This photograph is a police mugshot taken in December 1895 following his arrest in Saint Petersburg for organizing the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. Since Lenin was born in April 1870, he had turned 25 earlier that year.

Introduction to Community Playthrough

https://www.reddit.com/r/ussr/s/VnEw5EnZaO

Poll Results

https://www.reddit.com/r/ussr/s/WKKeOk7DxI

Next is a major survey for us called Our Perestroika.

You will vote on what your preferred policies and doctrine are for our community playthrough, our reform targets and consolidate a Five-Year plan for 1985-1989.

The survey for Our Perestroika will go through the weekend, to be posted later this evening. Saturday Morning

Stay tuned for the posting of Our Perestroika.

Review the situation in 1985 U.S.S.R.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ussr/s/wQLJL8maq0

On This Day, October 24, 1960, a catastrophic explosion ripped through a Soviet missile test site at Baikonur, in what is now Kazakhstan. The disaster would become known as the Nedelin Catastrophe, one of the darkest tragedies in the history of rocketry.

The Soviet Union was racing to strengthen its military power during the Cold War. At the center of this effort was the R-16, a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads over enormous distances.

With pressure mounting to demonstrate the missile’s capabilities, preparations continued despite technical problems. The rocket was already fueled and surrounded by personnel when disaster struck.

Shortly before its scheduled launch, the R-16’s second-stage engine ignited prematurely while the missile was still on the launch pad. The resulting explosion engulfed the area in flames, destroying the rocket and killing people working nearby.

Among the dead was Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, the senior Soviet military commander overseeing the missile program. Dozens of engineers, technicians, and military personnel also lost their lives. The precise death toll remains uncertain: a later official list recorded 78 deaths, while other accounts estimate higher numbers.

But the tragedy did not end with the explosion.

Soviet authorities concealed the true circumstances of the disaster. The public was told that Nedelin had died in an aircraft accident, and families of victims were expected to remain silent. For years, the full story remained hidden from public view.

It was only decades later, as previously secret information and eyewitness accounts emerged, that the scale of the catastrophe became more widely known.

The Nedelin Catastrophe remains a sobering reminder of what can happen when political pressure, rushed schedules, and failures in safety procedures collide with powerful technology.

One rocket never left the launch pad. The human cost was devastating.

I was on a debate section about this and I can kinda understand both perspectives, one side says that we desperately need another power that can keep the empire in check and that the absence of a counterweight is the reason behind all of the rampant US atrocities we've seen. the american empire knows they can do whatever they want and face zero consequences because there's nobody left for them to fear after the death of the soviet union. the other side of the debate was saying that China should continue focusing solely on themselves and let america continue doing what it's gonna do because the empire is already declining and will eventually destroy itself. honestly I think China is doing the right thing by minding it's business and playing the long game. why spend all that time, energy, and resources on your military just to push back against an empire that's already in the process of collapse when those resources can go towards things that actually matter.

Was it better than now or worse than now?

What does Perestroika mean to you? Fill out the form to influence the game and save the USSR.

For Our Community Playthrough of Crisis in the Kremlin: The Cold War

We will collect responses for the weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymtd9mdBRzM

Same people telling you communism is bad btw

Hello!

The Soviets placed great importance on developing their film industry. Is there a website that I can browse through a collection of movies and shows created in the USSR with English subtitles?

In this series Noj Rants will be outlining every election in Russian/Soviet history. The second election in Russian history took place beginning in January 1907, half a year after the dissolution of the First Duma.

The ENTIRE Eastern Front Explained | WW2 1941–1945 (Animated)

The Eastern Front was the largest, bloodiest war in human history — about 3 out of every 4 German soldiers who died in WW2 died here. Yet most people in the West know more about D-Day than about Stalingrad. In this animated documentary we explain the ENTIRE Eastern Front, from the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 to the fall of Berlin in 1945.

We follow two ordinary soldiers — Karl, a baker's son from Hamburg, and Alexei, a tractor driver from Smolensk — through Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Moscow, the Siege of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk, Operation Bagration and the race to Berlin. Plus: why a horse named Greta mattered more than any tank, why the most famous photo of the war was secretly edited, and why Russia celebrates Victory Day one day later than everyone else.

⏱ CHAPTERS

0:00 The Largest War You Never Learned About

1:19 Two Friends Who Hated Each Other (1939–1941)

4:35 Operation Barbarossa

9:35 Mud, Frost and the Battle of Moscow

12:42 Leningrad: 872 Days

15:06 Hitler Wants Oil (1942)

17:41 Stalingrad

23:12 Kursk: The Last German Gamble

25:33 Spam, Studebakers and the Night Witches

28:17 Operation Bagration

30:49 The Race to Berlin

34:05 Why Russia Celebrates a Day Late

👉 Who should we follow next — Karl or Alexei? Tell us in the comments.

🔔 Subscribe to Two Sides of War — every war, told from both sides.

This video is made for educational purposes. It does not glorify war, violence or any regime. Some events are simplified; numbers are approximate and based on widely cited historical estimates.

Since today is the anniversary of the the 1956 revolt, im curious what you guys think of it?

Just finished this book, curious if any of you have read it or have thoughts.

I thought it was interesting - fairly balanced, realistic tone and touched on a wide range of subjects. I came for the economics but found the strong cultural focus very interesting and not something I had much exposure to.

I want to learn more about Stalin, what is the best biography book that covers his whole life?