USSR Archives

History’s Greatest Misconceptions Debunked

by History Guild | Jan 16, 2025 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
From Napoleon being short to slaves building the pyramids, there are hundreds of common historical misconceptions floating around.
Sometimes deliberate propaganda attempts created by political enemies, and occasionally simple misunderstandings of the truth, people love to recite interesting facts and titbits about history, but not all of them are completely true.
Here are some of the most famous misconceptions about history you may have heard of, along with some surprising accurate revelations.

Why Gorbachev’s legacy still threatens Putin

by History Guild | Sep 8, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Little remains of the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader and one of the greatest reformers in Russian history.

The Story of the AK-47: The World’s Most Famous and Deadliest Rifle

by History Guild | Aug 8, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
The AK-47 is perhaps one of the most recognizable automatic rifles in the world. This simple gun, produced by Mikhail Kalashnikov, was initially intended to replace the somewhat ineffective weapons carried by Soviet forces. However, it quickly became the weapon of choice during most conflicts following the Second World War. But, how did this weapon become the most famous and deadliest rifle in the world?

ABUSE AND TENACITY: UKRAINE’S STRUGGLE FOR AUTONOMY

by History Guild | Apr 2, 2022 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 10 minutes
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has rightfully outraged and shocked much of the world; a war of aggression from one nation to another, this attack and occupation has been the largest such incursion into a foreign land since the Second World War. Indeed it has also created the displacement of nearly 4 million Ukrainians, leading to Europe’s greatest refugee crisis in 80 years.

The wild decade: how the 1990s laid the foundations for Vladimir Putin’s Russia

by History Guild | Mar 25, 2022 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
By securing victory in a national vote on constitutional changes, Vladimir Putin could now remain president of Russia until 2036 if he chooses to stand again. After 20 years in power, the narrative of Russia’s chaotic 1990s remains core to Putin’s legitimacy as the leader who restored stability.

Kazakhstan: A Story of Endurance

by History Guild | Jan 14, 2022 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
As protests erupt across the former Soviet republic, the world watches transfixed. How did Kazakhstan come to be the country it is today?

Cuba without Fidel: Five Years Later

by History Guild | Nov 25, 2021 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
For nearly 60 years, and for better or for worse, Fidel Castro was Cuba; at least he fancied himself as such, and the Communist Party which he largely governed with total control, never questioned this image. But what about the Cuban people? Did they really view Fidel as a “modern day Simon Bolivar”, and their one defender against American imperialism?