I’m English and was in Moscow in 1987. What I remember was ‘trying’ to spend 48 Roubles! I had sold a pair of Levi jeans and U2 t-shirts. I ended up buying 6 bottles of Russian champagne in hotel’s rouble bar on the last night, just to get rid. An American guy in our hotel had 120 roubles in his possession. God only if he spent them in time. Probably treated half of Moscow to free ice cream or ended up binning the notes at Sheremetevo!…..
Ya even in the mid 90s you weren’t allowed to leave Russia with rubles. Most places at that time gladly accepted dollars. Basically you only exchanged what you needed
@@ivanexell-uz4mv that is just disinformation from the capitalist west. It was his team’s policies that ended hundreds of years of regular famines, plus sabotage, sanctions, destructions from the imperialist collective west (which included Japan) after 1917. The metrolines were built in the 30s, after backward Russia rose from the ashes of the civil war and the invasion of 14 powerful imperialist countries. Communism is “evil” one always has to do something to discredit it.
Then Soviet Architecture was also adapted in Modern Architecture due to it's minimalistic design and easily to build and one of the example is the modern house.
Quite a twist how it became quintessentially capitalist for a class that just needed something built cheaply for worker drones, while old capitalist class architecture felt owned and made a statement that was owned by owners through richly ornate facades and internal design. 1890s NYC v 2020s NYC. Broadstreet before and After on Ribbit.
I guess the 80s was loved by everyone, even US and USSR would agree to that. Edit: woah after reading all of the comments. I was waaaay wrong. Sorry guys
I love documentaries from the old days, no matter the subject. I watched one last week about turpentine distillation in the 1950's. It was fascinating to see how they did it. I'm glad I found your channel, you seem to have a lot of very cool material like that. Cheers, friend! ✌️
My Grandma is from Moscow and worked as an economist for the Soviet government’s fat industry. We both live in New York now, but I am watching this video to get a picture of what life was like for her during this time.
A wonderful historical coverage video and valuable historical memories about (Moscow)in former Soviet prospective...(Mike Guardia) channel always sharing excellent documentaries....thank you for sharing ....
@@Sibyltec Gorbachev restored capitalism, the rest is history. 1956 is when the Krushchev took power and ventured on a long road of quite frankly anti-Communist policies.
@@studytime2570 Well that was my point. The whole tone of it felt like something from the 60s rather than the late 80s, as did the rather grainy and 'washed out' look of the video itself.
It's a thousand year tragedy. There's little to be proud of, mostly just things to be horrified at. The USSR was the golden age, but that's still not saying much.
Really a melancholy thing to watch. The USSR fell and any hope of improvement rather vanished. No reforms, no making right of the many, many past wrongs, just a bunch of bitter, still corrupt, impoverished former republics and a USA with no real pressure from anyone to hold back.
Russia improved greatly under Putin. Thanks to Western sanctions designed to cripple Russia, Russian economy is now the world's 4th largest on PPP terms.
Putin made many reforms after the drunk Yelstin and oligarchs robbed the country. There was only so much he could do. We are still fighting for our power, now in Ukraine in a proxy war against NATO. Making right of past wrongs is not how a country grows. That’s how a country destroys itself. Look at the UK. Has America made right on any wrongs?
Also, many people do not wish to move to the US or even go back. My Dad and the entire side of his family recently moved back to Moscow from America. I’m staying in New York because I’d have to do the draft and I don’t want to fight in any war - it’s not something I support. I believe if more and more people refused to fight we can help stop wars. But I do not support Ukraine or NATO or America either, they are no better. I am against most governments today in my own views
but if I were to have kids I would move to Russia to raise them there, no way I want modern woke idealogy to destroy and brainwash them like in America
@@Sibyltec "My Dad and the entire side of his family recently moved back to Moscow from America." Yikes. USA may suck, but going back to _Russia?_ Idk about that one chief. As for Ukraine and NATO, sure, they ain't perfect, but the fact of the matter is that it needs to be proven that wars of conquest aren't something acceptable anymore and not something you can just get away with. Ukraine may not need to win, but Russia certainly needs to lose.
