Stalinism on the Frontier of Empire: Women and State Formation in the Soviet Far East

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Illustrations......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 12
Glossary of terms......Page 14
Note on the text......Page 16
Introduction......Page 17
“Some distant planet”......Page 21
Volunteers?......Page 25
Debating women’s status......Page 28
Women as empire builders......Page 34
Sources......Page 39
A look ahead......Page 40
1 Women and Soviet power......Page 43
Women in the 1920s......Page 44
Stalin’s revolution......Page 49
Gender politics in the 1930s......Page 54
The Great Terror......Page 60
2 “Where steel cracks like glass”......Page 66
“We are not building . . . a male monastery”......Page 79
“We are waiting for you!”: the Khetagurovite campaign......Page 82
Frontier Stalinism......Page 86
“Everything had been made with love”......Page 96
3 “Our famous Valia”: the rise of a Soviet notable......Page 101
A Soviet woman......Page 105
“On her own initiative?”......Page 109
“From the shores of the Pacific”......Page 115
Deafening fame......Page 120
“We were sent by you”......Page 128
Conclusion......Page 133
4 “Envy for everything heroic”: women volunteering for the frontier......Page 135
When the Columbus came to Komsomol’sk......Page 136
Women and frontier landscapes......Page 140
“I just read the newspaper”......Page 146
“Doesn’t the Far East need us?”: male volunteers......Page 155
“The whole country knew!”......Page 158
5 “Bol’shevichki were never ascetics!”: female morale and Communist morality......Page 165
Coquettes......Page 169
Family succor......Page 175
Finding a “good lad”......Page 180
Dubious people......Page 185
“Rather odd customs”......Page 190
Conclusion......Page 200
6 Snivelers and patriots......Page 203
“Special conditions”......Page 205
“Not our people”......Page 210
“Tough skin”......Page 214
“Dry bread and moldy herring”......Page 217
Enemies in our midst......Page 220
“We do not snivel”......Page 224
Liquidation......Page 233
Conclusion......Page 236
Conclusion......Page 238
Appendix 1......Page 248
Appendix 2......Page 249
Appendix 3......Page 250
Appendix 4......Page 251
Appendix 5......Page 252
Appendix 6......Page 253
Appendix 7......Page 254
Appendix 8......Page 256
PUBLISHED PRIMARY SOURCES......Page 257
Secondary sources......Page 258
Index......Page 271