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Soviet dissidents who challenged the Kremlin

Benjamin Nathans discusses how dissidents within the Soviet Union mounted a sustained campaign of 'civil obedience' after Stalin's death, compelling the Kremlin to live up to its own laws

Published: September 10, 2025 at 8:00 AM

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In the years following Stalin’s death in 1953, a new phenomenon emerged within the Soviet Union: so-called 'dissidents'. Preferring to think of themselves as 'rights defenders', these individuals advocated a form of 'civil obedience' – a demand that the state abide by its own constitution and the basic rights and freedoms it promised on paper. Historian Benjamin Nathans speaks to Danny Bird about his Cundill Prize-nominated book To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause, which examines this extraordinary movement.

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Find out more about the Cundill History Prize

Benjamin Nathans is the author of To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement (Princeton University Press, 2024)

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Authors

Danny BirdContent producer

Danny Bird is a content producer at HistoryExtra

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