Mass Uprisings in the USSR: Protest and Rebellion in the Post-Stalin Years: Protest and Rebellion in the Post-Stalin Years (New Russian History)

Until recent times, incidents of mass unrest in the USSR were shrouded in official secrecy. Now this pioneering work by historian Vladimir A. Kozlov has opened up these hidden chapters of Soviet history. It details an astonishing variety of widespread mass protest in the post-Stalin period, including workers' strikes, urban riots, ethnic and religious confrontations, and soldiers' insurrections. Kozlov has drawn on exhaustive research in police, procuracy, KGB, and Party archives to recreate the violent major uprisings described in this volume. He traces the historical context and the sequence of events leading up to each mass protest, explores the demographic and psychological dynamics of the situation, and examines the actions and reactions of the authorities. This painstaking analysis reveals that many rebellions were not so much anti-communist as essentially conservative in nature, directed to the defense of local norms being disturbed by particular instances of injustice or by the rash of Krushchev-era reforms. This insight makes the book valuable not only for what it tells us about postwar Soviet history, but also for what it suggests about contemporary Russian society as well as popular protests in general. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Translator's Note Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Social Conflict in the USSR After the Death of Stalin, 1953-1960 Chapter 1. Mastering New Territories in Kazakhstan and Siberia: The Crisis of Modernization and the Heritage of the Gulag in the 1950s Chapter 2. Unrest in the Military: Soldiers' Riots and Disorders Chapter 3. Violent Ethnic Conflicts in the Virgin Lands Chapter 4. The Return of the Deported Nations to the Northern Caucasus: The 1958 Riots in Grozny Chapter 5. Political Disturbances in Georgia After the CPSU Twentieth Party Congress Chapter 6. A Hooligan's War or Battles on the Margins: Uprisings of Marginalized Urban Masses Chapter 7. Orthodoxy in Revolt: Uprisings Among Religious Believers Part II. The Crisis of "Liberal Communism": "Anti-Khrushchev" Urban Uprisings and Disorders, 1961-1964 Chapter 8. The Early 1960s: Symptoms of a Social-Political Crisis Chapter 9. Krasnodar, RSFSR, January 15-16, 1961 Chapter 10. 101 Kilometers from Moscow: Disorders in Murom and Aleksandrov, RSFSR Chapter 11. Biisk—1961 or The Uprising on Market Day, June 25, 1961 Chapter 12. The Phenomenon of Novocherkassk: Part One Chapter 13. The Phenomenon of Novocherkassk: Part Two Chapter 14. Rear-Guard Battles of the Late Khrushchev Era Part III. "Unruly" Stagnation: Mass Uprisings from the Late 1960s to the Mid-1980s Chapter 15. Social Unrest and Symptoms of Decay in the Brezhnev Years Conclusion Notes Index Until recent times, incidents of mass unrest in the USSR were shrouded in official secrecy. This pioneering work of historian Vladimir A. Kozlov has opened up these hidden chapters of Soviet history. Through exhaustive research in police, procuracy, KGB, and Party archives, Kozlov has been able to trace the historical context and the sequence of events leading up to a mass protest. He explores the demographic and psychological dynamics of the situation, and examines the actions and reactions of the authorities. Such painstaking analysis reveals that many rebellions were not so much anti-Communist as essentially conservative in nature, directed to the defense of local norms being disturbed by particular instances of injustice or by the rash of Khrushchev-era reforms. This insight makes the study valuable not only for what it tells us about postwar Soviet social history, but also for what it suggests about contemporary Russian society. Basing his work on research in police, procuracy, KGB and party archives, Vladimir A. Kozlov traces the historical context and sequences of events leading up to mass protest in Russia. He explores the demographic and psychological dynamics of the situation and the reactions of the authorities.