The Soviet Elite of the 1930s: The Problem of Identi cation
The study of the characteristics of the Soviet ruling elite, which had almost limitless management capabilities in all spheres of social life, is of particular interest. The ruling elite or “nomenklatura elite” was formed mainly from members of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), also known as the VKP(b). The article traces the evolution of social characteristics and political behavior of Soviet managers who were part of the Central Committee in the 1930s . It allows us to reveal the real correlation of utopian and adequate to that epoch management methods; to get closer to understanding the true history of the Soviet society and the state. The author notes underestimation existing in the scientific literature of the role played by the plenums of the Central Committee of the VKP(b), on which the legitimization of managerial decisions of the Soviet leadership depended. The article characterizes such processes as the transition to a “moderate course” since 1933, associated with the growth of relative “divergence” in various structures of the party-state apparatus; the adoption of the state program of compulsory technical education for workers at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the VKP(b) in December 1935; discussion and approval of the draft Constitution in 1936. It is emphasized that the events of 1936 demonstrated the depth of the divergence of idealistic and rational approaches to the main issues of economic policy, revealed criticism of the course on quantitative indicators and punitive management methods. The article traces the causes of the tragic fate of the party-state elite, which was relatively stable for two decades(1917-1936), linking the events of 1937-1938 with the logical manifestation of the long struggle of two approaches (rational and voluntarist) to the implementation of state policy. Special attention is paid to the problems of strengthening the defense capability of the USSR in the pre-war years. It is concluded that at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s the fate of the regime depended on the quality and speed of the actions taken by the “commanders of the economy” - business executives of various levels, regional leaders, military figures. It led again to the stabilization of the elite, which retained the function of a shock absorber for the most dangerous Stalin’s decisions.