Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 681-690) and index.

The Russian engineering corps was almost completely transformed during the first five-year plan, which ran from 1928-1932. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the nature of that change, and the forces that drove it. In this paper, I will argue that the corps was transformed in four fundamental ways: class composition, skill level, role in production, and political orientation. This paper begins by examining the old engineering corps on the eve of the first five year plan. Specifically, it examines Russian engineers as a subgroup of the intelligentsia, and how that problematized their relationship with power. I next examine how the Soviet government forcibly reshaped the engineering corps by pressure from above, specifically by a combination of state terror and worker-promotion campaigns. These two phenomena were closely intertwined. Along with collectivization and crash industrialization, they were part of the "Cultural Revolution" that reshaped Russian society in this period. I next examine how the campaign of terror against engineers was used by Stalin and his camp for political gain on a variety of fronts. Lastly, I will examine how engineers became part of the Soviet elite after 1931. For sources, I rely especially on the correspondence between Stalin, Kaganovich, and Molotov, which was published in the Yale University Annals of Communism series. I also draw heavily on The Harvard Refugee Interview Project, memoirs, and the collected works of Joseph Stalin. / History

No / Having admitted large numbers of Polish nationals into Britain after the Second World War on grounds of moral obligation and labour shortage, the British government assumed that the newcomers would ‘assimilate’, though no precise meaning was given to this term. In this study of assimilation in Bradford's Polish community it is suggested that in the first generation of Polish settlement many factors combined to preserve rather than dilute Polish culture and identity, whereas cultural dilution was characteristic of the second and third generations. Despite this, a firm sense of identity, based on kinship and memory rather than culture, has remained.

Thesis advisor: Roberta T. Manning / Although born in Prague under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and dying before Stalin took control of the USSR, Kafka clairvoyantly understood the full paradox of Soviet authoritarianism. His short parable “Before the Law” provides an interesting intellectual exercise for anyone wishing to study Soviet law, for in Russia it evokes tragic truth. The man who futilely attempted to reach the law is a metaphor for Russian masses seeking the same goal. Just as the doorkeeper with his air of conscious superiority and vacillating temperament mirrors the nature of Soviet rulers. The absurdity that underpins Kafka's work poignantly and painfully parallels the arbitrary ‘justice' of Stalin's rule. The man's futile search is symbolic of the many purge victims who, while wasting away in the gulags, clung to the slim hope of using legal means to exonerate themselves. Through an intellectual and visceral response, Kafka conveys the authoritarian split between the elite and the masses in Russia. No one knows how many countless Russian and Soviet citizens' lives were wasted in the same shadow of indifferent omnipotence. And we are forced to ask why the law was kept from them. And yet, what fueled the insatiable pursuit of the law in the face of certain futility? Even the Purges took place within a legal framework, as perverse as it may have been. But was Communist legality simply an oxymoron, or was there something more? / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

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In the thesis I will focus on the development of the economic situation of Russia and its foreign trade relations in the late twenties of the 20 century and changes in connection with the Stalin's rise to power. I focus on Stalin's personality, and I will try to prove that his actions in the mentioned period were not the result of mental illness, but personal power interests. I will also pay attention to trade relations with Germany in comparison with other European countries. Emphasis will be placed on the standard of living of the population and the associated transformation of Russia into a world power. I will use monographs, articles and sub-study of Czech and foreign origin, as well as published sources, for processing of the topic. From unpublished sources, I will focus on the study of documents in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the National Archives in Prague.

“The Gulag and Soviet Society in Western Siberia, 1929-1953” examines the history of forced labour during the Stalin era in Western Siberia, or present-day Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo Provinces. The region was a key site of Stalin-era repression, as it was home to numerous Gulag camps including Siblag, one of the longest lasting and most economically diversified of the many prison-labour camps scattered throughout the former Soviet Union. Western Siberia was also one of the main areas of exile for peasants and, later, displaced ethnic groups. The dissertation traces the seeming contradictions in the development of the Gulag by juxtaposing the very modern, bureaucratic “Gulag” as it appeared on paper, with the “Gulag” on the ground that relied heavily on informal practices, data falsification, and personal connections. The Gulag is thus emblematic of the “neo-traditional” modernization of the Soviet Union under Stalin. The dissertation also examines points of illicit and condoned interaction between the Gulag and surrounding population centres, thus challenging Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s seminal and enduring depiction of the Gulag as an isolated archipelago of concentration camps. Illicit interaction included widespread black-market activity, the smuggling of correspondence, sexual affairs, and, surprisingly, even instances of locals sneaking into the camps to use camp facilities. Condoned interaction took place at the level of local economic planning (the transfer of prisoners for help with specific projects), a striking overlap in cultural and propaganda campaigns, the contracting out of prisoners to local enterprises, and the granting of unescorted status to large numbers of prisoners, who thus had the right to move outside of the camp zones without guard. Because many of Western Siberia’s camps were located in and around major urban centres, including Novosibirsk and Tomsk, the region is important for examining issues of interaction. The dissertation draws extensively on sources from four archives in Moscow and four archives in Siberia, as well as Gulag newspapers, published and unpublished memoirs, document collections, and archival collections available in the United States. Many of these sources are under-utilized, including Communist Party documents from the local camp administrations, personal files of prisoners, and NKVD operational orders.

“The Gulag and Soviet Society in Western Siberia, 1929-1953” examines the history of forced labour during the Stalin era in Western Siberia, or present-day Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo Provinces. The region was a key site of Stalin-era repression, as it was home to numerous Gulag camps including Siblag, one of the longest lasting and most economically diversified of the many prison-labour camps scattered throughout the former Soviet Union. Western Siberia was also one of the main areas of exile for peasants and, later, displaced ethnic groups. The dissertation traces the seeming contradictions in the development of the Gulag by juxtaposing the very modern, bureaucratic “Gulag” as it appeared on paper, with the “Gulag” on the ground that relied heavily on informal practices, data falsification, and personal connections. The Gulag is thus emblematic of the “neo-traditional” modernization of the Soviet Union under Stalin. The dissertation also examines points of illicit and condoned interaction between the Gulag and surrounding population centres, thus challenging Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s seminal and enduring depiction of the Gulag as an isolated archipelago of concentration camps. Illicit interaction included widespread black-market activity, the smuggling of correspondence, sexual affairs, and, surprisingly, even instances of locals sneaking into the camps to use camp facilities. Condoned interaction took place at the level of local economic planning (the transfer of prisoners for help with specific projects), a striking overlap in cultural and propaganda campaigns, the contracting out of prisoners to local enterprises, and the granting of unescorted status to large numbers of prisoners, who thus had the right to move outside of the camp zones without guard. Because many of Western Siberia’s camps were located in and around major urban centres, including Novosibirsk and Tomsk, the region is important for examining issues of interaction. The dissertation draws extensively on sources from four archives in Moscow and four archives in Siberia, as well as Gulag newspapers, published and unpublished memoirs, document collections, and archival collections available in the United States. Many of these sources are under-utilized, including Communist Party documents from the local camp administrations, personal files of prisoners, and NKVD operational orders.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 359-389).

The postwar Soviet Union remained militarized and failed to reform itself because of its ideological concerns against the West and its new satellite states, all at the cost of the Soviet people. This analysis will compare the Soviet government’s external focus and the Soviet people’s domestic problems in the aftermath of the Second World War. The country’s ideological, military, and imperial concerns abroad emphasized militarization over domestic revitalization. The Soviet people widely expected significant action from their government to remedy economic and political issues. The Soviet government nevertheless committed itself in focusing on outside concerns regardless of the harsh reality of everyday postwar society.