Amateur history for (a) future historian(s)
Were the popular fronts held hostage by Stalin? I think the answer to whether the popular fronts were held hostage by Stalin depends on which front is being examined. If the most important popular fronts were those in France and Spain, then it seems clear that the former was not held hostage while the latter …
Continue reading “Defending Democracy: The Popular Fronts and Stalin”
4.1.3. It is sometimes suggested that historians ought to swap the term “De-Stalinisation” for Khrushchevism. What do you think? Is there such a thing as ‘Khrushchevism’? Can more insight into the transition from Stalinism be gained by focusing on what was distinctive about the ideological politics of the Khrushchev era? While I am unsure whether …
Continue reading “Was Khrushchevism a Period of De-Stalinization?”
In the “Secret Speech” from the Twentieth Party Congress, Khrushchev seems to want to both expose Stalinism for its worst excesses and maintain Stalinism, at least ideologically. In some ways, this complex stance exemplifies Khrushchev’s own strengths and weaknesses. On the former point, the selection from the speech is replete with direct attacks on Stalin, …
Among the aspects of the Great Purges in the Soviet Union under I.V. Stalin that have most confused scholars, the purge of the Red Army of some of its highest-ranking and most talented officers must surely rank among the most baffling. The vast majority of scholars agree that the USSR was poorly prepared for the …
I chose this week to discuss the Soviet intervention in the Spanish Civil War under Stalin and the short- and long-term effects that it had on the USSR’s diplomatic strength. The war began on July 17, 1936, with an uprising of anti-republican generals in the Spanish army. Although the Soviets signed an international nonintervention agreement, …
Continue reading “Stalinist Intrigue in the Spanish Civil War”
I am prepared to state that I think that two factors that caused the process of the Great Purges to expand significantly as they unfolded were: the appointment of N.I. Yezhov as head of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), the secret political police, to conduct the purges; and the increasing threat of Nazi …
The rule of Stalin over the Soviet Union was enormously costly in terms of lives lost, but with the exception of the war against Germany from 1941 to 1945, perhaps no period was as deadly for the Soviet people as the collectivization of agriculture and industrialization of the economy launched in 1928 with the …
Continue reading “Source Analysis: Justifying Stalin’s Great Turn”
There were several factors that contributed to Stalin’s victory over Trotsky in the power struggle that followed Lenin’s death. Among the factors that were central, and would continue to be central as Stalin consolidated his power and moved toward collectivization of agriculture and mass industrialization of the USSR was the New Economic Policy (NEP). Although …
Inevitable Historicity