Russia / Soviet Union / Russia (Federation) Subject Headings

This chapter discusses subject headings for Russia. Russia’s geographical and political status has always given it an unparalleled influence in its area, and this page therefore deals with Russia alone while subject headings for the remaining 14 former Soviet republics are dealt with together in Former Soviet Republics: National and Supranational Subject Headings.

The chapter ends with a section on local geographical subdivisions.

Map showing the expansion of Russia from 1613 to 1914. The area of the R.S.F.S.R. and modern Russia was/is approximately 2 million
square miles smaller than the greatest span of the Russian Empire. [Map by Yuri Koryakov, reproduced here under Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0]

The heading Russia refers to the Russian state as it existed for the many centuries prior before the Bolshevik Revolution. Renamed the Russian Empire by Peter the Great, its boundaries extended far beyond those of modern Russia (note: the use of Russia as a group heading for countries whose territory was part of the Russian Empire is discussed in Former Soviet Republics: National and Supranational Subject Headings). There are a great number of authorized history subdivisions for Russia, stretching from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

1917 saw the end of Imperial Russia. Two revolutions occurred that year – the February Revolution (March in the Gregorian calendar) and the October Revolution (November in the Gregorian calendar). Their main subject headings are:

Russia--History--February Revolution, 1917

Soviet Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921

The second subject heading stands for the October Revolution and the subsequent civil war. Although the Russian Empire lost its central control in 1917, a large amount of territory remained under the control of the forces loyal to the Tsar. There therefore exists a single post-1917 history subject heading for Russia:

Russia (Territory under White armies, 1918-1920)

Soviet Russia

Before the Soviet Union was dissolved, correct practice was to use Soviet Union subject headings for Soviet Russia (this is still reflected in many older records). This was essentially a natural continuation of the practice of applying Russia subject headings for Imperial Russia – in both cases, the preferred heading stood for an area greater than modern Russia. It was also a reflection of Soviet Russia’s lead role within the union; this was so significant that “Soviet Russia” was often used synonymously in common speech with “Soviet Union.” After the Soviet Union broke up, however, the heading Russia (Federation) was introduced as a subject heading not only for the post-Soviet state but also for the Soviet republic.

Authorized history subdivisions for Russia (Federation) are extremely scant. The only authorized history period subdivisions for Russia (Federation) at the time of writing are:

Russia (Federation)--History--Revolution, 1917-1921

(note that this heading is for the October Revolution and subsequent civil war as experienced in Russia itself – the main heading for this period is Soviet Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921)

Russia (Federation)--History--1991-

Russia (Federation)--History--October Crisis, 1993

This means that there is only one Soviet era-specific subdivision for Russia. The cataloger can of course also apply the free-floating subdivision --20th century, but this is very unsatisfactory given the fact that the subdivision is broader than the Soviet period itself.

In practice, these issues have often led catalogers to turn to Soviet Union subject headings either in addition to Russia (Federation) ones or entirely instead of them. In some libraries, the pre-1992 system of applying Soviet Union subject headings for Soviet Russia has in fact never been abandoned.

Let us look at an example. If we had a resource about Soviet Russia under Stalin and we adhered to the principle of using the subject heading Russia (Federation), the record’s subject heading would be:

Russia (Federation)--History--20th century

That heading does not make it clear even whether the book is about Soviet Russia or the first years of post-Soviet Russia. If we turn to Soviet Union headings, we find a much more specific heading for the Stalinist period:

Soviet Union--History--1925-1953

Given the unsatisfactory broadness of the Russia (Federation) heading, it is understandable that some catalogers would wish to add the Soviet Union heading as well. NOTE: there is currently no conclusion to be drawn clearly here. An approach will hopefully be made to the Library of Congress in due course to ask for a change to be made which will clarify this area once and for all, whether by re-instating Soviet Union as the LCSH to use for Soviet Russia or by introducing detailed history subdivisions for Russia (Federation).

Post-Soviet Russia

The heading Russia (Federation), which causes so many complications as a heading for Soviet Russia, is very straightforward as the subject heading for post-Soviet Russia.

Geographical subdivisions

As SHM H830 section 2 tells us, local geographical subdivisions are made using the current jurisdictional name “regardless of the form of the name or period covered in the work cataloged”. For example, a biography of historians in Imperial and Soviet Moscow would have the subject heading:

Historians--Russia (Federation)--Moscow--Biography

NOT Historians--Soviet Union--Moscow--Biography

NOR Historians--Russia--Moscow--Biography

On a related note, the cataloger must often pay particular interest to subject headings when dealing with catalogs. SHM H1250 requires the cataloger to provide certain subject headings, including - where appropriate - headings relating to the place in which the items were produced and to the place in which they are now permanently held. An exhibition of candelabra produced in Imperial Russia, for example, and now permanently held in various museums in Moscow would have the headings:

Candelabra--Russia--Exhibitions

Candelabra--Russia (Federation)--Moscow--Exhibitions

The first relates to the place of the candelabra’s production, the second to their current home. If the candelabra had been produced specifically also in Moscow, and since local geographical subdivisions are made using the current jurisdictional name, a single subject heading (Candelabra--Russia (Federation)--Moscow--Exhibitions) would stand for both original production and current home.