Alexander Dallin, F. I. Firsov, eds.. Dimitrov and Stalin, 1934-1943: Letters from the Soviet Archives. Russian documents translated by Vadim A. Staklo, Annals of Communism Series. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000. xxx + 278 pp. $35.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-300-08021-6.
Reviewed by Emilian R. Kavalski
Published on H-Russia (January, 2007)
Perhaps the main quality of compendiums of burning of the Reichstag (the German Parlia‐ letters is not only their ability to render the imme‐ ment). His brashness and outspoken criticism of diacy of momentous events, but also (in lieu of the Nazi regime at the Leipzig Trial made him hindsight) the ease with which they evoke the something of a celebrity--and not just among sup‐ complexities and uncertainties underlying partic‐ porters of the international communist move‐ ular historical developments. Thus, though an ment--and turned him into a symbol of the bur‐ event might subsequently be interpreted as part geoning resistance to Nazism.[1] Following his ac‐ of a grand strategy or an overarching scheme, quittal, Dimitrov was welcomed to the Soviet epistolary evidence could prove that it was sub‐ Union by Joseph Stalin and appointed General ject to contingency and ambiguity. In this respect, Secretary of the Comintern in 1934, a position that the correspondence of two of the most infuential he held until the dissolution of the organization in fgures in the communist movement in the frst 1943. In this period he not only oversaw the poli‐ half of the twentieth century--Georgi Dimitrov cies of the Comintern, but also managed to gain and Joseph Stalin--both conforms to and confrms the confdence of Stalin himself. this characteristic of volumes of collected letters. Unfortunately, the collected letters do not The balanced and circumspect editorial work of seem to throw much light on the interpersonal in‐ Alexander Dallin and Fridrikh Firsov ensures that teraction and the relationship between Dimitrov the ffty or so letters are put in the context of the and Stalin. Apart from one occasion, on which complex symbiosis between the Communist Inter‐ Stalin provides a written response to a letter by national (Comintern) and the leadership of the So‐ Dimitrov, the rest of the collection reads more like viet Union. a one-sided monologue. In the majority of the cas‐ Georgi Dimitrov was the so-called Leipzig es, Stalin only scribbles curt (frequently one- hero who in 1933 defed Nazi allegations that he word) responses on the margins of Dimitrov's let‐ and a group of Communists had orchestrated the ters. For instance, in a letter from July 1, 1934, H-Net Reviews
Dimitrov queries "whether it is correct to consider gest that the Soviet leadership lacked a clear strat‐ social democracy everywhere and at all times the egy for Spain, not least because of the Kremlin's main social base of the bourgeoisie," to which preoccupation with mounting purge trials (p. 50). Stalin responds, "Of course, not in Persia" (p. 13). The third thematic section details the problematic In this respect, Letters from Dimitrov to Stalin interactions between the Soviet Union, the Com‐ would have seemed like a more appropriate title intern, and the Chinese Communists. The difcul‐ for the volume. Therefore, those searching for ty emerged from the distinct place occupied by psychological insight into the relationship be‐ the Chinese Communists within the Comintern; tween the two men would most likely be disap‐ their party had "its own traditions, its own modus pointed by Dallin and Firsov's Dimitrov and Stal‐ operandi, a remarkable record of military and po‐ in, 1934-1943. Instead, they should peruse The Di‐ litical struggle, and a greater degree of distance ary of Georgi Dimitrov, edited by Ivo Banac from Moscow, not only geographically but also in (2003). attitude and autonomy" (p. 83). The letters betray Yet, the inquiry into the private lives and that this awkward positioning of the Chinese thoughts of Dimitrov and Stalin does not seem to Communists within the world communist move‐ be at the center of Dallin and Firsov's endeavor. ment tended to underpin the inconsistent, contra‐ Rather, the editors seem to have focused on the dictory, and often inadequate policies on the part complex bureaucratization of power within the of the Soviet leadership. international communist movement. The collec‐ The fourth thematic section focuses on the tion of letters