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The Soviet Diplomatic Corps and Stalin's Purges

Kocho-Williams, Alastair

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Authors

Alastair Kocho-Williams



Abstract

This article offers a case study of a commissariat and its members during Stalin’s purges. It considers the effects of the purges on diplomats and on Soviet diplomacy, adding new dimensions to previous works, in particular dealing with how the Foreign Commissar Maxim Maximovich Litvinov and the Soviet diplomats serving under him responded to the purges, what their opinions of them were, and how they dealt with the challenge of explaining the purges to observers abroad, as well as examining the numbers that perished, what they were accused of, why the Narkomindel was so vulnerable to the purges, how the Narkomindel struggled to function effectively during a difficult time in Soviet foreign relations, and how the regime achieved a withdrawal from international affairs.

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2008
Deposit Date Jul 5, 2010
Publicly Available Date Apr 4, 2016
Journal Slavonic and East European Review
Print ISSN 0037-6795
Publisher University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 86
Issue 1
Pages 90-110
Keywords Soviet, diplomacy, Stalin, Litvinov
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1015413
Publisher URL http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mhra/see/2008/00000086/00000001/art00004
Contract Date Apr 4, 2016

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