DOCSLIB.ORG

Popular Beliefs and the Rhetoric of D

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Popular Beliefs and the Rhetoric of D Re/fashionin2 the Enemy: Popular Beliefs and the Rhetoric of D 'talinisation, 1953-1964 Miriam Jane Dobson Thesis presented for PhD examination at University College London, July 2003 Abstract This dissertation explores the evolution of Soviet public culture during the decade of destalinisation that followed the great break of 1953. It was a period both of intense political change, as the party sought to create new kinds of legitimacy post-Stalin, and of major social upheaval as millions of prisoners returned from the Gulag to the Soviet mainland. Destalinisation is examined here as a dialogue between three actors: the state, the Soviet public, and the returning masses once regarded as society's outcasts. Recasting the notion of the 'enemy' was central to this re-conceptualisation of public culture. The enemy had long held a powerful place in the Soviet political imagination. In revolutionary cosmogony, the world was locked in a battle between socialism and capitalism in which good would finally triumph yielding a communist paradise on earth. Where loathing of the enemy had prevailed under Stalin, his successors sought to create a more moderate culture, claiming victory was near and the advent of communism imminent. After 1953, the vilification of political opponents waned, calls for vigilance lessened, and the rabid invective cultivated by the Stalinist press began to subside. The binary division of the Soviet realm into two 'zones' - one for Soviet citizens, a second for its demonic outcasts - was eroded. The thesis explores the complex nature of these changes. It examines the contribution of Gulag returnees who sought to recreate themselves as decent Soviet citizens, but who brought with them the culture of this segregated, other world. It also studies the reactions of a broader public, whose interpretation of both political and social change often reflected the ongoing sway of the Manichean beliefs cultivated by Stalinist culture. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter I 1953: 'The Most Painful Year' 41 Chapter II Roving, Returning, Writing 88 Chapter III Heroes and Enemies in the Secret Speech 129 Chapter IV Crime, Punishment, and Correction 173 Chapter V Destalinisation at its Peak 225 Conclusion 275 Bibliography 282 Acknowled2ments I would first like to thank the funding bodies that enabled me to complete this Phi) thesis. The AHRB offered generous support during the first three years and a Scoloudi Research Fellowship from the Institute of Historical Research allowed me a 'writing- up year'. Grants from the University of London Central Research Funds, University College London, School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, and Royal Historical Society have helped with travel costs. Over the past four years many people have helped me. Susan Morrissey has been an amazing supervisor, pushing me to think without forcing me towards any one conclusion. On a personal level, she has been extraordinarily supportive, seeming to know instinctively when to be demanding, and when to remind me that there's more to life. Whatever the outcome, I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing this thesis, and a lot of that is due to the generous help she has given me. During my undergraduate time, Chris Ward was also an inspirational teacher. I am grateful to them both and to everyone who has read and commented on sections of my work - Geoffrey Hosking, Wendy Slater, Bettina Weichert, and Maya Haber. Thanks also to Anna Toumanova and Andrei Kouzmenkov for help with translations, and to Carl Meeweezen, Dave Russell, and Rich Wilson for computers and printers. Support during the research stage was particularly crucial. There are many people in the Moscow, St Petersburg and Vladimir archives who helped me, though special thanks go to Lenia and Lena Weintraub and Galina Kuznetsova, and to my fellow novices Claudia Verhoeven and Laurie Cohen. My biggest debt of gratitude is to Denis Klimov and Natasha Kurdenkova for all the good times shared in our flat, at the dacha, and camping. Without them, my year in Moscow would have been very different. I am also grateful - I think - to Pavel Greenshpun and Dinia Ganovskii for consistently distracting me from the archives. Both Svetlana Zamiiatina and Eduard Kariukhin have been inspiring friends. On the home front, I have enjoyed being part of the academic community at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies and appreciate the support of my fellow post-grads, especially Nick Sturdee (for the ongoing rivalry about how much hadn 't been done), Maya (for endless debates on Khrushchev in the British Library cafe) and Bettina (for providing music, good food and friendship). The fact that friends and family outside ofademia encouraged me has also been very important. Penny and Kate have been amazing Mends and flat-mates throughout. There is far too much to mention, but more than anything I appreciate the fact they understood how much finishing this thesis meant to me, and patiently put up with some strange behaviour over the last few months. My parents also deserve special thanks for their support and encouragement. I am dedicating