The Lost Politburo Transcripts: From Collective Rule to Stalin's Dictatorship (The Yale-Hoover Series on Stalin, Stalinism, and the Cold War)

In this groundbreaking book, prominent Western and Russian scholars examine the “lost” transcripts of the Soviet Politburo, a set of verbatim accounts of meetings that took place from the 1920s to 1938 but remained hidden in secret archives until the late 1990s. Never intended for publication or wide distribution, these records (known as stenograms in Russia) reveal the actual process of decision making at the highest levels of the Soviet communist party. The transcripts also provide new, first-hand records of the rise of Stalin’s dictatorship. The contributors to the volume explore the power struggles among the Politburo members, their methods of discourse and propaganda, and their economic policies. Taken as a whole, the essays shed light on early Soviet history and on the individuals who supported or opposed Stalin’s consolidation of power. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 I. Introduction......Page 10 1. Findings and Perspectives......Page 12 2. The Politburo’s Role as Revealed by the Lost Transcripts......Page 25 II. The Power Struggle......Page 48 3. Stalin in the Light of the Politburo Transcripts......Page 50 4. ‘‘Class Brothers Unite!’’ The British General Strike and the Formation of the ‘‘United Opposition’’......Page 66 5. Stalin, Syrtsov, Lominadze: Preparations for the ‘‘Second Great Breakthrough’’......Page 87 6. The ‘‘Right Opposition’’ and the ‘‘Smirnov-Eismont-Tolmachev Affair’’......Page 106 III. Discourse, Ideology, and Propaganda......Page 128 7. The Way They Talked Then: The Discourse of Politics in the Soviet Party Politburo in the Late 1920s......Page 130 8. Making the Unthinkable Thinkable: Language Microhistory of Politburo Meetings......Page 144 9. The Short Course of the History of the All-Union Communist Party: The Distorted Mirror of Party Propaganda......Page 174 IV. Economic Policy......Page 188 10. Grain, Class, and Politics During NEP: The Politburo Meeting of December 10, 1925......Page 190 11. The Politburo on Gold, Industrialization, and the International Economy, 1925–1926......Page 208 12. Prices in the Politburo, 1927: Market Equilibrium versus the Use of Force......Page 233 Bibliography......Page 256 List of Contributors......Page 268 B......Page 270 G......Page 271 K......Page 272 M......Page 273 P......Page 274 R......Page 275 S......Page 276 T......Page 278 Z......Page 279 Findings and perspectives / Norman Naimark The Politburo's role as revealed by the lost transcripts / Paul Gregory Stalin in the light of the Politburo transcripts / Hiroaki Kuromiya "Class bothers unite!" the British general strike and the formation of the "united opposition" / Alexander Vatlin Stalin, Syrtsov, Lominadze : preparations for the "second great breakthrough" / Oleg Khlevniuk The "right opposition" and the "Smirnov-Eismont-Tolmachev affair" / Charters Wynn The way they talked then : the discourse of politics in the Soviet Party Politburo in the late 1920s / Robert Service Making the unthinkable thinkable : language microhistory of Politburo meetings / Leona Toker The short course of the history of the all-union Communist Party : the distorted mirror of party propaganda / Rustem Nureev Grain, class, and politics during NEP : the Politburo meeting of december 10, 1925 / R.W. Davies The Politburo on gold, industrialization, and the international economy, 1925-1926 / David M. Woodruff Prices in the Politburo, 1927 : market equilibrium versus the use of force / Mark Harrison.