Alexander Rabinowitch

Last updated

Alexander Rabinowitch (born 30 August 1934) is an American historian. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the Indiana University Bloomington, where he taught from 1968 until 1999, and Affiliated Research Scholar at the St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences, since 2013. He is recognized internationally as a leading expert on the Bolsheviks, the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the Russian Civil War. [1]

Contents

Early life

Alexander Rabinowitch and his brother Victor were born in London in 1934 to Russian actress Anya Rabinowitch and her husband, the scientist and author Eugene Rabinowitch. [2] The family emigrated to the United States in 1938, when Eugene took a position at MIT. [2]

Alexander received his B.A. at Knox College, 1956; M.A. at the University of Chicago, 1961; and Ph.D. at Indiana University Bloomington, 1965. [3]

Career

Upon publication, his best-known book, The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd (1976), was widely acclaimed by Western scholars as a major breakthrough in study of the Russian Revolution. [4] Initially, it was fiercely attacked by Soviet historians for its violation of mandatory canon. In 1989, during Gorbachev's perestroika , it became the first Western scholarly investigation of the Russian revolution to be published in the Soviet Union. Based on wide-ranging empirical research, the book stresses broad popular support for the Bolshevik program calling for peace, land, and bread and transfer of power to the soviets, as well as the party's tolerance of diverse views and its decentralized organizational structure in explaining its successful accession to power in October. Scholars in other disciplines took notice. According to Professor Victoria Bunnell in the American Journal of Sociology, "the sociologist whose interest lie in the fields of revolution, social movements, and labor policy will find...[it] highly valuable." [5] According to Professor Paul M. Johnson in The American Political Science Review, the book represents, "important new contributions to the literature....Solidly grounded in the traditional historiography...[making] judicious use of the valuable materials that became accessible during the Khrushchev era." [6]

In 2007, following decades of archival research and writing, Rabinowitch published The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. This study was praised by Western and Russian reviewers alike. [7] Rabinowitch set for himself the twin goals of explaining how the Bolshevik party was relatively quickly "transformed into one of the most highly centralized authoritarian political organizations in modern history" and the rapidity with which the grass-roots egalitarian ideals that contributed immeasurably to its effectiveness in the struggle for power in 1917 Russia were subverted. [8]

From 1975 to 1984 Rabinowitch was Director of the Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University. From 1986 to 1993 he was Dean for International Programs at Indiana University. His many doctoral students teach at colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. A Festschrift honoring Rabinowitch, prepared by his former graduate students, appeared in 2012 (Michael S. Melancon and Donald J. Raleigh, eds., Russia's Century of Revolutions: Parties, People, Places, Studies Presented in Honor of Alexander Rabinowitch). Rabinowitch has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, Fulbright-Hays, IREX, Guggenheim Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He has been a Senior Fellow of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University; the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton; and the Hoover Institution, Stanford, and was elected a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Kerensky</span> Russian politician (1881–1970)

Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 (N.S.)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October Revolution</span> Second of two 1917 revolutions in Russia

The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution, or October Coup, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It was the second revolutionary change of government in Russia in 1917. It took place through an armed insurrection in Petrograd on 7 November 1917 [O.S. 25 October]. It was the precipitating event of the Russian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Revolution</span> Political events starting in 1917

The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in the Russian Empire, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a bloody civil war. The Russian Revolution can also be seen as the precursor for the other European revolutions that occurred during or in the aftermath of World War I, such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irakli Tsereteli</span> Georgian politician (1881–1959)

Irakli Tsereteli was a Georgian politician and a leading spokesman of the Social Democratic Party of Georgia and later Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) during the era of the Russian Revolutions.

"Dual power" refers to the coexistence of two governments as a result of the February Revolution: the Soviets, particularly the Petrograd Soviet, and the Russian Provisional Government. The term was first used by the communist Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) in the Pravda article titled "The Dual Power".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Spiridonova</span> Russian revolutionary (1884–1941)

Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group of the Tambov Socialists-Revolutionaries (SRs), she assassinated a security official. Her subsequent abuse by police earned her enormous popularity with the opponents of Tsarism throughout the empire and even abroad.

The Kerensky–Krasnov uprising was an attempt by Alexander Kerensky to crush the October Revolution and regain power after the Bolsheviks overthrew his government in Petrograd. It took place between 8 and 13 November 1917 [O.S. 26 and 31 October].

