Books in the Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe series

Discusses the nature and extent of 'modernization' in seventeenth century Russia, before Peter the Great's accession, showing that, contrary to the popular view, therewas a great deal of modernization in this period.

The political revolutions which established state socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were accompanied by revolutions in the word, as the communist project implied not only remaking the world but also renaming it. As new institutions, social roles, rituals and behaviours emerged, so did language practices that designated, articulated and performed these phenomena. This book examines the use of communist language in the Stalinist and post-Stalinist periods. It goes beyond characterising this linguistic variety as crude "newspeak", showing how official language was much more complex ¿ the medium through which important political-ideological messages were elaborated, transmitted and also contested, revealing contradictions, discursive cleavages and performative variations. The book examines the subject comparatively across a range of East European countries besides the Soviet Union, and draws on perspectives from a range of scholarly disciplines ¿ sociolinguistics, anthropology, literary and cultural studies, historiography, and translation studies.

Orientalism as a concept was first applied to Western colonial views of the East. Subsequently, different types of orientalism were discovered but the premise was that these took their lead from Western-style orientalism, applying it in different circumstances. This book, on the other hand, argues that the diffusion of interpretations in orientalism was not uni-directional, and that the different orientologies, Western, Soviet and Oriental, did not develop in isolation from each other and were interlocked in such a way that a change in any one of them affected the others; and that those being orientalised were active, not passive, players in shaping how views of themselves developed.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Upper Silesia was the site of the largest formal exercise in self-determination in European history, the 1921 Plebiscite. This asked the inhabitants of EuropeΓÇÖs second largest industrial region the deceptively straightforward question of whether they preferred to be Germans or Poles, but spectacularly failed to clarify their national identity, demonstrating instead the strength of transnational, regionalist and sub-national allegiances, and of allegiances other than nationality, such as religion. As such Upper Silesia, which was partitioned and re-partitioned between 1922 and 1945, and subjected to Czechization, Germanization, Polonization, forced emigration, expulsion and extermination, illustrates the limits of nation-building projects and nation-building narratives imposed from outside. This book explores a range of topics related to nationality issues in Upper Silesia, putting forward the results of extensive new research. It highlights the flaws at the heart of attempts to shape Europe as homogenously national polities and compares the fate of Upper Silesia with the many other European regions where similar problems occurred.

This book looks at Russian women¿s mobilization and agency during the two periods of transformation, the turn of the 19th-20th century and the 20th-21st century. Bringing together the parallels between the two great transformations, it focuses on both the continuities and breaks and importantly, it shows them from the grassroots point of view, emphasizing the local factor.

The author shows that, even though Russia was not invited to the Washington Conference of 1921-22, the 'Russian Question' was one of the major influences on the statesmen who did attend.

Dispels the view that paganism survived in Russia alongside Orthodox Christianity, demonstrating that 'double belief', "dvoeverie", is in fact an academic myth. This volume shows how the concept of "dvoeverie" arose with nineteenth-century scholars obsessed with the Russian 'folk' and was perpetuated as a propaganda tool in the Soviet period.

Orientalism as a concept was first applied to Western colonial views of the East. Subsequently, different types of orientalism were discovered but the premise was that these took their lead from Western-style orientalism, applying it in different circumstances. This book, on the other hand, argues that the diffusion of interpretations in orientalism was not uni-directional, and that the different orientologies, Western, Soviet and Oriental, did not develop in isolation from each other and were interlocked in such a way that a change in any one of them affected the others; and that those being orientalised were active, not passive, players in shaping how views of themselves developed.

Traces the relationship between the Soviet Union and Turkey on the one hand, and the Soviet Union and the Turkish Communist Party on the other, from the consolidation of the communist regime in Moscow until its fall.

Based on documents from the tsarist era military, naval and diplomatic archives, this work gives an overview of the origins, structure and performance of Russian military intelligence in the Far East at the turn of the twentieth century, investigating developments in strategic and tactical military espionage, as well as combat renaissance.

The Caucasus is a strategically and economically important region in contemporary global affairs. This book argues that understanding the Soviet legacy in the region is critical to analysing both the states of the Transcaucasus and the autonomous territories of the North Caucasus. It examines the impact of Soviet rule on the Caucasus.

Presents an overview of the dynamics between Eastern Christianity and politics from the end of the Second World War to the fall of communism, covering 40 Orthodox churches including diasporic churches in Africa, Asia, America and Australia.

Shot point blank in a bungled execution by radical Bolsheviks in the Urals, Nicholas and his family disappeared from history in the Soviet era. This book recounts the horrific details of his death and the discovery of the bones, and also investigates the alternative narratives that have grown up around these events.

Presenting a large collection of anecdotes and jokes from different periods of the twentieth century, this book provides an original perspective on Soviet and Russian history.

Examines the role of the Tsarist General Staff in studying and administering Russia's Asian borderlands. This book considers the nature of the Imperial Russian state, the institutional characteristics of the General Staff, and Russia's relationship with Asia. It provides an account of the Russian General Staff and its role in Asia.