Red Arctic : Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932-1939

A work of refreshing originality and vivid appeal, Red Arctic tells the story of Stalinist Russia's massive campaign to explore and develop its Northern territories during the 1930s. Author John McCannon recounts the dramatic stories of the polar expeditions—conducted by foot, ship, and plane—that were the pride of Stalinist Russia, in order to expose the reality behind them: chaotic blunders, bureaucratic competition, and the eventual rise of the Gulag as the dominant force in the North. Red Arctic also traces the development of the polar-based popular culture of the decade, making use of memoirs, films, radio broadcasts, children's books, and cultural ephemera ranging from placards to postage stamps to show how Russia's "Arctic Myth" became an integral part of the overall socialist-realist aesthetic that animated Stalinist culture throughout the 1930s. Contents A Note on Transliteration Abbreviations Introduction Polar Exploration and Soviet Political Economy The Arctic as Popular Culture Defining the Arctic ONE: Footholds in the North: The Russians in the Arctic, 1500–1932 First Steps: Opening the North, 1500–1800 The Arctic in the Late Imperial Period, 1800–1917 Building the North: The Soviet Arctic, 1917–1932 TWO: The Commissariat of Ice: The Rise of Glavsevmorput, 1932–1936 The Growing Giant: GUSMP's Central Apparatus, 1933–1935 Science, Economic Development, and the State On the Periphery: Glavsevmorput in the Field THREE: Days of Glory: The Major Expeditions, 1932–1939 The Sibiriakov Voyage (1932) The Cheliuskin Epic (1933–1934) Chkalov, Gromov, and Levanevsky: The Arctic Flights (1936–1937) "The Pole Is Ours!": SP-1 and the North Pole Landing (1937–1938) The Passing of an Era FOUR: From Victory To Victory: The Myth of the Arctic in Soviet Culture Outlooks toward Nature: The Arctic as Adversary Cosmographies: Perceptions of the USSR and the World A Nation of Heroes: The Individual and the State Living the Great Dream FIVE: Between Rhetoric and Reality: Manufacturing the Arctic Myth Engineering Human Souls: The Arctic Myth as State Policy Crafting the Myth: The Media and the Arctic Consuming the Myth: The Public Responds Propaganda: Effects and Limitations SIX: Polestar Descending: Glavsevmorput In Decline, 1936–1939 Glavsevmorput in Crisis Glavsevmorput and the Great Purges A New Primacy in the North: Dalstroi and the Demotion of GUSMP CONCLUSION Epilogue Parting Thoughts Notes Select Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z Red Arctic chronicles the history of Stalinist Russia's massive campaign to explore and develop its Northern territories during the 1930s. Author John McCannon draws upon groundbreaking archival research to recount the dramatic stories of the polar expeditions - oceanic voyages, aerial rescues, and record-breaking flights - that became the pride of Stalin's Soviet Union. McCannon also exposes the reality behind these exploits: chaotic blunders, bureaucratic competition, and the eventual rise of the GULAG as the dominant force in the North. Red Arctic also traces the development of the polar-based popular culture of the decade, making use of memoirs, films, radio broadcasts, children's books, and cultural ephemera ranging from placards to postage stamps to show how Russia's "Arctic myth" became an integral part of the overall socialist-realist aesthetic that animated Stalinist culture throughout the 1930s.