Richard Pipes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Pipes
Richard Pipes in October 2004
Born	(1923-07-11)July 11, 1923 Cieszyn, Poland
Died	May 17, 2018(2018-05-17) (aged 94) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	Polish American
Citizenship	Poland (1923–1943) United States (1943–2018)
Alma mater	Muskingum College Cornell University Harvard University
Spouse(s)	Irene Eugenia Roth
Children	Daniel Pipes, Steven Pipes
Awards	National Humanities Medal
Scientific career
Fields	Russian history
Doctoral advisor	Michael Karpovich
Doctoral students	Daniel Field, John V. A. Fine, Anna Geifman, Abbott Gleason, Edward L. Keenan, Peter Kenez, Eric Lohr, Michael Stanislawski, Richard Stites, Lee In-ho

Richard Edgar Pipes (July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was an American expert on Russian and Soviet history. He wrote many books that were critical of communism, a political and economic system.

In 1976, he led a group called Team B. This team was put together by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Their job was to study the military strength and goals of the Soviet Union. Richard Pipes was also the father of another American historian, Daniel Pipes.

Pipes was born in Cieszyn, Poland, to a Jewish family. His family had to leave Poland as refugees when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939. They moved to the United States in 1940. He became an American citizen in 1943 while serving in the United States Army Air Corps. From 1958 to 1996, Pipes was a professor at Harvard University.

Early Life and Education

Richard Pipes was born in Cieszyn, Poland. His family's original name was "Piepes." His father, Marek Pipes, was a businessman. He was a co-owner of a chocolate factory.

When Richard was 16, he saw Adolf Hitler during Hitler's visit to Warsaw after the invasion. The Pipes family left Poland in October 1939. After seven months traveling through Italy, they arrived in the United States in July 1940.

Pipes became an American citizen in 1943. At that time, he was serving in the United States Army Air Corps. He studied at Muskingum College, Cornell University, and Harvard University.

Career Highlights

Pipes taught at Harvard University from 1958 until he retired in 1996. He was in charge of Harvard's Russian Research Center from 1968 to 1973. Later, he became a special professor of History at Harvard.

In 1962, he gave talks on Russian history at Leningrad State University. He also advised Senator Henry M. Jackson during the 1970s. From 1981 to 1982, he worked for the United States National Security Council. He was the Director of East European and Soviet Affairs under President Ronald Reagan.

Pipes was a strong critic of "détente" in the 1970s. Détente was a period of reduced tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Pipes believed it was based on not understanding the Soviet Union well enough.

Understanding Team B

Pipes led a group called Team B in 1976. This team was made up of experts who were not part of the government. They worked with retired military officers. The goal was to offer a different view of the Soviet Union's military power.

Team B was created to challenge the regular reports from the CIA. Pipes's group believed that the CIA was underestimating the Soviet Union's military plans and goals. Team B argued that the Soviet Union had a growing economy. They also thought the CIA was wrong to believe that economic problems were holding back the USSR's defenses.

Some people criticized Team B. One journalist said that Team B was wrong on almost every point. A CIA employee even called it a "kangaroo court," meaning it wasn't fair. Pipes himself called some of Team B's evidence "soft."

Despite the criticism, Team B concluded that the Soviets had developed new weapons. This included a nuclear submarine fleet that was very hard to detect. Pipes believed that Team B helped create more realistic ideas about defense.

Writing About Russian History

Pipes wrote many important books about Russian history. Some of his well-known works include Russia under the Old Regime (1974) and The Russian Revolution (1990). He often shared his thoughts on Soviet history in newspapers.

At Harvard, he taught large classes on Imperial Russia and the Russian Revolution. He also helped more than 80 students earn their PhDs.

Pipes believed that the Soviet Union's origins could be traced back to the 15th century. He thought that Muscovy, an early Russian state, developed differently from other European countries. In his view, Muscovy had no idea of private property. Everything was seen as belonging to the Tsar.

Pipes argued that this unique path made Russia an autocratic state. This meant it had values very different from Western countries. He thought this "patrimonialism" (where the ruler owned everything) began to weaken in the 19th century. This happened when Russian leaders tried to modernize without changing the basic structure of society.

