Bearslayers: The Rise and Fall of the Latvian National Communists (American University Studies)

The 1959 purge of the Latvian national communists has long been cast in black-and-white terms: Russification and resistance; victimizers and victims. Conventional wisdom holds that Nikita Khrushchev was behind the purge. After all, he was the Soviet premier; he stopped in Riga just a few weeks before; even the leading victim of the purge, Eduards Berklavs, labeled Khrushchev the culprit. For the first time, William D. Prigge's penetrating analysis challenges this view and untangles the intricacies of Soviet center-periphery relations like a political thriller. With each new chapter, a truer understanding of events comes into sharper focus – more complex and fascinating than could ever be imagined. Ultimately, the reverberations are felt all the way to the Kremlin and weaken what Khrushchev thought was his own firm footing. For the student of Soviet and Latvian history alike, this volume provides more than just the story of a purge – it is a unique snapshot into the political machinations of the Soviet Union and one of its republics. Cover 1 Contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction: The Hot Summer of 1959 13 Chapter 1: Russophiles and Culture: The Early Years of Occupation, 1946–1953 21 Lebedev and Titov: Russian Nationalists 21 Pelše and Suslov: Marxist Internationalists 24 Linguistic Russification 29 USSR 31 Chapter 2: Between the Anvil and the Hammer: National Communists, Cadres & Beria, 1946–1953 33 The Early Years of National Communism 33 Promotion of Latvian Cadres 42 Beria and the June 1953 LCP CC Plenum 47 The Aftermath 53 Chapter 3: The Education of Eduards Berklavs 1955–1957 57 Khrushchev and the National Communists 60 Bourgeois Nationalism in Riga 63 Chapter 4: Unholy Alliances: Moscow, the Military, and National Communists, 1953–1957 73 The Anti-Party Purges 74 The Anti-Party Purges and Latvia 76 The Latvian Cultural Wars, 1952–1957 80 Attitudes toward Party Control and the Military 88 The Alliance Unravels 90 Chapter 5: The Summit: Latvian National Communists in Power, 1958–1959 93 Party Democracy 94 Populism in Latvia 99 The Press 99 Thesis 19 102 The Daugavpils Incident 105 Chapter 6: Industrialization or Russification?: Demographic Changes in Latvia 109 Demographic Changes in Latvia 111 Industrial Growth in Latvia 116 Context of the Protest Letter 119 Chapter 7: The Strange Death of Latvian National Communism 1959–1960 123 Khrushchev’s Role in the 1959 Latvian Purge 123 Cause of the Purge 128 The Purge Expands 130 The Purge and Kremlin Politics 135 Epilogue 141 The Importance of Legitimacy 141 Berklavs’s Revenge 144 Fire and Night 146 Notes 149 Introduction 149 Chapter 1 150 Chapter 2 153 Chapter 3 158 Chapter 4 160 Chapter 5 164 Chapter 6 168 Chapter 7 170 Epilogue 174 Bibliography 177 Archival Sources 177 Published Documents and Published Collections of Documents 177 Published Documents and Published Collections of Documents, Cont. 178 Periodicals, Encyclopedias, and Directories 178 Periodicals, Encyclopedias, and Directories, Cont. 179 Memoirs 179 Memoirs, Cont. 180 Interviews 180 Books and Scholarly Articles 180 Books and Scholarly Articles, Cont. 181 Unpublished Dissertations and Manuscripts 182 Index 183 Introduction: The Hot Summer Of 1959 -- Russophiles And Culture: The Early Years Of Occupation, 1946-1953 -- Between The Anvil And The Hammer: National Communists, Cadres -- And Beria, 1946-1953 -- The Education Of Eduards Berklavs, 1955-1957 -- Unholy Alliances: Moscow, The Military, And The National-communists, 1953-1957 -- The Summit: The Latvian National Communists In Power, 1958-1959 -- Industrialization Or Russification? Demographic Changes In Latvia -- The Strange Death Of Latvian National Communism, 1959-1960. William D. Prigge. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.