The history of Russia becomes clearer

One more book enters the library shelves in the Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Martin Kragh's account of Russian history.

One more book enters the library shelves in the Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies; Martin Kragh's account of Russian history.

How much do we actually know about our neighbours in the east? Following the opening of archives in Russia and the former Soviet Union, it has become possible to obtain a more detailed image.


25 years have elapsed since the fall of the wall, when the Soviet Union was transformed into 15 separate countries. This was one of the turning points in the eventful history of Russia. In 150 years, the country has undergone two major regime changes, from Tsarist empire to communism and finally to democracy.

‘These changes have often taken place quite rapidly and been difficult to predict’, says Martin Kragh.

Martin is a researcher at the Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and the Institute for Economic and Business History Research at Stockholm School of Economics. Last autumn, he published his book ‘The history of Russia. From Alexander II to Vladimir Putin’.

One characteristic of Russia, according to Martin Kragh, is that the country's leaders have had an unusually great influence over the development of the country. This applies to the Tzar and the communist leaders, but also to the current president Vladimir Pputin. This has also influenced the way that history is written.

‘The political terror under Lenin and Stalin is still an open wound, unlike in Germany where the population has come to terms with Nazism. There is conflict in the writing of Russian history; it has been politicised and controlled from above in a way that we are not used to.’

But Martin Kragh doesn't feel that this has made his work with the book more difficult.

‘I rely a great deal on Russian research. There is an active research field with extensive fact-based archive research. Economic history is my starting point and I ask the same questions of the Russian material as of British material. If we isolate Russian history, we overemphasise the differences. Instead I try to draw parallels to other countries' histories and find similarities.’

He also writes about the links between Sweden and Russia, for example in the early 1900s when 150 Swedish companies such as LM Ericsson and SKF were located in Russia.

‘Russia hasn't been so isolated as many people believe, but has been engaged in trade, cultural exchanges and also obviously conflicts with the world around it. It is important to remind ourselves of that in the current situation of increased tension in Europe.’

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For history lovers

The book ‘The history of Russia. From Alexander II to Vladimir Putin’ (Dialogos förlag, 2014) is aimed at the history loving general reader. It is an overview of Russia's economic and political history from the second half of the 1800s to today.

Annica Hulth

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