Russian Revolution, Civil War and USSR 1917-1991

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EuroDocs > History of Russia: Primary Documents > Russian Revolution, Civil War and USSR 1917-1991

Before the 1917 Revolution

Browse the site or search to view transcriptions from Russian and the Soviet Union.
(1900-2000; Russian transcriptions)
Letters and other various documents from 20th century Russia.
(20th century; Russian transcriptions)
Documents, images, audio and videos from Russian-Soviet history.
Project of Osteuropäische Geschichte der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and the Institut für Allgemeine Geschichte der Russischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Moskau)
(20th century; Russian transcriptions; German translation)
Witnesses affected by Soviet repression and deported to Siberia.
Ability to browse by person or by topic.
(20th century; Polish audio)
Digitized documents from the Federal Archive Agency.
(20th century; Russian transcriptions)
Memoirs and links to genealogical information on White Guard members.
(1900-1991; Russian transcriptions)
First-hand accounts of Lenin.
(19th century-1924; Russian transcriptions)
  • Russia in Early Photographs
"A number of albums include portraits of the Tsar or the imperial family; state occasions, military maneuvers, and relaxation at the imperial hunting lodge are all depicted."
The Russian Revolution
From the New York Public Library
(late 19th-early 20th century; photos)
Includes records of Stalin.
Also includes images of Stalin.
(1902-2005; Russian facsimiles, English interface)
Collection of Russian Literature.
(Russian)
Collection of communist documents from Soviet history.
(English)
  • General Census of Soviet Union
1926
1939
1959
1970
1979
1989
(1905-31 December 1918; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Documents of October Revolution, Civil War, Red terror, regional movement, and directives of RSDLP(b).
(1910-1919; Russian transcription)
Website of old digitized Russian newspapers. Specific browsers or software may be necessary to view documents.
(Russian; 20th century)
Manifestos, petitions and other political documents.
(20th century; English translation)
Documents from the life of Andropov.
(1914-1984; Russian facsimiles and photos)

