facebook
twitter
pinterest
expert@trans-siberian.co.uk UK: +44 (0)345 521 2910 USA: 1 8665 224308
  • Journeys
    • Trans-Siberian Classic
      • Journey Planning Guide
      • Trans-Siberian Classic – departing St. Petersburg
      • Trans-Siberian Classic – departing Moscow
      • Trans-Siberian Classic – departing Beijing
      • Trans-Siberian Classic – departing Vladivostok
    • Trans-Siberian Rail Cruises
    • Luxury Trans-Siberian Rail Cruises
    • China Trips
  • Destinations
    • Russia
      • Ekaterinburg
      • Irkutsk & Lake Baikal
      • Moscow
      • Novosibirsk
      • Perm
      • St Petersburg
      • Ulan-Uday & Buryatia
      • Vladivostok
    • Mongolia
      • Bayan-Gobi
      • Elstei
      • Erlian
      • Huhehot
      • Naadam Festival
      • Terelj National Park
    • China
      • Beijing
      • Guangzhou
      • Guilin
      • Harbin
      • Hong Kong
    • Interactive Map
  • Expert Help
    • About
      • No Ordinary Travel Company
      • Our People
      • Our Small Print
    • Responsible Travel
    • Flights
    • Visa Info
    • Trains to Russia
    • Life on board Classic Trans-Siberian
    • Traveller’s Checklist
    • Booking
    • FAQ
    • Hints & Tips
  • Gallery
  • Blog
  • Contact

Blog Post

The ghost at your shoulder #2: Practical legacies

02 Mar 2018
Comment are off
Bernard H. Wood
Soviet Union

It’s strange how the influence of the Soviet era still lingers in Russia and perhaps to a lesser extent: other former members of the Soviet Union too. I only have direct experience of Western Ukrainian society in this regard and fueled by the ongoing Eastern conflict, it can’t get rid of those Russian remnants fast enough. There are many in the East who would see a union with Russia of course, and the conflict, now normalised and forgotten by our media- staggers onward.

It’s trite to say that time heals all wounds but there’s some evidence of its capabilities to transform the seemingly unalterable. In 1996, who among us would have said that Communism would collapse within 5 years, preceded by the fall of the Berlin wall? Be careful of this certainty all around you, it’s merely dust waiting to blow away in the wind.

Living artifacts

The edifices of the Soviet era still form the material world of everyday life for many, particularly in the cities and towns that were developed, sometimes out of nothing, during Stalin’s post war ‘boom’ period of industrialisation and modernisation. The concrete presence (literally) of that former time, and of Khrushchev’s extensive housing expansion/revolution surround the occupants of modern Russia, daily.

Then there are the renowned Metro systems made famous by Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also present in a half-dozen more cities shaded by their touristic peers. Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Samara, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod and Volgograd, with it’s Metro-Tram, also run daily through Soviet infrastructure (or have roots in the Soviet era), but are less grand than within the two principal showcases.

Other material remnants, that aren’t going anywhere soon, stand silently in the form of bold, heroic statuary; celebratory civic monuments to someone else’s future, now lying in the past. They took a wrong turn somewhere, but their detritus remains extant, waiting for entropy to prevail. They go hand-in-hand with remarkable propaganda posters; once exalting a noble workforce but now relegated to the level of tourist souvenirs, although each was its own ‘event’ when nailed up in distant Soviet locales.

The family fortress

The family unit is still a dominant, binding force within Russian society and not one to be lightly dismissed or disrespected. It may be difficult for us to understand as we hastily leave home and later deposit our seniors in the care of others when they become “too much”, but it’s both their reality and necessity.

Historically, the life of an average Russian was touched by a utilitarian ethos approaching (or even steeped in) poverty. Whilst this was not a Soviet invention, Soviet policy certainly acknowledged this fact and set about working around and within it. The whole ‘project’ centered around managing, controlling and providing for a massive impoverished population whilst attempting to drag it and the country itself into modernity. The hardships of overcrowding, subdivision of resources and the basic nature of provision were repackaged and sold as temporary measures until the ‘great work’ could be achieved and standards of living raised for all. A better tomorrow was promised if only the population could tolerate the hardships of “now”.

So, who better to rely upon in adversity than your family? It’s not as if there was much choice in living separately from them anyway due to State control of housing and the average earners financial limitations. Picture tight family units in small apartments with children living-in until adulthood (and probably marriage), standing together against the hardships of the world. Outside of family, a good external network was also important -when money alone was not enough. Understand Russia writes:-

“We have a saying – “Do not have a 100 Rubles, have a 100 Friends”… During the USSR time money per se was not as important as your network. You could’ve been rich, but you needed connections to buy as simple things like good shoes or a good piece of meat at the grocery store.”

