Introduction

Abstract

In May 1988 the editorial office of the leading Soviet historical journal, Voprosy istorii, held a roundtable on the Soviet Union in the 1920s, the first of several such forums that focus on specific periods in Soviet history. The reason for selecting the 1920s was not only one of chronological soundness: the period of the New Economic Policy (NEP) has attracted considerable attention in Gorbachev's Russia, owing to the obvious and often superficial parallels it has with the current reform agenda. A distinguished group of historians was invited to participate in the discussion, which touched upon all the burning issues of the day. The candid and at times sophisticated assessment of NEP raises questions about in-traparty fighting during the 1920s; about Lenin's evolving views on NEP; about Stalin's consolidation of power and his style of leadership; about the party's relationship with the Soviet countryside, minority nationalities, and the outside world; about the viability of the Bukharin alternative; and about the reasons for the destruction of NEP and the significance this had for subsequent Soviet history.