Encyclopedia of Russian History

by James Millar

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  With the Bolshevik revolution, Stanislavsky and MAT were reduced to poverty. From 1922 to 1924, Stanislavsky toured Europe and the United States with the company’s earliest and most famous productions in an effort to recoup financial stability. During this period, he also began to write, publishing My Life in Art in 1924. This period guaranteed his international influence.

  Upon returning to Moscow, Stanislavsky faced growing Soviet control over the arts. His connections with the West and his production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s play about White Russians, The Days of the Turbins (1926), came under attack. From 1934 to 1938, during the Soviet purges, Stanislavsky was weakened by an enlarged heart and confined to his home. Stalin simultaneously canonized the director’s realistic work as the vanguard of Socialist Realism. Isolated from the wider world, Stanislavsky continued to write, teach, and develop his ideas in his home until his death in 1938 of a heart attack. See also: BULGAKOV, MIKHAIL AFANASIEVICH; CHEKHOV, ANTON PAVLOVICH; MOSCOW ART THEATER; SOCIALIST REALISM; THEATER

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Benedetti, Jean. (1990). Sta.nisla.vski: A Biography. New York: Routledge. Carnicke, Sharon Marie. (1998). Stanislavsky in Focus. London: Harwood/Routledge. Smeliansky, Anatoly. (1991). “The Last Decade: Stanislavsky and Stalinism.” Theatre 12(2):7-13.

  SHARON MARIE CARNICKE STARCHESTVO See SPIRITUAL ELDERS.

  STAROVOITOVA, GALINA VASILIEVNA

  (1946-1998), martyred political figure and human rights activist.

  Galina Starovoitova was one of Russia’s leading human rights advocates and served in the first post-Soviet Russian government. Murdered by unknown assailants on November 20, 1998, in St. Petersburg, she was eulogized as “a symbol of courage and outspokenness,” “one of the brightest lights of Russian independence and reform moveENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY

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  ment,” and a leader with an “uncompromising dedication to democracy.”

  Starovoitova was born in Chelyabinsk, earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in social psychology, and in 1980 received a Ph.D. from the Institute of Ethnography, USSR Academy of Sciences. She worked as an ethnographer and psychologist, and published scientific works in both fields, with a specialization in inter-ethnic relations and cross-cultural studies.

  Her political activities began in the late 1980s with the Moscow Helsinki Group, a human rights organization led by Andrei Sakharov and other prominent dissident leaders. She joined with Sakharov to campaign for the rights of Armenians in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and in 1989, in appreciation, was elected to the USSR Congress of Peoples’ Deputies from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The Congress elected her to serve in the Supreme Soviet, where she became one of the co-founders of the pro-reform Inter-Regional Group of Deputies. A year later, she was elected to the Russian parliament from a constituency in St. Petersburg and became a co-chair of the Democratic Russia Party.

  After the USSR collapsed, Starovoitova became an adviser to President Boris Yeltsin on inter-ethnic affairs, but she resigned in 1992 because of disagreements over policy in the Caucasus region and frustration with a government still beholden to elements of the old Soviet system. From 1993 to 1994 she was a fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., and the following year she taught at Brown University.

  In 1995 Starovoitova was elected to the Russian Duma, where she became a prominent spokeswoman on human rights, the war in Chechnya, the environment, women’s rights, wage issues, housing, antisemitism, and religious freedom. In 1996, she ran for the presidency, the first Russian woman to do so. She talked of running again in 2000, and before her death announced that she would run for governor of Leningrad oblast. Starovoitova saw Russia’s communists and nationalists as standing in the way of democratization, and they in turn were her main opponents. Shortly before her death, she spoke out forcefully about political corruption, and many speculate that her investigations in this area precipitated her murder.

  Millions of Russians mourned Galina Starovoi-tova’s death, and a kilometer-long line of people waited in the cold to pay their respects. The invesENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY

  Democratic activist Galina Starovoitova was murdered outside her apartment in St. Petersburg. © ANTONOV/RPG/CORBIS SYGMA tigation of her murder was turned over to the highest authorities, but despite the interrogation of hundreds of witnesses, the detention of hundreds of suspects, and pledges to catch those guilty of the crime, no one was charged. Several Russians view the murder as a political assassination perpetrated either by organized crime or corrupt political officials. See also: ORGANIZED CRIME; SAKHAROV, ANDREI DMITRIEVICH

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Diuk, Nadia. (1999). “Galina Starovoitova.” Journal of Democracy 10:188-190. Powell, B. (1998). “Requiem for Reform.” Newsweek. December 7, 1998, p. 38.

