Stalinism And Soviet Rail Transport, 1928?41 (studies In Russian And East European History And Society)

Annotation This work provides an in-depth case-study of decision-making in the Soviet Union in the Stalin era. It focuses on the development of rail transport policy, upon which the entire economy as well as the country's defence were so crucially dependent. It analyses the role of institutional lobbies in shaping policy, and sheds new light on the Stakhanovite movement, and analyses for the first time the impact of the Great Purges on the railways. The work provides a critical examination of the adequacy of existing conceptualisations of the Stalinist state Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-10 The Years of Forced Development, 1928–30....Pages 11-37 The Transport Crisis, 1931....Pages 38-56 Rail Transport under Strain, 1932–33....Pages 57-81 Steady Recovery and Future Prospects, 1934....Pages 82-105 The Year of Advance, 1935....Pages 106-132 The Watershed Year, 1936....Pages 133-159 The Year of the Purge, 1937....Pages 160-185 Rail Transport and War Preparations, 1938–41....Pages 186-211 Conclusion....Pages 212-227 Back Matter....Pages 228-307

This work provides an in-depth case-study of decision-making in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. It focuses on the role of the People's Commissariat of Ways of Communications (Narkomput) in shaping rail transport policy in the 1930s. The crucial importance of the railways for the economy and for the defence of the country placed Narkomput at the forefront of the political leadership's concerns in this period.

This case study of decision-making in Stalinist Russia focuses on the development of a rail transport policy. It analyzes the role of the institutional lobbies in shaping policy, the Stakhanovite movement and the impact of the Great Purges on the railways.