The Soviet Sixties (359)

Cold War Conversations

Beginning with the death of Stalin in 1953, the “sixties” era in the Soviet Union was just as vibrant and transformative as in the West. The ideological romanticism of the revolutionary years was revived, with a renewed emphasis on egalitarianism, equality, and the building of a communist utopia.

Mass terror was reined in, great victories were won in the space race, Stalinist cultural dogmas were challenged, and young people danced to jazz and rock and roll.

I speak with Robert Hornsby who has written "the Soviet Sixties" which examines this remarkable and surprising period, showing that, even as living standards rose, aspects of earlier days endured.

Censorship and policing remained tight, and massacres during protests in Tbilisi and Novocherkassk, alongside invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, showed the limits of reform. The rivalry with the United States reached perhaps its most volatile point, friendship with China turned to bitter enmity, and global decolonization opened up new horizons for the USSR in the developing world.

These tumultuous years transformed the lives of Soviet citizens and helped reshape the wider world.

Buy the book here & support the podcast https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1549/9780300250527

Linked episodes

My father was Nikita Khrushchev Part 1 https://pod.fo/e/f831

My father was Nikita Khrushchev Part 2 https://pod.fo/e/f82f

The Cuban Missile Crisis https://pod.fo/e/143b25

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev https://pod.fo/e/f9094

A freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution https://pod.fo/e/b1813

The Prague Spring https://pod.fo/e/f83a

Episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode359/

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