1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996248280103316

Autore

Goldman Wendy Z.

Titolo

Inventing the enemy : denunciation and terror in Stalin's Russia / / Wendy Z. Goldman [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2011

ISBN

9780511994906

1-107-21395-9

1-283-29848-1

1-139-12297-5

9786613298485

0-511-99490-7

1-139-11723-8

1-139-12789-6

1-139-11287-2

1-139-11506-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 320 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Classificazione

HIS037070

Disciplina

947.084/2

Soggetti

Political purges - Social aspects - Soviet Union - History

Political culture - Soviet Union - History

State-sponsored terrorism - Social aspects - Soviet Union - History

Working class - Soviet Union - History

Interpersonal relations - Soviet Union - History

Factories - Russia (Federation) - Moscow - History

Soviet Union Politics and government 1936-1953

Soviet Union Social conditions 1917-1945

Moscow (Russia) Social conditions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The terror : a short political primer -- Comrades and coworkers -- Family secrets -- Love, loyalty, and betrayal -- The final paroxysm -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

Inventing the Enemy uses stories of personal relationships to explore



the behaviour of ordinary people during Stalin's terror. Communist Party leaders strongly encouraged ordinary citizens and party members to 'unmask the hidden enemy' and people responded by flooding the secret police and local authorities with accusations. By 1937, every workplace was convulsed by hyper-vigilance, intense suspicion and the hunt for hidden enemies. Spouses, co-workers, friends and relatives disavowed and denounced each other. People confronted hideous dilemmas. Forced to lie to protect loved ones, they struggled to reconcile political imperatives and personal loyalties. Workplaces were turned into snake pits. The strategies that people used to protect themselves - naming names, pre-emptive denunciations, and shifting blame - all helped to spread the terror. Inventing the Enemy, a history of the terror in five Moscow factories, explores personal relationships and individual behaviour within a pervasive political culture of 'enemy hunting'.