Lenin

Includes documents from government investigations of individuals.
(1900-2000; Russian transcriptions)
Official demographic studies and statistics of the Soviet Union (USSR).
(1915-1991; Russian transcriptions)
  • A Day that Shook the World
Historical Footage: ”A Day That Shook the World recalls the days of the 20th century that proved to be era-defining and pivotal in the course of modern history. These are the days on which political revolutions, technological breakthroughs, and sporting triumphs took place, and whose effects were felt the world-over.”
Abdication of Tsar Nikolas 1917
Big 3 Meet at Yalta to Carve Up Post-War World 1945
Khrushchev Denounces Stalin 1956
Soviets Crush Hungarian Revolt 1956
Yuri Gagarin Becomes The First Man In Space 1961
Soviets Put Down Prague Spring 1968
Official End of the Cold War 1989
Soviet Coup Failed 1991
Yeltsin Crushes Political Rebels 1993
Coproduction of British Pathe and BBC
(20th century; English; videos)
The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
See also Lenin on His April Theses
(4 April 1917; English translation)
From the Russian History webpage
(June 1917; English translation)
By J.V. Stalin. "The most important of the events which hastened the October uprising were: the intention of the Provisional Government (after having surrendered Riga) to surrender Petrograd, the Kerensky Government’s preparations to remove to Moscow, the decision of the command of the old army to dispatch the entire Petrograd garrison to the front and leave the capital undefended, and, lastly, the feverish activity of the Black Congress33 in Moscow, headed by Rodzyanko — activity for organizing the counter-revolution. "
(October 24, 1917; English translation)
"Russian-language interviews with civilians, scientists, writers, church people or immigrants... [revealing life] for political prisoners in forced labor camps; for dissidents in psychiatric hospitals; for Catholics or Jews wishing to practice their faith" in the Soviet Union.
From the OSA Digital Repository.
Broadcasted by Radio Free Europe (Radio Svoboda).
(1917-1989; Russian, English, Lavtian, Lithuanian, and German audio)
This outstanding collection of exampls of Soviet-era propaganda is arranged chronologically from the Boleshevik Revolution to the Cold War arms race.
(English interface with Russian facsimiles)
From the Russian History Webpage
(1917; English translation)
  • Hanover Historical Texts - American Telegrams Regarding the Revolution
Telegram from the American Consulate in Sweden to the U.S. Secretary of State, March 17, 1917
Telegram from the American Consulate in Petrograd to the U.S. Secretary of State, March 20, 1917
Telegram from the American Consulate in Moscow to the U.S. Secretary of State, March 20, 1917
(English transcription)
Includes first-hand accounts of political repression in the Soviet Union (USSR), hit lists, archive materials, and official documents.
From Memorial society, an NGO and nonprofit.
(1917-1991; Russian facsimiles)
Lists political repression victims from the USSR.
Ability to browse by name alphabetically using alphabet on top of page.
Database includes over 2.6 million people. Data comes from regional memory books, copyright databases, state archives, and Memorial's archive materials.
Data includes name and name variants, birth date and place, occupation, arrest date, sentence, sentence date, verdict, and if applicable, dismissal date and dismissal reason.
From Memorial society, an NGO and nonprofit.
Raw data for the project found here.
(1917-1991; Russian interface)
Lists victims of state terror killed in Moscow during the Soviet Union (USSR).
Data arranged by place of residence person was taken from and killed (viewable on this map), rather than place of burial.
Database includes about 12,000 people, which Memorial estimates is only one third of the total number of people shot in Moscow on political charges.
This data is incomplete as there is no information about several thousand Muscovites shot and subsequently rehabilitated. Streets and addresses have also changed, especially after 1960 which has also contributed to this incompleteness.
From Memorial society, an NGO and nonprofit.
Victims sorted by burial site found here.
(1917-1991; Russian interface)
"There is an undercurrent of unrest however, and the shortage of food supplies tends to augment the discontent. Long bread lines stretching for blocks may be seen on every street."
(1917; English transcription)
Search the database of names.
Browse the database of names.
Includes names of Leningrad Siege victims.
Database includes name, birth date and place, occupation, sentence date and length, death date, and burial place.
(1917-1991; Russian interface)
Organized by region of burial.
Includes name, birth date and place, number of children, occupation, arrest date, conviction date, death date, and rehabilitation date.
From Memorial society, an NGO and nonprofit.
(1917-1991; Russian interface)
Includes a library with writings of leaders such as Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.
Also includes audio from speeches of communist leaders.
(1917-1953; Russian transcriptions and audio)
Documents from the Soviet Union unveiled after its collapse.
(Facsimiles; 1917-1991)
(1917-1931; Russian facsimiles)
Browse by year or by theme.
(1917-1991; photos, English translations)
Search and browse the Immortal Barracks here.
Includes facsimiles of photos, letters, and memories of victims of Soviet political oppression.
(1917-1991; photos, Russian facsimiles and interface)
The digital collection consists chiefly of summary transcripts of 705 interviews conducted with refugees from the USSR during the early years of the Cold War. A unique source for the study of Soviet society between 1917 and the mid-1940s, the HPSSS includes vast amounts of one-of-a-kind data on political, economic, social and cultural conditions.
(1917-1940s; English interface)
Graphs representing 1917 eating contest results, 'illustrating the relative appeal to Russian voters in 1917 of Bolsheviks and other leading parties."
(1917; English graphics and interface)
Manifest declaring Nicholas II's abdication of the throne. He was replaced by the provisional government.
(2 March 1917; Russian transcription)
Compiled by Alpha History.
(March 1917-November 1917; English translations)
First document of the Bolsheviks since they came to power.
Written by Lenin, declares that the provisional government set up by Nikolai II has been overthrown.
(25 October (7 November) 1917; Old Russian facsimile, modern Russian translation)
Lenin's decree on peace ending Russia's involvement in WWI. Published in Известие.
(English translation; 27 October 1917)
Russian Orthodox Church organizes its management after being released from autocratic control.
(3 November 1917; Old Russian facsimile, modern Russian translation)
Includes resolutions, data, and decrees.
(1 December 1917 - 19 August 1991; Russian facsimiles, English translations, Ukrainian interface)
Letter to Dzerzhinskii. The Foundation of the Cheka.
(19 December, 1917)
Documents from generals Karnilov and Denikin from their time in Southern Russian Empire.
(1917-1919; Russian transcription)
Government policy for obtaining grain from peasants.
(1917-1939; images, Russian commentaries and transcription)
Speeches and images of Trotsky.
Discussion of Trotsky's government activity.
(1917-1940; images, Russian commentaries and transcription)
This site accesses graphic representations of the electoral results of some constituencies in revolutionary Russia, illustrating the relative appeal to Russian voters in 1917 of Bolsheviks and other leading parties.
(1917)
Reports, telegrams, memorandums, and other documents about US-Soviet relations from the early days of the USSR to the Cold War (up to Cuban missile crisis).
Compiled by the Library of Congress.
(1917-1962; Russian and English facsimiles with English commentary)
Letters, memorandums, speeches, and other documents about Soviet programs (ranging from the Secret Police to Perestroika).
Compiled by the Library of Congress.
(1917-1990; Russian facsimiles with English commentary)
Compilation of documents dealing with the state and the party and the economy and society.
(1917-1953; German transcriptions)
Images of fighting and major people of the 1917 Revolution.
(1917; images, English captions)
Project hosted by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich which has key 20th century Russian and Soviet Union historical documents.
(1917-1991; facsimiles, German translations)
Firsthand account by Anatoly Lunacharsky
From the Lenin Mausoleum
(English translation)
Account by Countess Sophie Buxhoeveden, a lady-in-waiting for the Romanov family. Includes account of their murder.
(1917-1919, published in 1928; English translation)
RDRLP (B) calls for revolution of workers and peasants.
(1917; Russian facsimile)
(February and October 1917; Russian transcriptions)
Order to military of Russia that they obey only the Soviet.
(March 14, 1917; English translation)
  • Memoirs of the Kornilov Affair/Coup
From "Military Literature" memoirs.
Denikin's Memoir.
Kornilov's notes on reorganization of the army.
Speech by Kornilov.
(August 1917; Russian transcriptions with some secondary commentary)
Lenin declares rights for national minorities of Russia.
(November 15, 1917; Russian transcription)
(18 December 1917; English translation)
Also available in Russian.
(18 - 23 December 1917; English translation)
Collection of digitized materials selected from the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (HPSSS), consisting chiefly of summary transcripts of 705 interviews conducted with refugees from the USSR during the early years of the Cold War.
(1917 to mid-1940s; interview page images accompanied by text files, manuals and guides)
Posters designed by V. Lebedev for the windows of ROSTA, the state news agency of Soviet Russia.
From Dartmouth Digital Library Initiatives.
(1917-1922; color facsimiles and brief descriptions)
Transcriptions of Soviet laws from 1917-1918.
(1 December 1917 - 31 December 1918; Russian transcriptions)
Newspapers, political cartoons, autobiographies and other primary sources demonstrate women's education, employment, and overall roles in society.
(1917-1938; English translation)
From the New York Public Library
(1918-1922)
Written in 1918 at Brest-Litvosk during the negotiations between the new Soviet government lead by Lenin and Trotsky and the Kaiser’s army. The Russian front was falling apart with Russian soldiers evacuating the front in the face of a German onslaught. In order to save the situation and the collapse of the Revolution, Leon Trotsky, Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, was dispatched to the front to start these negotiations on behalf of the new revolutionary government.
(1918; English translation)
An Observers Account of Russia Before and During the Proletarian Dictatorship by Louise Bryant
From Marxists Internet Archive
(1918; English transcription)
(1 January 1918 - 30 June 1918; modern Russian translation)
Pavel Medvedev was a member of the squad of soldiers guarding the royal family. He describes what happened.”
EyeWitness to History
(1918; English transcription, photographs)
From the Russian History webpage
(1918; English translation)
Compiled by Alpha History.
(1918-1922; English translations)
Collection of 47 digital facsimiles of Soviet Era books.
From Collections at Princeton University Digital Library.
(1918-1938; Russian facsimiles)
Primary sources dealing with the first Soviet security organization.
Primary sources found by clicking "Primary Sources" on "Sections" menu, or scrolling towards bottom of page.
(1918-1929; English translations)
(6 January 1918; modern Russian transcription)
Decree by the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets, followed Lenin's "Decree on Land." Both decrees were superseded by the 1922 Land Code.
(February 19, 1918; English translation)
Treaty ended Russian involvement in WWI.
English version available here.
(3 March 1918; Old Russia transcription, modern Russian translation)
Includes resolutions, NKVD orders, and special reports.
(10 June 1918 - 25 January 1960; Russian transcriptions)
The executioner Yurovsky's account
From the Alexander Palace Time Machine
(1918; English translation)
Declared elimination of opponents to the Bolsheviks a necessity.
(5 September 1918; Old Russian transcription, modern Russian translation)
(December 1918; English translation)
Photo archives of a Canadian military expedition into Siberia.
(1919; images)
From the Anton collection.
(1919-1921; Russian transcriptions)
From New York Public Library's Digital Library.
(1918-1922; facsimiles of posters, placards and broadsides)
Documents from General Karnilov's time in the Southern Russian Empire.
(1918-1919; Russian transcription)
Documents about military communism.
(1918-1921; images, Russian commentaries)
(1918-1921; Russian transcription)
Budyonnny was a close ally of Stalin.
(1918-1922; Russian transcriptions)
Outlines archives centralization system and their transition under Soviet governance.
(June 1, 1918; Russian transcription)
Images, information, and quotes from documents regarding Saratov court cases of Orthodox priests.
(1918; images, commentaries, Russian transcription)
Lenin’s hanging order against the kulaks was sent to commissars in Penza, about 300 miles south-east of Moscow.
From Alpha History
(August 1918; English translation)
Documents discuss pro-German white movement in Western Russian Empire.
(1918-1920; Russian transcription)
Discuss conditions of factory workers: their salaries, education, health, as well as the equipment they used.
(1918-1932; commentaries, Russian transcription)
(1918-1991; images, Russian facsimiles)
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, for the one part, and Russia, for the other part, declare that the state of war between them has ceased.
From the Avalon Project
(1918; English)
(1919; English translation)
Vice Admiral Sir Francis Pridham...was the First Lieutenant of the HMS Marlborough, when it arrived in Yalta on April 7, 1919 under orders of the British Royal Navy to evacuate Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, sister of Queen Alexandra, and members of the Russian Imperial Family. He published his account of this historic event in his book "Close of a Dynasty"
From Alexander Palace
(1919)
Author's first-hand account of events during visit to Russia in February and March of 1919.
Includes description of Russian famine caused by the Civil War.
Includes author interviews with several prominent members of the Soviet government as well as ordinary citizens of Soviet Russia.
(February, March 1919; English transcription)
Includes documents from 1st Congress of 1919 to its dissolution in 1943. Also includes records from the Sino-Soviet split of 1956-1966.
Includes records of proceedings and speeches by party leaders.
(1919-1966; English transcriptions)
Various documents from the Comintern journal, including speeches and writings from party leaders.
Includes the old series (1919-1924) and the new series (1924-1926).
(1919-1926; English translations)
(24 January 1919; English translations)
By John Reed, an American who experienced the October Revolution firsthand.
(1919; English facsimile)
Documents discusses peasants' rebellion against communism.
(1919-1922; Russian transcription)
From the Hardcover edition: "Ferdinant Ossendowski, a cultured Russian doctor and writer, found himself on the run from the Bolsheviks during the Revolution of the 1920s. Setting his sights on reaching the safety of British India, he traveled across Asia, through a nightmarish landscape of battles, bandits and disease, forced to rely on his most basic survival instincts."
(1920s, English transcription)
Otto Ruhle accounts his feelings about the USSR and communism to the 3rd International congress.
(1920; English translation)
Documents discuss 1921-1922 famine, other regional problems, and RKP (b) policies regarding church, minorities, intelligentsia, and gulags.
Documents from Lenin's death discussing party leadership changes.
(1920-1929; Russian transcription)
Including treaties affecting the Hungarian border from the Treaty of Trianon to the Moscow Agreement.
Published by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, US Department of State
(1920-1945; facsimiles)
These were written starting shortly after Marie Feodorovna went to Denmark from England, after the rescue of her and Xenia and her family, including Prince Nikita on the HMS Marlborough in April 1919.
From the ALEXANDER PALACE TIME MACHINE
(1920-1921; English translation)
Trotsky's suggestions to the Army for combining military and labor duties.
(January 15, 1920; Russian transcription)
Trotsky's suggestions to the RCP (b) for land and food policy during military communism.
(February, 1920; Russian transcription)
Images, quotes from documents, and discussion of establishment of communism in Donbass.
(1920; images, Russian commentaries and transcription)
By Lenin's decision, the party banned factions and groups within the RCP.
(March 1921; Old Russian transcription, modern Russian translation)
Facsimiles of newspapers from the Kronstadt rebels, who fought against the new Bolshevik regime.
English translations of the newspapers available [1] here.
(7-17 March 1921; Russian facsimiles)
The best, first-hand account of the life of the last Imperial family of Russia was written by Pierre Gilliard, French tutor to the Tsar's children. Written to refute the the misleading and false books he discovered upon his return to Western Europe.
(1921; English)
Between Persia and the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic
(1921; English translation)
Between Russia and Turkey.
(16 March 1921; Russian transcription)
Communist party newspaper for city of Kronstadt.
(1921; Russian transcription)
Pravda o Kronshtadte is the work of many hands. It is also a key primary source for any discussion of the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921.
(English translation)
from Chapter 4. On Third Congress of Comintern
(English)
RKP (b) order replacing surplus grain tax.
Marks beginning of New Economic Policy (NEP).
(March 21, 1921; Russian commentaries, image, and transcription)
Documents discuss pharmaceutics and free trade during New Economic Policy (NEP).
(1921-1922; Russian commentaries and transcription)
Written shortly before his death, Lenin orders the party to remove Stalin.
(1922; English translation)
From Krupskaya's “Reminiscences of Lenin”
Translated by Bernard Isaacs