this dissertation tomy family - to Heather, Mike, Bunter, Martin, Philippa, and Oscar. Introduction Show no mercy to these enemies of the people, enemies of socialism, enemies of the workers. Death to the rich and to the bourgeois intelligentsia who sponge off them, death to thieves, parasites and hooligans. —V. L Lenin, 'How to Organise Competition', 19171 The death of losif Stalin stands as one of the great breaks in Russian history. For an earlier generation of historians who saw him as the epitome of evil and mastermind of the terror, the year 1953 was a moment of 'fresh air' for a stifled Soviet people? Even if we reject totalitarian models of Soviet history, the death of the nation's leader remains a crucial landmark. In the complex of myths, rituals, and practices that historians see shaping Soviet culture in the 1930s and 1940s, the magical persona of 'Stalin' was central. The cult of the leader was an integral part of Soviet public culture, and his demise inescapably provoked change. The nature of such change, however, is as yet uncharted. Building on recent trends in the historiography of the Stalinist period, this work explores how the political culture and belief systems created under Stalin were to develop in the decade following his death. 'V. L Lenin, 'Kak organizovat' sorevnovanie', Folnoe sobranie sochinenil, 55 vols (Moscow: Gosudarstvenoe izdatel'stvo politicheskoi hteratury, 1962), XXXV, pp. 195-205 (p. 201). 2 lmages of a nation gasping for fresh air are comnn place in the secondary literature. See for example, Merle Fainsod, Khrushchev's Russia. L Internal Developments and Prospects. 11. Foreign Policy, Directions and Problems (Melbourne: The Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1963), 2 Many scholars stress the parlous state of the nation Stalin bequeathed to his heirs. It is argued that agricultural decline, consumer shortages, and the repressive nature of the political system all point to a nation on the brink of crisis. In a disparate range of sources we find depictions of Stalinist society as discontented and desperate, a populace whose anger was only barely contained by l953. A very different picture is offered by Jeffrey Brooks in his recent work on Soviet public culture under Lenin and Stalin. In Thank You, Comrade Stalin!, he traces the state's monopoly of the media, the recasting of politics as a magical and ritualistic 'performance', and the powerful way this new culture promoted Soviet life as 'unique and exceptional'. Without denying that some reform was necessary, he argues that the main task of Stalin's heirs was to 'maintain the system' that their predecessors had created. 4 Following Brooks, I argue that the 1953 watershed is important because Stalin's persona - as an omnipresent, fantastical, prophetic authority - was an absolutely fundamental element in Soviet culture. His disappearance forced the regime to look for new legitimating strategies. p. 240, Martin McCauley (ed), Khrushchev and Khrushchevism (Basingstoke, Hançshire: Macnuifrmn, 1987), p. 3. 3 In the early 1960s, Merle Fainsod wrote of the public's 'aspirations' which 'Stalin bad suppressed and which his successors could Dot ignore'. In 1992, the labour historian Donald Filtzer began his account of destailnisation with the proclaniatioit 'when Stalin died in March 1953, he left behind a country in a deep state of crisis. No sphere of the economy, politics or society was immune.' Vladimir Naumov asserts that 'in 1953 Soviet society found itself on the eve of a social explosion', while Elena Zubkova, the leading Russian historian of the post-war period, clams that the death of the leader merely launched a period of reform that would have been imposed on the Soviet leadership sooner or later by a tide of dissatisfaction that had been climbing steadily from the end of WWIL Fainsod, Khrushchev's Russia, p. 234; Donald Filtzer, Soviet Workers and De-Stalinization: The Consolidation of The Modern System of Soviet Production Relations, 1953-64 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p.1; Vladimir Naumov, 'Repression and Rehabilitation', in Nikita Khrushchev, ad. by William Taubinan, Sergei Khrushchev, and Abbott Gleason (New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2000), pp. 85-112 (p. 102); Elena Zubkova, Russia after the War: Hopes, Illusions and DiNappointments, 1945-1957, trans by Hugh Ragsdale (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1998), pp. 148-153. 4 Jeffrey Brooks, Thank You, Comrade Stalin!: Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War (Prmceton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000), pp. xiii-xx, 233. The legitimacy garnered by Stalin's cult did not derive from some kind of primordial Russian longing for another 'tsar' . Emerging from the ideology of a self-consciously Marxist revolution, the images and practices of the cult held together a complex and unique system of beliefs.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mgr. Nicolai Gennadevich Dubinin
