r/SovietUnion

They went to space… and came back alive.

On This Day, August 19, 1960, two Soviet dogs, Belka and Strelka, were launched aboard Sputnik 5.

They weren't alone.

The spacecraft also carried mice, rats, a rabbit, fruit flies, and plants.

They spent about 24 hours in orbit, completing 17 orbits around Earth, before safely returning the following day.

They became the first living organisms to be safely recovered after an orbital spaceflight. Their mission helped pave the way for human spaceflight, and just months later, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth.

And here's an incredible footnote: Strelka later had six puppies, and one of them was given to President John F. Kennedy's family. 🐶❤️

Two dogs.

One historic mission.

A giant step toward human spaceflight.

Historian Sheila Fitzpatrick reflects on one of the deepest, yet often unspoken, legacies of World War II in the Soviet Union. In this powerful clip, she explains how the absence—or ghostly presence—of fathers shaped a generation of postwar Soviet citizens.

The Soviet Union is not a reality at present. Yet it survives in the collective memory of millions of people inside and outside the country and continues to stir passions around the world. Where this memory rings the most is the Russian Federation, the former RSFSR, in which the Soviet Union quietly dissolved with all its institutions and all the glories that this internationalist state once symbolized. The Russian Federation became the legal inheritor of the Soviet Union minus its ideology. As discussed in the previous chapters, the USSR was created not only as a nation state but also as the centre of global proletarian revolution, which gave it immense global outreach. While as a state USSR’s stakeholders were its citizens, world working classes were stakeholders in its global outreach. For the latter group of stakeholders, the Soviet Union’s disintegration came as a net disaster. A large number of poor and exploited people in the developing world tied their hopes of emancipation with the existence of the Soviet state. Many of them passionately believed the dream for a classless, exploitation-free society would come true one day with the support of the Soviet Union.  

People who were born and grew up during the period USSR was in existence associate their memories with the role the country played on the global stage, with how it influenced and shaped international relations during the cold war era, and opened new horizons in science and technology, for example, space exploration.  People in many developing countries remember the Soviet Union through the prism of assistance it provided to their countries ranging from supporting their national liberation movements to providing wide-ranging economic assistance that helped build national capacities in crucial sectors of the economy. A large number of foreign citizens from developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America studied in the USSR as part of its solidarity with these countries in their socio-economic development through providing their citizens educational and training opportunities in its higher educational institutions. The Soviet Government established in 1960 a new university, famously known as the “Patrice Lumumba People’s Friendship University”, purpose-built to train students from developing countries. 

This group of foreign citizens had a unique opportunity to directly experience Soviet society by being a part of that society despite being foreigners. It was largely a result of acceptance by common Soviet people, the mainstream of the society. Immersion of foreign students in the Soviet society was facilitated by respective higher educational institutions by assigning dedicated groups of Soviet students to groups of foreign students who frequently organized various events to expose foreign students to different aspects of public life in the host country. These included trips to collective farms and state farms in rural areas, industrial units, schools, libraries, movie and drama theatres, summer resorts; celebration of national holidays; participation in subbotniks (voluntary labour) and many other events that provided opportunities for foreign students to closely interact with common Soviet people. Each of these encounters had its own charm. They were also wonderful opportunities for learning beyond classroom lessons. All of these left a deep imprint of that country and its people in the memory of the graduates (Vipuskniki) of Soviet higher educational institutions. Upon return home, no matter which country they were from, these graduates established alumni societies in their respective countries and continued maintaining close relationships  with Soviet alumni societies of other countries by organizing conferences, meetings, and other events. What continues uniting them even after the passage of five decades is the memory of unique experiences of living and studying in the Soviet country and many moments of feeling the warmth of friendship and solidarity transmitted during mingling with common Soviet people in numerous events. 

The Soviet Union’s disintegration sent a massive shock to the economies of many developing countries. The poor developing world lost a reliable friend in dealing with any unexpected emergencies. The principle of proletarian internationalism showed its best in USSR’s existence beyond its border, in its global outreach. Officially, the principle of proletarian internationalism in its global application was known as “fulfillment of international duty”. The overwhelming majority of citizens in developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America have mostly positive views of the USSR and many cherish fond memories of the country. That positive view of their citizens also influences current policy making of their governments with regard to the Russian Federation, the inheritor of the USSR, in international relations. It was the key reason that the United States had limited success in building a global anti-Russia coalition in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine launched on 24 February 2022. Majority developing countries refused to enlist in the group of countries that the US cobbled together to impose punitive sanctions on Russia. 

