Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938This is a study of the structure of the Soviet Communist Party in the 1930s. Based upon archival and published sources, the work describes the events in the Bolshevik Party leading up to the Great Purges of 1937-1938. Professor Getty concludes that the party bureaucracy was chaotic rather than totalitarian, and that local officials had relative autonomy within a considerably fragmented political system. The Moscow leadership, of which Stalin was the most authoritarian actor, reacted to social and political processes as much as instigating them. Because of disputes, confusion, and inefficiency, they often promoted contradictory policies. Avoiding the usual concentration on Stalin's personality, the author puts forward the controversial hypothesis that the Great Purges occurred not as the end product of a careful Stalin plan, but rather as the bloody but ad hoc result of Moscow's incremental attempts to centralise political power. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
The Communist Party in the thirties | 10 |
What was a purge? | 38 |
The Verification of Party Documents of 1935 a case study in bureaucratic ineptitude | 58 |
Radicalism and party revival | 92 |
Radicalism and enemies of the people | 113 |
The crisis matures 1937 | 137 |
Epilogue the Ezhovshchina | 172 |
Other editions - View all
Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938 John Archibald Getty No preview available - 1985 |
Common terms and phrases
According activities administration apparatus appeared arrest assassination attempt Bolshevik Bukharin bureaucratic cadres called campaign cards carried Central Committee chistka Communist Comrade Congress connection continued criticism decision discussed documents economic elections enemies example exchange expelled expulsions Ezhov Ezhovshchina fact factory final former head important included industrial issues July June Kirov later leadership Leningrad letter March mass meeting membership moderate Molotov months Moscow NKVD noted Obkom officials operation opposition participation party committees party leaders party members party organizations party secretaries percent period persons Plan plenum political position practice Pravda problems proverka published purge questions radical raion rank records regional represented resolution result secretaries seems Smolensk sources Soviet speech Stalin struggle suggest terror tion took trial Trotsky Trotskyists Union various verification Western workers Zhdanov
Bibliographic information
| Title | Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938 Issue 43 of Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Volume 43 of Soviet and East European studies |
| Author | John Arch Getty |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 1987 |
| ISBN | 0521335701, 9780521335706 |
| Length | 276 pages |
| Subjects | › › › History / Europe / General History / Modern / 20th Century / General Political Science / Political Process / Political Parties |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |