Russian Studies Story Briefs

For about 70 years of its long history, Russia was part of the Soviet Union. Explore before-and-after stories about the country and its people, writers, artists, culture, rulers and worldwide influence.

For more than 700 years Russia, a nation rich in natural resources, has defended herself against invaders from other countries.

Russia, in the Age of Peter the Great, became a very different place when the Russian Tsar began to transform his country to make it more modern.

At first, Hitler believed that he could easily conquer the Soviet Union. Then he realized that was not possible.

In August of 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact." Hitler never meant for that agreement to last.

Nikolai Sokolov, and his investigators, try to find the bodies of the Romanov family. Although he came close to the actual grave sites, Sokolov did n...

A gifted composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff has an incredibly large hand span which allows him to play piano as few others can. His Piano Concerto No. 3 in...

Prisoners who were sent to Siberian penal colonies, during Tsarist times, could be punished with facial branding (among other things).

Smolny Convent, located near the Neva River in St. Petersburg, began as a home for Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great (and future Empress of R...

Soviet troops, also known as the Red Army, captured Berlin in April of 1945.

Image of the lunar space suit developed for the Soviet cosmonauts for operations on the surface of the moon.

For years, the FBI could not figure-out the significance of a hollowed-out nickel coin and the coded message it contained. The coin turned-up in Brook...

To the great surprise of the world, including the United States, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb on August 29, 1949.

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