Moscow News (pub. 1930-2014) was the oldest English-language newspaper in Russia and, arguably, the newspaper with the longest democratic history. From a mouthpiece of the Communist party to an influential advocate for social and political change, the pages of Moscow News reflect the shifting ideological, political, social and economic currents that have swept through the Soviet Union and Russia in the last century.
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In its early years,
Moscow News largely served as yet another weapon in the Soviet Union’s propaganda arsenal. However, starting in the 1980s, Moscow News flourished into an influential independent resource and a strong proponent of Gorbachev’s policies of
glasnost and
perestroika. The newspaper became a platform for advocates of radical reform, as well as a forum for discussing traditionally taboo subjects, such as the repressions and show trials of the 1930s, the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by Soviets (not Germans), and more.
Its reputation for critical, independent reporting makes
Moscow News a valuable resource for understanding the political and social upheavals in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, providing a unique record of how the media adapted to the tumult that shook the USSR and the Russian Federation, from Stalin to Putin.
The Moscow News digital archive contains all obtainable published issues of
Moscow News (1930-2014), including issues of the newspaper’s short-lived sister publication Moscow
Daily News (1932-1938).
Known Gaps
Issues were acquired from a variety of sources to complete this archive. The archive contains the best-known copy available for all obtainable published issues. However, select issues are still missing, as noted below and on the respective publication pages. Please contact us if your institution has any of these issues in its collection and is willing to make them available.
Moscow Daily News: 1932: 1-15, 17-20, 22-75, 156, 163, 164, 166-172, 174-198; 1933: 2-4, 6-24, 28, 29, 31, 33-45, 51-57, 59, 63, 64, 66, 67, 100, 151-300; 1934: 2-4.
Moscow News: 1930: 2, 3, 5; 1931: 77-81; 1932: 1, 4, 5, 21, 26, 27, 29, 31-32, 34-40, 42-46, 48-49, 51-58, 68, 70; 1933: 2, 3, 6, 11, 17, 19, 20, 23-56, 58-64; 1934: 7, 11; 1940: 19-20, 46-52; 1941: 1-68; 1942: 3-4, 6-7, 78-80; 1943: 1-8, 10-22, 65, 98; 1944: 1; 1947: 37, 65, 104; 1948: 7, 37; 1956: 4, 9; 1958: 35; 1969: 15, 42; 1971: 4; 1973: 20; 1976: 25; 1978: 39i; 1981: 51; 1982: 42; 1983: 51; 1985: 1, 51; 1987: 24; 1990: 27; 1994: 9, 14; 1996: 38; 2004: 45-50; 2005: 1-38; 2006: 35, 37, 42; 2007: 36, 50, 51; 2012: 34-39; 2013: 1-29.
was shut down by the Politburo in 1949 and did not resume publishing until 1956.