What Russia was like in 1933?

By the year 1933, Joseph Stalin was already the one and only leader of the Soviet Union. He developed economics, forced the industrialization of the country, opened new factories and plants and made peasants join collective farming. The time of the big purge hadn’t started yet, however, the Gulag was already in operation - and prisoners were being used for big construction projects.

Take a detailed look below at how the country looked 90 years ago. And, alongside historical events, also see how ordinary people lived.

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Who did Russia establish its first diplomatic relations with?

The Holy See was the first European state that the Grand Duchy of Moscow came in regular contact with. By the 13th century, the Pope’s envoys started coming to Moscow regularly.

Later on, Russia established diplomatic relations with some historically hostile states like the Ottoman Empire.

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Why Soviet tableware is still popular in Russia

Almost every Russian home has tableware that is more than 30 years old! And it’s not even that valuable.

It’s all about nostalgia - glasses, shot glasses, tea sets and crystal salad bowls were inherited from parents and grandparents and are still associated with a festive atmosphere.

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The famous Pavlovo Posad shawl has been a popular accessory that has adorned women all over the world for over 200 years!

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5 Englishmen who nobly served Russia

The British managed to leave a significant mark on Russian history and culture. For example, the painter George Dawe created a gallery of more than three hundred portraits of the commanders who defeated Napoleon in 1812.

Charles Sidney Gibbs taught the children of Nicholas II and became a loyal friend of the royal family. The conductor Albert Coates actively promoted Russian classical music abroad...

In addition, it was an Englishman who became the most effective agent of Soviet intelligence.

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20 masterpieces at the New Tretyakov Gallery

Many of Russia’s most iconic 20th century masterpieces are displayed at a special branch of the State Tretyakov Gallery in downtown Moscow. Today, the New Tretyakov proudly displays the works, some of which were very scandalous when they were originally made and exhibited.

While these images might not shock the viewer today, for people living a century ago some of these paintings were a bold challenge to the established order, and often provoked angry reactions.. Among these are the legendary “Black Square” by Malevich, the famous “Composition VII” by Kandinsky, and the soaring “Above the City” by Marc Chagall.

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Closed communities and fines for cursing: How Germans merchants lived in Russia

Since the 12th century, German merchants were actively trading with the Russian city of Novgorod connected with the Baltic Sea via water routes. There was a special term - ‘Nowgorodfahrer’ that meant “guest of Novgorod” or “those who travel to Novgorod”.

In the Russian city, there was the German court where the merchants stayed during their visits. Soon after, Novgorod became one of the most important trade partners of the influential Hanseatic League.

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🇷🇺Novorossiysk, southern Russia, is in ice captivity. A blizzard and hurricane winds are raging in the city. Garbage cans are flying through the streets, broken trees and benches are lying on the ground. There are huge waves in the sea. Meteorologists aren't expecting any improvement in the weather and the storm warning has been extended. Look at the revelry of the elements in our video.

The residents of the tundra are used to snowstorms as it's a common thing there. To learn more about the difficult life of indigenous people, watch our film Sky Rescue (2014).

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On this day, 186 years ago, Russian poet Pushkin died after after being wounded in a pistol duel. 😢

This is how it happened...

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10 Russian PRISON TATTOO designs & their meanings

Some tattoos are meaningless, some have sentimental value for their owners.

When it comes to the Russian criminal underworld, however, prison tattoos make up a unique system of communication that may indicate the person’s place in the criminal hierarchy or tell other prisoners just how dangerous he really is.

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How the USSR created GIANT artificial lightning bolts ⚡

In the 1970s this futuristic-looking apparatus created a 150-meter-long artificial lightning bolt. The charge was so powerful that it could compare to a real natural lightning bolt. The structure was called “Tesla coils”. It worked for several decades in a forest in the Moscow region.

The device is still there; it turned into an unofficial tourist object for those who love abandoned Soviet heritage. Let’s look at what it is and what it was capable of.

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⛓️ Check out Tim Kirby's adventures in Russia!
https://www.youtube.com/@TimKirbysTravel

5 WORST diplomatic scandals in the USSR

The struggle against the Soviet Union during the Cold War was conducted not only on the official diplomatic front, but also on the clandestine, undercover one. The Soviet Union likewise engaged in subversive work against Western intelligence services and diplomats. But failures and incidents occurred in all intel services, with the Soviet ones being no exception.

High-profile undercover cases were sometimes made public, like, for instance, the seizure of the Russian consulate in China, or the explosion in Tel-Aviv, for which Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion personally apologized to the USSR.

However, the Soviet intelligence service covered up its biggest failures most thoroughly. For example, the incident when a KGB lieutenant colonel was recruited in France, following which he gave up the names and data on hundreds of undercover Soviet agents to the French intelligence service.

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