Bigger is not Always Better

Friday is my last language class. I have written three papers, and completed three lecture courses. I have lived in Moscow now for just over four weeks. On Friday night I take the train with my group to St. Petersburg. We will stay and visit for the weekend and return on the night train Sunday night. There are then two more days of packing in Moscow before flying out next Wednesday. I am looking forward to returning home.

Today I visited some excellent Soviet-era moments to the greatness of Communism.

I was amazed at the Space Obelisk, which is over 350 feet high. Officially known as the Monument to "The Conquerers of Space." It represents a rocket heading toward the heavens. It is a beautiful example of Soviet public art and propaganda. At the base of the status is an awesome Bas-relief of Soviet Realist art, depicting the Soviet people under a confident Lenin pointing the way to space and the future. The grand opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.





Even more impressive is the spectacular site of the former Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the U.S.S.R. It is still intact but is now known as the All-Russian Exhibition Centre. It was built in 1939 and designed to impress. It did.

Conceived as a cross between World Fair and Theme Park, with monuments to Soviet science, fountains, amusement-park rides and national pavilions for all the republics of the USSR. There are 82 pavilions spread over 578 acres. It was over 90 degrees so I didn't visit them all :)


The main entrance is a triumphal archway surmounted by towering statues of a tractor driver and a farm girl brandishing sheaves of wheat, which sets the scale for the avenue of fountains that leads to a Lenin statue and the Central Pavilion.


Between 1948 and 1989 pavillions continued to be added until it reached its peak of 82. There were pavillions for industries or fields such as Engineering, Space, Atomic Energy, People's Eduction, Radioelectronics, and Soviet Culture. There were also pavillion dedicated to regions or towns within the Soviet Union. The exhibition was held annually and attracted scientist and industry professionals from across the Soviet Union and the world. It was used to showcase what the Soviet Union claimed to be progress in all fields. 


In 1992 Russia opened it up to private enterprise. Now it is a bizarre juxtaposition: part agricultural fair, part trade expo, part shopping centre and part street market, with amusements as diverse as paint-balling and camel rides - as well as the ubiquitous slot-machine arcades - on offer in various parts of the grounds. This isn't what Stalin had it mind.  


As I was standing in the middle of the park with the massive pavilions surrounding me it dawned on me that this is why I wanted to come to Russia. I am able to place myself within an existing Soviet monument. Seeing all the elaborate pavilions, immensity of their scale, expensive landscaping, and self-adulation of progress and innovation, it became clear to me that the prestige expressed by the Soviets at this exhibition center was all smoke and mirrors. They had their own people fooled and many world leaders. Bigger is not always better.

Propaganda in the Metro

Who says you can never go back home again, even if that home represented repression and persistent propaganda.

Two phrases you don't expect to read when walking around the city of Moscow:


"Stalin reared us on loyalty to the people. He inspired us to labour and heroism."


"For the Motherland! For Stalin!"


Yes, these slogans can be found today in the Kurskaya Metro station. There are numerous artistic depictions of the sickle and hammer, Lenin, Soviet stars, and the like throughout the stations. One could dismiss the Stalin slogans as going along with the other Soviet-era slogans. There is a lengthy quote by Lenin in another station.


However, following Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin for his murderous purges and cult of personality and began what became known as the de-Stalinization movement.  The slogans were painstakingly removed in the late 1950s along with other pro-Stalin propaganda.


The station lobby got an extensive renovation between 2008 and 2009. When it was restored, so were the slogans. There is also two large swords in the lobby that represent the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. On the swords had been the name of the modern-day Russian city of Volgograd, but it was changed back to its wartime name of Stalingrad.


I'll give the the designers some credit.What wasn't restored was a statue of Stalin that had been at the station.

This is an excellent example of the political void in Moscow and the Russian Federation. There are still many people who look fondly back on Stalin's leadership because he created a powerful country, beat the Nazis, and developed the A-bomb. But the prices was millions of deaths. Today the people want democracy but not the kind that Boris Yeltsin had provided in the 1990s. It was a disaster. Today, the government of Medvedev and Putin continues to become more authoritative and corrupt. Yet the people accept limited freedoms to avoid a return to the 1990s. 


I'll let you draw your own conclusion as to what this renovation (and restoration) symbolizes.


In an "un-related" story, 3.5 tons of human bones were found at the Pacific port of Vladivostok. There are at least 495 skeletons, who had been victims of Stalin's purges.  


Another example of  propaganda in the Metro: 

The mural shown in the photo below was painted in the Kiev Ring Metro station in 1951. Obviously it is still there as this is my picture. Look carefully at the top left banner. That is an image of Lenin, who represents the power and security of the state.

It is called “The People’s Procession,” a large mural at the Kiev Ring station, is an excellent example of how the government provided abundance, happiness, and state-sponsored security in the form of decor. The mural, which is located at the end of the platform, depicts the Ukrainian people in folk costumes celebrating underneath a banner of Lenin. Old and young men and women are represented, demonstrating unity, and food and flowers representing plenty are seen.