103
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 767, ll. 35–39, 45–48; d. 71. ll. 11, 13–14.
104
. Molotov uses this term since not only Politburo members took part in voting, but also the chairman of the Party Control Commission, Ordzhonikidze, whose post excluded him from Politburo membership.
105
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 767, ll. 56–60.
106
. Cited in Lih, Naumov, and Khlevniuk,
Stalin’s Letters to Molotov,
p. 139.
107
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 1110, l. 181.
A World of Reading and Contemplation
1
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 105, ll. 20–126; d. 117, ll. 1–173.
2
. Ibid., op. 11, d. 70, ll. 85–114.
3
. B. S. Ilizarov,
Tainaia zhizn’ Stalina
(Moscow, 2002), p. 143.
4
. M. Ia. Vaiskopf,
Pisatel’ Stalin
(Moscow, 2000), pp. 17–22.
5
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 3, dd. 1–392. There exists a legal document
(akt)
instructing that all of Stalin’s books with notations be placed in his archive. Books from Stalin’s Kremlin and dacha libraries that did not contain any handwritten markings were placed in the library of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism or other research libraries. Whether or not the libraries Stalin left behind at the time of his death were properly catalogued and preserved is an open question. Some books, including those with notations, have disappeared. However, the books that were preserved in the Stalin archival collection appear to be a representative sample.
6
. Former Soviet transport commissar I. V. Kovalev, in an interview with G. A. Kumanev. Cited in
Novaia i noveishaia istoriia,
no. 3 (2005): 165.
7
. Cited in R. W. Davies et al., eds.,
The Stalin-Kaganovich Correspondence, 1931–1936
(New Haven and London, 2003), p. 381.
8
. Cited in A. Artizov and O. Naumov, comps.,
Vlast’ i khudozhestvennaia intelligentsiia
(Moscow, 1999), pp. 499, 583, 613. Memorandum from Stalin concerning the script of the film
Ivan the Terrible,
13 September 1943; speech by Stalin at a meeting of the Orgburo, 9 August 1946; conversation between Stalin and the creators of the film
Ivan the Terrible,
26 February 1947: see Maureen Perrie,
The Cult of Ivan the Terrible in Stalin’s Russia
(Basingstoke and New York, 2001).
9
. B. S. Ilizarov claims to have found a copy of Fedor Dostoevsky’s
The Brothers Karamazov
with notations by Stalin in a library (Ilizarov,
Tainaia zhizn’ Stalina,
p. 411).
10
. Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891–1940) was a novelist and playwright. Some of his early plays were staged in the 1920s but were harshly criticized for ideological flaws. Gradually, Bulgakov’s works were banned and he was deprived of his livelihood. Stalin, who liked Bulgakov’s works, gave the writer some support. Bulgakov was given some work, although most of his writing remained prohibited. His best known work,
The Master and Margarita,
was published many years after Stalin’s death.
11
. Letter from Gorky to the head of the Communist youth organization, 14 April 1936. Cited in L. V. Maksimenkov, comp.,
Bol’shaia tsenzura. Pisateli i zhurnalisty v Strane Sovetov. 1917–1956
(Moscow, 2005), p. 413.
12
. As mentioned above, in 1934–1936 the head of the Soviet film industry, Boris Shumiatsky, took notes at several dozen film screenings hosted by Stalin for other top Soviet leaders. K. M. Anderson et al., comps.,
Kremlevskii kinoteatr. 1928–1953
(Moscow, 2005), pp. 919–1053. The quotes in this paragraph are from this volume.
13
. Letter from Stalin to members of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, 28 February 1929. Cited in Artizov and Naumov,
Vlast’ i khudozhestvennaia intelligentsiia,
p. 110.
Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (1874–1940) was a theatrical director and producer and an adherent of revolutionary theatrical experimentation. Meyerhold’s works fell out of favor after the proclamation of the Stalinist doctrine of socialist realism. In 1939 Meyerhold was arrested, and he was shot the following year.
