The Making of the Soviet System: Essays in the Social History of Interwar Russia

by Moshe Lewin

In this now-classic book, Moshe Lewin traces the transformation of Russian society and the Russian political system in the period between the two world wars, a transformation that was to lead to Stalinism in the 1930s. Lewin focuses on the changes stemming from war, revolution, civil war, and industrialization, and he discusses such topics as rural society and religion in the twentieth century; the background of Soviet collectivization; Soviet prewar policies of agricultural procurement; the kolkhoz and the muzhik ; Leninism and Bolshevism; industrial relations during the five-year plans of 1928–1941; and the social background of Stalinism. Through this comprehensive approach to understanding the origins and problems of Stalinism, Lewin makes a significant contribution to the study of Russia's social history before the revolution as well as in the Soviet period.

Genres: History, Russia, Soviet Union

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 1985

Reviews

[Leonardo]

...acerca de cómo la propaganda de la guerra fría (de ambos lados) nos cegó a los movimientos reales de la historia social dentro del régimen soviético.

Imperio Pág.209

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really dry. It is very dated, but still a fundamentally important piece of scholarship in the social history of the soviet Union. Lewin argues that Stalinism was not the inevitable result of Leninism, but instead argues that the social dynamics of Russia after WWI and the Civil War led it to be open to a "mushroomed" lateral authoritarian system such as Stalinism. It's a struggle to read for me. Experts in the field will have no problem with it.