  PAUL J. KUBICEK START See STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TALKS.

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  STASOVA, YELENA DMITRIEVNA

  STASOVA, YELENA DMITRIEVNA

  (1873-1966), Bolshevik, secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party, 1919-1920.

  Yelena Stasova belonged to a prominent St. Petersburg intelligentsia family. In the early 1900s she became a secretary of the illegal St. Petersburg committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party. Stasova was an effective administrator and conspirator, as well as a staunch supporter of Vladimir Lenin. Arrested in 1907, she spent the next ten years in exile, first in the Caucasus and then in Siberia.

  After the revolution, in 1917 and 1918, Stasova was a secretary of the Petrograd party committee. She chose to concentrate on the mundane but crucially important work of administration, keeping records, dispersing funds, and handing out job assignments. In 1919, when Central Committee Secretary Yakov Sverdlov died, Lenin tapped Stasova to replace him. She struggled to improve the organization of the party’s central administration, but her efforts did not dispel charges of chronic inefficiency in the Secretariat. In 1920, Lenin responded by replacing Stasova with three male secretaries. She left the party leadership having played an important part in building the Communist Party’s apparatus.

  For the rest of her long life Stasova took insignificant assignments. In the 1930s she headed the International Organization for Aid to Revolutionaries. Her obscurity probably helped her survive the party purges and aid some of its victims. In the 1950s and 1960s she published several versions of her memoirs, all dedicated to restoring the reputation of the party’s founders. Stasova died of natural causes. See also: COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION; FEMINISM

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Clements, Barbara Evans. (1997). Bolshevik Women. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

  BARBARA EVANS CLEMENTS

  STASOV, VLADIMIR VASILIEVICH

  (1824-1906), music and art critic whose aesthetics of realist and national expression in the arts served as a model for socialist realism.

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  Born into a prominent upper-class family (his father was a noted architect), Vladimir Stasov graduated in 1843 from the elite St. Petersburg School of Jurisprudence and also studied piano. After a period in various undistinguished civil service jobs, he was appointed secretary to Prince Antaoly N. Demi-dov in 1851 and spent almost three years in the West, mostly in Florence. Back in Russia he found employment in the Imperial Public Library in the capital, and from 1872 until his death he headed its arts department.

  Stasov’s voluminous writings consist of polemical feuilletons, monographs on individual musicians and painters, and long overviews of developments in the arts (both in Russia and the West), as well as on Russian architecture and archeology. Inspired by the radical literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, Stasov promoted realist and national artistic forms that would engage the public in current social and historical issues. His original, liberal, and open-minded stance in opposition to the regnant academicism invigorated the cultural scene. But by the 1890s his aesthetics had turned conservative and chauvinistic, condemning as decadent the new artis
tic trends that were challenging national realism, which had by then become a new form of academicism.

  With the publication of his monograph on Mikhail Glinka in 1847, which stressed the composer’s originality in using folk motifs, Stasov began to advocate Russianness in music. Thereafter he consistently championed young, independent composers-Miliy A. Balakirev, Alexander P. Borodin, C?sar A. Cui, Modest P. Musorgsky, and Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov-whom he jointly called “The Mighty Five” (moguchaya kuchka). They all were self-taught, opposed the hidebound rules of the conservatory, and strove to create, in Glinka’s footsteps, a distinctly Russian school of music. Stasov supported these composers with polemical publications and contributed significantly to their creative work, suggesting topics, supplying historical documentation, and commenting on compositions. He was especially close to Musorgsky, whose genius he was the first to recognize.

  In the 1860s Stasov began to comment regularly on the situation in the pictorial arts, questioning the authority of the Imperial Academy of Arts with its Italianate tastes. Instead, he advocated art that depicted Russian subjects in a manner that would instruct the public about the country’s realities. He became closely associated with young painters who in 1863 had quit the academy in protest against its outdated routines and in 1871

  ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY

  STATE CAPITALISM

  founded the independent Association of Traveling Art Exhibits. Commonly known as the peredvizh-niki (wanderers or itinerants), these artists painted Russian landscape, social genre, or historical scenes that were literally read by both Stasov and the public as critical commentary on current events. Stasov was very closely associated with Ilya Repin, the foremost painter of the school.

