Abstract
The study of the Stalin era has long been a subject of intense controversy amongst historians. The historiography of works on Stalinism reveals a great diversity of viewpoint. The question of Stalin’s role and responsibility in the creation of this system looms large in this controversy. The freer access now made available to scholars in the archives of the FSU makes possible a fuller analysis of this period. It does not, however, resolve the problem of interpretation. Alongside more detailed empirical studies of the actual workings of government, of policy-formation and implementation, goes the need to develop a more sophisticated theoretical understanding of the nature of that system. At the centre of this controversy lies the question of the nature of the Stalinist state and its relationship to society. Here I shall concentrate on the origins of the Stalinist system and the development of ‘high Stalinism’ in the period from 1928 to 1940.
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References
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© 1998 School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London
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Rees, E.A. (1998). Stalinism: The Primacy of Politics. In: Channon, J. (eds) Politics, Society and Stalinism in the USSR. Studies in Russia and East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26529-9_3
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