User:Wvc9/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title
 * Chechnya


 * Article Evaluation-
 * The history section of the article for the eras before Russian colonialism are interesting and provide informative details about Chechen people and history, however after the period of Russian colonialism begins there is little mentioned about Chechnya or Chechens outside of the context of colonialism. The impacts of Russian colonialism are of course important to mention when discussing Chechnya's history, however they should be mentioned alongside other parts of Chechen history that exist outside of suffering at the hands of oppression. Even in the Soviet and Post-Soviet parts of the history section, very little is mentioned about anything except Chechen resistance to colonialism. The portrayal of Chechen resistance in the modern day is also mostly negative, which is harmful because it can serve to vilify an already marginalized group. While there certainly have been acts committed by Chechen rebels that deserve the title of terrorism, using these examples without going in depth explaining the modern and historical context of the political repression from the Russian government that often pushes some Chechens to these extreme acts of violence paints an unfair picture of Chechnya. While the negative side of Chechen resistance and it's consequences are important to mention, the article would have been better if there was more information given about the impact of Soviet oppression and the Chechen wars to give more context as to why Chechnya is so often the site of violence. The sources do come from a diverse range of publications and nationalities, however there are many sources cited which are 10+ or even 20+ years old, so while this information could certainly still be correct it should be noted that some information in this article may be outdated.
 * Sources
 * https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chechens
 * https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000186004

Option 2

 * Article title
 * Mamontov Raid


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article does not exist. However the Mamontov raid was a raid by the White Army (led by General Mamontov) directed at Red Army railroads and communication centers in august and september of 1919. On the morning of august 10, the White Army calvary broke through the Red Army 36th and 40th rifle divisions. By the 18th of august, the White army had captured the city of Tambov. The soldiers destroyed infrastructure in their path such as railroads and brides to prevent the Red Army from using said infrastructure should it be recaptured. The Mamontov raid did succeed in it's goal of hindering the Red Army temporarily, however it failed in preventing the offensive of Soviet soldiers on the southern front of the Russian civil war.


 * Sources
 * https://www.nytimes.com/1919/09/18/archives/great-haul-of-reds-in-cossack-raid-gen-mamontov-at-tambov-took.html
 * The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979 edition)

Option 3

 * Article title
 * Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article gives a short summary of where Dagestan is located and some basic facts about its history, however there is nothing more than that. There are slight hints towards the Turkic or Islamic culture of the inhabitants of Dagestan, but none of the thirty ethnic groups in Dagestan are specifically mentioned. The talk page only has one brief note about adding the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to the history section, however this was never added. There are only two sources listed and one of them is a Russian source titled as "Краткая справка об административно-территориальных изменениях Ставропольского края за 1920—1992 гг." or "Information about administrative changes in the Stavropol area from 1920-1992," however, Stavropol is hundreds of kilometers north from the actual region of Dagestan, and Dagestan is only mentioned briefly in the source. So the source, while accurate, on its own is not enough to be used as a reference for the history of Dagestan. The article could be significantly improved by the addition of information related to the politics, arts, and culture of Dagestan during it's time as the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Sources

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dagestan

https://www.britannica.com/place/Dagestan-republic-Russia

https://web.archive.org/web/20170120185419/http://www.ussrdoc.com/ussrdoc_communizm/ussr_821.htm (All Russian central executive committee decree dated January 19, 1921 about the Dagestan autonomous Soviet Socialist republic)

Option 4

 * Article title
 * Prodrazverstka


 * Article Evaluation
 * The article gives a neutral and fact based summary of the topic, however in the nine paragraphs, there are only four sources given. There are also many instances of claims made by the article having no source to back them up. There are anecdotes about the impact of Prodrazverstka and different Soviet policies related to the topic with no citation included whatsoever, so while the article is well written and informative, it lacks evidence.


 * Sources
 * https://www.jstor.org/stable/2498342
 * http://docs.historyrussia.org/ru/nodes/10237-11-yanvarya-dekret-snk-o-razverstke-zernovyh-hlebov-i-furazha-podlezhaschih-otchuzhdeniyu-v-rasporyazhenie-gosudarstva-mezhdu-proizvodyaschimi-guberniyami#mode/inspect/page/2/zoom/4 (January 11th. Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the distribution of grain and fodder, subject to alienation at the disposal of the state, between the producing provinces)

Option 5

 * Article title
 * Prodnalog


 * Article Evaluation
 * This article does not cite any sources. It gives an informative and fact based summary about the taxes which Soviet peasants were required to pay, however it again does not provide anything that backs up the claims it is making.


 * Sources
 * https://old.bigenc.ru/domestic_history/text/3179149 (Great Russian encyclopdia, 2004-2017)
 * https://tatarica.org/ru/razdely/istoriya/novejshee-vremya/ekonomika/prodnalog (Tatar encyclopedia)