Although there is some developing friction against ‘the old ways’, for better/worse; the family fortress is still the typical model that survives today, Soviets or not.

Previous post | Next post

Social Share

  • google-share
Ready to Book? Speak to an Expert
Feefo logo

Travellers Checklist

Visa Info » Flights » Trains to Russia » The Checklist »

Hints, Tips & Fun Facts...

Don’t take a suitcase. Take a soft bag with wheels and a pulling handle.
2018 certificate of excellence tripadvisor

Your payment is protected: everything is held in a trust account until you've completed your trip.

Explore the blog

  • Celebrations and Events
  • ►Destinations
    • China
    • Hong Kong
    • Mongolia
    • Moscow
    • Russia
    • St Petersburg
  • ▼Life
    • ►Arts & Culture
      • Food and Drink
      • Stories – Folklore -Superstition
    • History
    • Life in Russia
  • News
  • Russian Language
  • ▼Series
    • (Moderately) Superstitious
    • A and L in Irkutsk
    • A Few Choice Words
    • Alien Visitors
    • All About The Bottom Line
    • All In The Game
    • All In The Preparation
    • All Quiet on the Eastern Front
    • Almost Medieval
    • Ancient Traces Revisited
    • Animated Russia
    • Anomalous Zones
    • Arrival: Beijing
    • Baba Yaga Revisited
    • Backwards and Forwards
    • Baikal at Last!
    • Business in the City of Extremes
    • By the time you read this
    • Captured Fragments
    • Chasing the spirit
    • Cheaper – Better – Easier
    • Christmas Leftovers
    • Doomed Utopias
    • Dreams Made Concrete
    • Easter Variations
    • Eastwards To Novosibirsk
    • Feline Exhibits
    • Fragmentary Views
    • Free Knowledge for the Proletariat
    • Free Russian Cinema
    • Gobi and Steppe Wanderings
    • Good Advices
    • Good Traditions
    • Grandfather Frost
    • Here Seeking Knowledge
    • Hiking – Cooking – Tick Picking
    • How Cold?
    • How Hot?
    • Igor the Shaman
    • In and Out of Ulaanbaatar
    • In and Out of Ulan Uday
    • International Womens Day in Russia
    • Irkutsk Now
    • Is It Safe?
    • Joanna Lumley’s Trans-Siberian Adventure
    • Kizhi: Scattered Memories
    • Kvas – The Good Stuff
    • Language and literature 2016
    • Last stop: Vladivostok
    • Life On Rails
    • Loveless
    • Low Season Traveler
    • March Of The Immortals
    • Maslenitsa
    • Matilda: A Russian Scandal
    • Minefields of the soul #1
    • Mongolia By Proxy
    • More on Krasnoyarsk
    • Mythological?
    • Nightmare Fuel
    • Non-Verbal Confusion
    • Opposing Worlds
    • Over The Border
    • Pagans On Ice
    • Pronunciations and Tribulations
    • Random Freezings
    • Remembrance Day
    • Russia Sells Alaska
    • Russian Language: Ways and Means
    • Russian things to see and do
    • Scam-Tastic
    • Scrapbooks and Backpacks
    • Sculpting the National Character
    • See You In The Bunker
    • Shadow Man in Circumspect
    • Shot By Both Sides
    • Siege Fatigue
    • Something about Cossacks
    • Sort Your Life Out
    • Stretching the Ruble
    • Survivalist
    • Sweeping generalisations
    • Systems of Control
    • Taking Care
    • The Bear Thing -and Other Interlopers
    • The Ghost at Your Shoulder
    • The Other 10%
    • The roll of the egg
    • The Silent Anniversary
    • The Snow Maiden
    • The Spirits of Winter
    • The Temple at the Border
    • There’s a Russian in my House
    • These Four Walls
    • Thespian Pursuits
    • This Word “Defective”
    • Trans-Siberian Offshoots
    • Trips and Tales
    • Unknown Territories
    • Unseen Unheard
    • Visitations
    • Vodka
    • Voices of Experience
    • Welcome to Magnitogorsk
    • When a lobster whistles on top of a mountain
    • Words are Hard
    • X-rays and space ships
    • Yes They Mean Us
    • Your Cash In St.Petersburg Now!
    • Zaryadye Park
  • Tourist Tips
  • Uncategorized

Quick Links

Ready to Book
Speak to an Expert
FAQs

Destinations

Russia
Mongolia
China
Interactive Map

Journeys

Trans-Siberian Classic
Trans-Siberian Rail Cruise
Luxury Trans-Siberian Rail Cruise
China Trips

Contact Us

E: expert@trans-siberian.co.uk
T: +44 (0)345 521 2910

facebook twitter
© 2018 Russia Experience - All rights reserved