Stalin

Documents discuss Bolsheviks fight with Siberian political opponents.
(1922-1923; Russian commentaries and transcription)
Russian transcription here.
English translation here (also see agreement supplement here).
(16 April 1922; Russian facsimile, transcription, English translation)
This book was written by Julia "Lili" Dehn, who was a close friend of the last Empress of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna. She witnessed many of the most important events of the sunset years of the Romanov Dynasty.
(1922; English translation)
By Major-General Sir John Hanbury-Williams, chief of the British Military Mission in Russia
(1922; English transcription)
Formed the USSR, sparked debate about leadership of the Union.
(30 December 1922; modern Russian transcription)
Written by Anna Vyrubova, a lady-in-waiting and the best friend of Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna.
From the ALEXANDER PALACE
(1923; English translation)
Documents of the Communist Party including transcripts from meetings, resolutions, and speeches.
(2 November 1923 - 31 January 1955; Russian transcriptions)
Of the last French ambassador to Russian court
(1923; English)
(1924; image, Russian transcription)
Site contains numerous testimonies about death of Lenin and Stalin’s attitude about Lenin’s heritage.
(1924; transcription in Russian)
This document grants the Kremlin broad power to imprison anyone deemed socially dangerous.
(24 March 1924; Russian transcription)
Stalin expresses his personal opinion of Trotsky at a Soviet Trade Union conference.
(19 November 1924; Russian transcription)
Part of the JDC archives.
Includes memos and minutes from meetings.
(1926-1937; English facsimiles)
From Alexandra Kollontai’s The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman
From Marxists Internet Archive
(1926; English translation)
By Alexandra Kollontai. "The women who took part in the Great October Revolution – who were they? Isolated individuals? No, there were hosts of them...marching side by side with the workers and peasants behind the Red Flag."
From Marxists Internet Archive
(1927, English translation)
J. V. Stalin - Speech Delivered at the Tenth Sitting, Eighth Plenum of the E.C.C.I.
(24 May 1927; English translation)
(15 June 1927 - 3 December 1991; Russian transcriptions)
"Trotskyites" criticized CPSU foreign policy and supported workers.
(23 October 1927; Russian facsimile, transcription)
Collectivization of peasant farms and crops given in percentages.
(1927-1933; Russian facsimile)
A biography of the last Empress of Russia by her Lady in Waiting, Countess Sophie Buxhoeveden.
From the Alexander Palace
(1928; English)
Eyewitness accounts of collectivization policies in the Soviet Union (USSR), also includes biographical information about the eyewitnesses.
(1928-1940; Russian transcriptions)
(October 19, 1928; Russian transcription)
(November 19, 1928; Russian transcription)
Berzin's once-confidential discussion of Russian relations with Germany.
(24 December 1928; Russian transcription)
(20th century; English translation)
(July 27, 1929; Russian transcription)
Declares that Bukharin must "recognize the undeniable success of the Party" despite his predictions.
Also warns Rykov, Tomsky, and Ugarov not to associate with right-wing deviants.
(17 November 1929; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Documents discuss arrests, political accusations, and life in gulags.
Includes documents from Shalamov's life.
(1929-1953; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Documents discuss 1932-1933 famine, political repressions, and Soviet foreign relations.
(1930-1939; Russian transcription)
Primary documentation on the diplomatic relationship between the Soviet Union and the Chinese Republic.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1930-1991; English facsimiles and transcriptions)
From Leon Trotsky's memoir My Life. He recounts 1917 and his meeting with Lenin, his political friendship with Muralov, and the way ministers viewed soldiers as "so much soft clay to be moulded as they pleased."
From Marxists Internet Archive
(1930; English translation)
Soviet agency documents discussing Holodomor.
(January 1930-June 1934; Russian facsimiles)
Issued by Central Committee of Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
(January 5, 1930; Russian transcription)
(February 27 – May 30, 1930; Russian transcription)
Soviet posters from the early 1930s promoting the First Five Year Plan (1928-1932) for industrialization.
From the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library.
(1930-1932; color facsimiles and English commentary)
Claims success for collective farms.
Russian transcription also available here.
(2 March 1930; Russian transcription)
Letter written by Mayakovskiy before he committed suicide.
( April 30, 1930; images, Russian commentaries)
Includes quotes from witnesses of dispossession.
(1930; transcription in Russian)
The documents come from archives in many different Soviet bloc countries. They are mainly decision memorandums, descriptions, agreements, and reports. The collection includes mainly bilateral agreements for cooperation between Communist countries and domestic intelligence reports from Bulgaria.
(1930-1991; English facsimiles)
By Leon Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary and important Soviet politician.
From Marxists Internet Archive
(1930; English translation)
Cases of German arrests.
(1930-1941; Russian facsimiles and transcription)
Secret archives and family interviews from survivors of the Stalin Terror.
(1930s-1950s; Russian language with some English translations of: family archives, letters, diaries, personal papers, memoirs, photographs, artifacts, sound and video files)
Documents from court cases and discussing the repression, government orders, and personal letters.
(1930-1953; Russian transcription)
(March 19, 1931; Russian transcription)
Rules and results of Volga region collectivization.
(July 30, 1931; Russian transcription)
Documents discuss famine and cannibalism in Russia and Ukraine.
( 1932-1933; Russian facsimiles)
Quotes from documents and commentaries.
(1932-1933; Russian commentaries)
Red Ambassador to the Court of St James's. Exerts from the book available via preview.
(1932-1943; English facsimile)
By Leon Trotsky -- "Lenin’s last advice on how to organize the party leadership."
From the Marxists Internet Archive
(December 1932)
Document discusses repressions against priests and peasants.
(1933; Russian transcription)
(1933; Russian facsimile)
Resolution came about shortly after Stalin's assassination of Sergey Kirov.
(1 December 1934; Russian facsimile and transcription)
(December 1934; English translation)
Records from Stalin's attempt to create an alternative to Palestine.
Includes a map, an authorization document, propaganda posters, and video clips.
Click the number on the bottom right-hand corner to flip through panels of the exhibition.
(1934; images, English interface, Russian and Yiddish facsimiles)
Part of Soviet policy of collective security against Nazi Germany.
(2 May 1935; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Official USSR Baltic policy documents from the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD).
(1935-1945; Russian transcription)
The prosecution against Zinoviev, Kamenev, Evdokimov, Bakayev and others. A union took place between the Trotskyite and Zinovievite underground counter-revolutionary groups which formed a "united centre."
From the Marxist Internet Archive
(23 August 1936)
Many provisions of the constitution were ignored.
English translation available here.
(5 December 1936; Russian transcription)
Details from Spanish Civil War with counsel for the USSR.
(1936; Russian transcription)
The list of Leningrad citizens " subject to the court of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR."
Signatures featured on the cover are of Stalin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Zhdanov, and Molotov.
Use buttons on top of page to navigate the book's list.
(April 1937; Russian facsimile and transcriptions)
Stalin decides to eliminate "'enemy' social groups" and strike on general areas with rebellion.
(2 July 1937; Russian transcription)
Repression orders for arresting and exiling to gulags: kulaks, political dissidents, and other "anti-Soviet elements."
(July 30, 1937; Russian transcription)
By Leon Trotsky
(1937; English translation)
Yezhov's request to increase number of people for repression. Stalin proceeded to increase the numbers by more than Yezhov's request.
(21 October 1937; Russian facsimile)
Ayyub Baghirov's account of accusations, trials, and life in the Kolyma gulag and exile, which he was in from 1937 to 1955.
(1937-1955; English translation)
List of people court marshaled by USSR Supreme Court.
(1937-1950; Russian transcription)
Part of Yezhovschina, the Great Purge.
Includes interrogation and last plea transcriptions.
From "“The Case of the Anti-Soviet Block of Rights and Trotskyites”, Red Star Press, 1973, page 369-439, 767-779."
(5-12 March 1938; English translations)
A survivor on desperate hunger, the fight to survive – and why she fears Russians just want to forget. News interview.
(1940s; English transcription)
Full video of Josef Stalin's final public speech - delivered at the XIXth Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR on 14 October 1952.
(1952; Russian with English subtitles; video)