    Mgr. Nicolai Gennadevich Dubinin The first catholic bishop with Russian nationality Although few in numbers, Russian Catholics are since Church institutions were re-established present throughout the country, in the following the collapse of communism. He is Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow – auxiliary bishop to the Archdiocese of the which includes the "two capitals" of Moscow and Mother of God in Moscow St Petersburg (separated by 700 kilometres) – The in Novoshakhtinsk born 47-year-old and several other important cities like Pskov, Conventual Franciscan Father Nicolai was part of Kursk, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod, all very the very first group of seminarians who attended distant from each other, not to mention the the major seminary after it reopened in Moscow Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad. in 1993. His seminary cohort "recaptured" the Although Catholics currently entertain good Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception through relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and prayers and action, and brought its headquarters Russian authorities, recent bills and government back to the old see in St Petersburg, where it is regulations have complicated the work of foreign currently located. missionaries of all religions in Russia. For In 1995 Dubinin joined the Franciscan conventual example, getting permanent, or at least long- family in Moscow, led at the time by Father term, residence permits is still difficult. Grzegorz Cioroch who taught at the seminary. For the Catholic Church, there are also not Appointed custodian of the Franciscan Province enough local priests to meet the pastoral needs of Russia in 2001, Fr Grzegorz died a few years of the Catholic communities of this vast country; later in a car accident on his way back to Russia the first priests from the St Petersburg Seminary from Poland at the age of 42.
    [Show full text]
  • Kennedy's Quest: Leadership in Space
    Kennedy’s Quest: Leadership in Space Overview Topic: “Space Race” Grade Level: 9-12 Subject Area: US History Time Required: One class period. Goals/Rationale: The decision by the Kennedy Administration to make a manned lunar landing the major goal of the US space program derived from political as well as scientific motivations. In this lesson plan, students do a close reading of four primary sources related to the US space program in 1961, analyzing how and why public statements made by the White House regarding space may have differed from private statements made within the Kennedy Administration. Essential Questions: How was the “Space Race” connected to the Cold War? How and why might the White House communicate differently in public and in private? How might the Administration garner support for their policy? Objectives Students will be able to: analyze primary sources, considering the purpose of the source, the audience, and the occasion. analyze the differences in the tone or content of the primary sources. explain the Kennedy Administration’s arguments for putting a human on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. Connections to Curriculum (Standards) National History Standards US History, Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s) Standard 2A: The student understands the international origins and domestic consequences of the Cold War. Historical Thinking Skills Standard 2: Historical Comprehension Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage. Appreciate historical perspectives . Historical Thinking Skills Standard 4: Historical Research Capabilities Support interpretations with historical evidence. Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks USII [T.5] 1. Using primary sources such as campaign literature and debates, news articles/analyses, editorials, and television coverage, analyze the important policies and events that took place during the presidencies of John F.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialist Planning
    Socialist Planning Socialist planning played an enormous role in the economic and political history of the twentieth century. Beginning in the USSR it spread round the world. It influenced economic institutions and economic policy in countries as varied as Bulgaria, USA, China, Japan, India, Poland and France. How did it work? What were its weaknesses and strengths? What is its legacy for the twenty-first century? Now in its third edition, this textbook is fully updated to cover the findings of the period since the collapse of the USSR. It provides an overview of socialist planning, explains the underlying theory and its limitations, looks at its implementation in various sectors of the economy, and places developments in their historical context. A new chap- ter analyses how planning worked in the defence–industry complex. This book is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in comparative economic systems and twentieth-century economic history. michael ellman is Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is the author, co- author and editor of numerous books and articles on the Soviet and Russian economies, on transition economics, and on Soviet economic and political history. In 1998, he was awarded the Kondratieff prize for his ‘contributions to the development of the social sciences’. Downloaded from Cambridge Books Online by IP 128.122.253.212 on Sat Jan 10 18:08:28 GMT 2015. http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9781139871341 Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2015 Downloaded from Cambridge Books Online by IP 128.122.253.212 on Sat Jan 10 18:08:28 GMT 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945–1989
