LibGuides: Primary Sources: Russia

Russia

Alexander III and the Policy of "Russification," 1883-1886 This link opens in a new window Volumes of correspondence to and from the British diplomatic corps in Russia, for the 1883 to 1886 period, concerning Alexander III's policy of 'Russification' which condemned the influence of Western culture, ideas, and liberalist reforms. This is a key collection of documents for studying Anglo-Russian relations during this period of fundamental change.
Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S., 1910-1963 This link opens in a new window Files from the U.S. government relating to commercial and trade relations beginning in the Tsarist Russia period and extending through Khrushchev period in Soviet history. It contains a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats including materials on treaties, general conditions affecting trade, imports and exports, laws and regulations, customs administration, tariffs, and ports of entry activities.
Communist Historical Newspaper Collection‎ This link opens in a new window Fully searchable archive of key U.S. Communist historical newspapers including the Daily Worker, Daily World, Ohio Socialist, The Toiler, The Worker and more. Digitised scans of individual articles and full newspaper pages. Date coverage: 1917-2013
Country Intelligence Reports/State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research Reports: USSR This link opens in a new window Research and intelligence reports on the USSR by the U.S. government, prepared during 1941-1947. The reports vary from short memorandums to detailed, documented studies and topics range from individual commodities or countries to the economic and political characteristics of whole regions.
George H. W. Bush and Foreign Affairs: The Moscow Summit and the Dissolution of the USSR This link opens in a new window U.S. Presidential documents from 1987-1992 covering the events leading up to the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. and its implications for U.S.-Soviet relations. Includes records of meetings held between Bush and Gorbachev, and other foreign leaders.
Izvestiia Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Izvestiia was the official daily newspaper of the Soviet government from 1917 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, when Izvestiia became an independent publication. The archive covers content from 1917-2017. A Cyrillic virtual keyboard, supports the ability to search in transliteration.
Knizhnaia Letopis Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Knizhnaia letopis’ (The Book Index) is the main reference guide available for published books in Russia. As the main Soviet/Russian bibliographic publication for books, Knizhnaia letopis’ represents the most comprehensive bibliographic resource available on printed books in Russia. Covers nearly 80 years and features original graphics and searchable text in Russian.
Krasnyi Arkhiv Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Full archive of the Russian language journal published from 1922 to 1941 by the Central Archives of the USSR and Central Archival Administration. Content includes diplomatic papers, official documents of the police department, diaries and personal correspondence of political figures of Tsarist Russia and was published 'for the education of the proletariat".
Krokodil Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Long-standing USSR satirical journal published between 1922 - 2008. Featuring a wide range of political opinions and commentary on Soviet bureaucracy and excessive centralized control, religion, US foreign and domestic policy, Western political leaders and events, and more.
Muslims of the Soviet East Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Established in 1968 by the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, and in continuous publication until its closure in 1991, the journal Muslims of the Soviet East was the only Islamic periodical carrying the official seal of approval of the Soviet government. Published originally in Uzbek, the journal added Arabic (1969), French and English (1974), Farsi (1980), and Dari (1984).
Pravda Archive This link opens in a new window Full text archive of Pravda, the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1918 - 1991. Russian language.
Russian Civil War and American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20 This link opens in a new window Includes letters, reports, memorandums, cablegrams, maps, charts, and other kinds of records relating to the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20.
Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda This link opens in a new window This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
Soviet Woman Digital Archive This link opens in a new window English language archive of the Russian magazine. Published by the Soviet Women’s Anti-Fascist Committee and the Central Council of Trade Unions of the USSR to counter anti-Soviet propaganda, and introduce Western audiences to the lifestyle, role and achievements of Soviet women. Publication spans from 1945 to 1991.
Voprosy istorii Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Complete archive of the Russian language journal from 1945 to now. Offers essays on Russian and world history. Published by the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and preceded by the publications Istorik-marksist, Bor'ba klassov, and Istoricheskii zhurnal.
World Communism: Pamphlets from McMaster University This link opens in a new window Contains un-catalogued pamphlets pertaining to communism, socialism, and class struggle. The pamphlets are global in scope, although mostly in English and cover 1901-1969. The bulk of the collection originates from China and Soviet Russia during the post-WWII period, although Cuba and Britain are strongly represented as well.
World War I and Revolution in Russia, 1914-1918 This link opens in a new window This collection documents the Russian entrance into World War I and culminates in reporting on the Revolution in Russia in 1917 and 1918. Contains correspondence between the British Foreign Office, various British missions and consulates in the Russian Empire and the Tsarist government and later the Provisional Government, drawn from the UK National Archives.