HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
This article, whilst appearing to address the issues, in fact ignores them. The key issues are;- The Wars of Intervention 1917-22, which naturally totally enraged the Russians. The Stab in the Back Imperial Russia had been the strongly courted ally of Britain, France etc., both before and during the war. Fairly naturally this was seen as a stab in the back, including by many former army officers. The pro-Nazi background of many Corporate Lawyers and Wall Street financiers now incorporated into the "NSE" after WWII. The Russians had a real grievance over "No Second Front in 1942". The original plan - see "The Victory that Never Was - 1943" called for a landing in N. France, Netherlands in 1943. There were plans, consequently to set up pro-Western governments in Eastern European capitals before the red Army got there. I could go on. --- Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > --------------------------- > > Le Monde diplomatique > > December 2001 > > WHY THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SOVIET PAST > > The history of the Russian future > > By MOSHE LEWIN ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > Professor emeritus, University of Pennsylvania. > Author of The making of > the Soviet system: essays in the social history of > interwar Russia, > Methuen, London, 1985, and The Gorbachev phenomenon: > a historical > interpretation, Radius, London, 1988 The Soviet > system created in 1917 > finally collapsed a decade ago with Mikhail > Gorbachev's resignation, and > was replaced by the Russian Federation. But we still > do not understand > what the Soviet system was like. What was the > relationship between > Stalinism and Tsarism? How did conservatism > andbureaucracy defeat the > need for reform? Russia now is divided between > nostalgia and rejection > of its past. > > We need to correct two mistakes in contemporary > thought about the > Soviet Union: the confusion of anti-communism with > real analysis of the > USSR and the belief that the entire history of > the Soviet Union was > Stalinism, or one long gulag. > > Anti-communism is an ideology that pretends to > be scientific. Under > cover of a commitment to democracy, it ignores > reality and promotes > conservatism by exploiting the dictatorial nature of > a hostile regime. > German intellectuals who emphasised Stalin's > atrocities to whitewash > Hitler did this. McCarthyism in the United States > was based on the fear > of communism. The West, in defending human rights, > has been indulgent > to some and castigated others, but has contributed > little to a proper > understanding of the Soviet system. > We cannot easily classify the Soviet system > because except during > the civil war period, when it was little more than a > military camp there > were several different Soviet systems. Russian > history is a laboratory > in which we can study the development of different > authoritarian > systems and their crises down to the present day. > Socialism has been > understood as a deepening, rather than a rejection, > of political > democracy. Its tenets are socialisation of the > economy and > democratisation of the political regime. But in the > USSR, there was only > statification of the economy and bureaucratisation > of politics. We > cannot describe the Soviet system > after the death of Stalin in 1953 as socialism, > since a prerequisite > of socialism is that economic assets are owned by > society as a whole, > not by a bureaucracy. > The Soviet system has been discussed for too > long in the wrong, > "socialist" terms: the confusion arose because the > USSR was not a > capitalist economy its economic assets were owned by > the state and > entrusted to top-level bureaucrats. So the Soviet > system belongs in the > same category as traditional regimes where the > ownership of vast estates > conferred power over the state. The > pre-Soviet-Revolutionary Muscovy > autocracy maintained an influential bureaucracy, > even though the > sovereign held absolute power. The bureaucracy also > became all-powerful > in the Soviet Union, and the resulting "bureaucratic > absolutism" was a > modern version of Tsarist rule. > Although the bureaucratic Soviet state > recruited its personnel from > among the lower classes, it inherited Tsarist > institutions and used > Tsarist methods. Even Lenin complained that > whole sections of the > Tsarist administration remained in place after the > revolution unavoidably, since the new regime had > much to learn, and had > to rely on the experience of government departments, > which operated by > the old methods. A new state was created, but its > civil servants were > ancien regime. > Lenin's problem was improving efficiency. > Whenever a new government > department was needed, a special commission was > appointed to supervise > its establishment. The usual practice was to ask a > historian of > government administration or an experienced civil > servant to study the > functioning of a similar department under the > Tsarist regime. When there > was no Tsarist precedent, Western models were used. > Stalin went even further, taking the Tsarist > state based on the > absolute power of a bureaucratic hierarchy as his > quasi-official model. > Maintaining that model was essential to the Soviet > system. Even the > apparently new office of general secretary kept > Tsarist features. The > imposing ceremonies of both the Tsarist and Soviet > regimes derived from > a common culture, in which the emphasis on icons, > and on images of strength and invincibility, > disguised internal > fragility. > In the last decades of the Soviet era, the > favourite name for the > strong state the construction of which began in the > late 1920s, was > derzhava (great power), a term borrowed from the > Tsarist vocabulary, > and particularly popular in conservative circles. In > Lenin's day > derzhavnik (an advocate of derzhava) was a > derogatory term for > supporters of ruthless nationalism. Its later > popularity came from an > association with samoderzhets (autocrat) the > official term for the > power of the Tsar. The hammer and sickle replaced > the Tsarist golden > globe and cross, but they became empty relics of a > revolutionary past. > State ownership of all land, entrusted to an > absolute monarch, had > been the distinguishing feature of several > pre-revolutionary regimes in > central and eastern Europe. In the name of > socialism in the USSR, state > ownership was extended to the entire economy and > other sectors. This > system, despite its more modern appearance, was > essentially a > continuation and strengthening of the earlier model > of state ownership > of land, which had been the main economic resource. > > The state as developer > > Although the Soviet state belonged in the same > category as earlier > land-owning autocracies, it fulfilled a specifically > 20th century > purpose that of the state as developer. There was a > historical need for > a state capable of directing economic development. > The state played and > continues to play this role in Eastern and Middle > Eastern countries, > including the old rural empires of China, India and > Iran. The emergence > of the Stalinist state was partly determined by this > need, even if > Stalinism was a dangerous distortion of it. And the > elimination of > Stalinism, like the elimination of Maoism in China, > proves that a > transition to dictatorship can be reversed. > By the 1980s the Soviet Union had reached a > high level of economic > and social development, but the system was > entrenched. The reforms > envisaged by Yuri Andropov could have given the > country what it needed > desperately a reformed, active state still capable > of directing economic > development, > but while gradually freed from its obsolete > authoritarianism and > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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