Historical Interpretations
Robert Conquest
When the Great Terror was published, it was universally acclaimed as one of the most important and academically astute analyses of the show trials and purges that occurred in the 1930s in Soviet Russia.
Conquest argues that the events of 1936 to 1938 occurred as a result of the consolidation of two main factors - the extraordinarily idiosyncratic system of Bolshevik rule, which condoned violent change upon society and nurtured the evolution of opportunists, the consolidation of dictatorship, the movements of factions and the emergence of extreme economic policies; and the destructive ambition of Stalin, who foresaw his journey to power as the destruction of one bitter political rival after the next.
When Lenin gradually destroyed the 'democratic' tendency within the Communist Party, he in effect creating a system which placed power in the hands of factions. Thus the apparatus was to be the first the most powerful and later the only force within the Party. Henceforth candidates for power were easy to find. It was the Politburo, where the decisive confrontations took place. Over the following years Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky were to meet their death at the hands of the only survivor, Stalin.
When the Great Terror was published, it was universally acclaimed as one of the most important and academically astute analyses of the show trials and purges that occurred in the 1930s in Soviet Russia.
Conquest argues that the events of 1936 to 1938 occurred as a result of the consolidation of two main factors - the extraordinarily idiosyncratic system of Bolshevik rule, which condoned violent change upon society and nurtured the evolution of opportunists, the consolidation of dictatorship, the movements of factions and the emergence of extreme economic policies; and the destructive ambition of Stalin, who foresaw his journey to power as the destruction of one bitter political rival after the next.
When Lenin gradually destroyed the 'democratic' tendency within the Communist Party, he in effect creating a system which placed power in the hands of factions. Thus the apparatus was to be the first the most powerful and later the only force within the Party. Henceforth candidates for power were easy to find. It was the Politburo, where the decisive confrontations took place. Over the following years Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky were to meet their death at the hands of the only survivor, Stalin.
Simon Montefiore
Sebag Montefiore's treatment of the greatest horrors of Stalin's rule — the terror-famine of 1933, the "Great Terror" of 1937-1938, and the postwar terrors, with their climax in the antiSemitic "Doctors' Plot" - makes able use of newly available sources.
He focuses his attention much more on the life and operations of Stalin's inner circle. He portrays Yezhov, Voroshilov, Yagoda, Kaganovich and others as equally culpable in the planning and organization of the Moscow Trials and the purges that followed. Although the book focuses on Stalin's life as a whole, he provides comprehensive evidence that shows Stalin not as the undisputed ruler of 1930s USSR, but as a man vulnerable to influences and subject to inner doubts and demons.
As such he argues that the trials were not part of a grand conspiracy, but rather small conspiracies devised faction groups and Stalin himself that ultimately resulted in a war for favor and survival in the court of the Red Tsar.
Sebag Montefiore's treatment of the greatest horrors of Stalin's rule — the terror-famine of 1933, the "Great Terror" of 1937-1938, and the postwar terrors, with their climax in the antiSemitic "Doctors' Plot" - makes able use of newly available sources.
He focuses his attention much more on the life and operations of Stalin's inner circle. He portrays Yezhov, Voroshilov, Yagoda, Kaganovich and others as equally culpable in the planning and organization of the Moscow Trials and the purges that followed. Although the book focuses on Stalin's life as a whole, he provides comprehensive evidence that shows Stalin not as the undisputed ruler of 1930s USSR, but as a man vulnerable to influences and subject to inner doubts and demons.
As such he argues that the trials were not part of a grand conspiracy, but rather small conspiracies devised faction groups and Stalin himself that ultimately resulted in a war for favor and survival in the court of the Red Tsar.
Ronald Hingley
Hingley's study of Stalin and of the Moscow Trials pushes deep inside the political process, anatomy of power, and of the tactics of rule by subtle manipulations as well as by conscious tyranny.
He adopts the theory of a grand conspiracy, started and maintained by Stalin, for the destruction of his enemies within the Party and the extension of his own power. Hingley argues of a vicious political link between the murder of Kirov and the death of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Trotsky and Tomsky. By manufacturing the murder himself Stalin not only got rid of his only possible political rival, but paved the way for a series of show trials, the excuse for which became the Kirov affair.
Once he had demonstrated that he could repress Lenin's closest political allies, he would be free to exterminate all remaining rivals and opposition, however exalted. Stalin used the purge of the Politburo to appoint his own friends and allies, loyal to him in order to eliminate debate and carry out his conspiracy throughout the whole Party.
Hingley's study of Stalin and of the Moscow Trials pushes deep inside the political process, anatomy of power, and of the tactics of rule by subtle manipulations as well as by conscious tyranny.
He adopts the theory of a grand conspiracy, started and maintained by Stalin, for the destruction of his enemies within the Party and the extension of his own power. Hingley argues of a vicious political link between the murder of Kirov and the death of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Trotsky and Tomsky. By manufacturing the murder himself Stalin not only got rid of his only possible political rival, but paved the way for a series of show trials, the excuse for which became the Kirov affair.
