Stalin (75 page)

(Moscow, 1998), pp. 42, 45. The papers were removed when Malenkov’s assistant was arrested.

6

. The decisions were recorded in the minutes of the 5 March 1953 joint meeting of the Central Committee plenum, the Council of Ministers, and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

no. 1 (1994): 107–111.

7

. K. M. Simonov,

(Moscow, 1989), pp. 257–258.

8

. Ibid., p. 260.

9

. Svetlana Alliluyeva,

trans. Priscilla Johnson McMillan (New York, 1967), p. 10.

10

. Chernobaev,

p. 553.

11

. From Shepilov’s memoirs; cited in

no. 3 (1998): 15.

12

. A. N. Artizov et al., comps.,

vol. 1 (Moscow, 2000), p. 19.

13

. V. Naumov and Iu. Sigachev, comps.,

(Moscow, 1999), pp. 28–29.

14

. Oleg Khlevniuk, “The Economy of the OGPU, NKVD and MVD of the USSR, 1930–1953: The Scale, Structure and Trends of Development,” in

ed. Paul R. Gregory and Valery Lazarev (Stanford, CA, 2003), pp. 54–55.

15

. According to official statistics, between 1 January and 1 October 1953 the number of cows increased from 24.3 million to 26 million, and almost 1 million of that increase took place outside of the collective and state farm system. During that same period the number of pigs increased from 28.5 to 47.6 million, including an increase of 12 million in private herds;

(Moscow, 1956), pp. 119–120. Even with the consideration of possible seasonal fluctuations, these numbers are significant and surely attributable to lower taxes and higher procurement prices.

16

. A. V. Torkunov,

(Moscow, 2000), pp. 272–279.

17

. This directive was largely in response to the large number of defections from East Germany to the West. See Naumov and Sigachev,

pp. 55–59.

1

. Speech by Khrushchev at a dinner in the Bulgarian city of Varna during an official visit on 16 May 1962; cited in

no. 6 (2003): 130.

2

. Letter dated 10 March 1953 from a group of citizens to the Central Committee and the Supreme Soviet; GARF, f. R-7523, op. 52, d. 18, ll. 94–95.

3

. Anonymous letter addressed to Georgy Malenkov, dated 6 March 1953; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 1486, l. 157.

4

. Ibid., d. 1487, l. 55.

5

. Ibid., ll. 66–71.

6

. Cited in V. A. Kozlov,

vol. 2 (Moscow, 1992), pp. 254–258.

7

. Cited in V. A. Kozlov and S. V. Mironenko,

(Moscow, 1999), pp. 13, 21, 23, 32.

8

. There is a long list of published documents and studies on the public mood and mechanisms used to shape it and on social adaptation and the particular mindset that Stalinism strove to shape. Studies vary in terms of their authors’ viewpoints and the aspect of reality they emphasize. See, for example, the following: Sheila Fitzpatrick:

(Ithaca, NY, 1992), and

(Princeton, 2005); Stephen Kotkin,

(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1995); Sarah Davies,

(Cambridge, 1997); Elena Zubkova,

(New York, 1998); Jochen Hellbeck,

(Cambridge, MA, 2006).

9

. Yoram Gorlizki, “Political Reform and Local Party Interventions under Khrushchev,” in

ed. Peter H. Solomon (New York and London, 1997), pp. 259–260.

10

. Letter from Stakhanov to Stalin in May 1945; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 891, l. 128. For a similar letter sent to Molotov before the war, see GARF, f. R-5446, op. 82, d. 108, l. 145; d. 120, l. 74.

11

. According to official statistics, at the start of 1953 more than 40 percent of the country’s population lived in cities. It should be kept in mind, however, that this figure included residents of small cities and settlements where the standard of living was close to that of the peasants.

12

. In 1952, out of the 443,000 tons of meat sold through state and cooperative outlets across the USSR, 110,000 were sent to Moscow and 57,400 were sent to Leningrad; GARF, f. R-5446, op. 87, d. 1162, l. 171.

13

. A. I. Mikoian,

(Moscow, 1999), p. 355.

14

. Amir Weiner,

(Princeton, 2000).

15

. Golfo Alexopoulos,

(Ithaca, NY, and London, 2003).

16

. Lynne Viola,

(New York and Oxford, 1996); Lynne Viola, ed.,

(Ithaca, NY, 2002); Jeffrey J. Rossman,

(Cambridge, MA, and London, 2005).

17

. In recent years historians have produced several valuable studies on this problem. See, for example, the following: Sheila Fitzpatrick,

(New York, 1999); Elena Osokina,

(New York and London, 2001); Donald Filtzer,

(Cambridge, 2010).

18

. Calculations based on E. Iu. Zubkova et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 2003), pp. 102–103; O. V. Khlevniuk et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 2002), pp. 388–389. For comparison, see A. I. Kokurin and N. V. Petrov,

(Moscow, 2000), pp. 543–551.

