Soviet Intervention Research Articles

‘Formalistic Freaks in Music’: ‘Ilya Golovin’, Shostakovich, and Zhdanovshchina for the Masses

ABSTRACT Amidst all the art, literature, music, and theatre of the ‘Zhdanovshchina’ (the post-war Soviet intervention in arts policy), one play stands out: Sergei Mikhalkov’s Ilya Golovin. In this play, a leading Soviet composer is chastised for his formalism but sees the error of his ways and again writes music of sufficiently socialist character. Ilya Golovin is noteworthy not just because it presents a crude parody of Shostakovich and his music, but because it reveals the wider context of the ideological campaign against artists and shows us something of how different artists responded. In this article, I argue that Ilya Golovin is not simply a bizarre example of multiple artists toeing the ideological line: instead it reveals the uglier side of late Stalinism in the form of vehement anti-Semitism, as well as demonstrating the xenophobic Cold War patriotism that served as the ultimate motivation behind the Zhdanovshchina itself.

Shocking resilience? Effects of extreme events on constitutional compliance

Abstract It is often argued that governments take advantage of extreme events to expand their power to the detriment of the political opposition and citizens at large. Violations of constitutional constraints are a clear indication of such opportunistic behaviour. We study whether natural disasters, conflicts and other extreme events systematically diminish governments' compliance with constitutional constraints. Our results indicate that governments are most likely to overstep their competences or disregard their responsibilities during civil conflicts, at the onset of international sanctions or following successful coups d’état. Interestingly, Cold War interventions by the United States that installed or supported a political leader led to a decrease in constitutional compliance in the target country, whereas Soviet interventions had no such effect. In contrast, banking crises and natural disasters, which threaten societies at large, but not necessarily the political elite, do not cause a significant decline in constitutional compliance.

Four Decades of India’s Afghan Policy: Still Looking for a Direction

Since the last four decades, India’s Afghan policy continues to be in a state of flux. New Delhi has attempted to provide some sort of consistency and continuity to its Afghan policy in the last forty years by collaborating twice with both the Super powers, but unfortunately both the times it could not yield the desired outcomes except leaving it in lurch. In 1980s, India has to compromise with her policy of Non-alignment and support Soviet intervention to remain an active player in Afghanistan. But this Indian policy could not be sustained for long because of Soviet Union’s withdrawal in 1989 and the subsequent assassination of President Najibullah and the ensuing chaos as Afghanistan fell into the hands of the hard-line Islamist forces. On Taliban’s assumption of power in 1996, New Delhi lost whatever little footprint it had in Afghanistan. India could not gain much by supporting the Ahmed Shah Masood led Northern Alliance which was fighting against the Taliban. In 2001, once again the Indian government got the opportunity to restore its age old civilizational ties with Afghanistan when the US and its allies militarily intervened to oust the Taliban from power. India seized the opportunity and actively supported post-2001 Bonn agreement and subsequent efforts made by the US and the international community to restore peace and stability in Afghanistan. During the period, New Delhi followed a ‘Soft power’ approach and desisted from any kind of political or military involvement in the peace process. She invested more than 3 billion dollars in developing the vital infrastructure and other developmental projects. But the sudden US withdrawal from Afghanistan following the Doha deal and the subsequent recapture of political power by the Taliban forcing the Ghani administration to flee the country once again left India’s Afghan policy in quandary.

Presenting Norwegian Literature in Czechoslovakia: Norwegian Literature in Czech Translations 1945–1968

