Offering a fundamental reinterpretation of the emergence of the Soviet state; Peter Holquist situates the Bolshevik Revolution within the continuum of mobilization and violence that began with World War I and extended through Russia's civil war. In so doing; Holquist provides a new genealogy for Bolshevik political practices; one that places them clearly among Russian and European wartime measures. From this perspective; the Russian Revolution was no radical rupture with the past; but rather the fulcrum point in a continent-wide era of crisis and violence that began in 1914. While Tsarist and Revolutionary governments implemented policies for total mobilization common to other warring powers; they did so in a supercharged and concentrated form. Holquist highlights how the distinctive contours of Russian political life set its experience in these years apart from other wartime societies. In pursuit of revolution; statesmen carried over crisis-created measures into political life and then incorporated them into the postwar political structure. Focusing on three particular policies--state management of food; the employment of official violence for political ends; and state surveillance--Holquist demonstrates the interplay of state policy and local implementation; and its impact on the lives of ordinary citizens. Making War; Forging Revolution casts a new light on Russia's revolution and boldly inserts it into the larger story of the Great War and twentieth-century European history.
#732959 in Books 1985-03-07 1985-03-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x .80 x 5.50l; .54 #File Name: 067154134X256 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Character portraits of some who changed the worldBy Arthur David DigbyI had this book. Loaned it out. It never came back. I missed it enough that I ordered a replacement copy. The writings are so powerful that I remembered them and thought about them often during the long time when I did not possess the book. Jewish; Muslim and Christian readers will be challenged (and delighted) to peer beneath the depths with Wiesel's masterful and compelling writing and will never think of Isaac and Abraham; and the other patriarchs as well in the same ways.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Patricia A. MatthewsVery provocative and enlightening!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Customerthis is a must have in your library....
