Subversion in the Red Army and the Military Purge of 1937–1938
Stalin's purge of his military elite during 1937–1938 is one of the most unusual events of the Great Terror. Why would Stalin execute his most qualified officers at the same time as defence spending was rising and a world war was approaching? This article argues that a long history of the Red Army being perceived as vulnerable to subversion is central to understanding this military purge. When faced with perceived plots in the military Stalin tended to lean towards restraint, but by 1937 he felt he could no longer hesitate, and finally cracked down on what he saw as a compromised army.
Soldiers in the Proletarian Dictatorship: The Red Army and the Soviet Socialist State, 1917-1930
Historians have long debated the factors most responsible for the fundamental transformation of Soviet social and political structures which occurred between the October Revolution and the emergence of the Stalinist police state. With this social and institutional history of the Red Army, Mark von Hagen provides a valuable new perspective on this critical first decade in the history of the Soviet Union.
The interregnum, 1923-1924
Contents PART 1: THE SCISSORS CRISIS Marking Time The Plight of Labour The Crisis Breaks The Closing of the Scissors PART 2: THE CAPITALIST WORLD The Occupation of the Ruhr The Curzon Ultimatum Communism and German Nationalism Bulgaria and the Peasant The German Fiasco Recognition PART 3: THE TRIUMVIRATE IN POWER The Triumvirate Takes Over Strains and Streses The Campaign against Trotsky The Death of Lenin List of Abbreviations Index