The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s

This article examines how high command in the Soviet Red Navy responded to reportedly high levels of venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the mid-1920s. Illness in the fleet posed a threat to national security, especially during the first unstable decade of the Soviet Union’s existence. Naval...

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Main Author: Hearne, Siobhan
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42412/
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author Hearne, Siobhan
author_facet Hearne, Siobhan
author_sort Hearne, Siobhan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This article examines how high command in the Soviet Red Navy responded to reportedly high levels of venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the mid-1920s. Illness in the fleet posed a threat to national security, especially during the first unstable decade of the Soviet Union’s existence. Naval command and the municipal authorities of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Crimean ASSR) targeted three main points for reform: the source of infection, those who became infected, and the urban space of Sevastopol. The majority of studies of venereal diseases in military populations have been situated within wartime, whereas this article explores the construction of disease during peacetime to interrogate how the naval and municipal authorities in the Black Sea justified intervention into the private, and intimate, lives of sailors and the wider population.
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spelling nottingham-424122020-05-04T18:42:34Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42412/ The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s Hearne, Siobhan This article examines how high command in the Soviet Red Navy responded to reportedly high levels of venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the mid-1920s. Illness in the fleet posed a threat to national security, especially during the first unstable decade of the Soviet Union’s existence. Naval command and the municipal authorities of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Crimean ASSR) targeted three main points for reform: the source of infection, those who became infected, and the urban space of Sevastopol. The majority of studies of venereal diseases in military populations have been situated within wartime, whereas this article explores the construction of disease during peacetime to interrogate how the naval and municipal authorities in the Black Sea justified intervention into the private, and intimate, lives of sailors and the wider population. Taylor & Francis 2017-04-19 Article PeerReviewed Hearne, Siobhan (2017) The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s. Social History, 42 (2). pp. 181-204. ISSN 1470-1200 Sexuality venereal diseases twentieth century Soviet Union Red Navy http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071022.2017.1290368 doi:10.1080/03071022.2017.1290368 doi:10.1080/03071022.2017.1290368
spellingShingle Sexuality
venereal diseases
twentieth century
Soviet Union
Red Navy
Hearne, Siobhan
The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title_full The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title_fullStr The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title_full_unstemmed The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title_short The ‘black spot’ on the Crimea: venereal diseases in the Black Sea fleet in the 1920s
title_sort ‘black spot’ on the crimea: venereal diseases in the black sea fleet in the 1920s
topic Sexuality
venereal diseases
twentieth century
Soviet Union
Red Navy
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42412/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42412/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42412/