Resources

Below is a list of useful online resources for studying and teaching Russian history, in English and Russian. I will be updating it periodically as new digital sources become available.

Primary Sources

In English

Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online (keyword searchable; contains scans of the original documents and text versions)

Seventeen Moments in Soviet History

Electronic Repository for Russian Historical Statistics

Stalinka: Digital Library of Staliniana

Soviet Movies with English subtitles

Russia and Eastern Europe in Rare Photographs, 1860-1945 (New York Public Library)

Declassified Documents Concerning Russian President Boris Yeltsin

In Russian

Archives of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (17 volumes of declassified documents)

Levada Center (sociological research reports in Russian and English)

Documents of the Soviet Era (contains Politburo records 1919-1932 and files from the Stalin fund [RGASPI, f. 558]; some items/images can only be viewed with a Russian IP address) — see “How to navigate the Comintern archive in English” for tips on accessing English language sources

Memorial’s “Everyone’s Personal File” site (records on political repression in the Soviet Union)

Russian State Historical Library’s Electronic Collection

Russian State Library’s Electronic Collection (downloadable items have a green link next to them)

Stalin Digital Archive (requires institutional access or a paid subscription; offers access to the Stalin fund files and other secondary sources on Stalinism)

Kinoarkhiv Net-film (documentary and newsreel footage from the Soviet era)

Mosfilm’s YouTube channel (films from the Mosfilm studio, many with English subtitles)

Yegor Gaidar’s Archive (archival documents on Soviet economic history)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (documents on the Allies in WWII, relations with the UK, US, and French)

Prozhito (searchable collection of historical diaries)

Soviet Era Books for Children and Youth