Author Archives: jakej99

In 1985, newly elected General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, started the anti-alcohol campaign. This quick and intense campaign attempted to solve a problem that had been effecting Russia for hundreds of years: alcoholism. Today I want to give a little background of the problem, how it effected the Soviet Union both sociallyContinue reading “Why Did They Ban the Booze?”

I was pretty excited to see the Soviet–Afghan War in the event timeline for this week. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has always interested me and this made the perfect excuse to do some more research about it. What I found especially interesting was the similarities that this war had with the Vietnam war. IContinue reading “Afghanistan, the Vietnam of the Soviet Union”

If you were a politician during the reign of Stalin, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev would be no stranger to you. Khrushchev was a heavy advocate for agricultural reform during Stalin’s reign. It was well known that Khrushchev did not agree with the way Stalin was handling the economy. Khrushchev thought that too much money was being spentContinue reading “Khrushchev’s Crops and Cows”

The picture shown above is that of the last Emir of Bukhara, Said Mir Mohammed Alim Khan. Alim Khan is a direct descendant of Genghis Khan and the last member of the Khan family to rule a territory. The photo was taken by Prokudin Gorskii in 1911 when he traveled to the Emirate of BukharaContinue reading “The Last Emir of Bukhara and a Failed Reform”

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken. — Oscar Wilde. This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.