The Great Patriotic War (World War II)

Collection of documents related to WWII.
From the Avalon Project.
(1938-1947; English)
Ability to search, or perform an advanced search of the database.
Ability to view extracted text from book and to view original record facsimile.
Contains over 37 million records of dead, missing, returned from captivity, and previously thought missing soldiers.
Additional 11 million other types of records, especially from memory books with names of Soviet Union (USSR) political repression victims.
(1938-1947; Russian facsimiles and interface)
(1938-1947; photos, English interface)
Also includes territory treaty between Germany and Soviet Union for Poland, Baltic countries, Western Belarus, and Ukraine.
German transcription available here and here.
(23 August 1939; Russian transcriptions)
Includes documents, such as telegrams, that were kept secret at the time of the pact here and facsimiles of documents here.
(20 August 1939 - 10 January 1941; Ukrainian interface, Russian transcriptions, facsimiles)
(30 November 1939-14 March 1940; maps, English transcriptions, commentary, and bibliography)
Personal accounts from Spanish Civil War of a Russian volunteer.
(1939; Russian transcription)
Васильчикова Мария Илларионовна - Берлинский дневник 1940-1945
Diary of a White Russian princess who fled to Germany and was later in close association with those who attempted to assassinate Hitler. The diaries also give a rare glimpse at Hitler's destruction of European aristocracy.
English version available to purchase HERE
(1940-1945; Russian transcription)
(November, 1939 - March, 1940; Russian facsimile)
Orders, maps, and images from the war.
(November, 1939 - March, 1940; Russian facsimile)
Non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany, including secret protocol.
(English translation, August 23, 1939)
Documents from German Foreign Office archives.
US State Department publication.
(1939-1941; English translations)
Documents and agreements from the Avalon Project.
(1939-1941; English translations)
Written music, lyrics and recordings from many Soviet songs.
(English)
A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
(1939-1945; transcriptions and translations)
Official (mainly U.S.) government histories, source documents, and other primary references.
(1939-1945; English transcriptions and translations)
Documents the uneasy alliance between Britain and the USSR during WWII.
From the archives of the BBC.
(1939-1945; facsimiles, video and audio files)
Documents discuss post-World War II foreign relations.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(September 1939 to January 1957; English transcriptions and facsimiles)
All of the documents in today’s publication were the result of U.S. and British intelligence’s intensive efforts to interrogate defectors and other sources to expand knowledge of the progress and direction of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program.
From the Nuclear Vault: Resources from the National Security Archive's Nuclear Documentation Project]
(1957; English facsimile)
Communist leaders of China and the Soviet Union
From the Wilson Center Digital Archives
(1939 on; English translation)
Official Soviet government order to execute 25,000 Polish war prisoners.
(March 5, 1940; Russian facsimile)
World War II and post-war documents.
(1940-1949; Russian transcription)
In 1940, the United States condemned the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and refused to recognize the annexation of the three Baltic states.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1940-1966; English)
Testimonies about the massacre of Polish war prisoners.
(1940; Russian facsimiles)
Library with testimonies and accounts of the Katyn massacre.
(1940; Russian transcriptions and translations)
Most documents related to World War II (WWII), also called the Great Patriotic War.
Collections of digitized documents
Includes exhibits with digitized documents.
(1941-present; Russian facsimiles)
This collection reveals some of the pressures on the BBC as it sought to balance the wartime need for propaganda with unrestricted reporting of the news.
(1941; English audio)
This collection contains Soviet documents related to Soviet-Iranian relations, Soviet interests in Iran, and Soviet support for the separatist movement in Iranian Azerbaijan. In 1946, the Soviet Union sparked the Iran crisis of 1946, also known as the Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis, by refusing to relinquish Iranian territory occupied by Soviet forces during World War II.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1941-1973; English)
Documents of Stalin during his Soviet leadership.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1941-1962; English translations)
Site includes photos and accounts of Nazi atrocities in Russia, organized by region.
(1941-1945; photos, Russian transcriptions with commentary)
Letters.
Audio recordings of interviews.
(1941-1945; Russian facsimiles and audio)
(16 June 1941-31 May 1945; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Audio recordings from Soviet military officials, organized by last name, click on letters above photos to browse by last name.
(1941-1945; Russian interface and audio)
(22 June 1941; English translation)
Stalin attempts to explain foreign policy and military failures.
(3 July 1941; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Orders to exile Germans to Siberia and Kazakhstan.
(August 26, 1941; Russian transcription)
List of exiled families.
(1941; Russian transcription)
Includes quotes from documents and images of execution of the Jews.
(1941-1943; images, Russian transcription and facsimiles)
Database of interviews with Jewish people from Russia.
Includes facsimiles of official documents.
Explore the database by family name, city.
Advanced search here.
(photos, English transcriptions, Russian facsimiles)
Government directives, orders, and document about those lost in the war.
Personal cases of soldiers.
(1941-1945; Russian facsimiles)
Journals and letters about World War II.
(1941-1945; Russian transcription)
Names of those killed in the Eastern Front.
Search by name, birth year, or military title.
(1941-1945; Russian records)
Documents written by Vlasov and commentaries of his service in the Red Army and Wehrmacht.
(1941-1946; Russian facsimiles)
(1941-1942; Russian transcription)
Under this order, family members were subject to arrest and 5 years of imprisonment.
(1942; Russian transcription)
Records from Rzhev battles, known as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder," one of the most bloody battles in history.
Includes battle logs and memory books, in addition to secondary sources.
(8 January 1942 - 31 March 1943; Russian transcriptions)
Orders, personal documents, data, and images of the Battle of Stalingrad.
(July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943; maps, photos, facsimiles, transcription in Russian)
Report from Kuibyshev
From the archives of JTA
(6 November 1942; English transcription)
Moscow report on the situation with the Jews in Poland
From the archives of JTA
(6 November 1942; English transcription)
  • Important Soviet Directives for the Battle of Krasniy Bor
Directive from 2.1.1943, number 30034
"The directive of the Supreme Command from February 1, 1943 number 30034 commander of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts of strikes against enemy troops Sinyavinskaya."
Directive from 27.2.1943, number 30057
Directive from 7.3.1943, number 30066
Directive from 2.4.1943, number 30086
Directive from 2.4.1943, number 30087
(27 February 1943 - 2 April 1943; Russian transcriptions)
Here, Vlasov speaks to an assembly in Prague, November 11, 1944 just six months before he and his men would surrender to American forces, and ultimately be handed over by them to Stalin and execution
(1943; video; English subtitles)
Documents from the conference between the USSR, Great Britain, and the US.
(February 4-11, 1943; Russian transcription)
Documents from conferences between the USSR, Great Britain, and the US.
(1943, 1945; Russian transcription)
Declassified documents from an American intelligence program.
(1943-1980; English)
Cover of TIME Magazine
(1943; English facsimile)
(1944-1987; Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, French, Slovak, Bulgarian films)
Discusses the power struggle for Soviet leadership resulting from Stalin's death.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1944-1962; transcriptions and facsimiles)
National anthem of the USSR. Adopted in 1944 until 1991.
(Russian video; 1944)
Telegrams reporting the efforts of the movement.
(1944-1945; Russian facsimiles)
USSR document declaring war on Bulgaria.
(5 Septemeber 1944; Russian facsimile, Bulgarian interface)
(19 December 1944-August 1956; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Stalin's orders for deporting the Tatars, Bulgarians, and people of the Northern Caucasus.
(1944; Russian transcription)
Letters, treaties, memorandums, and other documents relating to Soviet nuclear development.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1944-1991; transcriptions and facsimiles)
Compilation of primary documents. Topics include: origins; Cold War Berlin; Red Scare and McCarthyism; waging the Cold War; Hungarian Uprising; U2 incident, Cuba and the missile crisis; Détente; ‘Second Cold War’; end of the Cold War
From Alpha History
(1944-1991; English)
  • Foreign relations between the USSR and the US
Documents from US State Department and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
1945
Hopkins mission to Moscow, 1945
Soviet resolutions on UN armed forces on non-ex-enemy territory 1946
US Antarctic policy and other countries' claims, 1946
1946
US policy for polar regions, including Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, and areas of Siberia, 1947
1947
1948
1949
1950
US trade policy with Eastern Europe and USSR, 1951
1951
1952-1954
US-Russia meeting about atomic policy, 1 May 1954
US State Department memo about USSR in regards to atomic policy
9 July 1954
3 November 1954
US-Soviet Atomic Relations 1953-1954
9 October 1953
6 December 1953
7 December 1953
21 December 1953
22 December 1953
29 November 1954
1958-1960
US establishes information and persons exchange with USSR, 1958-1960
1960-1963
Kennedy-Khrushchev exchanges, 1960-1963
U.S.-Soviet Space Cooperation, 1961-1963
1964-1968
January 1969-October 1970
October 1971–May 1972
June 1972–August 1974
August 1974–December 1976
(1945-1976; English transcriptions)
Book includes various accounts from Russian soldiers involved in the Battle of Berlin.
(16 April 1945 - 2 May 1945; Russian transcription)
This collection focuses on the ideals that formed the basis of American policy toward the Soviet Union during the early years of the Cold War. It includes many documents on Soviet foreign policy as well as photos and oral history transcripts.
(1945-1952; English PDFs)
"The best memoir to date of a Red Army soldier in World War II. It’s also rare in terms of the amount of detail it contains, the accuracy of that detail, and its unabashed candor." Selections available in PDF.
(English)
(8 May 1945; Russian transcription)
Includes links to digitized documents, including letters, journal entries, telegrams, etc.
(1945-1951; English; facsimiles)
Official agreement establishing an International Military Tribunal between the US, France, Great Britain, and the USSR.
For the "punishment and prosecution of the major war criminals of the European axis".
(1946; transcription)
Documents regarding the relationship of the Soviet Union with the United States during the Cold War.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1946-1991; transcriptions and facsimiles)
Documents on the international relations and foreign policy of the Soviet Union.
See also United States-Soviet Relations and the Warsaw Pact.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1946-2010; English and Russian; facsimiles or transcriptions)

