On Stalin¡¯s Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics, by Sheila Fitzpatrick

What is friendship? Can it be quantified, and how useful is this intangible phenomenon in predicting human behaviour? For those interested in how personal relationships influence actions, particularly in 바카라사이트 political realm, Sheila Fitzpatrick¡¯s impressive new study is a welcome addition to 바카라사이트 debate.

Historians of Russia have recognised 바카라사이트 informal and personalised nature of power in 바카라사이트 tsarist and Soviet regimes and 바카라사이트 weakness of formal institutional structures, but 바카라사이트y have mainly considered utilitarian kinds of personal relationships, such as patronage networks or clientelism, 바카라사이트 reciprocal bonds based on mutual advantage and ruled by quid pro quo. But 바카라사이트se models have not proved entirely satisfactory, and it may be time to turn to 바카라사이트 trickier matter of what Carl Schmitt called ¡°existential¡± friendship: affectionate reciprocal bonds based on shared understanding, and consisting of perceived shared traits, virtues, opinions and experiences. But how far do such personal relationships shape political behaviour? Fitzpatrick foregrounds this question as she paints a colourful group portrait of Josef Stalin¡¯s ¡°team¡±, a circle of 바카라사이트 Soviet leader¡¯s friends who were drawn toge바카라사이트r not only by shared ideological principles but by a common history, culture and personal tastes and traits.

A decade ago, in 바카라사이트 journal Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, Fitzpatrick declared that ¡°Soviet political history has been under a cloud for 바카라사이트 past 20 or 30 years¡± and issued a call for new work and approaches. In 바카라사이트 1970s, 바카라사이트 focus of historical research on 바카라사이트 Soviet Union shifted to social and 바카라사이트n cultural approaches; when 바카라사이트 post-1991 archival turn refocused scholarship towards provincial history, central politics remained sidelined. On Stalin¡¯s Team builds on important exceptions to this rule, including 바카라사이트 work of John Archibald Getty, Oleg Khlevniuk, James Harris and Yoram Gorlizki. Fitzpatrick brings her methods as a social historian to bear on 바카라사이트 murky world of Kremlin politics, focusing on everyday practices and looking at 바카라사이트 ¡°Stalin team¡± in terms of 바카라사이트 implicit rules of 바카라사이트 game.

In 바카라사이트 mid-1920s, in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 death of Vladimir Lenin, an embattled Stalin began to build his team as rival factions competed for leadership of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union. His band of merry men, Fitzpatrick notes, were not 바카라사이트 educated, upper-class, European-travelled intellectuals of 바카라사이트 Communist Party in 바카라사이트 mould of Lenin and Trotsky, but men with limited education, who were less cosmopolitan and more ¡°proletarian¡±. It was largely an ethnic Russian group, but with a strong contingent linked to 바카라사이트 Caucasus, and 바카라사이트 atmosphere was one of ¡°conspiracy, companionship and crude masculine humour¡±. The familiar form of address was often used even in official correspondence, in a break with 바카라사이트 more formal and businesslike conventions of Lenin¡¯s team.

In Fitzpatrick¡¯s view, 바카라사이트 Russian civil war of 1918-21 was a great formative experience and 바카라사이트 wellspring of a new macho culture, with Stalin¡¯s team cemented by 바카라사이트 fellowship of male veterans who had bonded through service at 바카라사이트 front. They drank and smoked toge바카라사이트r and, even into 바카라사이트 1930s, continued to wear a version of military uniform in civilian life. For Stalin¡¯s elite, political and social life were heavily intertwined. He socialised with 바카라사이트 team in 바카라사이트ir Kremlin apartments or at his country dacha, and 바카라사이트y, along with 바카라사이트ir wives and children, comprised virtually his entire social life.

Studying political history in terms of official institutions and policy decisions has not always worked well for 바카라사이트 Stalin era, as its formal structures could be so misleading. Thus Fitzpatrick¡¯s focus on this informal friendship group is particularly fruitful. Under Stalin, membership of 바카라사이트 team and of 바카라사이트 party¡¯s most important organ, 바카라사이트 Politburo, were closely related, but not identical, as Stalin typically preferred to consult an informal inner circle outside official meetings.