Once he had demonstrated that he could repress Lenin's closest political allies, he would be free to exterminate all remaining rivals and opposition, however exalted. Stalin used the purge of the Politburo to appoint his own friends and allies, loyal to him in order to eliminate debate and carry out his conspiracy throughout the whole Party.
Robert Service
In this biography Robert Service draws on unpublished material from the Moscow archives, personal testimonies and private papers to illuminate Stalin as the man as well as the dictator, placing him in the centre of events in the Party, politics and conspiracy.
According to Service it was Stalin's propensity for violence, vengeance and conspirational behavior that are the key to understanding the trials of the 1930s. Stalin's mind had a predisposition towards mass terror, thus in order to prevent a challenge to his personal supremacy and demands in policy, he instigated the carnage of 1937-38.
Although many experts have claimed that Stalin's supporters and associates had persuaded him to take the most extreme measures in order to save the state, Service argues this to be self-delusion by many authors. Stalin had started the processes towards the Great Terror. He was the chief engineer of imprisonment, torture, penal labour and shooting. He resorted to terror in accordance of the basic structure of Bolshevik doctrines, but beyond that he had a psychological compulsion to kill and a strategy in mind (one filled with concerns of his own security and political supremacy).
In this biography Robert Service draws on unpublished material from the Moscow archives, personal testimonies and private papers to illuminate Stalin as the man as well as the dictator, placing him in the centre of events in the Party, politics and conspiracy.
According to Service it was Stalin's propensity for violence, vengeance and conspirational behavior that are the key to understanding the trials of the 1930s. Stalin's mind had a predisposition towards mass terror, thus in order to prevent a challenge to his personal supremacy and demands in policy, he instigated the carnage of 1937-38.
Although many experts have claimed that Stalin's supporters and associates had persuaded him to take the most extreme measures in order to save the state, Service argues this to be self-delusion by many authors. Stalin had started the processes towards the Great Terror. He was the chief engineer of imprisonment, torture, penal labour and shooting. He resorted to terror in accordance of the basic structure of Bolshevik doctrines, but beyond that he had a psychological compulsion to kill and a strategy in mind (one filled with concerns of his own security and political supremacy).
Isaac Deutscher
While Deutscher wrote his political biography of Stalin immediately after World War II and later on revised it in the 1960s, it still provides a valuable analyses to the events of the 1930s. Deutscher had no access to the Moscow archives or classified material, most of his conclusions were based on foreign reports and leaked testimonies.
He explains the Moscow Trials as the ultimate reaction to a possible increasing opposition to Stalinist policies in the 1930s. Although there never was a Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre, he provides evidence of internal and international resistance to Stalin, organized by Trotsky. Such resistance could hardly have been very organized or determined to denounce Stalin, but was perceived as such for it penetrated deep into the Communist Party. For Stalin, who is portrayed as paranoid person, who hated to be question, this was the ultimate threat and danged - thus had to be eliminated.
While Deutscher wrote his political biography of Stalin immediately after World War II and later on revised it in the 1960s, it still provides a valuable analyses to the events of the 1930s. Deutscher had no access to the Moscow archives or classified material, most of his conclusions were based on foreign reports and leaked testimonies.
He explains the Moscow Trials as the ultimate reaction to a possible increasing opposition to Stalinist policies in the 1930s. Although there never was a Trotskyite-Zinovievite centre, he provides evidence of internal and international resistance to Stalin, organized by Trotsky. Such resistance could hardly have been very organized or determined to denounce Stalin, but was perceived as such for it penetrated deep into the Communist Party. For Stalin, who is portrayed as paranoid person, who hated to be question, this was the ultimate threat and danged - thus had to be eliminated.
WIliam Chase (edited by Sarah Davies and James Harris)
William Chase uses newly declassified material from the Stalin archive to create a new reassessment of the processes that lead to the Moscow Trials. He presents a more complex and nuanced image of Joseph Stalin as the chief architect of the destruction of the opposition.
As the producer of the trials, he pushed the idea of politics as a conspiracy to the centre stage. The trials provided a definition for the nature and outline of the threats facing the Soviet Union, in addition to creating a mobilisational narrative that showed citizens on whom to focus their vigilance.
Stalin carefully crafted the scenario of the trials in order to consolidate his power and show himself as a defender of the nation. Moreover he used staged conspiracies of double-dealers to empower local officials to identify these threats from their midst.
William Chase uses newly declassified material from the Stalin archive to create a new reassessment of the processes that lead to the Moscow Trials. He presents a more complex and nuanced image of Joseph Stalin as the chief architect of the destruction of the opposition.
As the producer of the trials, he pushed the idea of politics as a conspiracy to the centre stage. The trials provided a definition for the nature and outline of the threats facing the Soviet Union, in addition to creating a mobilisational narrative that showed citizens on whom to focus their vigilance.
Stalin carefully crafted the scenario of the trials in order to consolidate his power and show himself as a defender of the nation. Moreover he used staged conspiracies of double-dealers to empower local officials to identify these threats from their midst.