LibGuides: * History: Eastern European &amp; Russian History

Getting Started

This page provides recommendations on where to search for both primary and secondary sources focused on Eastern European and Russian History. Scroll down to read each section, or use the icons below to jump to a section of interest:

Background Information

Reference Sources on Eastern European, Russian, and Soviet History
The library’s collection includes an assortment of reference works related to Eastern European, Russian, and Soviet history. Try searching our collection for encyclopedias (both print and electronic) that have been tagged as being about Eastern European, Russian, or Soviet history.
Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
This database hosted by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies is in progress to be the most comprehensive English language database for the history, art, land, people, culture, and literature of Ukraine. It contains information organized chronologically under topics. This is a great resource for beginning research.

Primary Sources

For historical research, the phrase "primary sources" refers to items that were created at the time an event occurred usually by direct observers or participants. Primary sources are not limited to traditional text-based documents such as newspaper articles and journal entries; photographs, posters, audio recordings, video clips, books, and more can all serve as primary sources if they are used as evidence of the time in which they were created. It's not about the source type...it's about how the source is used for your research.

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor contains over one million images from museums, libraries, and other collections around the world. These images include photographs, scanned documents, maps, three-dimensional artifacts, and more. Try searching by material type, geography, date, etc. using the "Advanced Search" feature.
including: viewing and analyzing images through features such as zooming and panning, saving groups of images online for personal or shared uses, and creating and delivering presentations both online and offline.

World Digital Library: Browse by Place
This project by the U.S. Library of Congress provides free access to "significant primary materials from all countries and cultures" including prints, photographs, newspapers, maps, journals, manuscripts, and books. The site is supported by UNESCO, as well as libraries, museums, and other educational institutions around the world.
The Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online (HPSSS)
This project provides free access to scanned transcripts of 705 interviews conducted with refugees of the Soviet Union between 1917 and the mid-1940s. Each interview is available in English and searchable by keywords. The HPSSS includes “vast amounts of one-of-a-kind data on political, economic, social and cultural conditions,” and is “accessible to a broad range of students and scholars.”
Russia and Eastern Europe in Rare Photographs, 1860-1945
Available through the New York Public Library, this collection includes almost 5000 photographs on Russia and Eastern Europe between 1860-1945. Item language corresponds to country, but many are also in English. Scroll down to explore available resources or type a keyword in the search bar.
Prozhito
This database provides access to over 10,000 personal histories from digitized diaries and memoirs spanning the history of the Soviet Union in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Items are in Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian. Scroll down on the right to view all records, or type parameters in the search bar on the home page.
National Digital Library Polona
This database contains digital versions of Polish literary and historical texts, spanning from the Middle Ages through the middle of the 20th century. Many items are in Polish, but you are also able to find items in other languages using the advanced search. Click on a book to find full scans of each page.

Literaturnaia Gazeta
This database provides access to weekly scans of Literaturnaia gazeta, a cultural and social paper of the Soviet Union, with weekly coverage from 1929-2011. Items are in Russian. Use the navigation bar to the side to choose what year.
The Current Digest of the Russian Press
This database includes weekly selections of Pravda in English between 1949-2016. The translations are “presented as documentary materials without elaboration or comment, and state the opinions and views of the original authors, not the publisher of the journal.”
Reprints from the Soviet Press
This collection provides access to hundreds of translated pages of major Soviet publications, including Pravda, Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo, Trud, and others, with coverage from 1965-1991. Items have been translated to English and are available as physical copies in UR Libraries.

HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust includes digital scans of millions of books and documents, many of which are freely available for download. After running a search, try using the "Place of Publication" or the "Date of Publication" facets to narrow your search. Be sure to login with your UR credentials for additional download options.

Wilson Center Digital Archive
Access “once-secret documents from governments all across the globe,” including China, Poland, Hungary, Vietnam, the Soviet Union, and more. Documents cover events and foreign policy during the Cold War. Click “Collections” at the top of the page to browse a list of collection topics. Items are in multiple languages.
1956 Hungarian Uprising Digital Archive
This database provides free access to 30,000 pages of several hundred interviews conducted between 1956-1958 about the Hungarian uprising. It also includes declassified documents from various archives like the National Archives and the Hoover Institution Archives. Items are in English and Hungarian.
Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine
This database includes manuscripts, books, old prints, cards, newspapers, magazines, music, and photos of Ukraine. Items are in Ukrainian. Search by collections, item type, or author. The content includes links to other items and transcribed text below each item.

Secondary Research

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a great starting place for most topics. Particularly strong in the humanities and social sciences, JSTOR provides access to a wide range of journals from history, area studies, anthropology, literature, film and media studies, and more.
Subject areas include African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, business, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, statistics. The University of Rochester Libraries currently subscribes to the following multidisciplinary JSTOR Collections: Arts and Sciences I through XV. JSTOR also packages their content in disciplinary collections; however, the only ones of these that we have licensed are the Biological Sciences segment and the first of the Business collections. For alumni access, see also Alumni Library Gateway.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Project Muse is a great resource for finding articles on your topic. Like JSTOR, it provides access to scholarly journal articles from a range of humanities and social science disciplines.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Historical Abstracts is a key database for non-U.S. and non-Canadian historical research. This is an abstract database, so if you don't see the full-text for an article, click the red "FindText@UR" button to see if UR provides full-text access through another database (we often do!).
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
This database provides access to law journals published all over the world. Click the menu at the top left to adjust your search to International and Non-U.S. Law Journals to find journals in Eastern Europe and Russia. Items are in English, with issues often available in the 20th and 21st centuries. You can use the Search Bar above to browse by title, location, and date.
Full text searching. Many titles include entire back file. Downloading as PDF and Text is limited to a maximum of 200 pages.

Central and Eastern European Online Library
The CEEOL is a great resource for finding articles or eBooks on your topic. Choose your subject and narrow down your search options by picking your desired language. Not all articles are open access, but try searching in the UR Library to see if we provide full-text access through another database.

Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History
Available through Project Muse, Kritika is a “leading journal of Russian and Eurasian history and culture.” This peer-reviewed journal provides access to translated works by Russian and European scholars, regularly publishing forums, discussions, and special issues. Includes all issues from 2000-2022 for full download.

* History

Help is Available!

Lara Nicosia (she/her)

Humanities Librarian

Page Credits

Getting Started

Background
Information

Primary
Sources

Secondary
Research

Background Research

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Background Information

Primary Sources

Digital Collections

Newspapers and Magazines

Historical Documents and Publications

Secondary Research

Start with These Databases

Other Relevant Databases

* History

Lara Nicosia (she/her)

Humanities Librarian

Getting Started

BackgroundInformation

PrimarySources

SecondaryResearch

Background Research

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Background Information

Primary Sources

Digital Collections

Newspapers and Magazines

Historical Documents and Publications

Secondary Research

Start with These Databases

Other Relevant Databases

Background
Information

Primary
Sources

Secondary
Research