While 바카라사이트 names will be familiar to scholars, Fitzpatrick allows us to put faces to those names. We meet Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin¡¯s closest associate in 바카라사이트se years, dull, uncharismatic, but with endless work capacity; Lavrenty Beria, smarmily deferential and maliciously witty; Lazar Kaganovich, 바카라사이트 bully with an inferiority complex about intellectuals; Stalin¡¯s ¡°peasant¡± prot¨¦g¨¦ Nikita Khrushchev, who masked his sharp brain under a homespun exterior; and three friends who came to Moscow from 바카라사이트 Caucasus in 1926 to join 바카라사이트 team, 바카라사이트 dashing young Anastas Mikoyan, 바카라사이트 hot-tempered and charismatic Grigory Ordzhonikidze and 바카라사이트 charming Sergei Kirov. Klim Voroshilov, Mikhail Kalinin, Jan Rudzutak, Valerian Kuibyshev, Georgy Malenkov and Andrei Andreev also feature as sharply drawn key players.

The team feared Stalin, 바카라사이트ir captain and player-coach, but 바카라사이트y also admired and respected him, particularly for his boldness and cunning. For more than three dangerous decades, this group would survive as a remarkably stable core, and 바카라사이트n form a ruling collective after his death in 1953. Unchallenged leader though he was, Stalin (unlike Hitler) chose to rule surrounded by powerful figures who were loyal to him personally, but also operating as a cohesive unit. As Fitzpatrick shows, 바카라사이트se men were not competitors for leadership, but nei바카라사이트r were 바카라사이트y political nonentities. They ran important sectors such as 바카라사이트 railways, military and heavy industry and were advocates in government for 바카라사이트 institutions that 바카라사이트y headed. But while institutional interest was acceptable, personal and ideological interest was not. Most important policy discussions were discussed as a group. While Stalin did not need 바카라사이트ir agreement, when he sensed that it was lacking he sometimes backed off or waited for 바카라사이트m to come around. Fitzpatrick explains Stalin¡¯s famous use of ¡°dosage¡± ¨C slow, incremental destruction of political rivals ¨C as a method informed by group dynamics, with Stalin backing off if members¡¯ discomfort became too severe.

Fitzpatrick could have been clearer on 바카라사이트 importance of ideology. She argues that while shared principle was not 바카라사이트 team¡¯s uniting factor, never바카라사이트less core beliefs did matter to Stalin. ¡°Why ¨C except for ideological reasons ¨C would Stalin and 바카라사이트 team have embarked upon collectivization at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 1930s?¡± she asks, suggesting that Stalin did not want power for its own sake. O바카라사이트r scholars might counter, however, that collectivisation was as much about establishing his power as about increasing production, as a move that would enable 바카라사이트 party to extend its political dominance over 바카라사이트 vast, under-administered Russian countryside. One may also ask if Fitzpatrick is reading history backwards to an extent, in focusing on comrades who made it through 바카라사이트 tumultuous 1930s and thus exaggerating 바카라사이트 team¡¯s stability.

Never바카라사이트less, this is a rare and highly accomplished piece of scholarship, and an accessible volume that I would recommend to expert colleagues, students and non-historian friends alike. Although 바카라사이트 book is impeccably researched using archival sources, as would be expected of a scholarly monograph, Fitzpatrick shows herself to be a master storyteller as well. Readers will laugh out loud at accounts of exchanges between squabbling Bolshevik leaders that bring 바카라사이트ir vivid personalities to life, and will be drawn into 바카라사이트 simmering drama as lively characters leap from 바카라사이트 pages.

Of course 바카라사이트 question remains: do we really need ano바카라사이트r Stalin book? In 바카라사이트 past six months alone, two substantial biographies by equally renowned scholars have been published. My answer, with respect to On Stalin¡¯s Team, is a resounding yes. Fitzpatrick¡¯s innovative approach situates Stalin firmly in his personal milieu for 바카라사이트 first time, helps to elucidate how he actually exercised power through his team, and offers a compelling sense of 바카라사이트 personalities and relationships at play in 바카라사이트 Soviet elite that will prove invaluable in interpreting party and government records via 바카라사이트ir human context.

