The Stalinist Era

217 Pages·2018·27.378 MB·English

by  David L. Hoffmann

The Stalinist Era
PlacingStalinisminitsinternationalcontext,DavidL.Hoffmannpre-
sents a new interpretation of Soviet state intervention and violence.
Many“Stalinist”practices–thestate-runeconomy,surveillance,pro-
paganda campaigns, and the use of concentration camps – did not
originatewithStalinoreveninRussia,butwereinsteadtoolsofgovern-
ancethatbecamewidespreadthroughoutEuropeduringWorldWarI.
TheSovietsystemwasformedatthismomentoftotalwar,andwartime
practicesofmobilizationandstateviolencebecamebuildingblocksof
the new political order. Communist Party leaders in turn used these
practicesruthlesslytopursuetheirideologicalagendaofeconomicand
socialtransformation.SynthesizingnewresearchonStalinistcollectivi-
zation,industrialization,culturalaffairs,genderroles,nationalitypoli-
cies,WorldWarII,andtheColdWar,Hoffmannprovidesasuccinct
accountofthispivotalperiodinworldhistory.
DavidL.Hoffmann isDistinguished ProfessorofHistory atthe Ohio
State University. He has authored three books on Stalinism, Peasant
Metropolis: Social Identities in Moscow, 1929–1941 (1994), Stalinist
Values:TheCulturalNormsofSovietModernity,1917–1941(2003),and
Cultivating the Masses: Modern State Practices and Soviet Socialism,
1914–1939 (2011), and edited two further books, Russian Modernity:
Politics,Knowledge,Practices(2000)andStalinism:TheEssentialReadings
(2002). He has held fellowships from Harvard University, Cornell
University, Stanford University, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the
National Endowment for the Humanities, the International Research
andExchangesBoard,theMellonFoundation,andtheSocialScience
ResearchCouncil.
NEWAPPROACHESTOEUROPEANHISTORY
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The Stalinist Era
David L. Hoffmann
TheOhioStateUniversity
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DOI:10.1017/9781139017503
©DavidL.Hoffmann2018
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Title:TheStalinistera/DavidL.Hoffmann.
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University Press, 2018. | Series: New approaches to European history |
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2018025220|ISBN9781107007086(hardback:alk.paper)|
ISBN9780521188371(paperback:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:SovietUnion–History–1925–1953.|SovietUnion–
Politicsandgovernment–1917–1936.|SovietUnion–Politicsand
government–1936–1953.
Classification:LCCDK267.H6152018|DDC947.084/2–dc23
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To my sisters Jill and Karen

Contents
ListofIllustrations pageix
ListofMaps xi
Acknowledgments xii
ListofAbbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
1 PreludetoStalinism 9
RussiaontheEveofWarandRevolution 10
TheRevolutionaryMovement 16
WorldWarI 21
TheRussianRevolution 25
TheCivilWar 30
TheNewEconomicPolicy 35
SocialisminOneCountry 40
2 BuildingSocialism(1928–1933) 44
Collectivization 45
TheEliminationoftheKulaks 49
Industrialization 52
Urbanization 55
CulturalRevolution 60
SovietNationalityPolicies 66
NationalCulturesandEthnicConflict 70
TheFamineof1932–1933 74
3 SocialismAttained(1934–1938) 81
SocialistRealism 82
RussianNationalCulture 85
TheStalinCult 88
StakhanovitesastheNewSovietPerson 91
GenderRolesintheWorkplace 95
FamilyPolicyandMotherhood 99
TheGreatPurges 103
TheMassOperations 108
TheNationalOperations 112
vii
viii Contents
4 WorldWarII(1939–1945) 117
PrewarDiplomacy 118
TheGermanInvasionandtheBattleofMoscow 122
TheSiegeofLeningrad 125
Propaganda,Repression,IndustrialMobilization 128
GenderRolesinWartime 133
TheBattleofStalingrad 137
FromKursktoBerlin 140
TheLegacyoftheWar 143
5 ThePostwarYears(1946–1953) 146
TheOriginsoftheColdWar 147
SovietDominationinEasternEurope 150
NuclearWeaponsandEnvironmentalContamination 154
TheColdWarinAsia 156
EconomicReconstruction 158
PoliticalRepressionandtheLackofReform 161
ZhdanovisminCulture 166
TheDoctor’sPlotandStalin’sDeath 168
Conclusion 172
Notes 178
Index 197
Illustrations
1.1 TsarNicholasII,ca.1900(HultonRoyalsCollection/
GettyImages) page14
1.2 GrigoryRasputin,1916(ITAR-TASSNewsAgency/
AlamyStockPhoto) 20
1.3 JosephStalinandVladimirLenin,1919(HeritageImages/
HultonArchive/GettyImages) 29
1.4 StarvingorphansinSamara,1921(EverettCollection
Historical/AlamyStockPhoto) 36
2.1 CollectivizationactivistsspeakingtopeasantsinUkraine,
1929(SPUTNIK/AlamyStockPhoto) 48
2.2 ExpansionoftheLeningradMetalWorksduringthelate
1920s(SPUTNIK/AlamyStockPhoto) 57
2.3 DemolitionoftheCathedralofChristtheSaviorinMoscow,
1931(ITAR-TASSNewsAgency/AlamyStockPhoto) 62
2.4 PropagandaposterofSovietnationalitiesbyVladimirSerov,
1934(PrintCollector/HultonArchive/GettyImages) 72
3.1 PavelFilonov,Composition,1930(HeritageImagePartnership
Ltd./AlamyStockPhoto) 83
3.2 SergeyGerasimov,ACollectiveFarmFestival,1937(Universal
HistoryArchive/GettyImages) 84
3.3 PropagandaposterofStalinandKlimentVoroshilov
reviewingtroopsonRedSquarebyGustavKlutsis,1935
(PenrodasCollection/AlamyStockPhoto) 90
3.4 WomenworkingaslatheoperatorsinaSovietfactory,1940
(UniversalHistoryArchive/GettyImages) 97
3.5 GulagprisoncampinSiberia,1930s(SPUTNIK/Alamy
StockPhoto) 112
4.1 ViacheslavMolotovsigningtheNazi-SovietPactinMoscow,
1939(Bettmann/GettyImages) 120
4.2 BodiestobeburiedattheVolkovoCemeteryduringtheSiege
ofLeningrad,1942(Sovfoto/UniversalImagesGroup/Getty
Images) 127
ix