I'm like obsessed about the Romanovs,the Revolution,language,etc.

Let's discuss it.

For all you fellow Slavophiles,welcome. For all you not intereseted till now,welcome.

First some terms,because sooner or latter I'm thinking that I'll post a colorful reenactment of the Civil War

White=Monarchists
Red=Bolsheviks/Communists/Menesheviks
Green= Foreign Powers involved
Black= Anarchists

I'm quite interested in the language,and the Tsar Empire,their history of warfare,the KGB/Spetznaz/OZNAZ,weaponry,mafiocracy/gulags/the feynay(thieves jargon).

I'm thinking about taking classes,or some kind of schooling in it,i've got some educational cd's in Croatian,but sadly,not in Russian(i was to late to fetch those).

I'm also quite interested in Serbian history(particulary the Chetniks),and know quite some stuff about it,more than i know about Russian history,i'm afraid.I'm still using wikipedia alot to expand my knowledge about the world biggest nation.

Aren't the thieves called blatnoi? They are in Solzhenitsyn's books anyway.

Stella

Evolution of Russian Secret Polices

Ohkrana- Tsarist
Cheka- Lenninism
GPCU- Stalinist
KGB- Khruschev to Gorbachev
KCRF- Or something like that. I think Putin, being a former KGB member appreciates the value of an organization.

I think in Belarus the secret service is still called KGB.

I'm a slavophile too!  Haven't done much research lately, but I went to Russia earlier this year, it was so wonderful!  If I make it there again some day, I'll vow to learn more Russian.



Statue of Lenin in Uglich


I guess you had to be there to see how beautiful this really was.


Utterly ghastly place, Mandrogi.  A garish mixture of brightened up folk art, hordes of old German tourists and some very weedy grass.

Have you forgotten the MGB?

What was that group?

I thought they knocked down those Lenin statues. One guy had the smart idea of selling the parts for scrape metal.   :grin:  Good idea to me!

MGB stood for Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti - Ministry of State Security.

In March 1953, Lavrenty Beria united the MVD and MGB into one body, the KGB.

Stella

I am also obsessed by Russia. I am more interested in the history of the Soviet period (1917-1991) and the Cold War. I have read extensively on Stalin (I still need to read Volkogonov's book on Stalin). I am fluent in Russian, have traveled to the Soviet Union/Russia. I am usually not a big fiction reader, but when it comes to Russian literature, I love reading the literature. One of my dream jobs would be translating social scientific, historical, and military materials from Russian to English. Even though I abhore the Soviet system, I have a weakness for Soviet-era memorabilia.

Tsarist times (before 1917)--Okhrana
Lenin (1917-1924)--Cheka (Extraordinary Commission for the Elimination of Counterrevolution and Sabotage); Feliks Dzerzhinsky
1924-1929 -- OGPU/GPU (Main Political Administration)
1929-1946 -- NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs); led by Yagoda (1929-1936), Yezhov (1936-1938); Beria (1938-1953). In 1946, the NKVD became the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs).
1946-1953 -- MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs).
After Stalin's death, the MVD was split into a smaller MVD and MGB (Ministry of State Security). Later, the MGB became the KGB (Committee of State Security). Andropov headed the KGB from 1964 to 1982. From 1982 to 1987 (thereabouts), the KGB was headed by Chebrikov. The last KGB chairman was Kryuchkov, who took part in the ill-fated August 1991 coup against Gorbachev. Under Yeltsin and Putin, the KGB was replaced by the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service). Putin, being a former KGB officer himself, has increased the profile of the SVR. The SVR combines the functions of the CIA, FBI, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the Russian government.

The Soviet era was the most interesting era in Russian history.

Weren't the green local non-aligned defensive militias, a la the clubmen?