The Life and Times of Andrei Zhdanov, 1896-1948 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Life and Times of Andrei Zhdanov, 1896–1948 Robert E. Johnson (bio) Kees Boterbloem. The Life and Times of Andrei Zhdanov, 1896–1948 McGill-Queen’s University Press 2004. xxiv, 600. $55.00 As the archives of the early Soviet era grow more accessible, Andrei Zhdanov, a member of Josef Stalin's inner circle from the early 1930s to his premature death in 1948, becomes a prime candidate for close study. He shares with just one other Stalinist leader (Nikolai Ezhov) the dubious distinction of having the Russian suffix 'shchina' attached to his name. In popular speech this is a pejorative device, used to describe the bad times associated with a prominent person's leadership or policies, as in 'Pugachevshchina' – the bloody Cossack/peasant uprising of the 1770s led by Emilian Pugachev. The 'Zhdanovshchina' was a notorious campaign of the late 1940s that imposed strict conformity on the arts and promoted xenophobic Russian patriotism. Its targets, whom Zhdanov described as 'rootless cosmopolitans,' included such prominent figures as poet Anna Akhmatova and composer Sergei Prokofiev. Zhdanov himself, however, came to prominence much earlier, and played many other roles within the Soviet leadership. Using a wide range of published and archival sources, Kees Boterbloem tries to trace his protagonist's contributions to the industrialization drive of the First Five Plan, the Great Terror of 1937–38, foreign relations, and the defence of Leningrad during the Second World War. [End Page 556] At first glance Zhdanov seems an unlikely candidate for leadership. His middle-class background resembled that of the 'Old Bolsheviks' – most of whom were purged in the 1930s – more than most of his peers. He had an undistinguished record during the years of revolution and civil war, but rose quickly through the ranks of the Communist party, first in the city of Tver' and then in Nizhnii Novgorod, a more important industrial centre. He proved adept at upholding the (constantly shifting) Party line on such matters as industrialization and agriculture and denouncing its critics. By 1925 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist party, and in 1929 he had his first solo audience with Stalin. Early in 1934 he was elevated to Moscow, and in December he succeeded the assassinated Sergei Kirov as head of the Leningrad Party organization. From this point onward Zhdanov took part in almost every major development in domestic and foreign policy. He co-signed decrees, served on numerous drafting commissions, helped to orchestrate the monstrous purges of 1937–38, and delivered countless formulaic speeches setting forth Stalinist policies. Unfortunately the surviving records make it almost impossible to determine what his own specific contributions to any of these may have been. Even the Zhdanovshchina itself may have been the work of others. Other scholars (W. Hahn) have surmised that Zhdanov tried to cushion the impact of the campaign that bears his name. Kees Boterbloem rejects this hypothesis, but the evidence for and against remains sketchy. A fuller (and bolder) exposition would have been welcome. Similarly, he could have attempted a more conclusive account of bureaucratic cronyism and patronage – the 'families' of Stalin's entourage and the rivalries between them. The qualities that made Zhdanov a survivor – obsequious subservience and chameleon-like adaptability – would likely not have served him well as an independent leader. At certain points he appeared to be Stalin's chosen heir. But the Leader, especially in the last decades of his life, was constantly shifting favour among his associates, slapping down any who seemed to be showing ambition or independence. Zhdanov died of heart failure in 1948 at age fifty-two, at a moment when his political fortune seemed to be waning. Despite the book's weighty documentation, Boterbloem's Zhdanov remains a two-dimensional figure. The author can track the number and duration of Zhdanov's meetings with Stalin or other leaders, but usually has no record of what was said. At various points he resorts to something resembling old-fashioned Kremlinology, studying the order of signatures on a decree or of speeches at a Party conference to trace Zhdanov's fluctuating fortunes. The book's greatest strength is its documentary base, but its numerous lists...