Krasilnikov Sergey A.,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Institute of History, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
R.I. Eiche and his March Plenum (Novosibirsk, March 16–18, 1937)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2019-1-5
The February-March Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks entered the history of not only the party but also the country as a whole marking the beginning of large-scale state terror against all sectors of society. Tensions in the upper echelons of power inevitably shifted to the regional level. Events on the ground had to confirm the readiness of the regional leadership to implement the most stringent directives of the Center. This publication, based on an analysis of the transcript of the three-day Plenary Meeting of the West Siberian Regional Committee of the Party in the second half of March 1937 is designed to answer questions about how capable regional managers turned out to be. Considering the state of the party’s organizations in the region, the level of educational and professional characteristics, the experience of the nomenclature’s activity, the author concludes that the regional cadres were disoriented by the new requirements for the election of the party and Soviet bodies. The leader of the party R.I. Eiche, who could not overcome the inertia and routine of the positions of local leaders on key issues of party, state and economic activities, also experienced a state of nervousness and uncertainty. The debate on the relationship in the management work of the principles of professional competence and “Bolshevik vigilance” also remained unfinished.
Publishing: 26/02/2019
How to cite: Krasilnikov S.A. R.I. Eiche and his March Plenum (Novosibirsk, March 16–18, 1937) // Historical Courier, 2019, # 1 (3). Article 5. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2019/ISTKURIER-2019-1-05.pdf
Links: Issue 1 2019
Keywords: February-March Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of the Bolsheviks 1937; intra-elite contradictions; R.I. Eiche; regional nomenclature