Stalin Continued

  • Central Intelligence Agency Reports During the Cold War
CIA Analysis of the Soviet Navy
CIA Analysis of the Warsaw Pact Forces
Intelligence Warning of the 1957 Launch of Sputnik
Soviet and Warsaw Pact Military Journals
What was the Missile Gap?
In cooperation with Central Intelligence Agency
(1945-1960’s; English facsimiles)
Database search for orders and records of the KGB from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Enter country and hit search button.
(English interface with Russian-language documents; 1941-1991)
(1947-1960; Russian facsimiles)
This is a collection of primary source documents focusing on the difficult road to the establishment of the alliance between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
See also:
Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1950-1959
Sino-Soviet Split, 1960-1984
Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, 1969
Sino-Soviet Rapprochement, 1985-1989
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1947-1958; English)
Collections of primary sources found at the Avalon Project, including Soviet-American Diplomacy.
(1947-1991; English)
"Friendship Treaty" set by Soviet Union. Finland did not consider this a military pact, but this demonstrates the relationship between the neighboring countries during the Cold War period.
Treaty establishing military cooperation between USSR and Finland in case of "military aggression by Germany or any allied state with it."
"The treaty was the main vector in the foreign policy of Finnish presidents Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1946-1956) and Urho Kekkonen (1956-1982)."
Finnish transcription
English translation
(6 April 1948; Finnish, English, and Russian transcriptions and translations)
Documentary about testing the first Soviet nuclear bomb.
(August 29, 1949; Russian text)
Documents relating to relations between the Soviet Union and North Korea.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1949-1981; translations, transcriptions, and facsimiles)
Documents about situation in Hungary, with Pasternak, and with other economic and political issues in the USSR.
(1950-1959; Russian transcription)
Also known The Sino-Soviet treaty
(1950; English transcription)

Khrushchev

Many documents are related to or by Khrushchev, and many deal with the power struggle that arose between him and the "Ruling Troika" of Lavrentii Beria, Georgii Malenkov, and Molotov.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1944-1962; English)
  • Central Intelligence Agency Reports During the Cold War
CIA Analysis of the Soviet Navy
CIA Analysis of the Warsaw Pact Forces
Intelligence Warning of the 1957 Launch of Sputnik
Soviet and Warsaw Pact Military Journals
What was the Missile Gap?
In cooperation with Central Intelligence Agency
(1945-1960’s; English facsimiles)
Documents from the Wilson Center Digital Archive on the 20th-century competition for supremacy in spaceflight capacity between the United States and the Soviet Union.
(1946-1985; English, Italian; facsimiles or transcriptions)
A collection of primary source documents that discuss economic issues during the Cold War period. These documents are ...coming from Russian, Bulgarian, and Romanian archives. Topics broadly covered include issues of economic growth and dearth, requests for aid in light of shortages, and international trade issues
(1950s-1980s; multilingual facsimiles)
See also, Making of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945-1950; Sino-Soviet Split, 1960-1984; Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, 1969; and Sino-Soviet Rapprochement, 1985-1989.
(1950-1960; English)
Documents on propaganda and media control in the Soviet Union. The documents discuss Soviet attempts to control the flow of information, censoring media from both internal dissidents and external sources like the United States.
From Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1952-2007; English)
Collection includes reports, political cartoons, telegrams, and an address from Jimmy Carter.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1951-1980; English and Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Video about Stalin's death.
(1953; Russian text)
The CPSU soon decided to execute Beria, the head of Stalin's secret police.
(7 July 1953; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Declassified CIA documents analyzing Soviet (and Chinese) internal politics.
(1953-1973; PDF facsimiles)
Desclassified Politburo (Presidium) documents " from the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History and the Archive of the Russian Federation President."
Full reference: "The Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU. 1954-1964. Rough protocol recording sessions. Transcripts. Regulation. Volume 2: Resolutions. 1954-1958. / Ed. AA Fursenko. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2006."
From Russian Archives Portal Electronic Library.
Also see Regulations of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU: 1959-1964.
(1954-1958; Russian transcriptions)
These documents focus on aerial intelligence operations during the Eisenhower Administration. The documents date from November 1954 to September 1960 and provide an overview of the nature of the cold war atmosphere which existed during Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential years.
(1954-1960; English)
"26147 unique audio files that were produced and broadcast by RFE/RL’s Russian Service."
From the OSA Digital Repository.
(1953-1955; Russian audio)
Treaty of friendship and cooperation between Soviet Union and other communist satellite states in Eastern Europe.
(May 1, 1955; English)
Documents containing the thoughts and opinions of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev....The collection includes comments on Stalin, the post-Stalin Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and the 1956 uprisings in Poland and Hungary.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1955-1968; English)
Document about Stalin's oppression and personality cult.
Also available in Russian here, and in English English here.
(30 June 1956; Russian transcription)
”We join the CIA report as American agents listen to a microphone hidden in the ‘tap chamber’ where the underground Soviet cables have been spliced into.”
EyeWitness to History
(1956; English transcription, photographs)
The conclusion of a clash between Krushchev's reformist leadership and conservatives in the post-Stalin era.
(29 June 1957; Russian transcription)
Reports from Morris Childs, an FBI secret agent, about the Soviet Union. Morris met with Mao and Khrushchev on some of his missions.
(30 August 1957-13 March 1960; English facsimiles and transcriptions)
Memos, letters, and reports relating to the publish of Pasternak's controversial novel in Russian for the first time.
(1958; English facsimiles)
Agreements, reports of meetings, reports of negotiations, and plans for cooperation.
Also includes reports of joint measures carried about by Czechoslovakia and USSR.
(1958-1988; Czech and Russian facsimiles)
This collection provides a record of U.S. policy during the most prolonged U.S.-Soviet crisis of the Cold War era....Most of the documentation covers the crisis years but also includes events leading up to the crisis as well as developments in its wake.
(1958-1962; English interface; facsimiles)
Desclassified Politburo (Presidium) documents " from the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History and the Archive of the Russian Federation President."
Full reference: "The Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU. 1954-1964. Rough protocol recording sessions. Transcripts. Regulation. Volume 3: Regulation. 1959-1964. / Ed. AA Fursenko. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2008."
From Russian Archives Portal Electronic Library.
Also see Resolutions of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU: 1954-1958.
(1959-1964; Russian transcriptions)
Documents discuss USSR foreign relations and internal political changes.
(1960-1969; Russian transcription)
Hopes for a successful summit were dashed when an American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet air space. On the first day of the Paris summit, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev stormed out after delivering a condemnation of U.S. spy activities.
(1960; English facsimiles)
Video and information about shooting down the demonstration of the workers in Novocherkassk.
(1962; facsimiles, images, text in Russian)
60,000 Kazakhs and Uyghurs fled from Xinjiang in China's northwest into the Soviet Union. The incident both revealed and exacerbated tensions between China and the Soviet Union, leading to angry accusations on both sides.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1962-1965; English translations)
Documents about the Cuban Missile Crisis and resulting Soviet-American relations.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
See also Cuban Foreign Relations
(August 1961 to January 1968, mainly October 1962; English transcriptions, facsimiles)
With links to multiple other webpages providing primary documents on the event.
From the LibGuides at the Paul & Rosemary Trible Library
(1961-1968; English)
Documents from the National Security Archives
(1961-1989; English; PDFs)
Led to the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
(28 October 1962; Russian transcription)
Links to blog posts, which include further links to primary documents.
(1962; English)
Resolution number P164/I.
Marks the end of the Khrushchev Era and its "thaw."
(13-14 October 1964; Russian transcription)
Documents of the US State Department
(October 1964; English transcriptions of correspondence and memorandums)