Gorbachev's soviet union should've stayed, he was starting to democratise it and make it more free but then yeltsin got rid of him and russia became a dictatorship again :(
Горбачев начал убивать весь смысл советской идиологии, сделал очень много ошибок, разорил страну, сделал ужасный дефицит, сильно разоружил страну, поддержал развал Варшавского договора, и это даже не половина. Ельцин тоже правил ужасно, так сказать пропил страну. Лучше жить в как вы называете "диктатуре" но с полными полками в магазинах, регулярными зарплатами, не мизирным ввп чем "демократии" когда товаров на полках нет, во власти одни бандиты, президент пропивает страну и зарпллаты не платят месяцами
That's the point , with the policies Gorbachev implement Soviet union was tend to break awak. People lose confidence in country because of exposure to prosperous west , otherwise they would have continued well rather then having a turmoil. (Pardon me if there's any mistake I am not native English speaker)@@NoxTheXelor
the thumbnail to this is incredibly badass and does not faithfully represent the video. the video is a boring entry-level beginners guide for the everyday average 80s Joe who wants to know what the fuss is about this Russia character.
The type of film/video tape, background music, narrators voice doesnt = 1988. More like 1978! I wonder if this was created in the 70s and released (or re released) in 1988???
@@thedictationofallahno tf they weren’t, you can talk to anyone who’s been there in the 80s ( that didn’t visit just moscow) and they will tell you it’s not a pleasant place. i’m pretty sure your the one falling for propaganda.
Just to correct it a bit Moscow was taken by Kingdom of Poland, and was under Polish rule for about year long before Napoleon or Hitler failed attempts..btw Today's Russia have 1 of national Bank Holidays dates on ocasion to get rid of Polish occupational forces from Moscow..
LOL, you paid for this occupation of Moscow with your state. Sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth go brrrr. But you continue to enjoy the two-year occupation of Moscow ;)
Introduces functions of capitalism and decreases beauracratic/security apparatus while engaged in a cold war. Collapses a few years later. Collapses so hard that the last leader ends up in a pizza hut commercial taking sponsorships from the US. The music is warped btw, not sure why either but contrary to the Western audience's beliefs during the late 1980s Russian music did not sound like horror music.
@otakardoubrava9679 You should add a note that says that. Viewers are going to assume people that lived in the East have a warped sense of musical taste.
Central planning had resulted in the USSR being stagnate industrially in the latter portion of its existence. The liberalization of the 80s was neither immediate nor comprehensive enough to compensate for the shortfalls of central planning. The USSR did not collapse because of (attempted) liberalization, it collapsed because the top-down method of economic coordination that it employed did not produce desirable results.
@user-gy1bu9gf8l This is factually incorrect on a multitude of levels. First off a capitalistic economy is naturally going to prioritize the economy itself, and all forms in which it is measured. Up until the 70s the Soviets were directly competing with US GDP growth rates and were outpacing ppp. Secondly the Soviets did reach some form of liberalization as they had been transitioning to a mixed economy, the following decades after making the efforts to implement this, living standards in the former USSR states plummeted below 19th century levels. How do you suppose macroeconomics caused their collapse? Please expand on this. This is a minimal effort response, one could as easily comment and say, "their downfall was directly attributed to not maintaining a command economy, allowing privatized business to take advantage of low risk, non competitive markets" Didn't work because "it didn't produce desirable results" Do you know what's also not conducive to economic growth and QoL, coups in your country, and allowing the private sector to supersede the economy and control basic services and goods that would always have high demand but now doesn't have regulation or even price capping.
@@user-rg6ix2iz6z > Up until the 70s the Soviets were directly competing with US GDP growth rates and were outpacing Of course the Soviets matched the US in terms of growth (never mind that the quality of the growth in the USSR was lower) as the complexity of their economy was lower than the US' to begin with. Another factor behind this growth was oil prices, which propped up the otherwise stagnate Soviet economy. > ppp ppp is a useless metric for a planned economy. Nice try though. > transitioning to a mixed economy Words have meanings. You are using the word "mixed" incorrectly here. At no point (aside from the 20s) was the Soviet economy ever "mixed". > living standards in the former USSR states plummeted below 19th century levels. What you say is laughably false. The only time when the Soviets made any sort of serious attempt at a mixed economy was in the 20s, which resulted in economic stabilization after Lenin's disastrous policy of nationalization left the economy in ruin. > How do you suppose macroeconomics caused their collapse? Very simply the economic situation increasingly become more unsatisfactory for the populace, and so the suppression of their freedoms became all the more glaring (such is beginning to happen in China). > allowing the private sector to supersede the economy and control basic services and goods that would always have high demand but now doesn't have regulation or even price capping. Worked in Poland and the Baltic states where they made a much more comprehensive attempt at liberalization than Russia.
It's hard to tell. Mausoleum not guarded anymore. There's alot political parties, but only one really rules everything. And that party not forbids, but forces all the hell of religions instead and suppress atheism. Army is no longer that important for government as it was. Governmant is not that easy on simple people. But stores and supermarkets are full of food and clothes. No queues.
