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The 1959 purge of the Latvian national communists has long been cast in black-and-white terms: Russification and resistance; victimizers and victims. Conventional wisdom holds that Nikita Khrushchev was behind the purge. After all, he was the Soviet premier; he stopped in Riga just a few weeks before; even the leading victim of the purge, Eduards Berklavs, labeled Khrushchev the culprit. For the first time, William D. Prigge's penetrating analysis challenges this view and untangles the intricacies of Soviet center-periphery relations like a political thriller. With each new chapter, a truer understanding of events comes into sharper focus - more complex and fascinating than could ever be imagined. Ultimately, the reverberations are felt all the way to the Kremlin and weaken what Khrushchev thought was his own firm footing. For the student of Soviet and Latvian history alike, this volume provides more than just the story of a purge - it is a unique snapshot into the political machinations of the Soviet Union and one of its republics.
About the author
William D. Prigge is an associate professor of history and department head at South Dakota State University. He received his PhD in Soviet history from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His research focuses on national communism throughout the Soviet Union during the 1950s. In addition to various book chapters, Dr. Prigge has published several times in the Journal of Baltic Studies and Diena.
Summary
The 1959 purge of the Latvian national communists has long been cast in black-and-white terms: Russification and resistance; victimizers and victims. This book provides the story of a purge - it is a snapshot into the political machinations of the Soviet Union and one of its republics.
Report
«[...] P.'s volume offers valuable insight into the history of the Latvian Communist Party.»
(Andrejs Plakans, Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung 65/2016)
