Britain Confronts The Stalin Revolution: Anglo-soviet Relations And The Metro-vickers Crisis Project Muse Upcc Books

“Russian politics, like opium, seems infallibly to provoke the most fantastic dreams and imaginings on the part of the people who study them.” __— E.A. Walker, British Embassy, Moscow 1931__ In March 1933 the economic section of the Soviet secret police arrested six British engineers employed by the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company. The arrests provoked a confrontation that brought Anglo-Soviet relations to the brink of disaster and resurrected the spectre of the show trials and purges of the technical intelligentsia that had shaken Soviet society from 1928 to 1931. __Britain Confronts the Stalin Revolution__ is the first full-length study of the Metro-Vickers’ show trial of 1933. Based upon some new and many underutilized Soviet and British sources, Gordon Morrell examines the political, economic, social, legal and cultural dimensions of the only Stalinist political trial of the 1930s that directly engaged a foreign power. Morrell explores the roots of the crisis by analyzing Metro-Vickers’ role in the electrification of the USSR and he examines the political, economic and diplomatic relations between Britain and the Soviets that gave the crisis its international importance. He focusses on the efforts of the British Government to understand and respond to the new Stalinist order and, importantly, casts new light on the apparent role of the British Industrial Intelligence Centre during the early 1930s. __Britain Confronts the Stalin Revolution__ is an accessible, original and multidimensional work that makes an important contribution to the study of Anglo-Soviet relations. In March 1933 The Economic Section Of The Soviet Secret Police Arrested Six British Engineers Employed By The Metropolitan-vickers Electrical Company, Provoking A Confrontation That Brought Anglo-soviet Relations To The Brink Of Disaster. In This First Full-length Study Of The Metro-vickers Show Trial Of 1933, Gordon Morrell Uses Some New And Many Underutilized Soviet And British Sources To Examine The Political Economic, Social, Legal And Cultural Dimensions Of The Only Stalinist Political Trial Of The 1930s Which Directly Engaged A Foreign Power. Morrell Explores The Roots Of The Crisis In Metro-vickers' Role In The Electrification Of The Ussr And Examines The Political, Economic And Diplomatic Relations Between Britain And The Soviets Which Gave The Crisis Its International Importance. In Doing So He Casts New Light On The Development Of Industrialization In The Ussr And On The Apparent Role Of The British Industrial Intelligence Centre During The Early 1930s.--book Jacket. 1. Building Lenin's Dream: The Mveec And Soviet Electrification, 1922-27 -- 2. The Mveec And The Stalin Revolution, 1927-33 -- 3. The Politics Of Crisis Diplomacy -- 4. In The Bowels Of The Lubianka -- 5. The Metro-vickers Show Trial -- 6. Crisis Contained -- 7. Conclusions. Gordon W. Morrell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 189-198) And Index.