In 1917 the first of two major coups occurred; the Tsar was imprisoned and later executed, a Civil War erupted eventually resulting in the emergence of the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin; the world's first socialist state. The major thrust of the new government was to completely revise the economy of the massive state -- breakup landed estates, seizure of agricultural surpluses, but an economic period of 8 years (1921-29) that was more market socialism. However, once Lenin died and the power struggle for ultimate control went to Joseph Stalin, a vast and rapid reindustrialization took place. Stalin believed that the only way to retain a Soviet State was to modernize and the only way to modernize was to collectivize all agriculture so there would be enough food and surplus to fuel the drastic measures necessary to modernize. It was also during this time that a number of large industrial projects were built based on "slave labor," a euphemism for anyone who disagreed with Stalin's policies. From an economic standpoint, what could benefit the State better than thousands upon thousands of free laborers, toiling 6-7 days per week for nothing more than a meager food allowance. Thus, Russia became the Soviet Union and was thrust into the 20th century at the cost of millions of its own citizens.

Blackwell's rather daunting task is to present this two-century conundrum in a manner that shows some consistency in theme. His theme, of course, is the rather precarious course economics has played in the historical development of the country. While Britain, Germany and France began their drive towards industrialization in the early 1700s, somewhat backed by colonial resources, Russia did not even begin...

Then, modernization occurred only sporadically and in the westernmost major cities. True, Russia is far larger and more geographically vast than the countries of Europe, but the slow pace of industrialization and the regime attempting to control the country as it had in Imperial times may well have left it vulnerable to the eventuality of socialism. Indeed, Blackwell sees economics as the primary causality of what became the Soviet Union and all that went along with it.
Generally well-received by colleagues, there is no doubting his expertise in finding appropriate trends in Russia's economic development. Any criticism that is leveled at this text (too brief in some cases, not enough detail) is easily mitigated with his other, more specific scholarly works (McKay, 1971). The point of this text, though, was not to cover every aspect of economic history from Peter the Great to Stalin, but to provide the beginning college student with a deeper understanding of the complexities which became the Soviet Union. In that, he has done a masterful job, and for those with continuing curiosity, provides a number of more detailed works.

REFERENCES

Back Matter - List of Contributors. (1975). Slavic Studies, 27(2), 338-40.

McKay, J. (1971). Review - The Industrialization of Russia. Slavic Review, 30(3), 667.

For example, scholarly articles include: "The Old Believers and the Rise of Private industrial Enterprise in Early Nineteenth Century Moscow," Slavic Review, 24 (3): 407-24; books include: The Beginnings of Russian Industrialization, 1800-1860. (1970), Princeton University Press; Russian Economic…