Soviet History

"""Essays on the history of the Kaliningrad region cover the most important aspects of the development of the former East Prussia in 1945-1956: The effects of the war, demographic processes , the creation and characteristics of the local authorities , the policy of the Centre in relation to the new area, the economic problems, relation to the German historical and cultural heritage, Germans and Russian relations , the politics of memory and the formation of historical consciousness of the inhabitants of Kaliningrad, the ideological work and cultural policy. The title of the book reflects the fact that it is based on the documents from the secret funds of the central and local archives, which were opened for researchers in recent years.

Очерки по истории становления Калининградской области охватывают наиболее важные аспекты развития края в 1945—1956 гг.: последствия войны, демографические процессы, создание и особенности деятельности местных органов власти, политика Центра по отношению к новой области, экономические проблемы, отношение к немецкому историко-культурному наследию, взаимоотношения немцев и русских, формирование исторического сознания калининградцев, идеологическая работа и культурная политика. В названии книги отражен тот факт, что ее основу составили документы секретных фондов центральных и местных архивов, открытых для исследователей в последние годы.
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"""Aleksandr Benediktov genç yaşta Stalin tarafından Sovyetler Birliği Tarım Komiserliği’ne (Tarım Bakanlığı) getirilmiş biri. Daha sonra Köy İşleri Bakanı olarak da sorumluluk üstlenen Benediktov’u, Hruşçov döneminde Hindistan ve Yugoslavya’da elçilik görevi bekliyordu. Stalin’in 1953 yılında ölümünden kısa süre sonra partide ipleri eline alan ve liderliği üstlenen Nikita Hruşçov parti ve devletin üst düzeyindeki “Stalincileri” bir bir saf dışı ederken, kendisine bazı konularda itiraz etmeye başlayan Benediktov’u unutmamıştı.
Benediktov daha sonra emekli oldu, ancak önemli bir dönemin birinci elden tanıklığını yapmış, sayısız kez Politbüro toplantılarına katılmış ve her iki liderle yan yana çalışmış olması, onu gazeteci ve araştırmacılar açısından ilginç birisi yapmıştı. Bunlardan Litov, son derece saldırgan bir üslup sayesinde Benediktov’un suskunluğunu bozmayı başardı, Stalin’in tarım bakanını önemli konularda konuşturmayı başardı. Ancak Benedikotov’un kararlı yanıtları, söyleşinin 1970’ler SSCB’sinde yayınlanmasını neredeyse olanaksızlaştırıyordu. O dönem Sovyet yönetimi Stalin ve Hruşçov konusunda mutlak bir sessizliğe gömülmüştü (oysa o sıralar Sovyet halkı ve şimdi Ruslar hâlâ onları tartışıyor).
Litov’un söyleşisi 1989 yılında, yani Sovyetler Birliği’nin dağılmasına iki yıl kala, herkesin çok konuştuğu ama göz gözü görmeyen bir ortamda, yüksek tirajlı Molodaya Gvradiya dergisinde yayınlandı.
Stalin ve Hruşçov hakkında lafı dolandırmadan ne düşünüyorsa söyleyen, tarım sorunlarına, kadro politikalarına, Moskova mahkemelerine ilişkin tarihsel değer taşıyan açıklamalar yapan Benediktov, söyleşinin ilerleyen bölümlerinde bir kehanette de bulunuyor: ülkemiz ikinci bir Hruşçov kaldırmaz!
Garbaçov ikinci bir Hruşçov muydu, daha ötesi miydi bu tartışılır ama Benediktov’un yıllar öncesinde öngördüğü doğrulanmışa benziyor.
Söyleşiyi Rusça aslından Candan Badem çevirdi. İlk baskısı büyük ilgi gören kitabın gözden geçirilmiş 2. baskısı çıktı.
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The book examines the memory policy of the Soviet state and its institutions in relation to the historical and cultural heritage of East Prussia in the first postwar decade. On the basis of previously unknown archival materials, the author analyzes the ideological , promotional activities , educational and cultural institutions in the Kaliningrad region that touched the edge of the pre-war past and its material artifacts. The author attempts to identify the main factors that influenced the formation of the regional historical consciousness of the Kaliningrad region , its regional identity

"The article presents conditions of the USSR participation in Koenigsberg East Fair in 1940. The description of the Soviet pavilion and its exhibits based on archival documents, is presented. The review of the responses of German press is given and efficiency of the activity of the trade mission of the USSR is estimated from the point of view of development of the international economic relations.

Рассказывается об условиях участия СССР в кёнигсбергской Восточной ярмарке 1940 г., на основе архивных документов приводится описание советского павильона и его экспонатов. Освещаются отклики германской общественности и оценивается эффективность деятельности торгового представительства СССР с точки зрения развития международных экономических связей.

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Article investigates the most considerable ideological campaigns in 1946-1953 on the basis of unknown materials from archival funds of the Kaliningrad collective farms. The author analyzes their influence on mass consciousness of peasants and their social behaviour from the position of «everyday history». He pays the main attention to imaginations of inhabitants of village about itself and world around them, their reactions to the important public and political events. The author comes to the conclusion, that in post-war years the Soviet propaganda activities had rather formal character. However it does not belittle its great value for preservation of the power of the party and state nomenclature. It has essentially affected on collective-farm peasantry and its world outlook installations. The research will help to define the features of social development of post-war Soviet village and will assist to understand specificity of the regional history.

"People from all over the Soviet Union came to the new Kaliningrad Oblast in the hope of finding a better future for themselves and their children. But many left again, discouraged by the harsh living conditions in this war-ravaged area. There was a constant turn-over of people. During the first post-war decade, the region's population changed three times. Professor Kostyashov here presents a detailed survey of who the Soviet settlers were and how their lives turned out in the region.
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"The book investigates an event which took place in a war-torn village in Hungary in 1946, just after the Second World War. Some of the village-dwellers decided to perform a theater play to collect money for the renovation of the church. Soviet soldiers stationing nearby provoked a fight during the performance with the actors dressed as Hussars. The Hungarians won the symbolic play-off of the war, but the revenge followed. Dozens from the village were detained and punished. Five of them - among them the main actors of the play - were abruptly deported to one of the much feared labour camps called Gulag. Using the methods of investigative journalism and historic research the author meticulously reconstructed the events. The Hungarian National Theater staged a successful performance in 2011 based on the book.
Publisher: Helikon  Published: 2008 No. of pages: 192"

""The disintegration of the USSR was one of the greatest management failures of the twentieth century, but is never considered from that standpoint. This monograph uniquely does so, using insights from complexity theory to elucidate the problems Gorbachev faced as "CEO of the Soviet Union" and why he was unable to solve them. In particular, it addresses the question of Soviet organizational learning and draws lessons for questions faced by contemporary complex organizations, including business corporations, such as merger, acquisition, spinning off, and the relative autonomy of subordinate managers.
            Analyzing changes over time in the Soviet foreign policy making Establishment, this monograph specifies how an actor's interpretation of the environment (in terms of decisional time horizon and experienced stress) evokes differentiated mechanisms that themselves constrain the types of decisions that the actor is able to take in such an environment. It exemplifies those mechanisms with concrete instances of communicational and organizational constraints and freedoms that draw on empirical case studies. From this, it draws lessons for the management, corporate culture, and design of twenty-first century organizations, including business firms of any size.
            Extended Table of Contents and first several pages available on the emergentpublications.com site. Order from  emergentpublications.com or Amazon.""