    FORUM The Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945–1989 ✣ Commentaries by Michael Kraus, Anna M. Cienciala, Margaret K. Gnoinska, Douglas Selvage, Molly Pucci, Erik Kulavig, Constantine Pleshakov, and A. Ross Johnson Reply by Mark Kramer and V´ıt Smetana Mark Kramer and V´ıt Smetana, eds. Imposing, Maintaining, and Tearing Open the Iron Curtain: The Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945–1989. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. 563 pp. $133.00 hardcover, $54.99 softcover, $54.99 e-book. EDITOR’S NOTE: In late 2013 the publisher Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield, put out the book Imposing, Maintaining, and Tearing Open the Iron Curtain: The Cold War and East-Central Europe, 1945–1989, edited by Mark Kramer and V´ıt Smetana. The book consists of twenty-four essays by leading scholars who survey the Cold War in East-Central Europe from beginning to end. East-Central Europe was where the Cold War began in the mid-1940s, and it was also where the Cold War ended in 1989–1990. Hence, even though research on the Cold War and its effects in other parts of the world—East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, Africa—has been extremely interesting and valuable, a better understanding of events in Europe is essential to understand why the Cold War began, why it lasted so long, and how it came to an end. A good deal of high-quality scholarship on the Cold War in East-Central Europe has existed for many years, and the literature on this topic has bur- geoned in the post-Cold War period.
    [Show full text]
  • Organized Crime and the Russian State Challenges to U.S.-Russian Cooperation
    Organized Crime and the Russian State Challenges to U.S.-Russian Cooperation J. MICHAEL WALLER "They write I'm the mafia's godfather. It was Vladimir Ilich Lenin who was the real organizer of the mafia and who set up the criminal state." -Otari Kvantrishvili, Moscow organized crime leader.l "Criminals Nave already conquered the heights of the state-with the chief of the KGB as head of a mafia group." -Former KGB Maj. Gen. Oleg Kalugin.2 Introduction As the United States and Russia launch a Great Crusade against organized crime, questions emerge not only about the nature of joint cooperation, but about the nature of organized crime itself. In addition to narcotics trafficking, financial fraud and racketecring, Russian organized crime poses an even greater danger: the theft and t:rafficking of weapons of mass destruction. To date, most of the discussion of organized crime based in Russia and other former Soviet republics has emphasized the need to combat conven- tional-style gangsters and high-tech terrorists. These forms of criminals are a pressing danger in and of themselves, but the problem is far more profound. Organized crime-and the rarnpant corruption that helps it flourish-presents a threat not only to the security of reforms in Russia, but to the United States as well. The need for cooperation is real. The question is, Who is there in Russia that the United States can find as an effective partner? "Superpower of Crime" One of the greatest mistakes the West can make in working with former Soviet republics to fight organized crime is to fall into the trap of mirror- imaging.
    [Show full text]
  • State Composers and the Red Courtiers: Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930S
    JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 78 Simo Mikkonen State Composers and the Red Courtiers Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930s JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 78 Simo Mikkonen State Composers and the Red Courtiers Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930s Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Villa Ranan Blomstedtin salissa marraskuun 24. päivänä 2007 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, in the Building Villa Rana, Blomstedt Hall, on November 24, 2007 at 12 o'clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2007 State Composers and the Red Courtiers Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930s JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 78 Simo Mikkonen State Composers and the Red Courtiers Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930s UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2007 Editors Seppo Zetterberg Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Irene Ylönen, Marja-Leena Tynkkynen Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities Editorial Board Editor in Chief Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Petri Karonen, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Matti Rahkonen, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä Petri Toiviainen, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä Minna-Riitta Luukka, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä URN:ISBN:9789513930158 ISBN 978-951-39-3015-8 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-2990-9 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4331 Copyright ©2007 , by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2007 ABSTRACT Mikkonen, Simo State composers and the red courtiers.