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election</span> Election in the Russian Republic

Elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly were held on 25 November 1917, although some districts had polling on alternate days, around two months after they were originally meant to occur, having been organized as a result of events in the February Revolution. They are generally recognised to be the first free elections in Russian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left SR uprising</span> 1918 anti-Bolshevik uprising by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party

The Left SR uprising, or Left SR revolt, was a rebellion against the Bolsheviks by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party in Moscow, Soviet Russia, on 6–7 July 1918. It was one of a number of left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks that took place during the Russian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikolay Chkheidze</span> Georgian politician (1864–1926)

Nikoloz Chkheidze commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze, was a Georgian politician. In the 1890s, he promoted the Social Democratic movement in Georgia. He became a key figure in the Russian Revolution as the Menshevik president of the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Petrograd. Later he served as president of the Transcaucasian Sejm, and he held office in the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. Later he became president of parliamentary assemblies of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, National Council, Constituent Assembly and Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July Days</span> Period of unrest in Petrograd, Russia (16–20 July)

The July Days were a period of unrest in Petrograd, Russia, between 16–20 July [O.S. 3–7 July] 1917. It was characterised by spontaneous armed demonstrations by soldiers, sailors, and industrial workers engaged against the Russian Provisional Government. The demonstrations were angrier and more violent than those during the February Revolution months earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gleb Bokii</span> Soviet secret police official (1879–1937)

Gleb Ivanovich Bokii was a Soviet Communist political activist, revolutionary, and paranormal investigator in the Russian Empire. Following the October Revolution of 1917, Bokii became a leading member of the Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, and later of the OGPU and NKVD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left Socialist-Revolutionaries</span> Revolutionary political party in Russia from 1917 to 1921

The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries-Internationalists was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee</span> Militant group of the Petrograd Soviet from November to December 1917

The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee was a militant group of the Petrograd Soviet and one of several military revolutionary committees that were created in the Russian Republic. Initially the committee was created on 25 October 1917 after the German army secured the city of Riga and the West Estonian Archipelago. The committee's resolution was adopted by the Petrograd Soviet on October 29, 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Provisional Government</span> 1917 provisional government lasting 8 months

The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II. The intention of the provisional government was the organization of elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly and its convention. The provisional government, led first by Prince Georgy Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky, lasted approximately eight months, and ceased to exist when the Bolsheviks gained power in the October Revolution in October [November, N.S.] 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February Revolution</span> First of two 1917 revolutions in Russia

The February Revolution, known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution, was the first of two revolutions which took place in Russia in 1917.

The All-Russian Executive Committee of the Union of Railwaymen, commonly known in English by its Cyrillic acronym, Vikzhel, was the governing body of an industrial union established in revolutionary Russia during the summer of 1917. Inclined towards syndicalism and standing as one of the most radical Russian unions of the period, Vikzhel played a decisive role in stymying the attempted Kornilov coup in August 1917.

This is a select bibliography of post World War II English language books and journal articles about the Revolutionary and Civil War era of Russian (Soviet) history. The sections "General Surveys" and "Biographies" contain books; other sections contain both books and journal articles. Book entries may have references to reviews published in English language academic journals or major newspapers when these could be considered helpful. Additional bibliographies can be found in many of the book-length works listed below; see Further Reading for several book and chapter length bibliographies. The External Links section contains entries for publicly available select bibliographies from universities.

Amir Weiner is an American historian and associate professor of Soviet history at Stanford University. His interests include mass violence, population politics, totalitarianism, and World War II. Weiner is the director of Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and his research includes the KGB and the Soviet Union's surveillance state. Weiner is a former research scholar for the Wilson Center, and he was affiliated with the Kennan Institute in 1994–1995.

Michael David-Fox is an American historian who studies modern Russia and the Soviet Union.

References

  1. ↑ Nimtz, August H. (2020). "Electoral and Parliamentary Politics: Are Marx, Engels and Lenin Still Relevant?". Science & Society . 84 (3): 401–410. doi:10.1521/siso.2020.84.3.401. S2CID   225783784.
  2. 1 2 Rabinowitch, Alexander (2005). "Founder and father". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 61 (1): 30–37. doi:10.2968/061001009. S2CID   144412903.
  3. ↑ Rabinowitch, Alexander (2021). "Stephen F. Cohen (1938–2020)". Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. 22 (2): 430–442. doi:10.1353/kri.2021.0024. S2CID   234772440.
  4. ↑ Willimott, Andy (2020). "9 'Read all about it!'". Reading Russian Sources: A Student's Guide to Text and Visual Sources from Russian History.
  5. ↑ Bunnell, Victoria E. (1978). "Review". American Journal of Sociology . 84 (2): 492.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Paul M. (March 1979). "Review". The American Political Science Review . 73 (1 Review): 287. doi:10.2307/1954820. JSTOR   1954820.
  7. ↑ Gennadi Leont'evich Sobolev, "PERVYI GOD BOL'SHEVISTSKOI VLASTI V ISSLEDOVANII AMERIKANSKOGO ISTORIKA" ['The first year of Bolshevik power in a description by an American historian'] Voprosy Istorii (2008), Issue 9, pages 162-166.
  8. ↑ Rabinowitch, Alexander (2007). The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd. Indiana University Press. pp. X.
  9. ↑ "The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd". Foreign Affairs. 2008.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.