1988 Reports

History and Politics under Gorbachev: Professional Autonomy and Democratization

Von Hagen, Mark

Rarely do historians worry about becoming outdated within a matter of months or weeks, but indeed that is the situation of anyone trying to make sense of the exciting developments in Soviet history today. A good deal of world history and early Russian history is undergoing revision, but developments in 19th and 20th century history are the most important because discussions of the late Imperial and Soviet periods are closely linked to projects for restructuring and moral renewal that the Gorbachev leadership and reformist intelligentsia are pursuing. The most volatile issue, of course, is the Stalin question in its broadest sense: the character, origins, and consequences of the Stalin system, the personal role of Stalin, the role of society or social groups, the legacy of Lenin, and the greater debate about socialism and the left in general. Other topics have included the rehabilitation of long-proscribed political leaders and intellectuals, including Bukharin and the victims of the show trials of the 1930s, and even the first timid reassessments of Leon Trotsky; the purges, terror, and concentration camps; the collectivization and famine; the New Economic Policy; non- Russian nationalities; Soviet-East European relations; and the international Communist movement.