19

. This letter was given to Malenkov to read; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 901, l. 37.

20

. Zubkova et al.,

p. 107.

21

. Cited in ibid., p. 263.

22

. Figures for state and private urban housing are from RGAE, f. 1562, op. 41, d. 56, ll. 30–33. Figures for the urban population as of early 1953 are from V. P. Popov,

(Moscow and Tambov, 2000), p. 16.

23

. RGAE, f. 1562, op. 41, d. 56, ll. 30–33. The inventory of publicly owned residential buildings included the best-built ones, which belonged to local government councils (soviets) and agencies. A significant proportion of urban housing was in private hands. These buildings were in much worse shape.

24

. Zubkova et al.,

p. 179.

25

. N. Vert and S. V. Mironenko, eds.,

vol. 1:

(Moscow, 2004), pp. 623–624.

26

. B. V. Zhiromskaia, I. N. Kiselev, and Iu. A. Poliakov,

(Moscow, 1996), pp. 98, 100.

27

. Terry Martin,

(Ithaca, NY, and London, 2001).

28

. See one recent study: Timothy Snyder,

(New York, 2010).

29

. For documents and letters characterizing inter-ethnic conflicts during the final period of Stalin’s rule, see L. P. Kosheleva et al., comps.,

(Moscow, 2013).

30

. Geoffrey Hosking,

(Cambridge, MA, and London, 2006).

31

. E. Khodzha [Enver Hoxha],

(Tirana, 1984), p. 90.

32

. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 1479, ll. 14–18.

33

. A. Berelovich and V. Danilov, eds.,

vols. 1–4 (Moscow, 1998–2012); G. N. Sevost’ianov et al., eds.,

vols. 1–9 (Moscow, 2001–2013).

34

. GARF, f. R-9401, op. 12, d. 100, ll. 91–92.

35

. When the apparat of the Special Sector was being reorganized in 1939, provisions were made for the creation of fifteen staff positions for people reading letters addressed to Stalin. Their duties included familiarizing themselves with the letters and sorting them (APRF, f. 3, op. 22, d. 65, l. 37). If we assume that each reader spent an average of ten minutes per letter, in working an eight-hour day, all fifteen readers would be able to review 720 letters per day or approximately 260,000 per year. Probably the number was higher. Experienced readers would process letters quickly, especially as many letters were short. Furthermore, using a shift system, the apparat worked essentially around the clock, and shifts were not strictly limited to eight hours.

36

. APRF, f. 3, op. 22, d. 65, l. 51. The Special Sector’s Fifth Section also took care of Stalin’s library.

37

. The letters shown to the Special Sector leadership during 1945–1953 have been preserved. See RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, dd. 888–904.

38

. Letters selected to be shown to Stalin were accompanied by a list entitled “Letters and Petitions Received Addressed to Com. Stalin.” In addition to the letters presented to Stalin, this list included certain letters sent for review by other Soviet leaders. Apparently these were letters it was felt Stalin did not need to see but about which he would be interested in knowing. Stalin’s personal archive contains a rather complete set of such lists of letters only for 1945–1952 (but lacks those received while he was vacationing in the south); RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, dd. 862–882.

39

. Jan Plamper,

(New Haven, 2012).

When Jonathan Brent and Vadim Staklo—then the editorial director and project manager for Yale University Press’s Annals of Communism series respectively—suggested that I write a biography of Stalin, I was more puzzled than glad. But now that the book has been completed, I am truly thankful to them.

Few know more about the Stalin era than my friends Yoram Gorlizki, Andrea Graziosi, Jan Plamper, and David Shearer, and I am grateful to them for reading the manuscript and making valuable comments. This work also greatly benefited from the skillful editing of William Frucht, the press’s executive editor, the keen eye and remarkable memory of the manuscript’s copy editor, Bojana Ristich, and the expertise of production editor Margaret Otzel. A critical role was played by the book’s translator, Nora Favorov, my most attentive and demanding reader.

This biography is the culmination of long years of studying Soviet history. These years brought collaboration and friendship with many knowledgeable colleagues. My interactions with all of them have helped prepare me to produce this work.

To start with those no longer living, I learned a great deal from Moshe Lewin, Viktor Petrovich Danilov, Victor Zaslavsky, and Derek Watson—all prominent historians and wonderful human beings.

Next, this book would not have been possible without decades of work alongside my friends and fellow archival researchers. At RGASPI, I have been fortunate to work with Andrei Sorokin, Lyudmila Kosheleva, Marina Astakhova, Galina Gorskaia, and Elena Kirillova. My work at GARF would have been impossible without the constant support of Sergei Mironenko, Larisa Rogovaya, Larisa Malashenko, Dina Nokhotovich, Sofia Somonova, Galina Kuznetsova, and Tatiana Zhukova. Together we compiled a number of collections of historical documents.