BRITISH CONSULAR SPECIALISTS' PERSPECTIVE OF THE STALINIST POLITICAL DICTATORSHIP AND TERROR (1924-1939)

Abstract

This Academic Exercise aims to examine the British Consular Specialists' perspective of the Stalinist Dictatorship and Terror in Soviet Russia from 1924 to 1939. It demostrates, that in spite of the covert nature of Soviet politics during this period and the limitations of available sources, the consular specialists tried to assess the political situation from a professional and objective perspective by consulting as wide a variety of sources as possible. In the pre-World War Two era, they gradually perceived the nature of Stalin's dictatorship and the terror he imposed on the Bolshevik Party and Soviet society. However, at various times, they sometimes had misguided judgements on the motivating forces behind the purges and terror. This assessment of the consular reports was based on knowledge obtained from contemporary historiography on the Stalinist dictatorship.