Stalinist Russia Grad Class Papers #2

Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization 

Stephen Kotkin

Paperback: 639 pages

Published: 1997

ISBN-10: 0520208234

      Stephen Kotkin’s Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization is a detailed monograph on the Soviet industrialization drive and “building socialism in one country” in the 1930s. Although specifically focused on the gigantic Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Complex (MMC) in the South Urals and the life that sprung around it, the author nonetheless presents a comprehensive picture of the social transformation and political upheaval that took place across the vast masses of the Soviet Union during Stalin’s push for modernization and industrialization in the first two Five-Year Plans. With the city of Magnitogorsk as the setting for Magnetic Mountain - it could as well be Anytown, USSR - the author presents a recurring theme of the human element and its adaptability and survival in the harshest of environments, both natural and artificial, imposed by the Stalinist regime. 

      In the first part the book the author sets the backdrop of the draconian effort and absurdity of the Soviet system and the sheer human cost of industrialization and “building socialism” on the frontier. In the second part Kotkin describes and analyses in detail the new “socialist society” in transition and ultimately reveals its irrationality and failure to attain its goals. Although the state introduced constraints and expressed intentions of achieving unquestionable control, people engaged the “rules of the game” of urban life and often challenged and circumvented the system.  

      As the Soviet authorities embarked on building a model socialist city the urban inhabitants knew how to make the best of their lot. New housing construction plans “restricted by a lack of funds, building materials and effective coordination” grossly underestimated housing needs of the population resulting in acute housing shortages.  Urban residents often squatted in unoccupied apartments, forged or stole documents in order to receive propiska and later passports, registered non-primary household member as the main occupant to safeguard against losing their home in the event of being fired. Some residents continued to live in mud huts (zemlianki) in order to allow for more privacy as opposed to barracks or communal housing even though the state opposed this practice. In short, the housing emerged as an important arena in which the relationship between individuals and the state was defined and negotiated. 

      Before internal passports were introduced in 1933 the workers of Magnitostroi, the biggest shock construction in the country, were free to move and go back to their villages or cities if they chose to. Nothing held workers at construction sites and although the state advocated and recruited them, it was nothing it could do retain them. Kotkin states that “people were coming and going by the tens of thousands, and in between, they were not staying very long.”  In 1931 the average stay of employee was 186 days; for engineering and technical personnel, 221 days. 

      Other strategies of survival the “socialist city” included letter writing and denunciations often using politically charged language of the times (“wrecking” and “sabotage”, “non-Communist lifestyle”), attempts to move up the latter and become a party member, exceed production targets, even though it sometimes involved damaging equipment because of the strain put on it or become a Stakhanovite. Whatever the methods were, the main goal was to adopt and survive Stalinism.

      Kotkin’s work is superb because of the comprehensive and thoughtful manner in which he presented the subject of “building socialism” and the magnitude of the human toll paid by the Soviet citizens as a result of the mass industrialization and modernization drive of the Stalinist era. He has demonstrated that socialism was not only built but lived by people – individuals with hopes, fears, a capacity for survival, and no small amount of inventiveness. 

Dr. W: You made a number of important points, although I think you overstated some of them. You also need to devote some attention to Kotkin's analysis of the Great Terror. Your essay suffered from some stylistic problems, which didn't affect your grade since I know English isn't your native language, but which you should work to correct. A-