The great fear : Stalin’s terror of the 1930s

216 Pages·2016·0.824 MB·English

by  Harris, James R.

THE GREAT FEAR

THE GREAT
FEAR
STALIN’S TERROR OF THE 1930
s
JAMES HARRIS
1
3
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Acknowledgements
In one way or another, I have been working on the terror for at least
two decades. Many people, groups, and institutions have contributed
to the evolution of this book in that time. My ideas have developed in
the process of correspondence, conversations, and arguments with
many colleagues. Those who know me best will know that I enjoy the
arguments particularly. Nothing refines ideas as well as the heat of
argument and the hammer blows of counter-evidence forcefully pre-
sented. My fellow postgraduates at Chicago similarly loved a tussle, and
they helped set me on a productive track. Sheila Fitzpatrick, my Ph.D.
adviser, encouraged me to continue working on the terror after the
Ph.D. A review essay she asked me to write in the early 2000s crystal-
lized some of the ideas at the core of this book. Arch Getty has been a
fantastic mentor, colleague, and friend. No one knows the sources bet-
ter than Arch, and no one is more generous of time and effort to help
those of us who want to invade his territory. This book would have
been immeasurably weaker without his input.
Many colleagues have commented on chapters, or the seminar and
conference papers on which they were based. Those who attended my
terror conference in 2010 helped me at a critical time in the writing of
the book. In particular, I want to thank Bill Chase, Gabor Rittersporn,
Anna Geifman, Wendy Goldman, David Brandenberger, Sarah Davies,
Arfon Rees, Matt Lenoe, Iain Lauchlan, Melanie Ilic, David Shearer,
Paul Hagenloh, Lynne Viola, Ronald Suny, Alistair Kocho-Williams,
David Priestland, Jorg Baberowski, Roger Reese, Vladimir Khaustov,
Larisa Malashenko, Vladimir Nevezhin, Oleg Khlevniuk, Robert
Hornsby, Joe Maiolo, Alex Kilin, and Gennadii Shaposhnikov. I am
indebted to the University of Leeds for granting the research leave
necessary to complete the writing of this book, and to the Arts and
Humanities Research Council for funding half the leave period.
Teaching time has been very useful too. For five or six years I have
been teaching a module on ‘Stalinist Terror’ to the excellent MA
vi acknowledgements
students at the University of Leeds. I have learned a lot from the dis-
cussions I have had with them. One in particular, Peter Whitewood,
went on to complete a Ph.D. on the subject, and to shape my view of
the terror in the Red Army, and the mass operations. Finally, without
the help of the archivists and archives in Russia, this work would have
been unthinkable. The staff at RGASPI, RGVA, AVPRF, GARF, RGAE,
TsDOO SO, and GAAO SO have been an immense help, and a pleasure
to work with.
Contents
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1. Fear and violence 15
2. Peace and insecurity 37
3. The uncertain dictatorship 57
4. The great break 81
5. Relaxation? 101
6. Tensions mount 121
7. The perfect storm 141
Conclusion 181
Bibliography 193
Index 201

Abbreviations
APRF Archive of the President of the Russian Federation
ARCOS All-Russian Cooperative Society
AVP RF Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation
Basmachi Group fighting Soviet power in Central Asia during and
after the Revolution
Cheka All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating
Counter-Revolution and Sabotage
Comintern Communist International
Decembrists Participants in an unsuccessful 1825 uprising
Donbas Don Basin
Duma State parliament formed in 1906 under Nicholas II
dvurushnichestvo ‘Double dealing’ (praising policy in public and working
to undermine it in private)
dvurushnik ‘Double dealer’
FSB Federal Security Service
Gosplan State Planning Commission
GPU State Political Administration
Gulag Main Administration of Camps
INO OGPU Foreign Department of the OGPU
Izvestiia national state newspaper
Kadet member of the Constitutional Democratic Party
kolkhoz collective farm
Komsomol All-Union Youth League
krai Territory
kulak Wealthy peasant
KVZhD Chinese Far Eastern Railway
Lubianka Building containing the offices of the political police in
Moscow
Mensheviks Faction of the Russian Social-Democratic movement
NEP New Economic Policy
NKVD People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs
obkom Regional committee of the Communist Party