Stagnation: Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko

  • A Day that Shook the World
Historical Footage: ”A Day That Shook the World recalls the days of the 20th century that proved to be era-defining and pivotal in the course of modern history. These are the days on which political revolutions, technological breakthroughs, and sporting triumphs took place, and whose effects were felt the world-over.”
Abdication of Tsar Nikolas 1917
Big 3 Meet at Yalta to Carve Up Post-War World 1945
Khrushchev Denounces Stalin 1956
Soviets Crush Hungarian Revolt 1956
Yuri Gagarin Becomes The First Man In Space 1961
Soviets Put Down Prague Spring 1968
Official End of the Cold War 1989
Soviet Coup Failed 1991
Yeltsin Crushes Political Rebels 1993
Coproduction of British Pathe and BBC
(20th century; English; videos)
  • Central Intelligence Agency Reports During the Cold War
CIA Analysis of the Soviet Navy
CIA Analysis of the Warsaw Pact Forces
Intelligence Warning of the 1957 Launch of Sputnik
Soviet and Warsaw Pact Military Journals
What was the Missile Gap?
In cooperation with Central Intelligence Agency
(1945-1960’s; English facsimiles)
Includes quotes from documents about economic reform.
(1965; Russian transcription)
Official documents about Leonov, the first man to spacewalk.
(March 18, 1965; facsimiles, images, text in Russian)
Documents about the Interkit organization that dealt with policies towards China.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1966-1988; transcriptions and facsimiles)
Documents regarding the Soviet response to the 1968 Prague Spring.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(28 February to 26 November 1968; transcriptions and facsimiles)
65 issues of magazine never officially published by dissidents.
Court cases, repressions, and problems for dissidents in the USSR.
(1968-1983; Russian transcription)
Selected Documents from Soviet-American Relations: the Détente Years, 1969-1972
(1969-1972; English PDFs)
Video about construction of Baikal-Amur Mainline
(1970s; facsimiles, text in Russian)
Constitution and foreign relation documents.
(1970 -1979; Russian transcription)
Documents from the human rights group.
(1970-1985; Russian facsimiles)
  • The Diary of Anatoly Chernyaev (1972-1991)
Chernyaev served as a Central Committee analyst until 1986, when he became Gorbachev’s top foreign policy adviser.
These diary entries offer a valuable look into Chernyaev life and perspectives.
1972, 1972 English translation
1973, 1973 English translation
1974, 1974 English translation
1975, 1975 English translation
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985, 1985 English translation
1986, 1986 English translation
1987, 1987 English translation
1988, 1988 English translation
1989, 1989 English translation
1990, 1990 English translation
1991, 1991 English translation
(1972-1991; Russian transcriptions, English translations)
SALT I documents from the State Department
Treaty between the Soviets and the US limiting offensive arms signed in Moscow.
Bans construction of ICBM launchers.
Includes protocol and treaty understanding.
(26 May 1972; English transcription)
Quotes about Solzhenitsin's condition in the 1970s.
(1973-1974; Russian transcription)
Includes human rights observations of Lyudmila Alexeyeva, founder of the Moscow Helsinki group.
Also includes human rights reports from other groups such as the US State Department and the CIA.
(4 July 1975-20 December 1992; English transcriptions and facsimiles)
Plans and protocols for coordination between the KGB and the VKR (Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior.
(1976-1989; Czech facsimiles)
The original prosecution, under Article 70 of the Soviet criminal code which banned anti-Soviet agitation, had found that Orlov’s protest letters about human rights abuses were 'slanderous fabrications defaming the Soviet government and social structure in order to undermine and weaken the Soviet state.'
See also, The Yuri Orlov File
(1976; English; PDFs)
Reports, briefings, and memorandums for Carter about various Soviet dissidents.
(10 February 1977-5 October 1980; English facsimiles)
Reports and briefings for Carter regarding Soviet situation.
(24 August 1977-29 October 1980; English facsmiles)
The U.S. documents provide support to what Amb. Thomas Pickering and Gen. William Odom formulated at the conference at Fort Lauderdale-that the Carter administration was deeply split on the issue of dealing with the Soviet Union, or even that there were two Carter administrations....On the Soviet side, there is much less evidence of any differences within the Brezhnev inner circle regarding relations with the Carter administration.
(1977-1980; English PDFs)
See also, Lessons from the Soviet Experience and Afghanistan and the Soviet Withdrawal
(30 April 1978-23 August 1990; Russian facsimiles)
US intelligence regarding the anthrax accident in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg).
(May 1979; English facsimiles)
Treaty between the Soviets and the US limiting offensive arms. Signed in Vienna.
SALT II documents from the State Department, 1972-1980
Treaty Protocol
Memo of Treaty understanding
(18 June 1979; English transcriptions)
This is a collection of primary source documents dating from 1979 to 1983 – during a period of confrontation and building tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. The documents in the collection come from Dutch, German, and Italian archives.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1979-1983; English interface)
Russian facsimile of document also available here and here.
(12 December 1979; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Handwritten document
(1979; Russian facsimile)
(28 August 1980-13 December 1981; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
  • The 1983 War Scare - "The Last Paroxysm" of the Cold War
Scroll down for primary sources
Part I
Part II
Part III
(1983; English PDFs)
Letters between Reagan, Gorbachev, Andropov, and Chernenko.
(23 August 1983-20 September 1988; Russian facsimiles and translations)
An "architect of perestroika." One of Gorbachev's closest advisers.
(20 October 1983-18 October 1991; audio recordings, Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Famous anti-soviet speech of Ronald Reagan delivered in Orlando, Florida.
(March 8, 1983; English)
Project RYaN was a KGB lead program to anticipate a "nuclear missile attack" (Raketno-Yadernoe Napadenie) on the Soviet Union.
Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1983-1989; English)
Not intended as a souvenir as such, it was a schedule of events so that all participants knew where to go and what to do.
From the ALEXANDER PALACE TIME MACHINE
(1984; English translation)

