Russians hurl accusations at their victims in order to justify their own rancor; They...
"During his change of horse-relays, Turgenev asked to see Custine. There then ensued, presumably at the postal station, a most curious verbal exchange, the...
Russian ‘Czar’ title is of Oriental origin, – Marquise de Custine
"The princes who now possess this sacred asylum of oriental despotism call themselves Europeans, because they have chased the Calmucs, their brethren, their...
Devilish cruelty is the most striking feature of the Russian national character, – Maxim...
Maxim Gorky (1868 –1936) was a Russian and Soviet writer who was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1922, Gorky published the...
‘Russia, Prison of Peoples’ term was coined by de Custine in 1839
Marquis de Custine in his La Russie en 1839 coined the description of Russia as the prison of the peoples. Below are the quotes from...
The Russians of our times are the worthy children of the subjects of Ivan...
"The social, intellectual, and political state of present Russia is the result, and, so to speak, the resume, of the reigns of Ivan IV.,...
Veche Assembly of Kyiv Rus: Scandinavians had a similar tradition, Muscovites never did
Per Wikipedia, Veche was a popular assembly during the Middle Ages. The veche is mentioned during the times of Kyiv Rus and it later became a powerful institution in Russian cities...
‘Ignorant, superstitious, cunning, brutal, barbarous, dirty, mean’ – Dr. Clarke’s description of Russians 200...
"The picture of Russian manners varies little with reference to the prince or the peasant. The first nobleman in the empire, when dismissed by...
Voltaire described the effect of Muscovite Orthodox religion: Encouragement to Wickedness
Philip II of Moscow (1507 - 1569) Russian Orthodox monk, who became Metropolitan of Moscow during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. He was one of a few Metropolitans who dared openly to contradict royal authority, and it is widely believed that the Tsar had him murdered on that account.
George F. Kennan’s Essay on De Custine’s ‘Russia in 1839’: the Best Book about...
George F. Kennan (1904 – 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet...
Russian peasants are worn-out folks with emaciated faces, uncombed hair dressed in zipuns full...
In his 1898 short story “The Cossack Way,” Ivan Bunin writes: “I liked the khokhly very much at first sight. I immediately noticed the...