The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

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Pearson Education, 2008 - 522 pages
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'An expert in probing mafia-type relationships in present-day Russia, Martin McCauley here offers a vigorously written scrutiny of Soviet politics and society since the days of Lenin and Stalin.'

John Keep, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto .

The birth of the Soviet Union surprised many; its demise amazed the whole world. How did imperial Russia give way to the Soviet Union in 1917, and why did the USSR collapse so quickly in 1991?

Marxism promised paradise on earth, but the Communist Party never had true power, instead allowing Lenin and Stalin to become dictators who ruled in its name. The failure of the planned economy to live up to expectations led to a boom in the unplanned economy, in particular the black market. In turn, this led to the growth of organised crime and corruption within the government.

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union examines the strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions of the first Marxist state, and reassesses the role of power, authority and legitimacy in Soviet politics. Including first-person accounts, anecdotes, illustrations and diagrams to illustrate key concepts, McCauley provides a seminal history of this twentieth-century Superpower.

Martin McCauley is former Senior Lecturer in Politics at the School of Slavonicand East European Studies, University College, University of London. His previous publications include Stalin and Stalinism (2003), Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia: Russia , the Baltic States and the CIS Since 1991 (2001) and Gorbachev (2000).

 

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Table des matières

Soviet power terror and civil war
46
Muslims and others and revolution
69
Women and revolution
80
The New Economic Policy
99
Diplomats and spies
117
Society and culture
128
turning private peasants into
137
Industrialisation
152
The onset of the Cold War
252
High Stalinism
277
Bolshevik speak
296
Stalin Hitler and Mao
306
The Khrushchev era
315
The Brezhnev era
347
The Gorbachev era
397
Russia reborn
453

Terror and the gulag
173
State and society
203
Pursuing peace and preparing for war
218
Total war
232
The loans for shares scam
464
Glossary
477
Bibliography
492
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À propos de l'auteur (2008)

Martin McCauley is former Senior Lecturer in Politics at the School of Slavonicand East European Studies, University College, University of London. An accomplished author, his previous publications include Stalin and Stalinism (2003), Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia: Russia , the Baltic States and the CIS Since 1991 (2001) and Gorbachev (2000).

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