Experiencing Russia's Civil War : Politics, Society, and Revolutionary Culture in Saratov, 1917-1922

This book is the only comprehensive history of the total experience of the Russian Civil War. Focusing on the key Volga city of Saratov and the surrounding region, Donald Raleigh is the first historian to fully show how the experience of civil war embedded itself into both the people's and the state's outlook and behavior. He demonstrates how and why the programs and ideals that had propelled the Bolsheviks into power were so quickly lost and the repressive Soviet party-state was born. Experiencing Russia's Civil War is based on exhaustive use of previously classified local and central archives. It is also bold and ambitious in its breadth of thematic coverage, dealing with all aspects of the war experience from institutional evolution and demographics to survival strategies. Complicating our understanding of this formative period, Raleigh provides compelling evidence that many features of the Soviet system that we associate with the Stalin era were already adumbrated and practiced by the early 1920s, as Bolshevism became closed to real alternatives. Raleigh interprets this as the consequence of a complex dynamic shaped by Russia's political tradition and culture, Bolshevik ideology, and dire political, economic, and military crises starting with World War I and strongly reinforced by the indelible, mythologized experience of survival in the Civil War. Fluidly written, replete with new information, and always engaged with important questions, this is history finely wrought. This book is the only comprehensive history of the total experience of the Russian Civil War. Focusing on the key Volga city of Saratov and the surrounding region, Donald Raleigh is the first historian to fully show how the experience of civil war embedded itself into both the people's and the state's outlook and behavior. He demonstrates how and why the programs and ideals that had propelled the Bolsheviks into power were so quickly lost and the repressive Soviet party-state was born. Experiencing Russia's Civil War is based on exhaustive use of previously classified local and central archives. It is also bold and ambitious in its breadth of thematic coverage, dealing with all aspects of the war experience from institutional evolution and demographics to survival strategies. Complicating our understanding of this formative period, Raleigh provides compelling evidence that many features of the Soviet system that we associate with the Stalin era were already adumbrated and practiced by the early 1920s, as Bolshevism became closed to real alternatives. Raleigh interprets this as the consequence of a complex dynamic shaped by Russia's political tradition and culture, Bolshevik ideology, and dire political, economic, and military crises starting with World War I and strongly reinforced by the indelible, mythologized experience of survival in the Civil War. Fluidly written, replete with new information, and always engaged with important questions, this is history finely wrought.--Publisher description Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents List of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Glossary and Abbreviations Used in Archival Citations Introduction: Experiencing Russia’s Civil War Part One: Politics 1. Revolution on the Volga 2. Languages of Power: How the Saratov Bolsheviks Imagined Their Enemies 3. The Rise and Fall of the Saratov “Republic” 4. Cadres Resolve All: The Communists in Power 5. Co-optation amid Repression: The Revolutionary Communists and Other Socialist Parties in Saratov Province Part Two: Society and Revolutionary Culture 6. A Community in Disarray, a Community in the Making 7. The Cultural Practices of Provincial Communism 8. Narratives of Self and Other: Saratov’s Bourgeoisie 9. Not Seeing Like a State: The Red Guard Assault on Capital 10. Peasants in a Workers’Revolution 11. “Given His Class Position, a Worker Can Be Nothing but a Communist” 12. A Provincial Kronstadt, Another Tambov? Conclusion Bibliographical Essay Index Introduction: Experiencing Russia's Civil War -- Pt. 1. Politics -- 1. Revolution On The Volga -- 2. Languages Of Power: How The Saratov Bolsheviks Imagined Their Enemies -- 3. The Rise And Fall Of The Saratov Republic -- 4. Cadres Resolve All: The Communists In Power -- 5. Co-optation Amid Repression: The Revolutionary Communists And Other Socialist Parties In Saratov Province -- Pt. 2. Society And Revolutionary Culture -- 6. A Community In Disarray, A Community In The Making -- 7. The Cultural Practices Of Provincial Communism -- 8. Narratives Of Self And Other: Saratov's Bourgeoisie -- 9. Not Seeing Like A State: The Red Guard Assault On Capital -- 10. Peasants In A Workers' Revolution -- 11. Given His Class Position, A Worker Can Be Nothing But A Communist -- 12. A Provincial Kronstadt, Another Tambov? Donald J. Raleigh. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [417]-423) And Index.