User:Petri Krohn/How to write about the Soviet Union
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 | This page in a nutshell: Always blame Stalin. |
When writing about the Soviet Union in the English language it is important to include tokens of anti-Soviet or anti-communist rhetoric in your text.
Failure to do so will prevent your text from being published, or if the text is self published, may lead to serious difficulties in your personal life. Following these guidelines is also mandated by Wikipedia's content criteria and manual of style. This guide will help you maintain objectivity[1] and to write from a neutral point-of-view.
(Instruction for writing anti-Soviet propaganda are covered in another guide.)
Attribution
[edit]- If the subject of the article has suffered hardships in his life in the Soviet Union, every effort should be done to attribute those hardships to Soviet society.
- If the facts – or in case of more scholarly text – the sources indeed indicate that Soviet society is involved, then attribution should be given to Soviet officials.
- If Soviet officials are blamed for the hardships, then it is expedient to refer to those officials as "the KGB" or its predecessor organization the NKVD.[2]
- When writing about the actions of the Soviet Union or its officials in general, then attribution should be given to Stalin.
- If something did not happen, it should still be attributed to "Stalinist purges" or "widespread poverty."[3]
Writing about groups of people
[edit]- When writing about groups of people it its always vital to characterize the group as victims of Soviet prosecution.
- A most useful phrase is "executed or sent to Siberia". (Note that in this context "Siberia" can refer to relocation in any part of the Soviet Union, including European parts of Russia.)
Writing about nationalities
[edit]- Always blame Stalin.
Writing about Soviet people
[edit]If the subject of the article has ever expressed criticism of the Soviet Union, then this should be placed prominently in the article.
Writing about Soviet authors
[edit]- Censorship
Writing about time
[edit]When expressing the time an event happened – instead of just naming the year – it is preferable to place the event in historical context. The context chosen should be something that is familiar to Western readers. Suitable examples are Soviet or Communist crimes:
- "During Stalin's purges"
- "After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia"
Never say "during the Great Patriotic War." This event would be unfamiliar to your readers. It would introduce an unacceptable bias into the text.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Editorial Board (June 7, 2014). "Voice of America needs to keep its objective voice". Washington Post.
- ^ When referring to the NKVD the reader should be reminded that it was "Joseph Stalin's secret police". [1]
- ^ Adam Mann (April 12, 2012). "The Space Craze That Gripped Russia Nearly 100 Years Ago". Wired.
External links
[edit]- Mark (September 7, 2011). "NATO Media Advisory". Human rights investigations.
- Joshua Keating (September 30, 2013). "If It Happened There ... the Government Shutdown". Slate.
- This is the first installment of “If It Happened There,” a regular feature in which American events are described using the tropes and tone normally employed by the American media to describe events in other countries.