Popular Perceptions of Soviet Politics in the 1920s

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 1-21

3. The Foreign Threat: Leadership and Popular Perceptions in 1923 and 1924

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 22-44

4. The War Scare of 1927: Power Discourse

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 45-81

5. The War Scare of 1927: Popular Perceptions

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 82-117

6. Rural Consolidation against Soviet Politics: The Peasant Union Movement in the 1920s

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 118-159

7. The Crisis of Faith: Popular Reaction to the Tenth Anniversary of the October Revolution

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 160-187

8. Conclusion

   • Olga Velikanova

   Pages 188-192

9. Back Matter

   Pages 193-251

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This is the first study of popular opinions in Soviet society in the 1920s. These voices which made the Russian revolution characterize reactions to mobilization politics: patriotic militarizing campaigns, the tenth anniversary of the revolution and state attempts to unite the nation around a new Soviet identity.

• nation
• revolution
• Russia
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

“Velikanova has built her arguments using a commendable variety of sources in English and Russian, including correspondences, diaries, letters to newspapers, etc.; official Party, army, Komsomol, and trade union records, as well as accounts by foreign diplomats. She is judicious in her interpretations and takes care to show that all of her conclusions are based on this board and varied evidence that, taken together, tells a consonant, if complex and nuanced, story. Her book makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of popular opinion in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and why Soviet politics turned fatally toward the Stalinist solution at the end of the decade.” (Anita Shelton, Eastern Illinois University writing for The Historian)

“Velikanova deserves praise for focusing our attention on the important role that fear of war played in shaping mentalities both popular and among the leadership in the 1920s, and, especially, on 1927 as a critical year in the shaping of Stalinist rule. Moreover, by amplifying the voices 'from below', she has helped enrich our understanding of the first decade of Soviet power and shown that the occupants of the Kremlin may have worried as much about their own citizens as they did about enemies abroad.” (Clayton Black, Washington College, MD, USA)

• Russian History, University of North Texas, USA

  Olga Velikanova

OLGA VELIKANOVA obtained her PhD from Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia. Having developed her career in Russia, Europe, Canada and the USA, she is now an expert in Soviet popular opinion studies and has published four books and numerous articles in this area after twenty years study in Russian archives.

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