Translations contribute to spreading but also shaping of cultural memory. While the choice of titles which get to be translated is contingent on many factors which the publishers take into consideration, decision-making in totalitarian countries is fettered. In communist Czechoslovakia, the final selection of books, and therefore memories, had to meet yet another criterion which deformed the natural literary development – censorship. The article focuses on Norwegian literature which was introduced into Czech between 1945 and 1968. Norwegian literature had already had a strong position on the Czechoslovak literary market since the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century thanks to several publishing houses, translators, and the introduction of the Nobel Prize in literature. This tradition was first interrupted by the WWII and shortly after again by the communist coup in 1948. Although the restrictions began loosening later, the Soviet intervention in 1968 installed the restrictions again.The object is to present and examine the image of Norwegian literature in Czech literary memory as it was shaped by the cultural policies of totalitarian Czechoslovakia; and to show and explain which type of literature could enter Czech bookshops and libraries. The focus often shifted to a specific literary genre, republishing the earlier works of the Norwegian canon, or works by authors whose work was translated into Czech although they were marginalized in Norway and did not make it into the Norwegian national canon. An important part of such a perception is not only remembering but also forgetting. The article therefore also maps the active suppressing of memories by black-listing particular authors or works.Lastly, the article is also concerned with peritexts of translation, namely introductions and afterwords, as these often contributed to mediation of the transfer.

Türkiye’nin Dış Politika Davranışının Neoklasik Realist Bir Açıklaması: Bülent Ecevit’in 1978-1979 ve 1999-2002 Hükümetlerinin Karşılaştırılması

This study examines and compares the foreign policy behavior of Türkiye under the premiership of Bülent Ecevit between 1978-1979 and 1999-2002 via utilization of neo-classical realist theory. The article argues that the permissive strategic environment in both periods, détente in the former and unipolar international system in the latter paved the way for Türkiye’s multi-dimensional foreign policy which put special emphasis on neighboring regions. The worldviews of Ecevit and his foreign ministers Gündüz Ökçün and İsmail Cem as well as the emergence of grave economic problems in the country also contributed to the consolidation of region-centric foreign policy streak in both periods. Yet, while the arrival of the Second Cold War in December 1979 following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan interrupted Türkiye’s multi-dimensional foreign policy stance for a while, the increasing trend towards multi-polarity starting from mid-2000s facilitated Türkiye’s pursuit of more autonomous foreign policy line.

Intervention, ideology, strategic imperatives: An examination of fluctuating relations between Russia/USSR and sub-Saharan Africa

Throughout the duration of the Cold War and its aftermath, sub-Saharan Africa has been a hotbed of geopolitical contestation. This article examines the role of the Soviet Union and its successor state, the Russian Federation, as a major regional actor. Beginning with Soviet intervention in the Congo in the 1950s, the article posits that sub-Saharan Africa was an initially marginal region for Soviet strategists which became increasingly significant as the Cold War progressed. Soviet strategy was driven by both raw questions of geopolitical clout and a broader attempt to export its ideology to the Third World. The article elucidates the consequences of intervention from both Soviet and local perspectives, emphasising the agency of African states who were able to leverage superpower competition in pursuit of their own interests. However, the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a complete retreat from Africa as strategic priorities in Moscow changed rapidly. Recent Russian re-engagement with the region has continuities with Soviet strategy, but there are marked shifts in its underlying rationale. Under Putin, there has been a concerted attempt to form salutary economic and security relationships with regional autocracies, predicated on transactional realpolitik.

Putting Russia's Ban in Historical Perspective: A Curated Interview

Putting Russia's Ban in Historical Perspective: A Curated Interview

ENDING THE NAGY AFFAIR: YUGOSLAVIA, SOVIET UNION AND THE TERMINATION OF HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION REVISITED

This paper analyzes the diplomatic relations between Hungary, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union during the Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956, with a primary focus on the case of Imre Nagy’s capture. The crisis that arose during Nagy’s hiding in the Yugoslav embassy reveals the background of these countries’ relations, in which Yugoslavs showed ambiguousness to maintain the achieved status of a free socialist country on the one hand, and on the other, to keep good relations with the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the author attempts to provide answers on Yugoslav role in Nagy’s arrest after he left his hideout within the Yugoslav embassy. The author argues that Yugoslavs were not aware of any Soviet plans to capture Nagy after he left the embassy, even though there are other claims present in this paper that suggests the opposite.

