The Struggle for Power Russia In 1923 written by Valentina Vilkova, a senior scientific researcher at the Centre for Political and Economic History of Russia of the Independent Russian institute is an integral documental presentation of the power struggle in Russia from 1923-1924. It aims to enrich source material with these new documents unknown in Russia to allow for certain corrections of historical concepts in that period.
The value of this book lies in how Vilkova uses recently uncovered archival materials from the 1923-1924 period in Russia to give an accurate representation of the events in Russia at that time. Her close analysis of these documents with an objective view allows me to investigate the impact of factors in the early stages of the power struggle without having to worry about a bias or subjective view point.
On the other hand this source only provides an analysis of events in the power struggle from 1923-24. The dismissal of events in the 1925-28 period signifies that this source only offers a partial analysis of the power struggle rather than complete analysis needed to be able to compare Stalin’s position of General Secretary to all the factors in the power struggle contributing to his success.
Stalin Author of The last Tsar written by Edvard Radzinsky, a Russian playwright and author of history, is a biography Stalin based on new documents from Russia’s secret archives. It aims to uncover the secrecy of Stalin’s life in the power struggle and as leader of the Soviet Union with the recent exposure of Stalin’s personal archives.
The value of this book lies in the analysis of Stalin’s personal archives which illustrate Stalin’s role in the power struggle from a critical perspective. This allows me to appreciate the importance of Stalin’s meticulous strategies in the power struggle as opposed to simply the position of general secretary he held in the party. Radzinsky suggests that Stalin was a calculating and ruthless man and stresses the importance of events initiated by his ruthless personality such as preventing Trotsky from attending Lenin’s funeral. This provides me with an opposing view to that of other sources which suggest Stalin’s position of General Secretary was the most important reason for his success in the power struggle.
On the other hand Radzinsky’s occupation of a playwright influences the descriptive nature of the book which exaggerates only Stalin’s ruthlessness. This may be evidence of Radzinsky’s own view of Stalin prevailing where he should be providing an objective view.
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