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

Epizode

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  28 - Economy? What Economy? 06.07.2026 1h 10min

  “In order for economic development to take place, one must first have an economy.” - Karl Vladimir Stalin, 2026Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Carr, E. H. The Bolsheviks Revolution: 1917-1923, vol. 2. Pelican Books, 1966Nove, Alec. An Economic History of the Soviet Union: 1917-1991. Penguin Books, 1992.Dobb, Maurice. Soviet Economic Development since 1917. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1948.Cliff, Tony. Revolution Besieged: Lenin 1917-1923. 1976, republished by Haymarket Books, 2004.“The Soviet Union: Facts, Descriptions, Statistics.” Soviet Union Information Bureau, Washington, DC. 1929. Found on marxist.org
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  27.a - The Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia 07.06.2026 4min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/peoples.htm
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  27 - Introduction to the National Question 07.06.2026 57min

  What attitude ought socialists and communists have to the question of national self-determination? Survey says: Ask Lenin and Stalin!Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Natsional’ny Vopros v Nashei Programme - V. I. Lenin, published in “Iskra” 15 July 1903Kriticheskie zametki o natsional’nom voproce - V. I. Lenin, published in “Prosveshchenie”, November-December 1913Rabochii klass i natsional’ny vopros - V. I. Lenin, published in “Pravda” 10 May 1913Nuzhen li obyazatelny yazyk? - V. I. Lenin, published in “Proletarskaya Pravda” 18 January 1914O Prave Natsii Na Samoopredelenie - V. I. Lenin, 1914O Natsional’noi Gordosti Velikorossov - V. I. Lenin, published in “Sotsial-Demokrat”, 12 December 1914Revoliutsionny Proletariat i Pravo Natsii na Samoopredelenie - V. I. Lenin, 16 October 1915Marksizm i Natsional’ny Vopros, J. V. Stalin, 1906.Texts found on leninism.su and marxist.org
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  26 - Epilogue to Brest-Litovsk 27.04.2026 39min

  The narrative is over. Now comes the fun part: analysis!Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.
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  25.a - The Socialist Fatherland Is In Danger! 20.04.2026 4min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/opasnost.htmPlease consider supporting me on Patreon: patreon.com/soviet
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  25 - An Unacceptable Peace, Ratified 20.04.2026 1h 2min

  The saga of ending Soviet Russia’s participation in World War 1 comes to an end.Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.Gluckstein, Donny. The Tragedy of Bukharin. Pluto Press, 1994.“Sedmoi S’ezd RKP(b).” Bolshaya Sovietskaya Entsiklopedia, 3rd edition. Accessed via booksite.ru“Brestskii Mir.” Bolshaya Sovietskaya Entsiklopedia, 3rd edition. Accessed via booksite.ru“Chresvychainy Chetvyorty Vserossiiskii S’ezd Sovietov.” Bolshaya Sovietskaya Entsiklopedia, 3rd edition. Accessed via booksite.ru
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  24.a - Theses on the Question of the Immediate Conclusion of a Separate and Annexationist Peace 28.03.2026 21min

  Source: https://uaio.ru/vil/35.htm
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  24 - An Unacceptable Peace, Accepted 28.03.2026 57min

  To fight or not to fight… that is the question!Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks In Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.Gluckstein, Donny. The Tragedy of Bukharin. Pluto Press, 1994.Cliff, Tony. Revolution Besieged: Lenin 1917-1924. Republished by Haymarket Books, 2012.Veller, M. and Burovskii, A. Grazhdanskaya Istoria Bezumnoi Voiny. Izdatelstvo ACT Moskva, 2007.
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  23 - Prologue to Brest-Litovsk 05.03.2026 48min

  It’s that episode on the international aspects of the Russian Revolution you’ve been waiting for!Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Source:Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks In Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.
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  22.b - Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited People 16.02.2026 7min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/declarat.htm
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  22.a - Theses on the Constituent Assembly 16.02.2026 12min

  Source: https://leninism.su/works/74-tom-35/1583-tezisy-ob-uchretitelnom-sobranii.html
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  22 - The Life and Death of the Constituent Assembly 16.02.2026 1h 4min

  This one is in the title, folks.Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks In Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.Znamensky, O. N. Vserossiiskoe Uchrezhditelnoe Sobranie: Istoria Sozyva i Krushenia. Nauka Publshers, 1976.Cliff, Tony. Revolution Besieged: Lenin 1917-1923. Haymarket Books, 2012.Carr, E. H. The Bolshevik Revolution: 1917-1923, vol. I. Pelican Books, 1966.
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  21 - The Origins of the Cheka 24.01.2026 50min

  The Cheka: vehicle of Communist oppression, or shield and sword of the revolution?Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks In Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.Golinkov, D. L. Krushenie antisovietsogo podpolya v SSSR, 1917-1925 gg. Izdatelstvo politicheskoi literatury, Moskva, 1975
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  Year 1 In Review 18.01.2026 14min

  Our show turns 1 year old today!
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  20 - The Peasant Question, In All Its Glory 31.12.2025 54min

  What do you get when you mix 18 years of theory with two separate Congresses of Peasants’ Deputies? Why, one unified Soviet government of, by, and for the masses, of course!Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:The Development of Capitalism in Russia (1899)The Workers’ Party and the Peasantry (1901)The Agrarian Program of Russian Social-Democracy (1902)The Proletariat and the Peasantry (1905)On Our Agrarian Program - A Letter to the Third Congress (1905)The Question on Land and the Struggle for Freedom (1906)The Peasantry and the Working Class (1913)Speech on the Agrarian Question (22 May [4 June] 1917)10 Days That Shook The World. Reed, John.Chresvychayny Vse-Rossiiskii Cyezd Sovietov Krestyanskikh Deputatov. Bolshaya Sovietskaya Ensiklopedia.Vse-Rossiiskii Cyezd Sovietov Krestyanskikh Deputatov.Rozhdenia Sovietskogo Gosudarstva - Chresvychayny i II Vse-Rossiiskii Cyezdy Sovietov Krestyanskikh Deputatov. Soglashenia bolshevikov s levymi eseramy.Evolutskia vzglyadov V. I. Lenina na krestyanstvo i postroenie sotsialisma v krestyanskoi strane. Vakhitov, Rustem Rinatovich.
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  19.d - The Situation of Worker Control 26.11.2025 6min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/rab_ctrl.htm
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  19.c - The Decree on the Press 26.11.2025 3min

  Source: https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Декрет_о_печати
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  19.b - The Decree on Peace 26.11.2025 7min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/o_mire.htm
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  19.a - The Decree on Land 26.11.2025 8min

  Source: https://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/o_zemle.htm
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  19 - The Struggle for the People’s Government 26.11.2025 1h 4min

  Never forget, kids: the support of the masses is the key to victory.Please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/sovietpod or buymeacoffee.com/sovietpod.Sources:Cliff, Tony. Revolution Besieged: Lenin 1917-1923. Haymarket Books, 2012.Rabinowitch, Alexander. The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press, 2007.