ABSTRACT
By the time the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 few countries remained to inspire a significant volume of political pilgrimages. The so-called revisionist historiography of the Soviet Union is another symptom of the attitudes that led to political pilgrimages. The disintegration of Communist systems between 1989 and 1991 had only a modest impact on the attitudes here discussed other than substantially reducing the number of countries the pilgrims and tourists could visit. On the other hand, the political pilgrimages and tours matter primarily as symptoms of other, more deeply entrenched and durable attitudes. North Korean techniques of political hospitality, as reported by the occasional Western visitor, were remarkable even in comparison with the corresponding efforts of other Communist governments. Of all the pilgrimage sites, Cuba has maintained the most credibility and popularity, although political tourism to Cuba in the 1990s does not approach the 1960s-1970s levels.