illuminates the dependence of the "strange interlude" (p. 148) between the signing of Comintern on the Soviet leadership. Dimitrov's the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939 and the Ger‐ plea, "We beg you, Comrade Stalin, to give your man invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. advice and directives" (p. 28), seems to capture The strangeness of this period was caused by the the tone of his letters to the Soviet leader. In this need for a complete reversal of Comintern poli‐ respect, Dallin and Firsov's volume should not be cies, which until that time had presented Nazism interpreted as a form of epistolary history of the as an archenemy of world communism. Dimitrov Comintern from 1934 to 1943, but rather as an il‐ refers to the awkwardness of the situation by ac‐ lustration of its intimate administrative associa‐ knowledging the "exceptional difculties" (p. 151) tion with Moscow. Therefore, Stalin's quirky re‐ in formulating policy statements. The ffth section torts on the margins of Dimitrov's letters provide details the "war years" (p. 189) and in particular unusual insight into the development (as well as the challenges posed by the need to reverse Com‐ the absence) of Soviet strategy on a wide variety intern policies yet again. The invasion of the Sovi‐ of issues. et Union demanded a return to the earlier line of The editors arranged the correspondence in united antifascist front. At the same time, Dim‐ several thematic sections. The frst one details the itrov's letters also refect Stalin's gradual down‐ shift in Comintern policy at its Seventh Congress grading of the role of the Comintern. The next the‐ and the development of a "new antifascist united- matic section describes the Comintern's relation‐ front line" (p. 12). The second one focuses on the ship with Yugoslavia during World War II. What is Spanish Civil War and documents Moscow's dif‐ perhaps most striking is that Dimitrov's corre‐ culty in coming to grips with the complexity of the spondence reveals how little the Soviet leadership situation. In this respect, despite the liberal new about the Yugoslav Communists and, in par‐ amount of advice provided by the Comintern to ticular, about Josip Broz Tito (p. 208). Such igno‐ the Spanish Communists, Dimitrov's letters sug‐ rance might help explain the diferences in per‐ ceptions and understanding that emerged be‐
2 H-Net Reviews tween the Yugoslavs and Moscow. The fnal sec‐ tion focuses on the dissolution of the Comintern. Dimitrov's letters elaborate on Stalin's insistence for re-nationalizing the various communist par‐ ties so that they could gain more prominence among their own constituencies. In this respect, the Comintern was perceived as an obstacle to So‐ viet policies and, therefore, it had to be disman‐ tled. This thematic organization of the letters col‐ lected in Dallin and Firsov's Dimitrov and Stalin, 1934-1943 facilitates the understanding of the gradual bureaucratization of the international communist movement, which persisted despite the dissolution of the Comintern and the emer‐ gence of various forms of national communism. [2] As the editors point out, the documentary record provided by this collection of letters high‐ lights that Moscow's strategy and tactics were less consistent than it is usually expected (or claimed) and instead were characterized by "dilemmas and ambiguities in decision-making" (p. xx). In this re‐ spect, this volume would be of interest to all those interested in the foreign-policymaking of the Sovi‐ et Union, its links to other Communist parties, and, particularly, the history of the Comintern. At the same time, it is expected that the portraits of Dimitrov and Stalin as Communist bureaucrats drawn by the letters collected in Dallin and Firsov's volume would be of interest to any schol‐ ar researching their personalities. Notes [1]. Marin Pundef, "Dimitrov at Leipzig: Was There a Deal?" Slavic Review 45 (1986): 545-549. [2]. Milovan Djilas, The New Class: An Analy‐ sis of the Communist System (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1957).
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Citation: Emilian R. Kavalski. Review of Dallin, Alexander; Firsov, F. I., eds. Dimitrov and Stalin, 1934-1943: Letters from the Soviet Archives. H-Russia, H-Net Reviews. January, 2007.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12767
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