14
. Dmitry Dmitryevich Shostakovich (1906–1975) is considered one of the twentieth century’s leading composers. On Stalin’s instructions, he was branded a “formalist” and persecuted in 1936 and 1948. To come to terms with the authorities, Shostakovich was periodically compelled to create “correct,” ideologically acceptable works.
15
. V. A. Nevezhin,
Zastol’ia Iosifa Stalina. Bol’shie kremlevskie priemy 1930-kh–1970-kh gg.
(Moscow, 2011), pp. 282–308.
16
. Stalin’s mangling of idioms is difficult to convey in translation. For examples, see Vaiskopf,
Pisatel’ Stalin,
p. 23.
17
. For an example, see RGASPI, f. 17, op. 163, d. 471, l. 16; d. 494, l. 14.
18
. Cited in A. Ostrovskii,
Kto stoial za spinoi Stalina?
(Moscow, 2002), pp. 399, 400–401, 409, 413.
19
. Iu. G. Murin, comp.,
Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i. Iz lichnogo arkhiva
(Moscow, 1993), pp. 30–31.
20
. Ethan Pollock,
Stalin and the Soviet Science Wars
(Princeton, 2006).
Chapter 3. His Revolution
1
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 767, l. 76.
2
. Minutes from an 18 January 1928 meeting of the Siberia Krai party leadership attended by Stalin;
Izvestiia TsK KPSS,
no. 5 (1991): 196–199.
3
. Ibid., pp. 199–201.
4
. Stalin’s speech at a 20 January 1928 closed meeting of the party leadership of Siberia Krai; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 118, ll. 23–34;
Izvestiia TsK KPSS,
no. 6 (1991): 203–212.
5
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 119, l. 84.
6
. Ibid., l. 106;
Izvestiia TsK KPSS,
no. 7 (1991): 178.
7
. Cited in I. I. Ikonnikova and A. P. Ugrovatov, “Stalinskaia repetitsiia nastupleniia na krest’ianstvo,”
Voprosy istorii KPSS,
no. 1 (1991): 76.
8
. Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky (1880–1936) was a long-standing member of the Bolshevik party and a Soviet trade union leader after the revolution. In 1922 he took charge of the All-Union Council of Trade Unions and joined the country’s top leadership. After Stalin defeated the rightists, Tomsky was relegated to low-level positions. In 1936, under threat of arrest, he took his own life.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Uglanov (1886–1937) was a long-standing member of the Bolshevik party who held senior posts in Moscow and the provinces after the revolution. In 1924 he was appointed head of Moscow’s party organization, a position that assured him a place at the upper echelons of power. In 1928 he was removed from his post through Stalin’s intrigues, given a low-level position, and subjected to persecution. He was arrested and shot during the Terror.
9
. RGASPI, f. 85. These recent additions to the
fond
have not yet been assigned an
opis’
: d. 2, ll. 1–11, 28–30.
10
. Cited in A. V. Kvashonkin et al., comps.,
Bol’shevistskoe rukovodstvo. Perepiska. 1912–1927
(Moscow, 1996), p. 58.
11
. New documents pertaining to the conversation between Bukharin and Kamenev and the circumstances under which it came to light have been published. See V. P. Danilov and O. V. Khlevniuk et al., eds.,
Kak lomali NEP. Stenogrammy plenumov TsK VKP(b). 1928–1929 gg.,
vol. 4 (Moscow, 2000), pp. 558–567, 685–699.
12
. Speech delivered at the First All-Union Conference of Leading Personnel of Socialist Industry, 4 February 1931. I. V. Stalin,
Works,
vol. 13 (Moscow, 1954), p. 43. The translation has been slightly revised.
13
. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 145, ll. 43–54.
14
. I borrow the term “war on the peasants” from Andrea Graziosi,
The Great Soviet Peasant War: Bolsheviks and Peasants, 1917–1933
(Cambridge, MA, 1996).
15
. V. P. Danilov et al., eds.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni. Kollektivizatsiia i raskulachivanie. 1927–1939,
vol. 2 (Moscow, 2000), pp. 35–78.