The Eternal Legacy of the Great Patriotic War? The Political Instrumentalization of the Soviet Victory over Fascism and Its Utilization in Czechoslovakia after 1968 and in the Czech Republic Today

Theoretically grounded in memory studies, this article reconstructs how the official Soviet-Russian myth of the Great Patriotic War has been politically instrumentalized and abused to promote and legitimize the Kremlin’s power intentions. It examines the forms, mechanisms and actors of this systematically applied politics of history and memory. First in the context of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in August 1968 and the justification of the subsequent Soviet Army’s stay in the country, then in the context of the propaganda activities of pro-Russian activists in the Czech Republic and the current Russian aggression against Ukraine. By the myth of the Great Patriotic War, the author understands the purposefully created, maintained and idealized image of the victorious campaign of the Red Army between 1941 and 1945, the selfless and unprecedented Soviet heroism that saved European nations from German fascism. This sacralized narrative, which suppresses other historical narratives, is monopolized in contemporary Russian state policy as an important tool to shape the historical memory of Russian society and to unite it against new and presumably hostile threats. The author demonstrates the strategy in which during the normalization of the 1970s and 1980s the soldiers of the Soviet Army, who allegedly provided “fraternal assistance” in the suppression of the counter-revolution in Czechoslovakia in August 1968, were presented as the successors and “sons” of the heroic liberators of 1945 and shows how they themselves used and participated in this cult in their “comradeship” with Czech society. After the collapse of the communist regime, this official narrative lost its weight, but the “Russian world” (russkii mir) as a conglomerate of ideas linking segments of Russian culture, Orthodoxy, nationalism and shared historical memory has penetrated the Czech Republic, serving as a “marketing brand” to spread Russia’s geopolitical influence during Putin’s rule. Through the Russian-language press, web platforms and social media, the author maps the actors and forms of the “Russian world” in the Czech Republic, whose background consists of part of the local Russian minority and local pro-Russian associations or initiatives. She pays particular attention to the nationalist motorcycle club Night Wolves (Nochnye volki) and the originally civic, but gradually becoming a state movement Immortal Regiment (Bessmertnyi polk), which revive and promote the myth of the Great Patriotic War in line with the Kremlin’s intentions and which establish their branches beyond the borders of Russia, including the Czech Republic.

State-Building in “the Graveyard of Empires”

Both the Soviet and United States military interventions failed in their respective efforts to establish stable regimes in Afghanistan, whose reputation for resistance to foreign occupation and state-building operations has earned it a near-mythical moniker: “the graveyard of empires”. This study examines the history of regime development in Afghanistan with a focus on the perennial challenge of finding a balance between the degree of centralized power necessary to maintain security and perform state functions, on the one hand, and the threshold of tolerance for centralized power among the country’s tribal population, on the other. The analysis shows how the highly centralized communist regime established through the Soviet intervention as well as the excessively decentralized democratic regime established through the United States intervention represent just two chapters in Afghanistan’s historical struggle to establish legitimate and enduring sources of centralized state power.

Soviet Aggression in Afghanistan (1979–1989) and American – Pakistan Relanions

The impact of the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan in 1979–1989 on US–Pakistan relations on the basis of predominantly American-Pakistani documents and memoirs has been examined in the article. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan led to the deterioration of Soviet-American relations, the curtailment of “détente” and the escalation of the Cold War. One manifestation of this was the United States’ full support for the Afghan opposition. The USA needed Pakistan as allies in this policy but it was sandwiched between Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and unfriendly India, so it needed reliable allies. In addition, the Afghan opposition parties’ headquarters, Mujahedeen training camps were located in Pakistan with almost 3 million settled refugees. The USA and Pakistan were mutually interested in close cooperation.
 The conditionality of changing the format of US-Pakistani relations by the civil war in Afghanistan and the involvement of the USSR on the side of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan have been proved. The relations between the USA and Pakistan in the 1980s developed in two directions: official and covert but under the Afghan crisis influence the United States gave in to its principles. Despite the dictatorial regime, violation of the conditions of nuclear non-proliferation the USA has significantly expanded its military-technical and economic assistance to Pakistan. This significantly strengthened the country's defense capabilities and position of M. Ziyaul-Haq’s regime and Pakistan has become in general one of the main allies of the USA in their support of the Afghan crisis opposition. The secret cooperation between the CIA and the Pakistani Interagency Intelligence in financing and supplying military property to the Afghan Mujahedeen, providing them with intelligence, assisting in the production and dissemination of propaganda materials was important. This had a marked effect on the Afghan war outbreak, greatly strengthened the Mujahedeen’s ability to resist Soviet troops, and significantly increased the disastrous consequences of the Afghan adventure for the USSR. After the Soviet troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan lost strategic importance to the USA, and most programs of US-Pakistani cooperation were curtailed.