Pipes believed this long history made Russia especially ready for revolution in 1917. He also strongly criticized the radical thinkers of late Imperial Russia. He saw them as too extreme and unable to accept reality. Pipes stressed that the Soviet Union was a totalitarian state that wanted to expand its power around the world.

He also argued that the October Revolution was not a popular uprising. Instead, he saw it as a takeover by a small group of intellectuals. This group then set up a one-party state that was harsh and controlling from the very beginning.

In 1992, Pipes was an expert witness in a court case in Russia. This case involved the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Awards and Recognition

Richard Pipes received many honors throughout his life.

• He was an Honorary Consul of the Republic of Georgia.
• He was a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Learning.
• He received the Commander's Cross of Merit from the Republic of Poland.
• He earned honorary degrees from several universities, including Adelphi College, Muskingum College, the University of Silesia, and the University of Warsaw.
• He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• He received the George Louis Beer Prize from the American Historical Association.
• In 2007, he received one of the National Humanities Medals.
• In 2009, he was given the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom.
• In 2010, he received the "Bene Merito" medal from the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Personal Life

Richard Pipes married Irene Eugenia Roth in 1946. They had two sons, Daniel and Steven. Their son Daniel Pipes is also a well-known scholar who studies the Middle East.

Richard Pipes passed away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 17, 2018. He was 94 years old.

Works

Author

• The Formation of the Soviet Union, Communism and Nationalism, 1917–1923 (1954)
• Social Democracy and the St. Petersburg Labor Movement, 1885–1897 (1963)
• Struve, Liberal on the Left (1970)
• Europe Since 1815 (1970)
• Europe Since 1500 (1971) With J.H. Hexter and A. Molho
• Russia Under the Old Regime (1974)
• Soviet Strategy in Europe (1976)
• Struve, Liberal on the Right, 1905–1944 (1980)
• U.S.-Soviet Relations in the Era of Détente: a Tragedy of Errors (1981)
• Survival is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America's Future (1984)
• Russia Observed: Collected Essays on Russian and Soviet History (1989)
• The Russian Revolution (1990) (Audiobook)
• Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime: 1919–1924 (1993)
• Communism, the Vanished Specter (1994)
• A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (1995)
• The Three "Whys" of the Russian Revolution (1995)
• Property and Freedom (1999)
• Communism: A History (2001) (Audiobook)
• Vixi: Memoirs of a Non-Belonger (2003)
• The Degaev Affair: Terror and Treason in Tsarist Russia (2003)
• Russian Conservatism and Its Critics (2006)
• Scattered Thoughts (2010)
• Russia's Itinerant Painters (2011)
• Uvarov: A Life (2013) (In Russian)
• Alexander Yakovlev: The Man Whose Ideas Delivered Russia from Communism (2015)

Editor

• The Russian Intelligentsia (1961)
• Revolutionary Russia (1968)
• The Unknown Lenin: From the Secret Archive (1996)

Contributor

• "The National Problem in Russia." In: Readings in Russian Civilization (1969)
• "The Communist System." In: The Soviet System: From Crisis to Collapse (1995)

Essays

• "The Russian Military Colonies, 1810–1831." The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 1950, pp. 205–219. JSTOR 1871751.
• "The First Experiment in Soviet National Policy: The Bashkir Republic, 1917–1920." The Russian Review, Vol. 9, No. 4, October 1950, pp. 303–319. . JSTOR 125989.
• "The Trial of Vera Z." Russian History, Vol. 37, No. 1 , 2010, pp. v, vii–x, 1–3, 5–31, 33–49, 51–82. JSTOR 24664570.

Filmography

• War and Peace in the Nuclear Age (documentary mini-series). Episode 12: “Reagan Reagan’s Shield”. WGBH, 1989.
• History’s Mysteries (documentary series). “Killer Submarine”. History Channel, 2001.
• Beyond the Movie – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. National Geographic, 2003.
• The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (documentary mini-series). Episode 1: “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. Written and directed by Adam Curtis. 2004.

See also

In Spanish: Richard Pipes para niños