But as we have discussed at the beginning, the USSR didn’t resonate with their citizens in the same way as it did with people from other countries. It was on display when more people took the side of counter-revolution led by Boris Yeltsin than those who supported the last-ditch attempt taken by a group of patriotic leaders during 18-21 August 1991 to protect the Soviet Union from disintegrating. In Russia, many people at that time became confused and were largely indifferent to rapidly unfolding political developments that were leading the country to an uncertain direction. Yet, they believed, based on past experiences, that the collective leadership of the CPSU would somehow bring the political turmoil under control and succeed in keeping the country together. But when eventually the Soviet Union fell apart, the response was mixed. While there was an undercurrent of sadness at the loss of a single great country which was also a superpower, many accepted it as a fait accompli and had no alternative but to sail with the wind. 

The reality that unfolded in the immediate aftermath was brutal. It was like a dream cherished and nurtured over the past seventy years shattered overnight. As we have discussed in the beginning, many of the third-generation Soviet citizens emotionally couldn't relate with their country the way their grandparents and parents did. Their understanding  of the virtue of living in a socialist society wasn’t entirely unquestionable.  It was balanced by growing difficulty the state experienced  in fulfilling their aspirations. Those aspirations long passed the threshold of the generation of their grandparents who were just happy with their status of proletariat transformed into collective owners that allowed them break free from abject poverty with their basic requirements fulfilled. As a result, socialism as a concept lost its original shine to the new generation of Soviet citizens. Many were open to changes, but few were prepared to see those kinds of changes that washed away their country. The new reality that dawned sharply contradicted all values and societal relations the Soviet Union stood for. The state which was omnipresent in citizens’ everyday life suddenly disappeared. People were forced to fend for themselves for which few were prepared. There was an enormous psychological toll on the society when the scale of betrayal by the leadership of the CPSU became apparent. Many leaders shed the ideals of socialism; chose to leave the CPSU in droves; changed colours and emerged as the new leaders of a changed country. 

Without any explanation for why it was so, people were told that the market economy was better than the planned economy. Liberal democracy was better than socialism and individualism was better than collectivism. All values, ideals that common Soviet people were born into and brought up were invalidated. In the vacuum that was created, lawlessness, crime and  criminal enterprises mushroomed. The country was set on course to degradation and moral bankruptcy.  Rural life centered on collective farms and state farms broke down when state support for these farms was withdrawn and the agriculture sector de-collectivized. The next big step toward dismantling socialism and demoralizing the Russian working class was privatization of the vast publicly-owned assets of the country – industrial enterprises and its natural resources, land, mines, etc. The scale of privatization and the way it was done was more about grabbing the country’s resources by a few who later emerged as a new class of super rich, known as oligarchs. 

When all production assets and capacities created through decades of socialist industrialization at enormous cost and collective sacrifices made by generations of the Soviet working class were sold or otherwise incapacitated, the country was effectively deindustrialized. It also had a tremendous impact on society.  It destroyed the bond that held its citizens together in a relationship of mutual support and interdependence symbolized by collectivism (one for all and all for one) that gave them confidence in the future. In all cities and towns, there were mills, factories and other publicly-run enterprises and facilities with a decent workplace for everyone. Every day, people used to wake up in the morning knowing that they had a place to go for work without having to bother about the whim of the employer and the prospect of being laid off. They used to ride public transit at a nominal cost where they could easily mingle with each other, spending time talking with each other and exchanging laughter and jokes. In a broad sense, Soviet society was equal, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t income gaps between different groups in the population. But those income gaps were small and far from creating social stratification into rich and poor. No one had a feeling of inferiority while mingling with each other. All public places used to bustle with life. Everyone had a sense of belonging to a greater entity for a great purpose which was the collective. It gave citizens a sense of security, confidence, and pride in their country. 

A key goal of privatization was to destroy the social bond, which was collectivism that drew millions of individuals in a relationship akin to a large family. It was the strength that was behind the miracle in socio-economic development that the Soviet Union accomplished in its brief lifetime. The ideologues of privatization had their target of eliminating societal ownership of all means of production. The ultimate goal was to rupture production relations which was characteristic of the socialized production system. They believed it would nullify the prospect of reverting back to socialism. Privatization, carried out like an economic blitzkrieg, drastically changed the society that took shape over the seven decades of socialist construction. Millions of ordinary working people were thrown out of their jobs. They struggled to find alternative livelihoods. Faced with the brutal reality of survival, many became self-centered, cynical and prone to drug and alcohol addiction. 