Determinants Of Pakistan’s Policy towards Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan

Pakistan’s Afghan policy after Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 was not a simple reaction to that event. Soviet action had far reaching repercussions for Pakistan as well as for the region as a whole. Nor Pakistan’s reply to Soviet occupation of Afghanistan neither Soviet decision to send its troops in small neighborly country could be seen while separating it from changing regional as well as international scenario. It also could not be seen without taking into consideration the historical background of the events that had led to the destabilization of Southwest Asia.

Why Did Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan After 1979 Fail so Catastrophically?

Why Did Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan After 1979 Fail so Catastrophically?

The Third Road policy: Eurocommunism and its Yugoslav assessment

This paper deals with a critical stage in the dissolution of the Soviet Communist (Bolshevik) Party?s domination in the Communist commonwealth. The gradual emancipation of European Communist parties, starting with Yugoslavia (1948), through the developments that caused the Soviet interventions in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968), gave birth to independent strategies of political struggle, autonomous from Moscow?s ideological centre, which were implemented by the largest Communist parties in Western Europe. The attempts aimed at the syncretism of the communist platform, and ideas of political rights and adapting to the parliamentary regime resulted in the ?Third Road? movement, which strove to unify the positive experiences of the two ideologically opposed sides of the Cold War international constellation. Although it was a belated and, eventually - purely ideological concept, the movement itself and the idea of Eurocommunism has remained as an important testimony of an attempt at finding new paths in the struggle for a more just society.

Sovjetska intervencija u Avganistanu u početnoj fazi rata sa gledišta jugoslovenske vojne nauke

The paper analyses the attitude of Yugoslav military science to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in the initial phase of the war based on the materials developed at the Department of Strategy of the School of National Defense at the Center of Higher Military Schools of the YPA "Marshal Tito". The authors of the classified learning material "The military intervention of the USSR in Afghanistan, 1979-1989" sacrificed the informational and analytical side to the needs of propaganda. At the beginning of the 1980s Yugoslav military science expressed no vision in this material, they neglected the analysis of tactics of anti-partisan operations in the mountainous areas and did not notice modern phenomena in the guerilla operations of the Afghan insurgents. The predictions were obvious.Also, they did not mention the existence of militant fundamentalism as a factor in the guerrilla operations in the East.

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF MADRASSAH EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan has been traditional and modern education systems since its inception. The traditional education system or traditional Islamic schools which are called Madaris (Madrassahs) have been growing rapidly since 1980s during the Soviet intervention into Afghanistan and Imam Khumeni Revolution in Iran. The madaris have been influenced by the wave of Islamic fundamentalism from Iran and Afghanistan. After the Taliban Government in Afghanistan in late 1990s, the Deoband Madaris in Pakistan came gradually under the sway of the anti-West Taliban Movement. In 2000, there are more than 50,000 Madrassahs in Pakistan but only 4,350 were registered. The history of Madrassahs education in Pakistan has been originated by the advent of Islam and Arabic culture to India with conquering of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim in 712 A.D. After the formation of Muslim rule at Delhi in 1208 A.D., a quarter of Indian-subcontinent population had converted to Islam over the next five centuries and Madrassahs were established in India. Those madaris had been providing education among Muslims of India from 1208 A. D. to 1757 A. D. till the British power in India. The Madrassahs in Pakistan are alleged to be nurseries to produce religious extremists. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the history and the changing pattern of Madrassahs Education in Pakistan. The paper is also examining the socio-political framework of Pakistan under which the Madrassahs are working.