16
. Ibid., pp. 75–76, 85–86.
17
. Ibid., p. 11.
18
. Ibid., pp. 703, 789. See also Lynne Viola,
Peasant Rebels under Stalin: Collectivization and the Culture of Peasant Resistance
(New York and Oxford, 1996).
19
. In the 1960s V. P. Danilov had an opportunity to acquaint himself with the relevant Politburo archive documents, which have still not been made generally available to historians; Danilov et al.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni,
vol. 2, p. 833.
20
. Ibid., pp. 279, 324. Lynne Viola et al., eds.,
Riazanskaia derevniia v 1929–1930 gg. Khronika golovokruzheniia
(Moscow, 1998).
21
. Danilov et al.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni,
vol. 2, p. 270.
22
. Ibid., pp. 303–305.
23
. Ibid., p. 804. According to OGPU figures for 1930, 2.5 million people took part in the 10,000 disturbances (out of 13,800) for which an estimate was made. Assuming an average of 245 people per disturbance, we arrive at a figure of 3.4 million people for all 13,800 incidents. It should be borne in mind, however, that the OGPU data were probably not complete.
24
. Cited in V. Vasil’ev and L. Viola,
Kollektivizatsiia i krest’ianskoe soprotivlenie na Ukraine
(Vinnitsa, 1997), pp. 213–219, 221.
25
. RGASPI, f. 85, op. 1c, d. 125, l. 2; Vasil’ev and Viola,
Kollektivizatsiia i krest’ianskoe soprotivlenie,
p. 233.
26
. V. N. Zemskov,
Spetsposelentsy v SSSR. 1930–1960
(Moscow, 2003), pp. 16, 20.
27
. Lynne Viola,
The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin’s Special Settlements
(New York, 2007).
28
. R. W. Davies, Mark Harrison, and S. G. Wheatcroft, eds.,
The Economic Transformation of the Soviet Union, 1913–1945
(Cambridge, 1994), p. 289.
29
. Speech to a Central Committee plenum, 7 January 1933. Stalin,
Works,
vol. 13, pp. 161–217.
30
. O. Latsis, “Problema tempov v sotsialisticheskom stroitel’stve,”
Kommunist,
no. 18 (1987): 83.
31
. R. W. Davies and Stephen G. Wheatcroft,
The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–1933
(Basingstoke, 2004), pp. 412–415.
32
. James C. Scott,
Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance
(New Haven, 1985).
33
. On proposals submitted to Stalin in 1932 to introduce fixed grain procurement norms, see N. A. Ivnitskii,
Kollektivizatsiia i raskulachivanie (nachalo 30-kh godov)
(Moscow, 1994), p. 191.
34
. Politburo resolution, 29 April 1932; RGASPI, f. 17, op. 162, d. 12, l. 115.
35
. Judging by reports from the head of the Procurement Committee to Stalin, as of 1 July 1933—i.e., before the deliveries of grain from the 1933 harvest—Soviet grain reserves, including all grain cultures, totaled approximately 1.4 million metric tons, including more than 1 million tons of grains for human consumption (APRF [Archive of the President of the Russian Federation], f. 3, op. 40, d. 27, ll. 123, 133). Davies and Wheatcroft found these figures in the archives of the Procurement Committee (
The Years of Hunger,
p. 229). It is known that peasant households in Russia annually consumed an average of 262 kilograms of grain per capita. That figure suggests that these reserves would have been sufficient to provide normal rations for approximately 4 million people for an entire year or even more people at below-standard rations. Even more striking is the quantity of grain exported during the famine. Although the government was forced to cut back, grain exports still totaled 1.8 million tons in 1932 and 223,000 tons during the first half of 1933 (Danilov et al.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni,
vol. 3, pp. 33–34; Davies and Wheat-croft,
The Years of Hunger,
p. 440).
36
. Oleg V. Khlevniuk,
The History of the Gulag from Collectivization to the Great Terror
(New Haven and London, 2004), p. 62; Zemskov,
Spetsposelentsy v SSSR,
p. 20.