Soviet Public Research Articles

The Soviet Public Prosecution in the 1920s. Traditions and Innovations

The Soviet Public Prosecution in the 1920s. Traditions and Innovations

Proletarian Feedback: The Mirror of the Soviet Public Sphere

Abstract One glaring problem that faced the Bolsheviks upon seizing power was the absence of their vaunted class subject. The party had led a successful revolution in the name of the industrial worker, but once the dust settled after the civil war, reality exposed the proclaimed “dictatorship of the proletariat” to be little more than an empty slogan for propagandists. The proletariat was a historico-philosophical no-show. Its truancy had a number of reasons, both factual and theoretical. First, while proletarians had always been something of a rarity in the largely agrarian economy of imperial Russia, the industrial working class became even scarcer after the civil war had decimated the manufacturing capacity of Russia and ruralized the country once again. When the Bolsheviks finally took control, Russia's industrial output had fallen to thirty percent of prewar levels. Historians have consequently described the Bolsheviks as a “superstructure in need of a base”2 and a “vanguard of a nonexistent class.”3 Add to this, second, the fact that the physiognomy of the working class was changing in the 1920s as the forces of production shifted away from the methods of heavy manufacture typical of the second industrial revolution toward newer, automated technologies that relied less on physical exertion than on the scientific knowledge of engineers and managers. At least until Stalin's spectacular revival of older, “classical” forms of industry at the end of the decade—a return that seemed to be motivated less by economic exigency than by retrograde iconography—blast furnaces and factory workbenches were being replaced by telematic machinery and bureaucratic control centers. Third, according to revolutionary theory, in the phase of the transition to communism the proletariat was not even a class, strictly speaking, but the social force that abolishes class identity as such in order to establish for the first time in world history the conditions for a truly universal subject.4 The revolutionary class is, necessarily, the last class. Party philosophers could provide no substantialist definition of this “free dynamei (power, force),” as Marx called the proletariat, since this non-class had no concrete features of its own but was instead understood as an energy that dissolved the existing socioeconomic order.5 Paradoxically, then, the very success of the revolution “causes the concept of the proletariat to ‘disappear.’”6

The House of Soviet Science and Culture in Prague and Soviet Public Diplomacy after the Prague Spring

The article deals with the problem of constructing scientific and cultural communication channels of the USSR and Czechoslovakia after the “Prague Spring” of 1968 on the example of the opening of the House of Soviet Science and Culture in Prague (HSSC). The initiator of this process was the Union of Soviet Friendship Societies. It was his offices that became one of the few surviving links of public diplomacy of the USSR after 1968. Based on archival documents the author shows that the SSOD was integrated into the Soviet political system, and its projects in Czechoslovakia were carried out under the control of party and state structures. The idea of opening a House of Soviet Science and Culture in Prague, which arose in 1969, completely belonged to the Soviet side and in practice met with considerable difficulties in its implementation. HSSC was opened in 1971 in the presence of the first leaders of the USSR and Czechoslovakia. The images of the achievements of socialist science and culture presented in it symbolized the transition to “normalization” in the socio-cultural sphere of the two countries. The Soviet leadership recognized this experience as successful and authorized the strengthening of the work of Soviet cultural centers around the world as an instrument of Soviet propaganda. However, the resources of the USSR were limited and inferiored to its more successful “competitors” from capitalist countries. At the same time HSSC opened up new opportunities for travel and informal intercultural exchange between scientists, cultural figures and Czechoslovak philistines. Therefore, his activity can be characterized as a local experience of Soviet public diplomacy, carried out in the spirit of Brezhnev’s “little deal” with Czechoslovakia.

“Face to the Countryside!”: A Thorny Path for Soviet Public Healthcare in an Interwar Belarusian Province

This article demonstrates the complications of rural healthcare modernization in the context of the Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic. While reforming public healthcare, the Bolsheviks managed to revive pre-revolutionary networks and provide the rural population with basic medical assistance. Various propaganda campaigns by the medical administration also aimed to improve sanitary condition and the state of healthcare in the countryside. However, due to political transformations in the interwar Soviet state, many of these plans ultimately proved unsuccessful at the local level.