    [Show full text]
  • Soviet Censorship Policy from a Musician's Perspective
    The View from an Open Window: Soviet Censorship Policy from a Musician’s Perspective By Danica Wong David Brodbeck, Ph.D. Departments of Music and European Studies Jayne Lewis, Ph.D. Department of English A Thesis Submitted in Partial Completion of the Certification Requirements for the Honors Program of the School of Humanities University of California, Irvine 24 May 2019 i Table of Contents Acknowledgments ii Abstract iii Introduction 1 The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich 9 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District 10 The Fifth Symphony 17 The Music of Sergei Prokofiev 23 Alexander Nevsky 24 Zdravitsa 30 Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and The Crisis of 1948 35 Vano Muradeli and The Great Fellowship 35 The Zhdanov Affair 38 Conclusion 41 Bibliography 44 ii Acknowledgements While this world has been marked across time by the silenced and the silencers, there have always been and continue to be the supporters who work to help others achieve their dreams and communicate what they believe to be vital in their own lives. I am fortunate enough have a background and live in a place where my voice can be heard without much opposition, but this thesis could not have been completed without the immeasurable support I received from a variety of individuals and groups. First, I must extend my utmost gratitude to my primary advisor, Dr. David Brodbeck. I did not think that I would be able to find a humanities faculty member so in tune with both history and music, but to my great surprise and delight, I found the perfect advisor for my project.
    [Show full text]
  • Journalism in the Borderland. Barents Media Freedom
    Journalism in the borderland Barents Media Freedom 2017 Published with support from Fritt Ord Authored by Atle Staalesen Atle Staalesen is journalist and Director of the Independent Barents Observer. In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer, which in the period 2005-2015 was hosted by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. Atle was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. He quit his job in the Barents Secretariat late 2015 following a conflict over editorial rights and subsequently re- established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew. Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University. Kirkenes, 2017 The Independent Barents Observer [email protected] @BarentsNews Introduction «You will not write about politics, will you?» The question comes from one of the border guards checking my passport at the Russian checkpoint of Borisoglebsk. I am on my way across the Norwegian-Russian border heading for Murmansk, the Russian Arctic city, on a work assignment. It is not uncommon that Russian border guards ask journalists about the purpose of their visit. However, this time the question is more intriguing than normal. And the timing is extraordinary. Only few weeks earlier had Thomas Nilsen, my colleague and Editor of the Barents Observer, been stopped on the very same spot and taken aside by the border guards. In a back room he was told that he was no longer wanted in Russia and that he would be rejected entry for the next five years.
    [Show full text]
  • REPORT NO BULL-1964-29; 0E-14101 PUB DATE 64 NOTE 48P
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 053 022 SO 001 547 AUTHOR Apanasewicz, Nellie; Rosen, Seymour M. TITLE Soviet Education: A Bibliography of English-Language Materials. INSTITUTION Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. REPORT NO BULL-1964-29; 0E-14101 PUB DATE 64 NOTE 48p.; Studies in Comparative Education Series DESC*Comparative Education; Annotated Bibliographies; Elementary Education; Higher Education; Reference Materials; Secondary Education EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 IDENTIFIERS *Soviet Union ABSTRACT The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to provide researchers, analysts, teachers, and advanced students, interested in various aspects of Soviet education, with a body of reference materials covering the large number of relevant articles and monographs which have been published since the late 1950's. The bibliography includes 281 titles with a 36-title supplement, arranged alphabetically by authors within 78 subject categories; where necessary, cross-referencing is used. Although American authors are the primary sources, items by foreign authors, whose articles ate written in English or have been translated into English, are also included. A number of the English translations of articles and monographs by Soviet authors are the work of the Joint Publications Research Service, Office of Technical Services, U. S. Deaprtment of Commerce. A wide range of views is expressed in the annotated items, and their inclusion does not constitute endorsement by the Office of Education of any one point of view. The Soviet articles provide the researcher and serious scholar certain information not found in the other sources, as well as insight into the Soviet concept of the educational system.
