Geoffrey Hosking è uno storico della Russia e dell'Unione Sovietica. Il suo lavoro si concentra sulla comprensione dei processi a lungo termine che hanno plasmato la storia e l'identità russa. Esplora le profonde correnti culturali e politiche che influenzano la società russa. Le sue analisi offrono preziose intuizioni sulle complessità dello sviluppo russo.
This work traces Russia's history from the settlement of Kiev through to the 21st century. It argues that two nation-building movements, one based on a messianic vision, the other a modernizing and expansive imperial project, have clashed since the rise of Tsarism.
Geoffrey Hosking's landmark work provides a new prism through which to view Russian history by asking the question, 'What is Russia's national identity?'.
The First Socialist Society is the compelling and often tragic history of what Soviet citizens have lived through from 1917 to the present, told with great sympathy and perception. It ranges over the changing lives of peasants, urban workers, and professionals; the interaction of Soviet autocrats with the people; the character and role of religion, law, education, and literature within Soviet society; and the significance and fate of various national groups. As the story unfolds, we come to understand how the ideas of Marxism have been changed, taking on almost unrecognizable forms by unique political and economic circumstances. Hosking's analysis of this vast and complex country begins by asking how it was that the first socialist revolution took place in backward, autocratic Russia. Why were the Bolsheviks able to seize power and hold on to it? The core of the book lies in the years of Stalin's rule: how did he exercise such unlimited power, and how did the various strata of society survive and come to terms with his tyranny? The later chapters recount Khrushchev's efforts to reform the worst features of Stalinism, and the unpredictable effects of his attempts within the East European satellite countries, bringing out elements of socialism that had been obscured or overlaid in the Soviet Union itself. And in the aftermath of the long Brezhnev years of stagnation and corruption, the question is posed: can Soviet society find a way to modify the rigidities inherited from the Stalinist past?
„Vom Sozialismus lernen, heißt siegen lernen“ – diese Devise wird klarer, wenn man sie um eine Ergänzung erweitert: „Von der Sowjetunion lernen, heißt Sozialismus lernen“. Zehn Jahre nach dem Zerfall des sowjetischen Imperiums steht Russland vor der Herausforderung, von wem es lernen kann, um die Anarchie zu überwinden. In Krisenzeiten scheint die Antwort naheliegend: von der eigenen Geschichte. Doch existiert überhaupt eine einheitliche russische Geschichte? Geoffrey Hosking unterscheidet zwischen dem russischen Imperium und der russischen Nation, was die Frage nach der russischen Geschichte komplex macht. Das Imperium war expansiv und vereinnahmte andere Ethnien, bevor die russische Nation ihre Identität entwickeln konnte. Authentische russische Traditionen wurden durch imperialistische Politik unterdrückt. Der Verwaltungsapparat des Imperiums hatte die Aufgabe, große Territorien und diverse Völker zu kontrollieren, während der Einsatz für die russische Nation oft als Chauvinismus angesehen wurde. Die russisch-orthodoxe Kirche war zu schwach, ein Bürgertum fehlte, und die Intelligenz war entwurzelt. Ohne ein gemeinsames Wir-Gefühl gab es keine kollektiven Fortschritte. So entstand ein mächtiges Reich ohne Seele und eine schwache Nation ohne Nationalgefühl. Hoskings Diagnose lautet: Die russische Nationalgeschichte liegt in der Zukunft.