The Image of Great Britain in the Soviet Press in the Context of the Spanish Civil War (1936‒1939)

The developments of the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1939, including its international aspects, have been thoroughly studied both in foreign and in Russian historiography. However, the introduction of new research approaches, in this case imagology, allows us to revisit even the well-established views. The paper examines the сreation and subsequent development of the image of Great Britain in the Soviet press in the context of the Spanish Civil War. The research draws on publications in the Soviet ‘Pravda’ and ‘Izvestiya’ newspapers, as well as in the ‘Ogoniok’, ‘Za rubezhom’ and ‘Agitator’s Sputnik’ magazines. The study reveales a rather ambiguous position of the Soviet press in relation to the British policy in Spain. Several topics played a key role in creating the image of the ‘Foggy Albion’ in the Soviet press. The leitmotif of publications of the Soviet journalists was the image of the empire in decline. In this regard, the Soviet press emphasized the acquiescence of the British government faced with aggressive actions from Francoists backed by Germany and Italy, as well as its inability to protect national interests of its own state. Parallel to this, the image of Great Britain as a split society was created. The Soviet journalists stressed that passivity of the government caused mounting criticism from both political left and right. At the same time, they praised the work of the civil society and volunteers in support of the republic. Finally, the Soviet media bashed London for its gradual drift from non-intervention towards appeasement and even direct inducement of aggressors. The author concludes that the image of Great Britain created in the Soviet press was intended to convince the Soviet public opinion in the fallacy of the British policy. In the face of an impending global war, London was portrayed as an unreliable ally, prone to concessions to aggressors.

Personnel Policy of Mid-1970s and Ruling Nomenclature in Representations of Soviet Public

Using the example of epistolary sources extracted from the fund No. 5 “Apparatus of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1949-1991)” of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, the problem of the history of the personnel policy development in the USSR, that is insufficiently covered in historical science, is examined in the article. The circumstances that had developed by the mid-1970s in the light of the decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU of February 12, 1975 “On the state of criticism and self-criticism in the Tambov Regional Party Organization” are described. The question is raised about the transformation of the Party-Soviet nomenclature, its social orientations and moral guidelines. The results of a comparative analysis of letters from various regions of the USSR are presented. On their basis the conclusions about the socialist ideals of Soviet citizens and the psychology of individualism contrary to them, the mentality of accumulation, which are affirmed among the political elite, are drawn. The circumstances of the embourgeoisement of regional leaders, personal corruption, especially abuse in the exercise of property rights, are commented. It is stated that gradually illegal actions, in the absence of strict measures to dismiss executives from their posts, became systemic, taking the form of custom. The author comes to the conclusion that the political space, socio-economic structure and the spiritual and moral sphere of society have evolved towards consumer, private ownership, property interests and needs.

Time Capsule Messages to Future Generations as a Genre of Soviet Public Texts

This article considers a special genre of Soviet lore, i. e. time capsule messages addressed to future generations who were thought to be living in a communist society at the time they received the message. In the USSR, time capsules were actively laid between the late 1960s and early 1970s, and many of them were unearthed in 2017 and 2018. The author analyses 148 published messages found in time capsules, making up around 250 pages of text. The article examines the general characteristics of the Soviet language, ideologemes, journalistic and bureaucratic clichés, and censorship; also, it focuses on the peculiarities of the texts and intertextual connections. The author reveals the sources of different levels of text typical of the traditions of world, Russian, and Soviet literature and films, futuristic science fiction of socialist realism, journalistic texts, and the media (reports about achievements, memoirs, and speeches made at meetings and congresses). The author also analyses the images of the addresser (a Soviet person) and the addressee. The texts not only have an explicit addressee in the form of a descendant but an implicit one too, in the form of power. This combination was typical of all Soviet official writings. However, in this case, the direct addressee (a descendant) was unusual, and so were their relations with the implied addressee (power). Ideologically, the latter was surprisingly dependent on the direct addressee despite them being non-material, both functioning equally as bearers of ideology. The author analyses three aspects, i. e. direct addressee (future generations), implied addressee (power), and relations between the addressees.

Revolutionary Defencism as a cul-de-sac? Socialist Parties and the Question of War and Peace in the Russian Revolution of 1917/18

Based on a wide array of sources–archival repositories, recollections, and autobiographies, as well as newspapers, journals, and the minutes of both Soviet and party congresses—the article shows to what extent the question of war and peace separated the socialist camp in at least two warring factions, i.e. the moderate socialists on the one hand and the radical left internationalists on the other. The paper argues that the question of war and peace was the pivot of all politics in 1917. At the same time, this conflict constituted a bone of contention when the radical factions of the Social-Democratic Internationalists and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries (Internationalists) split off their old parties in autumn of 1917. The paper discusses the four options to solve the question of war and peace: defencism, revolutionary war, “not war but uprising” and, finally, a separate peace. It further focusses on the Soviet Public Opinion about the separate peace treaty signed at Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918.

