views
Is the “Katyusha” scene from Deer Hunter historically accurate?
In the movie Deer Hunter movie we can see Russian Americans sing the song "Katyusha" during the wedding. One can clearly see, that this song fits well into the movie themes (the groom on this wedding ...
9
votes
1answer
192 views
Could the Russians Have Done Better at the Battle of Tsushima Straits Than They Actually Did?
In 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, a Russian fleet sailing all the way from the Baltic was annihilated by the Japanese fleet in the Tsushima Straits. The Russian fleet was larger, with thirteen ...
8
votes
7answers
576 views
Why didn't Russia help Saddam Hussein as it is helping Syria now?
Wasn't Saddam an ally of Russia?
If Russia wasn't his ally, who was his ally?
Syria is looking like a strong ally of Russia as it was the case of Serbia. Russians played direct roles to save these ...
8
votes
2answers
184 views
Did The Soviet Union Need Both Prongs to Succeed At the Battle of Stalingrad?
In November, 1942, three months after the battle of Stalingrad began, the Soviet Union, launched Operation Uranus, a counterencirclement of the German forces in and around the city, in two prongs.
...
8
votes
2answers
149 views
How and why did Charles XII Get to Poltava?
The decisive battle of the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia was the battle of Poltava. That's located deep in the Ukraine, southeast of Kiev, between Cherkassy and Kharkov.
That seems ...
8
votes
2answers
178 views
Ethnic Germans in Russian service in Poland
General Brusilov wrote in his memoirs that a few years before the war he was serving in a high military position in Russian-controlled Poland and that he was appalled by the fact that all Russian high ...
7
votes
1answer
181 views
Why Antarctica was never conquered before the advent of the modern men?
Citing wikipedia: "...the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on ...
7
votes
6answers
260 views
Has a book ever caused the ousting of a dictator?
The new book, The Man Without a Face, by Masha Gessen is at least partially intended to humanize Russian leader Vladimir Putin in hopes that it will eliminate the power he appreciates by maintaining a ...
7
votes
2answers
226 views
What sources or documentation exists to indicate Stalin's level of popularity in Russia today?
migrated from comments http://history.stackexchange.com/a/1710/682
To what extent is Stalin still loved and/or respected by Russians (and for extra points former USSR states)
while articles like ...
7
votes
4answers
189 views
Who are the modern descendants of the Khazar people?
The Khazars where a people who built an empire centred North of the Caucasus Range, between the 7th and 11th centuries. They are not at all mainstream (at least in Europe), even though, defeating the ...
6
votes
2answers
186 views
Can you identify these images from Revolution-era Russia?
I saw an unrelated image include portions of these images:
I know they are from the 1918-1932 era of the USSR, judging from the art style, but I can not find titles or translations for them. I ...
6
votes
3answers
431 views
How many Russian people did Tsar Ivan IV (“the Terrible”) kill?
Ivan's rule was full of contradiction, success and failure.
Was his rule bloody? How many Russian people were killed by him?
6
votes
2answers
275 views
Did Japan ever pay Russia a reasonable amount of war reparation after WW2? Why or why not?
Russia had the largest number of casualties during WW2, and Russia had taken many Japanese prisoners. So, why didn't Russia receive a reparation from Japan to help boost Russia's economy after the ...
6
votes
2answers
124 views
Isn't there any positive legacy of the Mongolian occupation in Russia?
In the BBC radio 4 series The Wild East, the history of Russia after the Mongolian occupation is described as if all the bad things happend subsequently had been caused by the legacy of that era. ...
5
votes
4answers
225 views
Does US law permit spending taxpayers' money to support foreign political parties?
Here is a video, showing a number of Russian opposition activists visiting U.S. embassy before Russian presidential elections:
...
5
votes
2answers
367 views
Why did Russia give up its claims to the Oregon Country?
Originally, everyone in the area claimed the Oregon Country: the British, Americans, Spanish, and Russians. Why did Russia give up its claim to the region? What did they get in return?
5
votes
3answers
187 views
How compare the rights and conditions of the American slaves to those of Russian serfs?
How compare the rights and conditions of the 19-th century American slaves to those of the 19-th century Russian serfs?
5
votes
2answers
95 views
What Was the Political Condition of the Region that Encompasses the Modern Russian State in the time of the Roman empire?
What was the political system of the peoples living in what is presently the Russian state during the time of the Roman empire? Also, was there any communication between these peoples and the Roman ...
5
votes
1answer
78 views
Why was Patriarch Nikon removed from power?
Why did he lose the grace of Tzar Alexey?
Which enemies conspired against him and how?
5
votes
1answer
161 views
Were there opium dens in Russia during the 19th century?
The title says it all. I've tried searching information on opium use in Europe, but I can't find any source that says whether or not opium dens were ever prominent in Russia specifically.
4
votes
2answers
116 views
Battle of Vienna & Morean War : what was Russia's position?
Russia doesn't appear in wikipedia's accounts of the Morean War or of the preceding Battle of Vienna. I find that mildly suprising.
