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Collective Leadership in Soviet Politics PALGRAVE STUDIES IN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP SERIES Collective Leadership in Soviet Politics Graeme Gill Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership Series Editors Ludger Helms University of Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria Gillian Peele University of Oxford Oxford, UK Bert A. Rockman Purdue University West Lafayette, USA Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership seeks to gather some of the best work on political leadership broadly defned, stretching from classical areas such as executive, legislative and party leadership to understud- ied manifestations of political leadership beyond the state. Edited by an international board of distinguished leadership scholars from the United States, Europe and Asia, the series publishes cutting-edge Research that reaches out to a global readership. The editors are gratefully supported by an advisory board comprising of: Takashi Inoguchi (University of Tokyo, Japan), R.A.W. Rhodes (University of Southampton, UK) and Ferdinand Müller-Rommel (University of Luneburg, Germany). More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14602 Graeme Gill Collective Leadership in Soviet Politics Graeme Gill Department of Government and International Relations University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership ISBN 978-3-319-76961-5 ISBN 978-3-319-76962-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76962-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934630 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations. Cover credit: Keystone Pictures USA/Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland PREFACE I have wanted to write a book on this topic for many years, not only because of the dearth of studies of the Soviet leadership as a whole as opposed to biographies of individual leaders, but because of the intrin- sic interest of political leadership in authoritarian systems. My introduc- tion to this came through the popular media, more specifcally a series of reports that must have been in the mid-sixties about the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev. Indeed, it was this that piqued my interest not only in authoritarian leadership (although I did not conceive of it in such terms at the time) but also in Soviet politics. My passage to the point of writing this book was infuenced by so many scholars of Soviet politics and history that they are too numerous to name because of the fear of omitting someone who should be there. However, three people in par- ticular have shaped my understanding of communist leadership and of the Soviet leadership in particular. The late Harry Rigby was the doyen of Soviet studies in Australia. His meticulous scholarship, generosity of spirit and complete lack of pretention have been an inspiration as well as providing the necessary corrective a sometimes too enthusiastic younger scholar needed. In more recent times, Archie Brown has been a signif- icant infuence, both personally and intellectually. His nuanced work on Gorbachev remains the standard, while his later study of leadership has helped to redefne our appreciation of the relationship between a leader and those around him. And fnally, Fred Teiwes, whose pains- taking work on Chinese elite politics has defned that feld, has signif- icantly shaped our understanding of how individual and collective v vi PREFACE leadership have worked in the Chinese context. To these three in par- ticular, I owe a great debt of gratitude. Fred and Sheila Fitzpatrick both read parts of the manuscript and gave valuable feedback, while Tomas Sniegon provided particular insight into the role of the KGB. My thanks also to Rod Tiffen, who has given the sort of friendship and support that is essential to overcoming the potential loneliness of the academic endeavour. He has also brought his comparative wisdom to bear in an attempt to lever me out of a narrow specialization. I should also thank the Australian Research Council who, through Discovery Project Grant DP150101966, funded the research upon which this book is based. Writing the book has been made much more enjoyable by the visits of our granddaughter Bethany, whose arrival lights up the house and makes me realize what is really important. And fnally, my thanks to Heather, without whom none of what I have done would have been achieved. Her love, support, forbearance and general good humour have been what has sustained me. Sydney, Australia Graeme Gill CONTENTS 1 Introduction: The Study of Soviet Leadership 1 2 Oligarchy with a Predominant Leader, 1917–22 31 3 Rule by Pure Oligarchy, 1923–29 55 4 From the Predominant to the Dominant Leader, 1930–53 101 5 The Limits of the Predominant Leader, 1953–64 167 6 Predominant Leader Within the Collective, 1964–82 213 7 Collectivism Collapses, 1982–91 253 8 Conclusion 297 Index 339 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Hodnett’s “probable” qualifcations for a full-term General Secretary 10 Table 1.2 Hodnett’s qualities and successive leaders 11 Table 2.1 Politburo workload 1919–22 35 Table 2.2 Leadership elected in March 1919 and April 1922 37 Table 3.1 Leadership elected in April 1922 and December 1930 57 Table 3.2 Politburo workload 1923–29 75 Table 3.3 Changes in leadership 1923–29 77 Table 4.1 Leadership changes 1930–34 103 Table 4.2 Full Politburo members as a proportion of all attendees at Politburo meetings 107 Table 4.3 Politburo workload 1930–34 108 Table 4.4 Main attendees at meetings in Stalin’s offce 1931–34 110 Table 4.5 Politburo workload 1935–41 116 Table 4.6 Time spent in meetings in Stalin’s offce 1931–41 117 Table 4.7 Main attendees at meetings in Stalin’s offce 1935 to 21 June 1941 118 Table 4.8 Leadership elected in March 1939 119 Table 4.9 Leadership turnover 1934–39 121 Table 4.10 Meetings in Stalin’s offce during the frst week of the war 126 Table 4.11 Main attendees at meetings in Stalin’s offce 1941–45 127 Table 4.12 Average hours per week of meetings in Stalin’s offce 1941–45 128 Table 4.13 Average hours per week of meetings in Stalin’s offce 1945–52 129 Table 4.14 Stalin’s holidays 1945–52 (in days) 130 ix x LIST OF TABLES Table 4.15 Politburo workload 1945–October 1952 130 Table 4.16 Leadership elected in October 1952 131 Table 4.17 Main attendees at meetings in Stalin’s offce 1946–53 133 Table 5.1 Leadership elected in February 1956 174 Table 5.2 Leadership after the “Anti-Party Group” affair, June 1957 187 Table 5.3 Leadership changes 1953–61 191 Table 6.1 Leadership 1966 cf. 1981 216 Table 6.2 Factional alignment after the April 1973 plenum 220 Table 6.3 Factional alignment after the XXVI Congress, February–March 1981 221 Table 6.4 Retention rates of CC membership and size of CC, 1961–81 237 Table 7.1 Leadership at end of November 1982 255 Table 7.2 Leadership changes March 1985–March 1986 259 Table 7.3 Leadership on eve of XIX Conference, June 1988 263 Table 7.4 Leadership elected in July 1990 275 Table 7.5 State committee for the state of emergency 283 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: The Study of Soviet Leadership One of the most important determinants of the survival of authoritarian regimes is the maintenance of unity within the ruling elite. Disunity within the elite has been a major cause of regime change. It has also been the main reason for the overthrow of individual leaders; one study has shown that more than two-thirds of all authoritarian leaders who lost power through non-constitutional means between 1946 and 2008 were removed by individuals from within that leader’s inner circle.1 The stabil- ity of such ruling groups, and the strategies they use to bring this about, is therefore one of the most pressing questions in the scholarship on authoritarian rule and the focus of this book. A recent infuential book on leadership in authoritarian political sys- tems by Milan Svolik2 argues that the politics at the apex of authoritarian regimes are characterized by two basic factors: the absence of an inde- pendent authority to enforce agreements and rules of the game, and the presence of violence as the means for resolving differences. Essentially he sees authoritarian leadership as comprising two actors, the dictator who is continually seeking to expand his power at the expense of others, and the leader’s “allies” (i.e.
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