By the end of 1992, the country’s population was sharply divided into rich and poor. Almost half of Russia’s population was living below the poverty line. For post-Soviet Russia, the entire decade of the 1990s was a period of economic decline, sharp polarization of the society into rich and poor, and outbreak of violent inter-ethnic conflicts. Many citizens of the Russian Federation today look back at this period as a horror and nightmare. The political part of post-Soviet Russia’s enthusiastic embrace of the West, as has been discussed in introduction, also failed to materialize. All attempts by Russia to be a part of the West by finding a place in its security and economic alliances as an equal partner were rebuffed. Instead, the country was shown its place as a vanquished in the Cold War.  Earlier verbal promises that the Western leaders made to the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to not expand the NATO alliance that could pose a threat to Russia’s security were also broken. It was a tough lesson for the people of post-Soviet Russia. Many of them supported Boris Yeltsin to break free from communism and embrace liberal democracy and market economy in the hope of a better tomorrow from their perspective. But their illusions quickly evaporated against the reality of post-Soviet Russia’s slide into anarchy, degradation and economic decline. It ended in the melting down of its financial system at the end of 1990s. President Boris Yeltsin, whose popularity by that time hit the bottom, having realized that his time was over handed over power to his hand-picked successor, Vladimir V. Putin.  

The change of leadership at the beginning of the 2000s marked a turning point in the evolution of post-Soviet Russia. As we have indicated at the beginning, the second period was also about Russia’s coming back, rebuilding the society and reclaiming its status on the world stage. This part of the second period began with assumption of power by President Vladimir Putin. Contrary to the 1990s, this sub-period brought back hope, ignited optimism and charted a new path for independent  development. It sharply deviated from the course pursued by Yeltsin that effectively turned Russia into a vassal of the West. Yeltsin handed over to Putin a country lying in ruins, morally devastated, and Putin had to essentially start from zero. All he could marshal at the beginning of his rule were the nuclear arsenal inherited from the Soviet Union, the country’s status of permanent member at the UNSC with a veto power, and its abundant natural resources including oil and gas. Capitalizing on these three pillars of strength, the new leadership during its 23-year rule transformed Russia again into a world power, an independent power centre with the autonomy of strategic decision making and a credible counterweight to US dominance. The economy was revitalized. Yeltsin-era oligarchs wielding enormous control were suppressed and the state came back. It led to an expanding role of the state in a shift from market economy to state capitalism. 

But how relevant the Soviet Union is to the Russian Federation during the second period? How does an average citizen look back at the USSR?  In the immediate aftermath of the country’s disintegration, many people supported Boris Yeltsin, the leader of the counter-revolution. The  attitude to the USSR was mostly hostile. Rolling back its values, symbols, icons, wholesale denial of Soviet heritage; and an awkward aspiration to connect with the Russian empire negating the Soviet period became the cornerstone of the beginning of Yeltsin’s rule in post-Soviet Russia. The statues of the founding leaders of the Soviet state - Lenin, Stalin, Dzerzhinski and many others  - were dismantled in many places of the country. The citadel of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which bore the name of Lenin, the architect of the revolution, was renamed as “Saint Petersburg” (the city of Peter in German language). The zeal to reconnect with the glory of historical Russia symbolized by emperor Peter the Great was so primitive that the city’s Russian name immediately before the revolution “Petrograd (the city of Peter in Russian)” was ignored in renaming the city of Lenin (Leningrad). The names of dozens of Soviet cities, townships as well as thousands of streets were changed. Even the great Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky, wasn’t spared from this spree. Moscow’s central street bearing his name, Gorky Street, was also renamed. But time puts everything in its place. Thirty years later, many wonder whether committing those excesses were appropriate in the light of the lessons learned, particularly when gains were compared with losses. Nostalgia about the Soviet period grips a significant part of Russia’s population today. Many feel disappointed and pain at the loss of a great country, which was their Motherland. This feeling is unlikely to ever leave them. 

At the official level, too, there has been reassessment of the USSR. President Putin called the disintegration of the USSR a great tragedy for Russia. The President, in fact, echoed a sentiment shared by millions of citizens of his country. Soviet-era symbolic, rituals, and practices have also started creeping back into the mainstream of the society. As has been stated in the foregoing, the Soviet Union’s national anthem reworded by poet Nikita Mikhalkov is now the national anthem of the Russian Federation. The Soviet Union’s national flag is widely displayed alongside Russia’s tricolour. In many parts of the country authorities aren’t averse to local citizens’ initiatives to restore the glory of the past by erecting monuments to Lenin and Stalin. Since 2005 about one hundred monuments to Yosif Stalin have been erected in Russia. The Soviet Union’s emblem is still in place in many government buildings. The Soviet-era practice of fostering patriotism through “military-patriotic upbringing (военно-политическое воспитание)” has also come back. The State Duma took a decision in June 2022 to start an All-Russia movement of children and youth patterned on the Soviet era Pioneer organization. Most recently, the Soviet-era system of higher education which was discarded in favour of the Western system in a wild race to embrace the West has been restored. In short, wholesale rejection of the Soviet past has ended.   Many even dream of the seemingly impossible – getting back the Soviet Union.