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.
Support for the opposition in Moscow in the party discussion of 1923–1924
STUDIES OF THE 1923-24 Opposition within the Russian Communist Party have tended to focus on the activities and pronouncements of the opposition leadership.' Little attention has been given to the views of the opposition's rank and file supporters. Yet the party discussion of December 1923-January 1924 provides ample material for an examination of the rank and file in terms of their numerical strength, social composition and political concerns. In this respect it is necessary to establish the level and social make-up of opposition support and to suggest why it should have been that the opposition was more strongly supported in certain areas (among students, members of the Komsomol and within the military) than others (among industrial workers). The very use of materials from the party discussion forces a certain Moscowcentric bias. It is only from the reports of the activities of the Moscow party organisation that it is possible to gauge the concerns of the party rank and file. While Pravda printed complete resolutions from meetings of party cells in Moscow, its reports from other localities tended to be at second hand and, whilst giving an indication of the way various cells were voting, they give little evidence about the real opinions of cell members. Equally, Moscow was the main centre of attention for both protagonists in the discussion. It was to meetings of the Moscow cells that orators from both the Central Committee majority and the opposition addressed themselves. Moscow seems to have been the liveliest base of the discussion. Few reports came from the other urban centres, except from Petrograd, where it seems the Zinoviev party machine had been successful in keeping the debate within strict limits.
Education and social mobility in the Soviet Union, 1921-1934
List of tables Acknowledgements Part I: 1. Education and Soviet society 2. The new Soviet school 3. The education system: problems of mobility and specialization 4. Professors and Soviet power Part II: 5. The 'great turning-point' of 1928-1929 6. Cultural Revolution and the schools 7. Mass education and mobility in the countryside 8. The making of a proletarian intelligentsia Part III: 9. The restoration of order: new policies in education, 1931-1934 10. The 'New Class': social mobility and education under Stalin Notes Bibliography Index.