Pakistan-Afghanistan Security Puzzle: Changing nature of Threats and Options: 2014 Onwards

The case of the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship, a constant fault line of conflict of interest, mistrust, suspicion, and divergent views of security has contributed towards competing misperceptions and deadlock on policy issues with each other. The historical legacy of Pak-Afghan relations particularly at the time of Soviet intervention continued as the main determinant of Pak-Afghan relations. In this context, 2001 became a pivotal year in the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship, as it entirely changed the dynamics of their bilateral relationship as well as regional politics. Since then, the associated contemporary issues of security including border security, defense, and terrorism along with the nontraditional security threats are main concerns of the policymakers at both sides. This article by using a descriptive and analytical lens of research would be investigating the growing security challenges to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Факторы трансформации политического ислама в мировой политике: возникновение насилия и терроризма

The article studies factors of transformation of political Islam and reasons for its “tightening” in the modern context. On the basis of the ideas of social constructivism, the author traces the main milestones in the evolution of political Islam and the formation of its radical branches that orient towards violence and terrorism. The article examines nine mega-events that ultimately determined the specifics of the modern union of Islam and poli tics — the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the September 11 attacks (2001), the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the “Arab Spring”, and the establishment of political Islam with a “Turkish face”. The author demonstrates that after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Islam began to gradually transform from the social phenomenon into the world-political factor. Initially, this tendency was observed in the intellectual and ideological spheres, but then penetrated practical politics. The article identifies four models of modern political Islam — Shiite, Salafi-jihadist, Takfirist-jihadist and moderate political Islam. According to the author’s conclusion, the attitude towards violence within these models is largely determined by the peculiarities of the formation, geographic ambitions and goals of the respective branches. The Shiite branch of political Islam that has established in Iran justifies violence for solving defensive tasks and appeals mainly to the categories of justice and protection of the oppressed. Salafijihadist and Takfirist groups, in essence, see violence as a key instrument for implementing the commandments of Allah and rebuilding the world on the principles of Sharia. The moderate political Islam (as shown by analyzing the case of Turkey) completely rejects violence, and religion remains largely a social phenomenon, although it is used for political purposes, in particular, to attract the electorate. On the basis of his analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the idea of violence as an inherent element of political Islam is erroneous, but at the same time he points out risks of the increasing significance of this factor.

The Czechoslovak Crisis of 1948 in the Perception of American Diplomats and Media

In February 1948, during the political crisis in Czechoslovakia was established a communist regime. This event completed the formation of the Soviet bloc in Europe. It directly impacted the US containment policy towards the USSR and the escalation of the Cold War. Based on archival documents and newspapers articles, the research studies these events through their perception by American media and diplomats, whose opinions and interpretations had great and decisive importance for the US public opinion and its government official reaction. The author concludes that the Czechoslovak crisis of 1948 aroused considerable interest and severe reaction in the United States. It was considered as a part of growing Soviet-American contradictions and international tension. Despite the fears of a communist coup in Czechoslovakia expressed back in 1947, American experts could not accurately predict the onset time of the crisis and its nature. The rapidity of the crisis, the Communist’s reaction, and decisiveness, lack of direct Soviet intervention, as well as the absence of democratic resistance, became a surprise for American journalists and diplomats. They believed that the communist takeover was a manifestation of Soviet expansion and the Kremlin’s desire to consolidate its control over all Eastern Europe. Despite the external legitimacy, the transfer of power to the left forces was interpreted as a coup d'état that final ized the establishment of the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia. Nevertheless, the US government refused to sever diplomatic relations with Prague and to initiate an international investigation. Washington found no direct evidence of Soviet intervention. It had to accept the changes in Czechoslovakia, focusing its forces on the inadmissibility of this scenario in Western Europe. The crisis directly influenced the adoption of the Marshall Plan and the intensification of the containment policy.

Heal and Serve

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan can be seen as a laboratory for examining the Soviet construction of masculinity during the last decade of the USSR. Focusing on male Soviet military doctors as individuals, this article aims to present how these doctors constructed their virile presentation of self in a war situation and how they managed their position within the military community. Taking a pragmatic historical approach, the article considers the doctors through their interactions with both women and men, examining gendered practices such as “protecting weak people,” “asserting authority,” “expressing emotions (or not),” and “impressing others.” It offers a case study for the analysis of one of the many forms of Soviet military masculinity under late socialism and its place in Soviet society.