Russia

ANZACs vs Bolsheviks

ANZACS in Arkhangel: The Untold Story of Australia and the Invasion of Russia 1918-19 By Michael Challinger Hardie Grant Books, 2010, 285 pages, $35 (pb) “The remedy for Bolshevism is bullets”, was the blunt message of the editorial in Britain’s establishment newspaper, The Times, in 1919 as military forces from 16 capitalist countries invaded Russia after the 1917 revolution. Among the invaders were about 150 Australian soldiers, as recounted in Michael Challinger’s history of the Australian role in the invasion.

Russia: Dockers' leader stabbed

LaborStart.org reports that on June 7 Mikhail Chesalin, chairperson of the local Dockers Union of Russia in Kaliningrad, was savagely stabbed and beaten outside the union office. He was stabbed numerous times in the spine and severely beaten about the head. His assailants left him lying face-down, unconscious, in a pool of blood. Chesalin’s colleagues believe that the attack was orchestrated by Vladimir Kalinichenko, the general director of Kaliningrad Sea Commercial Port, where the dockworkers’ union is currently running an organising campaign. Kalinichenko has tried to break up union events by sending his personal “security” forces, together with local thugs, to spy on and intimidate workers. Visit http://www.labourstart.org for more information.

Life and death under Russian capitalism

Men in Contemporary Russia: The Fallen Heroes of Post-Soviet Change?
by Rebecca Kay
Ashgate, 2006
236 pages, $121.50

Exit Yeltsin

Following the April 23 death of Boris Yeltsin, various polling organisations conducted surveys on how Russians regarded his actions. Asked what they saw as Yeltsin’s main achievement, 33% of respondents answered: “He left office voluntarily in December 1999.” All his other achievements were within the statistical margin of error. The majority of those surveyed did not consider that Russia’s first president had any achievements at all.

Kagarlitsky: How I became an enemy of the state

A few months ago I was simply a political analyst. However, since March, I have stepped back into a role I had almost forgotten — that of coordinator of an informal political movement, in this case to organise a boycott of the Russian presidential election.

Can Russian Communists topple Yeltsin?

Since supporters of President Boris Yeltsin were routed in parliamentary elections in December, Russians have been faced with the prospect that their next president may be Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF).

Medvedev assesses the Gorbachev era

Roy Medvedev was the leading dissident Soviet historian during the Brezhnev years. He was expelled from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1969. In 1971, following the publication in the West of his monumental study on Stalin, Left History Judge,

Yeltsin 'democracy' — without elections

Russian President Boris Yeltsin appears to have blocked local authority elections called by the Russian parliament for December 8.

Interview with Boris Kagarlitsky, Alexander Popov, Vladimir Kondratov

In this concluding part of their interview with Steve Painter and Jim Percy, Soviet Socialist Party members Boris Kagarlitsky, Alexander Popov and Vladimir Kondratov discuss Boris Yeltsin's challenge to Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership, and the increasing national unrest which is threatening the future of the USSR.

The decline of Gorbachev

BORIS KAGARLITSKY, ALEXANDER POPOV AND VLADIMIR KONDRATOV are members of the Socialist Party of the Soviet Union, an organisation of about 300 members, formed in July 1990. They spoke to Steve Painter and Jim Percy.