Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.

AbstractAlthough significant as the focal point of the infamous Gulag, Magadan and its environs have long remained one of the “blank spots” of Soviet history. Yet this prison capital can tell us much about the nature and mechanism of Stalinist rule. Based upon a number of central and regional archiv...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cahiers du monde russe
Main Author: NORDLANDER, David J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:French
Published: Éditions de l’EHESS 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/8472
id fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:revues.org:monderusse/8472
record_format openpolar
spelling fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:revues.org:monderusse/8472 2023-05-15T18:28:37+02:00 Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s. NORDLANDER, David J. 2016-12-19 http://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/8472 fr fre Éditions de l’EHESS Cahiers du monde russe urn:doi:10.4000/monderusse.8472 http://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/8472 undefined hist hisphilso Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2016 fttriple https://doi.org/10.4000/monderusse.8472 2023-01-22T19:21:53Z AbstractAlthough significant as the focal point of the infamous Gulag, Magadan and its environs have long remained one of the “blank spots” of Soviet history. Yet this prison capital can tell us much about the nature and mechanism of Stalinist rule. Based upon a number of central and regional archives, this article concerns the changes in provincial administration in this subarctic metropolis throughout the Soviet 1930s. While the political calculus of Magadan always involved repression, there were obvious variations in policy that reflected both the times and larger national trends. The initial generation of camp bosses, raised at least in part on the more utopian goals of the Bolshevik Revolution, proved in retrospect to be a somewhat moderate cohort that took seriously the official goals of inmate rehabilitation and social restitution. At the same time, they were relatively competent economic managers capable of fulfilling key industrial targets set by the Kremlin. All this changed in the watershed year of 1937, when the full force of the Ezhovshchina hit Magadan and forever altered its bureaucratic culture. Economic output fell dramatically as political violence rose, all under the auspices of a new camp management team socialized by the harshening realities of the time. An uneasy truce came in 1939 with the establishment by Moscow of yet another local hierarchy, formed to reemphasize production but nevertheless cynical in its political outlook. Parroted in public discourse for years thereafter, the lofty ideals of October had lost all content and fallen victim to the earthquake of the Great Purges. RésuméMagadan et l’évolution des directeurs du Dal´stroj dans les années 1930.Bien qu’elle doive son importance à sa position centrale au sein du Goulag, Magadan est longtemps restée invisible dans l’histoire de l’URSS. Cependant, cette capitale du monde carcéral peut nous fournir un grand nombre de renseignements sur la nature et les rouages du pouvoir stalinien. Notre article traite des changements survenus ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Unknown Magadan ENVELOPE(150.803,150.803,59.564,59.564) Cahiers du monde russe 42 2-4 649 666
institution Open Polar
collection Unknown
op_collection_id fttriple
language French
topic hist
hisphilso
spellingShingle hist
hisphilso
NORDLANDER, David J.
Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
topic_facet hist
hisphilso
description AbstractAlthough significant as the focal point of the infamous Gulag, Magadan and its environs have long remained one of the “blank spots” of Soviet history. Yet this prison capital can tell us much about the nature and mechanism of Stalinist rule. Based upon a number of central and regional archives, this article concerns the changes in provincial administration in this subarctic metropolis throughout the Soviet 1930s. While the political calculus of Magadan always involved repression, there were obvious variations in policy that reflected both the times and larger national trends. The initial generation of camp bosses, raised at least in part on the more utopian goals of the Bolshevik Revolution, proved in retrospect to be a somewhat moderate cohort that took seriously the official goals of inmate rehabilitation and social restitution. At the same time, they were relatively competent economic managers capable of fulfilling key industrial targets set by the Kremlin. All this changed in the watershed year of 1937, when the full force of the Ezhovshchina hit Magadan and forever altered its bureaucratic culture. Economic output fell dramatically as political violence rose, all under the auspices of a new camp management team socialized by the harshening realities of the time. An uneasy truce came in 1939 with the establishment by Moscow of yet another local hierarchy, formed to reemphasize production but nevertheless cynical in its political outlook. Parroted in public discourse for years thereafter, the lofty ideals of October had lost all content and fallen victim to the earthquake of the Great Purges. RésuméMagadan et l’évolution des directeurs du Dal´stroj dans les années 1930.Bien qu’elle doive son importance à sa position centrale au sein du Goulag, Magadan est longtemps restée invisible dans l’histoire de l’URSS. Cependant, cette capitale du monde carcéral peut nous fournir un grand nombre de renseignements sur la nature et les rouages du pouvoir stalinien. Notre article traite des changements survenus ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author NORDLANDER, David J.
author_facet NORDLANDER, David J.
author_sort NORDLANDER, David J.
title Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
title_short Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
title_full Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
title_fullStr Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
title_full_unstemmed Magadan and the evolution of the Dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
title_sort magadan and the evolution of the dal´stroi bosses in the 1930s.
publisher Éditions de l’EHESS
publishDate 2016
url http://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/8472
long_lat ENVELOPE(150.803,150.803,59.564,59.564)
geographic Magadan
geographic_facet Magadan
genre Subarctic
genre_facet Subarctic
op_relation urn:doi:10.4000/monderusse.8472
http://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/8472
op_rights undefined
op_doi https://doi.org/10.4000/monderusse.8472
container_title Cahiers du monde russe
container_volume 42
container_issue 2-4
container_start_page 649
op_container_end_page 666
_version_ 1766211167512952832