Lenin's Cohort: The First Mass Generation of Soviet Pensioners and Public Activism in the Khrushchev Era

Lenin's Cohort: The First Mass Generation of Soviet Pensioners and Public Activism in the Khrushchev Era

Leonid Utesov: The Unlikely Socialist Celebrity for a Soviet Public

Leonid Utesov: The Unlikely Socialist Celebrity for a Soviet Public

Soviet Public Diplomacy in China: “Small Steps” towards Bilateral Rapprochement (1978–1985)

The paper examines the use of public diplomacy within the framework of the ‘small steps’ policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mutual distrust, the fragility of the global balance of power and the absence of consensus within the political elites precluded China and the USSR from having productive dialogue through official diplomatic channels. Yet both sides felt the need to probe their counterpart’s intentions. The paper argues that the ‘small steps’ policy was one of the most logical options for both the Soviet Union and China at the time; it laid the groundwork for further normalisation efforts.

Новые формы советской торговли и бытового обслуживания в повседневной жизни советского человека в 1953–1985 годы (на материалах Нижнего Поволжья)

Новые формы советской торговли и бытового обслуживания в повседневной жизни советского человека в 1953–1985 годы (на материалах Нижнего Поволжья)

On the Ideological Front: Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere by Stuart Finkel

On the Ideological Front: Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere by Stuart Finkel

On the Ideological Front: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere by Stuart Finkel Lenin's Prìvate War: The Voyage of the Philosophy Steamer and the Exile of the Intelligentsia by Lesley Chamberlain (review)

REVIEWS 771 powersover'their' land.Theseconclusions do notresolve a century ofdebate overStolypin's reforms, but as a good mediatorshould,Williamsputsthe past intoa new and soberingperspective. At the same time,the poor fit betweenliberalpoliticaltheory and Stolypin's initiative meansthatwe need moreexpansivenotionsoflaw and politicsto understand whythisreform happenedat all. Department ofHistory Jane Burbank MewYorkUniversity Finkel, Stuart. On theIdeological Front:The RussianIntelligentsia of theSovietPublic Sphere. Yale UniversityPress, New H and theMaking [aven,CT and j_

On the Ideological Front: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere. By Stuart Finkel. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. vii, 338 pp. Appendix. Notes. Glossary. Index. $55.00, hard bound.

On the Ideological Front: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere. By Stuart Finkel. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. vii, 338 pp. Appendix. Notes. Glossary. Index. $55.00, hard bound. - Volume 68 Issue 1

:On the Ideological Front: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere

:On the Ideological Front: The Russian Intelligentsia and the Making of the Soviet Public Sphere

THE EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN A SPECIALIZED MEDICAL CARE INSTITUTION

The paper presents the experience in development and introduction of the Quality Management System (QMS) which meets the requirements of international standard ISO 9001:2000. The arrangement of quality management is a task, which integrates general management of the institution on the basis of quality ideology as a highest strategic aim. The application of international standards ISO 9000 facilitates the wide dissemination of new principles of management directed to a customer and quality of servicing, which were not peculiar to the Soviet Public Health. The QMS introduction is a scaled and complex process for any organization involving the whole its staff – from the head to the attending personnel. It must be performed stageby- stage with application of process approach technique. The result of QMS model development in Novosibirsk RITO is a transition from «as it is» condition to «as it should be» condition to eliminate revealed inadequacies. The used criteria and methods of monitoring and analysis permit to estimate the effectiveness and level of key processes of medical care and to schedule their improvement. A voluntary certification of conformance to the international standard ISO 9001:2000 is the first system task in the field of comprehensive management in Novosibirsk RITO. The standard conformance means that the achieved management level meets a minimal set of standardized requirements which reflect internationally recognized means of management for the production of medical services of guaranteed quality.

Thank You, Comrade Stalin!: Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War

Thank You, Comrade Stalin!: Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War

Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War

Thank You, Comrade Stalin! Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold War

Soviet Public Health and Social Marketing in Russia: Programs and Challenges

Soviet Public Health and Social Marketing in Russia: Programs and Challenges