Soviet War Scare (1926–27)

Last updated

The Soviet War Scare was a crisis in Anglo-Soviet relations involving a threat of a full-scale war between the USSR and the British Empire and Poland in 1926 and 1927. The conflict is mostly interpreted as a sham [1] by the western historians, suggesting that it was predominantly a product of a Soviet propaganda overreacting to theoretical considerations written by anonymous British military in May 1926. [2]

While Anglo-Soviet relations of that time were overall marked by distrust, in May 1927 the relationships between the two countries were severed [3] following the police raid on the All Russian Co-operative Society (ARCOS), which became known as an "Arcos affair" or "Arcos raid". [4]

In the course of the "Soviet War Scare" the soviet government issued instructions for the Politburo to incorporate slogans into the propaganda campaign such as those listed below:

"a) The fascist crushing of the mass revolutionary and national liberation movement in Western Belorussia by Piłsudski is a preparation of the rear for Piłsudski's future attack on the BSSR.

b) By means of fascist coups [here mostly likely the May Coup of Piłsudski is referred to] in the states bordering the USSR, England is preparing the attack on the USSR. Be on the alert.

c) The task of the workers of the BSSR is to strengthen the defense of the USSR and thus to ensure the peace policy of the USSR." [5]

The result of it was a considerable mismatch between the reports of the Red Army stating that "no immediate preparations [of the supposed enemy] for war can be discerned" and the media telling people to prepare for the war. The "war hysteria" was eventually used to fight the political opposition. [6]

Yet, the other result of such rumours was, that Soviet Union obtained the chance to validate the attitudes of the civil population towards the government. It is stated, that in rural settlements only poor people were ready to defend the government, while middle-class [referred as "sredniak"] and wealthy peasants [referred as "Kulak"] expressed the desire, if armed, to fight against the government instead. [6] Later in 1928–1929 the government has officially announced the policy known as "dekulakization".

Related Research Articles

Mass operations of the People's Comissariate of Internal Affairs (NKVD) were carried out during the Great Purge and targeted specific categories of people. As a rule, they were carried out according to the corresponding order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Nikolai Yezhov.

The Politburo of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was in session from 1990 to 1991.

The Politburo of the 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was in session from 1927 to 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vsevolod Balitsky</span> Soviet state security official

Vsevolod Apollonovich Balitsky was a Soviet official, Commissar of State Security 1st Class of the NKVD and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politburo of the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Politburo of the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was in session from 1 January 1926 to 19 December 1927.

The Politburo of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was in session from 2 June 1924 to 1 January 1926.

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 8th Congress, and sat from 23 March 1919 until 5 April 1920. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 9th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 9th Congress, and sat from 5 April 1920 until 16 March 1921. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 10th Congress, and sat from 16 March 1921 until 2 April 1922. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 11th Congress, and sat from 2 April 1922 until 25 April 1923 . The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 6th Congress, and sat from 3 August 1917 until 8 March 1918. The CC 1st Plenary Session established the Narrow Composition (abolished October 1917), the Politburo (abolished November 1917) and the Bureau (established in November 1917), while sanctioning the establishment of the Secretariat on the orders of the Narrow Composition.

The Secretariat of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was in session from 1990 to 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 12th Congress, and sat from 25 April 1923 until 31 May 1924. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 13th Congress, and sat from 2 June 1924 until 31 December 1925. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 14th Congress, and sat from 31 December 1925 until 19 December 1927. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 15th Congress, and sat from 19 December 1927 until 13 July 1930. The CC 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (OB) of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 16th Congress, and sat from 13 July 1930 until 10 February 1934. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Politburo, Secretariat and Orgburo. The 16th Congress was the first party convention since the 13th Congress which saw no organized opposition, and the first congress in party history in which there was no opposition to the party leadership. Ukrainian historian Oleg Khlevniuk considers the period 1930–1934 to be a "transitional period" between collective leadership (referred to interchangeably by him as oligarchy) and Joseph Stalin's personal dictatorship (autocracy). The removal of Alexei Rykov, the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK, the Soviet government), from the Politburo at the 1st Joint Plenary Session of the CC and the Central Control Commission (CCC) has been marked in historic literature as "the definitive Stalinization of that body [Politburo]" according to Khlevniuk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Committee of the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)</span>

The Central Committee of the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) sat from 10 February 1934 until the convening of the 18th Congress on 10 March 1939. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Politburo, Secretariat and Orgburo. The 17th Congress was labelled the "Congress of Victors" to mark the success of the first five-year plan and the collectivization of agriculture. The CC 1st Plenary Session elected Joseph Stalin General Secretary of the Central Committee, and Lazar Kaganovich continued to serve as Stalin's deputy, an informal post referred to by Sovietologists as Second Secretary, and was empowered to manage party business and sign Politburo resolutions when Stalin was away from Moscow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Bakayev</span>

Ivan Petrovich Bakayev was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician and statesman. A member of the Left Opposition, he was a defendant at the first Moscow show trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigory Yevdokimov</span> Soviet politician (1884–1936)

Grigori Ermeevich Yevdokimov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician.

References

  1. ↑ Sontag, John P. (1975). "The Soviet War Scare of 1926-27". The Russian Review. 34 (1): 66–77. doi:10.2307/127760. ISSN   0036-0341. JSTOR   127760.
  2. ↑ Searle, Alaric (2007-12-18). "Conflict between Britain and the Soviet Union -1926". The Journal of Soviet Military Studies. 3 (3): 513–524. doi:10.1080/13518049008429998. ISSN   0954-254X.
  3. ↑ Dyck, Harvey L. (1966). "German-Soviet Relations and the Anglo-Soviet Break, 1927". Slavic Review. 25 (1): 67–83. doi:10.2307/2492651. ISSN   0037-6779. JSTOR   2492651.
  4. ↑ "The ARCOS raid and the break in Anglo-Soviet relations, 1927". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  5. ↑ "Протоколы заседаний Политбюро ЦК ВКП(б). Протокол № 80. Закрытого Заседания Политбюро ЦК ВКП(б) от 24 января 1927" [Protocols of meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b). Protocol No. 80. Closed Session of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of January 24, 1927.](PDF) (in Russian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-05-25.
  6. 1 2 "Тревожное лето 1927 года" [The anxious summer of 1927]. Ведомости (in Russian). 2017-07-14. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
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.