Russian and Soviet History

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Russian and Soviet History
In the document Sources of Soviet Conduct, George Kenna gives significant information about Russian and Soviet history. First, Kenna depicts that the political personality of Soviet power, as viewed in 1947, was a product of various forms of ideology and circumstances of power. As a result, the foundations of Soviet power were based primarily on the inherent antagonistic relationship that existed between capitalism and socialism. Kenna also described Russians as secretive and elusive individuals who lacked candor. He also describes them as unfriendly and suspicious (Kennan, para. 13). As a result, Jenna demonstrates that whenever the Russians demanded anything from other people, they would hide one or two of these traits. Thus, as Kenna portrayed, the Russians would continue to be a complex group to deal with unless there were changes in the internal nature of Soviet power.
Additionally, Kenna posits various ways in which Soviet Communism perceived itself. First, the Soviet viewed itself as always at perpetual war with those who supported capitalism. Secondly, they deemed non-communist groups in other countries their biggest enemies compared to capitalists (Kennan para. 14). As a result, the Soviets used the Marxists, who were controllable, to be their allies in the capitalist world. Thus, Soviet aggression was fundamental not because of the Russian people but because it was historically rooted in Russian nationalism.
Furthermore, according to Kenna, previous rulers of Russia were fragile and archaic in form. As a result, they were unable to take well to any form of comparison or even contact with the political systems of various western countries. Also, the ideology of Marxis...