Perhaps the reason is that before Peter Russia was less active with ...
4
votes
3answers
254 views
Are there ways to measure “how much power did ”Russia“ lose when the Soviet Union broke up?”
Russia today is the largest country in the world (by a fairly wide margin). That is true after the other 15 or so "Socialist Republics" left and went their separate ways in 1991, leaving Russia with a ...
4
votes
1answer
48 views
Was Pawiak prison in Warsaw originally for political or general prisoners?
I was reading about Pawiak prison in Warsaw and the general consensus appears to be that it was built between 1829 and 1835 during a time of Russian occupation. It seems clear that after the January ...
4
votes
1answer
66 views
Why did the Russians lose to the Turks in 1711 after defeating them in 1700 and the Swedes in 1709?
The Russians captured Azov and Taganrog in a war with Turkey that ended in 1700. Then they decimated the Swedish army at Poltava in 1709, thereby crippling their main enemy, and freeing the bulk of ...
3
votes
2answers
153 views
What were the causes of the “Dardenelles” fiasco in World War I
During World War II, the Allies sent supplies to the Soviet Union via Murmansk/Archangelsk in the north, via Persia and the Caspian Sea in the south, and via the Tran-Siberian railroad.
Why didn't ...
3
votes
1answer
202 views
Was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan one of the major reasons that led to the fall of Soviet Union?
Was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan one of the major reasons that led to the fall of Soviet Union?
That is what the world history teacher told me.
Please show your sources.
3
votes
7answers
669 views
What is a difference between the revolution in Egypt that sprung recently and the Russian Revolution of 1917
What is a difference between the revolution in Egypt that sprung recently and the Russian Revolution of 1917
i need to find a difference between the revolution that happened recently in Egypt, ...
3
votes
1answer
217 views
What is the purpose of the bridge to the Russkiy island? [closed]
Russky bridge is a bridge to a sparsely populated Russky island in the Far East whose construction started in 2008 and completed in 2012. It is the world's largest cable-stayed bridge, the 1104 m long ...
3
votes
1answer
49 views
Are there non-russian sources related to how Rurikid Dynasty became rulers of Russia?
Most of the information - at least as taught in Russia - related to how Rurik Dynasty became rulers of Rus is based on "Повѣсть времяньныхъ лѣтъ" ("Tale of Bygone Years", aka "Primary Chronicle").
Is ...
2
votes
2answers
199 views
Throughout history, how many wars have there been between Russia and Japan?
Do both countries have a particluar hot spot that existed in the past, and if so, does it still exist now? Have their wars historically been bloody or transient, and are they now considered "friends"?
...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Did the Austrians win a “great victory” at Belgrade in 1738?
While researching the history of the Taaffe family (see also this question) I realized that a lot of the information about it in the wikipedia comes from a 1833 English noble almanach. Among other ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
Were Russian recruits ever chained?
This paper contains the following remark:
Recruits were then marched off, without proper care, to a destination
that might be hundreds of miles away; initially they were branded and
even ...
1
vote
2answers
164 views
What was Lenin's “New Economic Policy” and what complications did it have?
I have recently read an article on Lenin's New Economic Policy, and I was wondering if there were two sides to the story. What were some of the complications of this policy? In addition to this, was ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
What was the basis for the Nazis to support various ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union and elsewhere over the majority populations? [closed]
What was the reason for the Nazis to support certain ethnic minorities over the majority populations in the conquered territories?
For example, they supported Crimean Tatars against the majority of ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views
What is the English name for the “Исламский джихад - Джамаат моджахедов” organization?
Russia's list of designated terrorist organizations contains a list of names that are easily identifiable, except this one that I can't identify:
Исламский джихад - Джамаат моджахедов
I could ...
1
vote
2answers
72 views
What was the official position of China during the Sino-Soviet border clashes in the 1960s?
As I know, there was no mobilization, nor public alarm in the USSR. Also Sino-Soviet friendship treaty continued to function as well as all trade agreements throughout the whole period of clashes.
...
0
votes
4answers
163 views
How far should I go back in Russian History in order to understand Communist Russia? [closed]
I'm writing a story and need information on the Russian communist rule because I'm writing a book about a government much like that of communist Russia, specifically focused on a police state ...
0
votes
1answer
183 views
Was swastika really a popular symbol among Slavs and/or ancient Indo-Europeans?
It seems to me that many Russian nationalists and neo-paganists currently believe that swastika was a Solar symbol or a symbol of fortune in ancient Slavic folklore.
There are multiple paintings by ...
0
votes
0answers
76 views
Book on Russian History [closed]
My very Russian boss who is a history buff, insists that there is no such thing as a 'good' book on Russian history on the grounds that 'Russian history has yet to be decided'. I was re-reading ...
-1
votes
2answers
86 views
Is speaking Russian a privileged lingual habit in Ukraine nowadays? [closed]
Wiki says:
In independent Ukraine, although Russian is not an official language of the country, it continues to hold a privileged position and is widely spoken, in particular in regions of Ukraine ...
