This collection includes 1438 independent newspaper titles published from the late 1980s to early 1990s in the former Soviet Union and its successor states, including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and other regions and countries. The era of Perestroika (1985-1991) marked the final years of the Soviet Union and for the first time, freedom of information was encouraged by the policy of openness and transparency (Glasnost). This resulted in an unprecedented growth of independent publishing throughout the country, where previously the press had been tightly controlled by the communist-ruled state. The trend continued even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and new newspapers continued to emerge in the 1990s. Many of them were short-lived, but taken together, these publications represent an immense testimony to the value of freedom of the press and give a perfect snapshot of the intellectual life in the Soviet Union and its successor states in that period.
The bulk of the newspapers are in Russian, but they also include many titles in various other languages of the former Soviet Union as well as a few titles in English and Greek. The content varies widely from politics, nationalism, and business to culture, religion and leisure.
Click here to view the collection in our online catalogue, HOLLIS.
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