21 October 2021 - WHAT WAS 'RED OCTOBER'?

 

WHAT WAS 

'RED OCTOBER'?

G'day folks,

No doubt, you have heard this term before, but what does it signify?

After the February Revolution in 1917 overthrew Russia's centuries-old monarchy, the conflict between the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky and the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin intensified around the country.

On 7 November (25 October in Old Style) Bolshevik forces under Lenin's command seized government buildings in Petrograd (or St. Petersburg) and the following day the Winter Palace. This began the Soviet rise to power, and on 9 November the Bolsheviks proclaimed the creation of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the first socialist state so created.

The revolution did not end the struggles. Over the next 5 years the country descended into the chaos and anarchy of the Russian Civil War; the Soviets would triumph, leading to the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

Clancy's comment: Now you know. My personal experiences in Russia were delightful. That's all I will say.

I'm ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 August 2021 - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOVIET UNION

 

THE ESTABLISHMENT

 OF THE SOVIET UNION

 

G'day folks,

In October 1918 the Bolsheviks in Russia overthrew the provisional government that had been established through a revolution in February that year. Almost immediately, an extremely devastating and deadly civil war erupted throughout the country.

By 1922 the Bolsheviks had destroyed their counter-revolutionary enemies, various independence movements and non-Bolshevik socialist foes. This had allowed them to create and sign the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, which formed a union of the various Soviet republics - Russia, Ukraine, Transcaucasia and Byelorussia - into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union.

This communist union would endure for almost seventy years and would greatly expand beyond its original four republics into fifteen. By the late 1980s however, economic and political pressure for an end to the dictatorship led to the gradual disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The leaders of three of the founding republics met on December 9, 1991, in Belarus, and agreed to dissolve the Union on December 26 by denouncing the Treaty and declaring it void. Thus the communist flag was lowered over the Kremlin for the last time that night and the various republics became independent states.

Clancy's comment: And, now we have Vladimir Putin at the helm.

I'm ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 November 2018 - THE FIRST ‘MISS SOVIET UNION' BEAUTY PAGEANT

THE FIRST ‘MISS SOVIET

UNION' BEAUTY PAGEANT

G'day folks,

Ever wondered how the Soviet Union became involved in world beauty pageants? I certainly hadn't but here is some background.

The year was 1988, the iron curtain was falling and the final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was patching up foreign relations with America after a schmoozy dinner with Ronald and Nancy Reagan in Washington. The country was ushering in a new era of social freedom and a flood of information about the lives of people abroad had triggered a catch-up period of imitation for the USSR.

The Puritan ways of the Soviet Union had previously repressed the frivolity of show business, celebration of beauty and the female form or sexy fashion. So when the 30 year ban on beauty pageants was lifted and the first ever official government-approved beauty contest in the Soviet Union was announced, it was a pretty huge deal.

Not to throw all their communist values out the window at once, women of all ages, status, size and shape were invited to enter the contest. “Every ordinary person, every beautiful woman or one that feels beautiful, come and show themselves”.

Tryouts were held at Gorky park and queues stretched to a couple kilometers long. It was an event compared by the press to Garagin’s flight to space.

After many months of monokini mishaps and hairspray overdoses, a sixteen year-old Maria Kalinina was crowned Miss USSR. She was sent to travel around the world, and reportedly won the hearts of presidents, ministers, and a no doubt a few inappropriate propositions from wealthy suitors. She later moved to Hollywood where she pursued a career as an actress, changing her name to Maria Kalin. 

She now teaches Kundalini yoga in her studio in Los Angeles.

 

Clancy's comment: I'm sure you were dying to know this. Mm ... The beauty pageant business would involve millions of dollars today.

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