Gorbachev

Documents on the invasion of Afghanistan that began December 1979.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1968-2004; translations, transcriptions, and facsimiles)
"3,874 videos produced in Russian and eight other languages by Soviet Central Television (1985-1991) and Ostankino Television (1992-1994), and recorded by RFE/RL’s Monitoring Unit and successor agencies, totaling almost 840 hours of material portray[ing] different aspects of life in the Soviet Union and Russian Federation in the late 1980s and early 1990s."
From the OSA Archive Digital Repository.
(1985-1994; Russian, English, German, Ukranian, Polish, French, Hungarian, Kazakh, Japanese videos)
British & CIA Assessments, Presidential Letters & Summit Conversations Illuminate Perestroika and the End of the Cold War.
(1985-2014; English)
Record of special Politburo session in which Gorbachev was elected.
(11 March 1985; English translation)
Reagan expresses hope for an arms solution.
(11 March 1985; English transcription)
Yakovlev prepared this for Gorbachev. Analyzes Reagan and his proposal for a US-Russia meeting.
(12 March 1985; English translation)
Discusses future Afghan policy of the Soviets.
(14 March 1985; English translation)
The posting includes the 1985 Politburo minutes of Shevardnadze's surprise selection as foreign minister, contrasted with the behind-the-scenes account from senior Central Committee official Anatoly Chernyaev in his diary.
(1985; English; PDFs)
From National Security Archive
(1985; English; PDFs)
Perestroika and the Transformation of U.S.-Soviet Relations
(1985; English; PDFs)
Gorbachev discusses meetings with foreign leaders.
Gorbachev calls war in Afghanistan a "bleeding wound."
(15 March 1985; English translation)
(15 March 1985-28 December 1988; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
(4 April 1985; English translation)
(1985; Russian facsimile, video, and transcription)
  • Letters between Reagan and Gorbachev
Gorbachev's first letter to Reagan
Gorbachev accepts Reagan's invitation to meet.
(24 March 1985)
Reagan's response
(4 April 1985)
Reagan's second response
Discusses SDI and difficulties in US-Soviet relations.
(30 April 1985)
Gorbachev's response
Demonstrates Soviet distaste for SDI.
(10 June 1985)
(English facsimiles)
Post-Geneva letter from Gorbachev
(5 December 1985; English translation)
Reagan's post-Geneva response
(Early December 1985; English facsimile)
Previously unpublished documents from inside the Kremlin shed new light on how Soviet and American scientists breached the walls of Soviet military secrecy in the final years of the Cold War.
(1985-1987; English; PDFs)
Minutes from meeting where Shevardnadze was appointed.
(29 June 1985; English translation)
Various documents including transcribed conversations, security reviews, meeting notes.
(1985-1990)
Politburo discusses economic policy and denies Andrei Sakharov's wife permission to travel abroad for medical care.
(29 August 1985; English translation)
(September 1985; English facsimile)
(Fall 1985; English facsimile)
  • Records from the US-Soviet Geneva Summit
First private meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
First plenary session
Second plenary meeting
Mostly discussion of SDI.
Mrs. Reagan has Mrs. Gorbacheva for tea
Second private meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
The leaders discuss possibilities of nuclear reductions and weapons in space.
Dinner hosted by the Gorbachevs
(19 November 1985)
Third Plenary Meeting
Mostly discussion of SDI.
Fourth Plenary Meeting
The leaders discuss drafting a joint statement about the summit.
Mrs. Gorbacheva has Mrs. Reagan for tea
Dinner hosted by the Reagans
(20 November 1985)
Yakovlev's handwritten notes from Geneva
(19-20 November 1985; Russian facsimile)
Excerpt from Anatoly Chernyaev's Diary on the Geneva Summit
(24 November 1985; English translation)
Gorbachev's speech at Communist Party of the Soviet Union conference
Gorbachev discusses the Geneva summit.
(28 November 1985; English translation)
Yakovlev outlines a proposal to change the Soviet political system.
(25 December 1985; English translation)
Suggestions for national and party development. Report was read by Gorbachev.
(February 25, 1986; Russian facsimile)
Previously Secret Documents from U.S. and Soviet Archives on the 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit
(1986; English PDFs)
  • Preparations for the US-Soviet Reykjavik Summit
Gorbachev proposes a summit
Letter from Gorbachev to Reagan.
(15 September 1986; English translation)
Discussion of Reykjavik possibilities in a Politburo session
(22 September 1986; English translation)
Gorbachev discusses preparations for Reykjavik
From Anatoly Chernyaev's notes.
(29 September 1986; English translation)
George Shultz's memo to Ronald Reagan about preparing for Reykjavik
(2 October 1986; English facsimile)
Gorbachev's instructions to his group preparing for Reykjavik
(4 October 1986; English translations)
US National Security Council's analysis of Gorbachev's goals and tactics pre-Reykjavik
(4 October 1986; English facsimile)
Politburo session on preparations for Reykjavik
(8 October 1986; English translation)
Briefing book for US Secretary Shultz
(9-12 October 1986; English facsimile)
  • Records from the US-Soviet Reykjavik Summit
First meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
Translated from Russian transcript. See US memo here.
Second meeting
See US memo here.
(11 October 1986)
Missile negotiations between US and Soviet military officials
(11-12 October 1986; English transcription and translation)
Third meeting
See US memo here.
Final meeting
See US memo here.
(12 October 1986; English translations and facsimiles)
  • The Aftermath of the US-Soviet Reykjavik Summit
Lessons of Reykjavik, State Department Document
(12 October 1986; English facsimile)
Gorbachev's impressions of the Reykjavik Summit
From Anatoly Chernyaev's notes.
(12 October 1986; English translation)
US State Department summary of Reykjavik Summit
(14 October 1986; English facsimile)
Gorbachev sums up Reykjavik in Politburo session
(14 October 1986; English translation)
Politburo session discussing expelled Soviet diplomats
(22 October 1986; English translation)
Politburo session discussing new SDI stance
(30 October 1986; English translation)
Memo for Reagan Post-Reykjavik
Reagan grants permission to be briefed on objections not fitting in with Reagan's expressed objective to eliminate all offensive nuclear weapons.
(1 November 1986; English facsimile)
National Security Decision Directive Number 250
Signed by Ronald Reagan, this document outlines what would need to be done to eliminate all offensive nuclear weapons.
(3 November 1986; English facsimile)
Politburo discusses Shevardnadze-Shultz talks in Vienna
Shultz did not wish to discuss ABM treaty terms in Vienna.
Gorbachev: "we have not yet truly understood what Reykjavik means."
(13 November 1986; English translation)
Gorbachev talks to Chernyaev about Reykjavik
(17 November 1986; English translation)
Gorbachev conference with Politburo and Secretaries of Central Committee
Discussion of Reagan's decision to abandon SALT II treaty.
(1 December 1986; English translation)
(December 1, 1986; Russian facsimile)
Documents about the collapse of the Soviet Union and resulting changes in Eastern Europe and around the globe.
Part of the Wilson Center's Digital Archive of the Cold War.
(1986-1990; English transcriptions and facsimiles)
Conferences, orders, and resolutions for situation in Chernobyl.
(1986 - 2010, Russian transcription)
Investigation, data, and history of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
(English and Russian text)
Conversation took place during Council on Foreign Relations Moscow visit.
(4 February 1987; English transcription)
Analyzes Council on Foreign Relations visit from earlier that month.
(25 February 1987; English translation)
(26 February 1987; English translation)
Records of conversations and related Politburo meetings.
(30 March 1987-23 September 1989; English transcriptions and translations)
Agreement against German unification, encouragement on economic reform, and argument over nuclear abolition.
(1987-1989; English PDFs)
See the rejected draft here.
(10 April 1987; English facsimiles)
(14 April 1987; English transcription)
(16 April 1987; English translation)
A draft by Anatoly Chernyaev.
(May 1987; English translation)
(7 May 1987; English facsimile)
In which Reagan declared "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Delivered in West Berlin.
(12 June 1987; English transcription, video, images)
(13 June 1987; English facsimile)
Gorbachev announces that the Soviet Union has agreed to destroy its intermediate-range missiles in Asia.
(9 July 1987; English translation)
Previously secret Soviet Politburo records and declassified American transcripts of the Washington summit 20 years ago between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev show that Gorbachev was willing to go much further than the Americans expected or were able to reciprocate on arms cuts and resolving regional conflicts.
(1987; English PDFs)
  • State Department briefing papers for various negotiations with the Soviet Union
Nuclear and Space talks
Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
ABM Treaty Compliance Issues
ABM Treaty interpretation
(11 August 1987; English facsimiles)
At the ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the presentation of the order of Lenin and the gold star to the city of Murmansk
(1 October 1987; English)
English translation
(28 October 1987; Russian facsimile, English translation)
(10 November 1987; English facsimile)
A memo by Robert M. Gates.
(24 November 1987; English facsimile)
A memo from Abramowitz (head of State Department’s intelligence and research bureau) to Secretary of State Shultz.
Speculates summit agenda "wild cards."
(28 November 1987; English facsimile)
  • Records from the US-Soviet Washington Summit
Memo of first conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Memo of second conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Record of first conversation between Akhromeev and Nitze at the State Department
(8 December 1987; English facsimiles and transcriptions)
Memo of third conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Draft memo of fourth conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Record of second conversation between Akhromeev and Nitze at the State Department
Record of conversation between Akhromeev and Carlucci at the Pentagon
(9 December 1987; English facsimiles and transcriptions)
Draft memo of fifth conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Memo of sixth conversation between Gorbachev and Reagan
Record of conversation between Akhromeev, William J. Crowe, and Joint Chiefs of Staff members at the Pentagon
(10 December 1987; English facsimiles and transcriptions)
  • The Aftermath of the US-Soviet Washington Summit
Summary of Shultz's briefing about the Washington Summit to the North Atlantic Council
Telegram says Washington summit “has taken us a gigantic step forward” on strategic arms.
(12 December 1987; English facsimile)
Chernyaev's memo to Gorbachev about the Washington Summit
(16 December 1987; English translation)
Gorbachev's presentation of the Washington Summit to Politburo
Gorbachev says that the Washington Summit built US-Soviet understanding more than than Geneva or Reykjavik summits.
(17 December 1987; English translation)
From the archives of The New York Times
(1988; English translation)
Previously secret Soviet documentation shows that Mikhail Gorbachev was prepared for rapid arms control progress leading towards nuclear abolition at the time of his last official meeting with President Reagan.
(1988; English PDFs)
(22 February 1988; English transcription)
Gorbachev briefs Politburo of his conversation with Shultz.
(25 February 1988; English translation)
Gorbachev briefs Politburo of his conversations with U.S. Elf-lords Sam Nunn and Carl Levin and talks between Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci and Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov.
(10 March 1988; English translation)
Gorbachev briefs Politburo of his conversations with Americans.
(21 March 1988; English translation)
(29 April 1988; English transcription)
  • Records from the US-Soviet Moscow Summit
First one-on-one meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
(29 May 1988; English facsimile)
First Plenary Meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
(30 May 1988; English facsimile)
Reagan's meeting with monks at the Danilov monestary
(30 May 1988; English facsimile)
Second meeting between Shultz and Shevardnadze
(31 May 1988; English facsimile)
Second meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev
(31 May 1988; English facsimile)
Agreements concluded at Moscow Summit
(31 May 1988; English facsimile)
Full list of attendees at Reagan's reception for refuseniks/dissidents during the Moscow Summit
(1 June 1988; English facsimile)
Moscow Summit Human Rights meeting
Includes discussion of concerning cases of human rights in the USSR.
(1 June 1988; English facsimile)
Gorbachev's reaction to Reagan's visit
From Anatoly Chernyaev's notes from a Politburo session.
(6 June 1988; English translation)
State Department's Brief on the Moscow Summit
Document summarizes the condition of the Soviet Union: "this is a time of great ferment in the Soviet Union, and it showed."
(8 June 1988; English facsimile)
Excerpt from diary of Anatoly Chernyaev
Chernyaev's discussion of the Moscow Summit demonstrates that it was not a high Soviet priority.
(19 June 1988; English translation)
Arbatov's analysis of the Moscow summit for Gorbachev
(June 1988; English translation)
From the meeting of Mikhail S. Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan. Meeting regarding arms limitations
From the American Presidency Project
(1 June 1988; English)
Requirements of the liberties and democratic changes.
(June 5 and 12, 1988; Russian facsimile)
Resolution allowed for citizens to elect representatives to the councils. Markerd a turning point for democracy in Russia.
(28 June - 1 July 1988; Russian transcription)
(18 September 1988; English translation)
Gorbachev meets with his advisers to draft a UN speech. He desires to alleviate Western security fears and declare a new world order, one without an Iron Curtain.
(31 October 1988; English translation)
Chernyaev observes that Gorbachev is "clearly nervous" about the radical nature of his speech.
(3 November 1988; English translation)
Chernyaev suggests that though the military was not involved in UN decision making, Gorbachev present initiatives to co-opt the military as much as possible.
(10 November 1988; English translation)
Analysis after Gorbachev's surprising UN speech.
(November 1988; English facsimile)
(7 December 1988; English facsimile)
(7 December 1988; English transcription)
Document about 1930-1935 repressions in the USSR.
Was classified.
(December 25, 1988; Russian transcription)
Yakovlev's account of conversation.
Matlock assures Yakovlev that the new H.W. Bush administration would continue US policies for the USSR.
(26 December 1988; English translation)
Gorbachev objects to public announcement of numbers being cut so that the public will not learn the size of Soviet military expenditures.
(27-28 December 1988; English translation)
  • Footage: Gorbachev and US Politics
Video documentation of the conventions between the USSR and USA leaders
Gorbachev & Reagan Summit: Washington DC 1987
Gorbachev & Reagan Summit: Moscow 1988
Gorbachev & Bush Summit: Washington DC 1990
From AP Archive
(1988-1989; English; videos)
Collected primary documents from the end of the Cold War.
(1980s; English)
A compendium of National Intelligence estimates and assessments
(1989-1991; English facsimile)
Documents from behind the Iron Curtain, released by the National Security Archive
(1989; English)
Order to stop blocking foreign radio waves in Lithuania.
(January 23, 1989; Russian facsimile)
(April 1989; English facsimile)
Agreements and protocol between the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the State Security Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
(30-31 August 1989; Russian and Czech facsimiles)
(23 September 1989-14 November 1989; Russian transcriptions)
Recommends that Reagan encourage US trade with Soviet firms.
(14 November 1989; English facsimile)
(17 November 1989; English facsimile)
President George H.W. Bush approached the Malta summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...determined to avoid arms control topics and simply promote a public image of "new pace and purpose" with him "leading as much as Gorbachev"; but realized from his face-to-face discussions that Gorbachev was offering an arms race in reverse, according to previously secret documents.
(1989; English PDFs)
1989 US Assessment of the Soviet Union for the next two years.
(18 November 1989; English facsimile)
Assessment of Gorbachev's priorities at Malta.
(29 November 1989; English facsimile)
Documentation of communications between Helmut Kohl, George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev leading to German unification plans.
(November-December 1989; transcripts, memoranda, telegrams and phone records)
Excerpts from George H.W. Bush's briefing book for US-Soviet Malta summit with Gorbachev.
(2-3 December 1989; English facsimile)
(2-3 December 1989; English translation)
(3 December 1989; English translation)
(5 December 1989; English translation)
Suggests rehabilitating the repressed of the 1930s-50s.
(December 11, 1989; Russian transcription)
Digital library: Footage of events happening around the Soviet Union at the time of the fall
Compiled by AP Archive
(1989; English and other languages; videos)
(2 January 1990; English translation)
(14 March 1990; Russian facsimile and transcription)
  • Documents from the National Security Archives
Soviet Origins of Helmut Kohl's 10 Points
Prague Communists Called for Wall to Open on November 8, 1989
Conversation between James Baker and Eduard Shevardnadze
Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and James Baker
Conversation between Robert Gates and Vladimir Kryuchkov
Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl
Multiple similar documents found HERE
(1989; English facsimiles)
(11 May 1990-15 June 1990; English facsimiles, translations, and transcriptions)
Resolution of the 3rd All-Union Conference of the Society, on the lack of confidence in the policies of the
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union [CC CPSU] M.S.

