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The Sickle and the Hammer: A Socialist History of the Soviet Union

The Sickle and the Hammer: A Socialist History of the Soviet Union

By: Daniel
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We are often told the USSR was an oppressive, authoritarian society, lacking freedom and democracy. There were endless purges that claimed the lives of millions of “dissidents,” purges that were designed for one thing and one thing only: to keep power in the hands of those who wielded it.

And as we all know, the economy was based on socialist and communist principles, which is why it barely functioned at all. There were endless famines, genocides against minorities within the nation, and an industrial base that was constantly tottering on the edge of collapse.

But instead of trying to address these issues at home, the leaders of the USSR were fixated only on world domination, on spreading communism in order to destroy freedom around the world. From Europe and Asia to Latin America and Africa, the Communists were a threat to freedom the world over.

…. Or were they?

Learn the story of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic you’ve never heard! What was life really like in the Soviet Union? How authoritarian was it? Did a “totalitarian” state really exist? How did the economy function to meet the needs of its citizens? How were the governing apparatus structured? And were the Soviets hell-bent on world domination…. Or world liberation? Or neither?

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Episodes
  • Episode 14 supplemental: The Bolshevik Central Committee Resolution of 10 October
    Jul 30 2025

    Source for text: https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Заседание_Центрального_Комитета_РСДРП(б)_10_(23)_октября_1917_г._(Ленин)

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    5 mins
  • Episode 14 - On The Eve
    Jul 30 2025

    Who knew preparing to overthrow a government would be this much work?!

    Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod.

    Sources:

    Trotsky, L. D. Istoriya Russkoi Revoliutsii. 1930

    Cliff, Tony. All Power to the Soviets: Lenin 1914-1917. 1976, republished by Haymarket Books, 2004.

    Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd. 1976

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  • Episode 13 supplemental - The Life of Natasha Morozova
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    Natalya Ivanovna Morozova was born in village Yagodnoe in the Volga region. This is her story.

    A fictional biography of a peasant woman living through the events discussed in our series so far, as written by me.

    Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod.

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    44 mins
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