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In both western and Russian historiography the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 enjoys, at best, only a passing reference in any narrative of the period and is poorly integrated into existing scholarly analyses of the Soviet regime under Stalin. It is my contention that this conflict offers an invaluable opportunity to test for continuity and change in the form and function of the Stalinist system. Between the disastrous efforts of its forces and the condemnation of the international community, the Kremlin was confronted with the serious challenge of how to portray the events of the war in the media, while managing domestic and international opinion over the course of the fighting. This thesis examines the extent to which the Soviet regime under Stalin had the institutions and agents in place at the close of the 1930s to cope with the crisis of war in Finland; to be in command of the military campaign, while simultaneously controlling the direction of the official narrative about the fighting; and to censor conflicting interpretations, experiences and information channels, which might expose the Red Army's woeful performance on Finnish territory. This mobilisation of press, propaganda and censorship organs in the face of widespread international condemnation and domestic disquiet constituted a significant challenge for a regime still dealing with the sudden reorientation of the Communist International, required after the Soviet Union's conclusion of a non-aggression treat with Nazi Germany in August 1939. An international perspective is central to this thesis, with a view towards assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the public face and private practice of Soviet information controls.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis had two related purposes: to compare, contrast and critique three scholars' views of the Soviet domestic reform process, and to use these analyses as the means by which to examine the emerging Soviet domestic reform program. The arguments of Stephen F. Cohen, Timothy J. Colton and Richard Pipes served as the primary subject matter of this thesis, with their individual views determined by a critical analysis of the writing which each has recently done on this subject. Investigated in particular was each individuals' interpretation of the reform process, its component parts and the kind of change that was expected to be involved in any new domestic reforms. The final chapter dealing with the contemporary Soviet situation relied upon as much primary source material as possible in an attempt to provide an accurate picture of the state of affairs within the country at this time. The results of my analysis indicate that Richard Pipes' interpretations and conclusions do not receive much support from either Soviet history or the contemporary situation within the country. His one dimensional view of Soviet elite interests and his "crisis/reform" theory of Soviet reform were found to be generally unsubstantiated. Stephen Cohen's arguments, on the other hand, received a good deal of support, especially with regards to his emphasis on the probability of moderate change and the existence of reformist and conservative constituencies within the Soviet Union, constituencies which do appear to have been involved in the domestic reform process. At the same time, however, the terminology which he employed to describe the reform process was found to be somewhat problematic. Timothy Colton's arguments, finally, were also found to have a good deal of efficacy, especially with respect to his view of the country's new generation of political leadership and the role that it would play in the reform process. In conclusion, the new domestic reform program itself was found to be indicative of generally moderate economic and political change, change that was embraced for the moat part by a good segment of the new leadership, but which had found significant resistance at the lower levels of the bureaucracy and among the working class. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

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This study seeks to explore the role of peasant women in resistance to the antireligious campaigns during collectivization and analyze how the interplay of the state and resistors formed a new culture of religion in the countryside. I argue that while the state’s succeeded in controlling most of the public sphere, peasant women, engaging in subversive activities and exploiting the state’s ideology, succeeded in preserving a strong peasant adherence to religion prior to World War II. It was peasant women’s determination and adaptation that thwarted the party’s goal of nation-wide atheism.