@@FedotDaNeTodYou can say that there is only one party in Russia,cause others are either too weak to give any competition to United Russia,or are just puppets of United Russia.
@@user-zv9zc9bc2y kinda both. Other parties were supressed in early 00's. And now they just pretending they are real parties because they even stopped to send most strong/famous candidates to presidential election. This was actually started in Yeltsin times, when he fabricated results of 1996 election. So this "President" just improved practice of his predecessor. United Russia isn't real party as well. It's just bunch of persons the dragging any law that President wants through the parliament. United Russia also don't send their candidate on election. Putin always goes as independent candidate.
I was born in Estonian Soviet Republic. I’ve been to Moscow once in 2007. It was nice actually. Drinking alcohol and smoking was not a problem for us the children. City was many times bigger than my home country. It’s funny how we grew apart over the years. We made new friends with the other countries and Russia became the villain. Nowadays I would not go to the place again. I’ve got no love for these people and their government. Disappointing bunch of liars and traitors. Collective guilt is what they have for all those people they have killed and dreams they have destroyed. One day they fall. Better sooner rather than later
Why "villian" isn't sanctioned by China,India Brazil,Chile,Argentina,Africa,and rest of the world?People who live in weat sphere of propaganda lives in different reality for sure
I don't wonder why this "documentary" seems to only show areas of Moscow that were the prerogative of the privileged few or their family and underlings.
Kind of ironic ..there was more freedom in 1988 Moscow than 2023.....anyone imagine Putin out in red square chatting to everyday people like Gorbachev did....its sad to see what Russia has become, and what might of been.
Yeah, and it lead to total destruction and 2 decades of unimaginable suffering for most people in USSR, not just physical but also spiritual and mental, loss of identity, loss of community, loss of meaning of life. Putin is the direct consequence of these mindlessly dogmatic policies and actions that didn't account for the actual human needs and favored theoretical ideologies about what must work
Мужик, тут люди яйца себе на красной площади прибивают к брусчатке, где ты видишь какую то жуткую несвободу? Если она для тебя измеряется тем, что какой то мужик из власти должен выходить на улицу с кем то поболтать, то мне очень грустно за то, как у тебя нагажено в голове
@@dingus6317 the Soviet Union was illegally and undemocratically dismantled by capitalists, the many citizens of all republics democratically voted for the Union to remain, however; Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and many other capitalists influenced by, mainly, Washington D.C., dismantled the Union bringing about the worst period of economic crisis since the civil war - what the western media called "market's springing up due to natures call for the free market" was families selling their entire lives away because they now couldn't afford to live due to the major economic crisis cause by "shock therapy" where essentials to life were now privatized, where all industries were privatized and sold off to whom are now oligarchs in an economic model built for Russia by the US themselves - and with this economic model of profits above all, we have seen the; Russian invasion of Georgia. Russian invasion and meddling in Ukraine. Russian meddling and halting protests in Kazakhstan. Russian paramilitaries influencing right-wing coups. Russia banning the LGBT and left-leaning ideals. Russia has gone far-right much to the appraisal of US companies and government whom WANTED this to happen to justify excessive military spending and the opening of foreign markets to exploit the people of more nations. What you call "strong people" we call "strong government who silence the voices of the working class". Do not comment on us if you don't want to hear the voices of the people you claim to know.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ TROLL BOT WARNING. The Soviet Union was so great, all of its states and those of the Warsaw Pact ran into the arms of NATO to ensure Russia would never be able to enslave them again.
@@paul_ko It was still better than modern day Russia. At least in USSR a person feels hope for the wonderous future. In oligarchic Russia, there's only hope that the corrupt government and even more corrupt oligarchs all magically disappear in one day, with people who actually care for the common folk take charge of the country.
Shoigu is Tuva ingigenous person, the mayor of Moscow Sobianin is Hanty from Siberia, Lavrov is half Armenian, to name the least, most current Russian tycoons and generals belong to many ethnical minorities. Just because you segregate in your own country it should not be so overseas.
The arms race with the U.S. certainly was a factor. However, the Soviet economy was being asked to prop up many satellite states like Cuba, which put a burden on the already struggling economy. The cost of the war in Afghanistan and the nuclear accident at Chernobyl were a factors as well. Mostly, people just wanted out of the communist system. They weren't blind. They could see the economic successes of western European nations and wondered why they also didn't have such luxuries.
@@texaswunderkind not the people but the elite. people barely knew what capitalism is due to iron curtain. but elite wanted to bring capitalism and live like western elite.
