Soviet Historiography of the Great Patriotic War 1970-1985: A Review

Abstract

Leonid Brezhnev's consolidation of power in the 1970s had a significant impact on Soviet military historiography. The accent was now on the positive, and criticism of Stalin and his military leadership was muted. There was no longer any room for such authors as A. M. Nekrich, whose 1941: 22 iiunia (published in 1965 by Nauka) had proved to be so controversial, nor for frank memoirs such as General N. K. Popel's Vtiazhkuiu poru (1959) or Marshal A. A. Biriuzov's Surovye gody (1966) where the Soviet Man was shown to exhibit less than perfection on occasion.