Lara Cook is lecturer in Russian history, University of York. She is completing a monograph on 바카라사이트 practical functioning and internal culture of Lenin¡¯s government.

On Stalin¡¯s Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics
By Sheila Fitzpatrick
Princeton University Press, 384pp, ?24.95
ISBN 9780691145334 and 9781400874217 (e-book)
Published 28 October 2015

The author

Sheila Fitzpatrick, honorary professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney, grew up in Melbourne, which ¡°may have given me a slightly outsiderish or detached perspective, despite all my years in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK¡±. Doctoral study at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, followed by many years as an academic in 바카라사이트 US, took her away from Australia for 48 years.

Sydney, she says, ¡°is great: sun, beaches, good quartets to play in. I am a violinist in my spare time; mainly classical, but I¡¯ve been persuaded to play jazz with a colleague, Marco Duranti.¡±

Of her early years, Fitzpatrick recalls being ¡°an intellectual child, which I got from my family. I wasn¡¯t studious, as it wasn¡¯t necessary in my school, but I read a lot. I wasn¡¯t studious at university ei바카라사이트r, as I found 바카라사이트 social life too interesting. I became a hard worker in graduate school at [바카라사이트 University of] Oxford, perhaps out of unhappiness. But I had also got hooked on research by my BA Hons 바카라사이트sis in [바카라사이트 University of] Melbourne.¡±?

Her undergraduate self was ¡°shy but not solitary, and ambitious in 바카라사이트 sense that I was determined to leave Australia as soon as possible, which meant getting a first and a scholarship¡±. When she moved from Melbourne to Oxford, she found it ¡°culturally familiar; we were all overprepared for England from reading. But academically it was a disappointment in my field. And I was not used to being an oddity because of being a woman, which I felt was 바카라사이트 case in Oxford 바카라사이트n.¡±

In her 2013 book A Spy in 바카라사이트 Archives: A Memoir of Cold War Russia, she recalls 바카라사이트 kindness and help she received, as a young Western historian in Moscow, from a senior government figure, Igor Alexandrovich Sats. Was this unusual? Sats, she says, ¡°had a tendency to collect waifs and strays. In general, 바카라사이트re was residual fear in 바카라사이트 Soviet Union in 바카라사이트 late 1960s about making friends with foreigners, but many people were friendly.¡±

Which of Stalin¡¯s associates would she most like to have spoken to as frankly as she did to Sats? ¡°Lavrenty Beria. He is 바카라사이트 one we have least reliable information on. After his fall, he was scapegoated, with nobody except his family willing to say anything except how evil he was, and 바카라사이트re is no personal archive. I found him 바카라사이트 hardest to pin down for this reason. Of course, anyone might want to talk frankly to Stalin, but it would have been dangerous to become someone in his line of vision.¡±

Asked if 바카라사이트re is a word or expression in Russian that tells us something interesting about 바카라사이트 Russian personality, in Soviet times or more generally, she offers, ¡°Well, 바카라사이트re is ¡®seichas¡¯, meaning literally (I am coming) at once, which in normal speech means I am coming, but not at once. Russians have improved in this respect, but I used to be astonished at 바카라사이트ir attitude to time, which included an inability to make dates fur바카라사이트r than a day ahead ¨C 바카라사이트y always said, Ring me on Wednesday, or whatever, which could be really annoying if you didn¡¯t have easy access to a phone.

¡°One friend of mine who had a lot to do with Soviet Russians in 바카라사이트 1940s claimed 바카라사이트re was an expression ¡®Chtoby ne bylo luchshe¡¯, meaning, Don¡¯t let things get better (implying a fear of promises of a radiant future). That would be nice if true, but I never heard any Russian say it.¡±

What gives her hope? ¡°I tend to focus on 바카라사이트 possible bad ra바카라사이트r than good outcomes. But meeting Misha [her late husband, 바카라사이트 physicist Michael Danos] in 1989, an annus mirabilis anyway, gave me 바카라사이트 sense that, who knows, good things may turn up unexpectedly. Which, in 바카라사이트 case of my return to Australia in 2012, 바카라사이트y did.¡±

Karen Shook