    [Show full text]
  • The Red Scare- Soviet Union
    JCC: The Red Scare- Soviet Union Chair: Bridget Arnold Vice-Chair: 1 Table of Contents 3. Letter from Chair 4. Committee Background 7. Topic A: Race to the Moon 15. Topic B: Developing Tensions is the West 24. Positions 2 Letter from the Chair: Dear Fellow Comrades, Hello, and welcome to LYMUN VII! I am extremely excited to be chairing (the better side) of the JCC: The Red Scare. My name is Bridget Arnold, I am currently a Senior at Lyons Township and I have participated in Model UN since my Freshman year. Outside of MUN, I participate in various clubs such as Mock Trial and PSI and in general have a huge fascination with politics. In anticipation of the conference, you are expected to write one position paper outlining ​ your person’s beliefs on the topics that you have been given. Both topics will be discussed in order but only one position paper is required. All delegates should maintain their character’s policy within the committee and should avoid slipping into their own personal beliefs. During committee, I will not only be looking for delegates who speak a lot but those who work well with other delegates, contribute to discussions, and exemplify knowledge about the topic in their speeches. With that being said, I encourage all delegates to speak at least once in this committee. Any experience with public speaking will benefit your skills as a public speaker now and in the future. Writing directives and crisis notes with your own original ideas are also crucial for success in this cabinet.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LAND WARFARE PAPERS Perestroika and Soviet Military
    THE LAND WARFARE PAPERS No.5 OCTOBER 1990 Perestroika and Soviet Military Personnel By Robert B. Davis A National Security Affairs Paper Published on Occasion by THE INSTITUTE OF LAND WARFARE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY Arlington, Virginia PERESTROIKA AND SOVIET MILITARY PERSONNEL by Robert B. Davis THE INSTITUTE OF LAND WARFARE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY AN AUSA INSTITUTE OF LAND WARFARE PAPER In 1988 the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) established within its existing organization a new entity known as the Institute of Land Warfare. Its purpose is to extend the educational work of AUSA by sponsoring scholarly publications, to include books, monographs and essays on key defense issues, as well as workshops and symposia. A work selected for publication as a Land Warfare Paper represents research by the author which, in the opinion of the editorial board, will contribute to a better understanding of a particular defense or national security issue. Publication as an AUSA Institute of Land Warfare Paper does not indicate that the Association of the United States Army agrees with everything in the paper, but does suggest that AUSA believes the paper will stimulate the thinking of AUSA members and others concerned about important defense issues. LAND WARFARE PAPER NO. S, OCTOBER 1990 Perestroika and Soviet Military Personnel by Robert B. Davis Mr. Robert B. Davis is a research psychologist with the U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mr. Davis received his undergraduate degree from Arkansas College and his advanced degree from Troy State University, Alabama.
    [Show full text]
  • 3. Ostap Bender: the King Is Born
    ——————————————— Ostap Bender: The King Is Born ——————————————— CHAPTER 3 OSTAP BENDER: THE KING IS BORN — 89 — —————————————————— CHAPTER THREE —————————————————— — 90 — ——————————————— Ostap Bender: The King Is Born ——————————————— Dvenadtsat’ stuliev (The Twelve Chairs, 1928) and Zolotoi telenok (The Golden Calf, 1931, Soviet book edition 1933), by Ilya Il’f and Evgenii Petrov, hold a unique place in Soviet culture. Although incorporated into the official canon of SocialistR ealist satire (a phenomenon whose very existence was constantly put into question), the books “became a pool of quotes for several generations of Soviet intellectuals, who found the diptych to be a nearly overt travesty of propagandistic formulae, newspaper slogans, and the dictums of the founders of ‘Marxism- Leninism.’ Paradoxically, this ‘Soviet literary classic’ was read as anti- Soviet literature.” (Odesskii and Feldman, 6) As Mikhail Odesskii and David Feldman (12–25) have shown, Dvenadtsat’ stuliev was commissioned to Valentin Kataev and his “brigade” in 1927 by Vladimir Narbut, editor-in-chief of the journal 30 days, which serialized the novel throughout the first half of 1928. Narbut also was a director of a major publishing house, “Zemlia i Fabrika” (“Land and Factory”), which released the novel in book form after the journal publication. Kataev, already a recognized writer, invited two young journalists into his “brigade,” his brother Petrov and Il’f—an old acquaintance from Odessa and a colleague at the newspaper Gudok (Train Whistle) where Kataev had also worked in the past—letting them develop his story of a treasure hidden inside one chair of a dining room set. However, once Kataev had ascertained that the co-authors were managing fine without a “master’s oversight,” the older brother left the group and the agreement with the journal and publisher was passed on to Il’f and Petrov.
    [Show full text]