Crisis-Management, Censorship, Control

Abstract

This chapter looks beyond Stalin’s direct influence (or lack thereof) on events, to consider three essential elements of Stalinist control in this period: the supporting cast among the leadership, the official script, and the stage direction provided by the centre. The chapter opens with the first of these elements, bringing other principle characters onto the stage, while exploring the part played by Stalin’s ‘inner circle’. Attention given to the activities of Andrei Zhdanov and Otto Kuusinen allows the introduction of the second element of control—the importance of language and ideology at the outbreak and escalation of the fighting. The chapter provides a close study of the official script for the war, circulated by the Kremlin through the domestic and international communist press.