1968 in Moscow
A beginning
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Abstract
Aleksander Daniel locates the birth of the dissident movement in an appeal broadcasted by western radio on 11 January 1968, protesting against the trial of Aleksandr Ginzburg and three other system-critical writers. "This represented a strike against one of the standard elements of Soviet psychology, one which had been cultivated over many decades: the concept of 'hostile encirclement', the complex of the 'besieged fortress'. To appeal to world public opinion, to the 'enemies' – i.e. airing dirty laundry in public – was equivalent to treason, to betrayal of the homeland."
(Web Special, pp. 1–8)
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