Soviet and communist studies, or Soviet studies is the field of historical studies of the Soviet Union and other Communist states as well as of Communist parties such as the Communist Party USA that existed or still exist in some form in many countries, inside or outside the former Soviet Bloc.[1] Aspects of its historiography have attracted debates between historians on topics including totalitarianism and Cold War espionage.[2][3]
Soviet and Eastern European studies was also a form of area studies that included the study of various aspects of Soviet society including agriculture, trade relations in the Warsaw Pact, nationality policy, Kremlinology, human rights, empire, and collectivization. The wider field included independent study in universities and academia, as well as some support from military and intelligence.[1] Major contemporary journals included Soviet Studies (now Europe-Asia Studies), Communisme, and The Russian Review, among others. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the field focused on historical studies and began to include comparisons to the post-Soviet years as well as new data from the Soviet archives.
The academic field after World War II and during the Cold War was dominated by the "totalitarian model" of the Soviet Union,[4] stressing the absolute nature of Joseph Stalin's power. The "totalitarian model" was first outlined in the 1950s by political scientist Carl Joachim Friedrich, who posited that the Soviet Union and other Communist states were totalitarian systems, with the personality cult and almost unlimited powers of the "great leader" such as Stalin.[5] The "revisionist school" beginning in the 1960s focused on relatively autonomous institutions which might influence policy at the higher level.[6] Matt Lenoe describes the "revisionist school" as representing those who "insisted that the old image of the Soviet Union as a totalitarian state bent on world domination was oversimplified or just plain wrong. They tended to be interested in social history and to argue that the Communist Party leadership had had to adjust to social forces."[7] These "revisionist school" historians such as J. Arch Getty and Lynne Viola challenged the "totalitarian model", which was considered to be outdated,[8] and were active in the former Communist states' archives, especially the State Archive of the Russian Federation related to the Soviet Union.[6][9]