Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered, 1933-1938 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies) [Paperback]

John Archibald Getty (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521335701 | ISBN-13: 978-0521335706 | Publication Date: January 30, 1987

This is a study of the structure of the Soviet Communist Party in the 1930s. Based upon archival and published sources, the work describes the events in the Bolshevik Party leading up to the Great Purges of 1937-1938. Professor Getty concludes that the party bureaucracy was chaotic rather than totalitarian, and that local officials had relative autonomy within a considerably fragmented political system. The Moscow leadership, of which Stalin was the most authoritarian actor, reacted to social and political processes as much as instigating them. Because of disputes, confusion, and inefficiency, they often promoted contradictory policies. Avoiding the usual concentration on Stalin's personality, the author puts forward the controversial hypothesis that the Great Purges occurred not as the end product of a careful Stalin plan, but rather as the bloody but ad hoc result of Moscow's incremental attempts to centralise political power.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'With the aid of these little used materials, Dr. Getty has greatly enhanced our understanding of the Great Purges.' The Times Higher Education Supplement 'He has cleared the ground of many influential myths and has advanced many challenging hypotheses. His book is a landmark in the writing of Soviet political history.' London Review of Books 'Arch Getty has produced an exciting and timely book, devoted to a reappraisal of the Soviet Communist Party in the thirties. Using archival and newspaper sources, he queries the image of a tightly-organized party, controlled from the centre by its omnipotent leader, Stalin. Instead we see a badly-organized, inefficient and faction-ridden institution, marked by indecision at the top and confusion at the bottom. Against this backgroun, Getty offers us a new and original explanation for the explosion of political violence and terror in the Yezhovshchina. Origins of the Great Purges is the most stimulating book on the Soviet period to have appeared in several years. No one who works on Soviet politics and history can afford to ignore it.' Dr. Mary McAuley, University of Essex

Book Description

This is a study of the structure of the Soviet Communist Party, from the events in the Bolshevik Party leading up to the Great Purges of 1937-1938. Professor Getty assesses the party bureaucracy and claims that the Great Purges occurred as the bloody but ad hoc result of Moscow's incremental attempts to centralise political power.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 30, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521335701
• ISBN-13: 978-0521335706
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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