Gorbachev

(28 October 1990; English)
Internal documents reveal that in the final years of the Cold War the top leadership of the Soviet Union debated the cover-up of their illicit biological weapons program in the face of protests from the United States and Great Britain.
(1990; English PDFs)
Was to be signed on 20 August 1991 in an effort of the Emergency Committee to preserve the USSR.
(15 August 1991; Russian transcription)
Outlines Emergency Committee's plans for reform.
(18 August 1991; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Records include report on Chernobyl, Gorbachev meetings with Mitterrand and Bush, and Gorbachev appeal for international aid in 1991
(1991; English PDFs)
(19 - 21 August 1991; English translations and transcriptions)
First person accounts and documents from both sides of barricades.
Use left navigation bar to browse various accounts from the failed August 1991 USSR coup.
Compiled and edited by Anya Chernyakhovskaya, Dr John Jirik and Nikolai Lamm.
(19 - 21 August 1991; English translation)
Reports of coup attempt from TASS, the Soviet news agency.
Read more about the transmission capture method, which includes decoding errors, here.
(19 - 21 August; English translation)
(19 August 1991; Russian transcriptions)
Journal from witness of the putsch in August 1991.
(19 August 1991; Russian transcription)
Accounts of unsuccessful Soviet coup.
(August 1991; audio only)
(24 September 1991-17 December 1991; Russian facsimiles and transcriptions)
Belavezha Accords. Plan between Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to create a Commonwealth of Independent States upon the collapse of the USSR.
(8 December 1991; Russian facsimile and transcription)
Treaty officially recognizes collapse of the USSR and an organization of a new Union of the independent countries of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.
(December 10, 1991; Russian transcription)
Documents Show U.S.-Soviet Cooperation on Regional Conflicts in 1991. Gorbachev Decries Lack of Western Aid to Support Perestroika.
(1991; English PDFs)
News covered in the December 25 broadcast included the resignation of Soviet President Gorbachev, who outlined the reasons for his resignation in a videotaped message to the country. Translation from the Russian was by voiceover.
From C-SPAN
(25 December 1991; video)

EuroDocs > History of Russia: Primary Documents > Russian Revolution, Civil War and USSR 1917-1991

EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: Hacken @ byu.edu
With special thanks to Natalya Georgiyeva and Marren Haneberg for their help with this webpage.

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