Popular Perceptions of Soviet Politics in the 1920s: Disenchantment of the Dreamers

by O. Velikanova

Overview

This is the first study of popular opinions in Soviet society in the 1920s. These voices which made the Russian revolution characterize reactions to mobilization politics: patriotic militarizing campaigns, the tenth anniversary of the revolution and state attempts to unite the nation around a new Soviet identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349440597
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Edition description:	1st ed. 2013
Pages:	251
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

OLGA VELIKANOVA obtained her PhD from Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia. Having developed her career in Russia, Europe, Canada and the USA, she is now an expert in Soviet popular opinion studies and has published four books and numerous articles in this area after twenty years study in Russian archives.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs List of Tables Acknowledgements Glossary and Abbreviations Introduction Mobilization Model and Popular Opinions in the USSR. Historiographical Context Society in the 1920s: Everyday Hardships and Dissatisfaction Sources Foreign Threat: Leadership's and Popular Perceptions in 1923 and 1924 The War Scare of 1927: Power Discourse The War Scare of 1927: Popular Perceptions Rural Consolidation against the Soviet Politics: Peasant Union Movement in the 1920s The Crisis of Faith. Popular Reactions to the Tenth Anniversary of October Revolution Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Velikanova has built her arguments using a commendable variety of sources in English and Russian, including correspondences, diaries, letters to newspapers, etc.; official Party, army, Komsomol, and trade union records, as well as accounts by foreign diplomats. She is judicious in her interpretations and takes care to show that all of her conclusions are based on this board and varied evidence that, taken together, tells a consonant, if complex and nuanced, story. Her book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of popular opinion in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and why Soviet politics turned fatally toward the Stalinist solution at the end of the decade.” (Anita Shelton, Eastern Illinois University writing for The Historian)

“Velikanova deserves praise for focusing our attention on the important role that fear of war played in shaping mentalities both popular and among the leadership in the 1920s, and, especially, on 1927 as a critical year in the shaping of Stalinist rule. Moreover, by amplifying the voices 'from below', she has helped enrich our understanding of the first decade of Soviet power and shown that the occupants of the Kremlin may have worried as much about their own citizens as they did about enemies abroad.” (Clayton Black, Washington College, MD, USA)

Editorial Reviews

"...Velikanova deserves praise for focusing our attention on the important role that fear of war played in shaping mentalities both popular and among the leadership in the 1920s, and, especially, on 1927 as a critical year in the shaping of Stalinist rule. Moreover, by amplifying the voices 'from below', she has helped enrich our understanding of the first decade of Soviet power and shown that the occupants of the Kremlin may have worried as much about their own citizens as they did about enemies abroad." - Clayton Black, Washington College, MD, USA

From the Publisher