  In the 1890s, as aestheticism began to supplant national realism, Stasov’s renown and influence waned. Prior to World War I and during the first decade of the Soviet regime, Stasov’s views were not respected, and were even derided, by the creative intelligentsia. His standing was restored by the Communist Party after the imposition of socialist realism as the guiding ideology for literature and the arts in 1932. But Stasov’s views were increasingly distorted to legitimate a narrow politi-cization of the arts and cultural isolationism that bore little resemblance to his original position in his creative period from 1860 to 1890. The pedestal on which Stasov stood as the preeminent art and music critic was toppled during the period of glasnost. See also: ACADEMY OF ARTS; MIGHTY HANDFUL; MUSIC; OPERA; SOCIALIST REALISM

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Curran, M. W. (1965). “Vladimir Stasov and the Development of Russian National Art, 1850-1906.” Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin. Olkhovsky, Vladimir. (1983). Stasov and Russian National Culture. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press. Stasov, Vladimir Vasilievich. (1968). Selected Essays on Music, tr. Florence Jonas. New York: Praeger.

  ELIZABETH K. VALKENIER

  STATE CAPITALISM

  The term state capitalism was coined by political economists to describe market economies heavily regulated or controlled by the state, on behalf of property owners. Unlike stateless capitalism, where markets function without governmental assistance, commonly called “free enterprise,” political authorities play a powerful role in state capitalist systems. The government is the agent of property holders, and functions as the executive committee of the capitalist class, even though it usually claims to rule in the interests of all the people. Social democratic regimes such as those of France and GerENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY many, and big-government systems such as the United States that rely on Keynesian and other macromanagement methods, are often classified as state capitalist. Post-Soviet Russia, which describes itself as a mixed social economy, combining state and private ownership of the means of production with an autocratic state, can also be listed under this heading.

  Even states dominated by administration and planning, with restricted markets such as the Soviet Union during the era of the New Economic Policy (NEP) 1921-1929, have been accused of being state capitalist by alleging that self-serving bureaucrats, or capitalist roaders had subverted and co-opted the state. Post-Maoist China provides a good example of how a socialist society governed by a Communist Party can serve the interests of property holders from the perspective of Marxist-Leninism.

  These distinctions are devoid of any rigorous economic content. They may serve some useful purpose for ideologues, but the classification reveals nothing about the productive potential, economic efficiency, or welfare characteristics of any particular state capitalist regime, or even whether the system relies primarily on markets or plans. The burden of the term is to place most economies outside the hallowed pale of Marxist socialism. Only North Korea and Cuba appear to be mostly directive regimes, with strong states and a socialist credo, in the twenty-first century. See also: CAPITALISM; COMMAND ADMINISTRATIVE ECONOMY; ECONOMIC GROWTH, SOVIET; MARKET SOCIALISM

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Bettelheim, Charles. (1975). The Transition to Socialist Economy. Hassocks: Harvester Press. Buick, Adam, and Crump, John. (1986). State Capitalism: The Wages under New Management. Houndmills, UK: Macmillan. Cliff, Tony. (1974). State Capitalism in Russia. London: Pluto Press. Coleman, Kenneth M., and Nelson, Daniel N. (1984). State Capitalism, State Socialism and the Politicization of Workers. Pittsburgh: Russian and East European Studies Program, University of Pittsburgh. Crosser, Paul K. (1960). State Capitalism in the Economy of the United States. New York: Bookman Associates. Dunayevskaya, Raya. (1992). The Marxist-Humanist Theory of State-Capitalism: Selected Writings. Chicago: News and Letters.

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  STATE

  COMMITTEES

  Gallik, Dmitri; Kostinsky, Barry; and Treml, Vladimir. (1983). Input-Output Structure of the Soviet Economy. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. James, Cyril Lionel Robert. (1969). State Capitalism and World Revolution. Detroit: Facing Reality. Raiklin, Ernest. (1989). After Gorbachev: A Mechanism for the Transformation of Totalitarian State Capitalism Into Authoritarian Mixed Capitalism. Washington, DC: Council for Social and Economic Studies.

  STEVEN ROSEFIELDE

  STATE COMMITTEES

  The first state committees in the USSR, STO (Sovet truda i oborony, the Council of Labor and Defense) and Gosplan (State Planning Committee) were standing commissions of Sovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars). Their number grew during the 1930s, and the 1936 constitution granted Sovnarkom membership to the chairpersons of the All-Union Committee for the Arts (Komiskusstv or Vsesoy-uzny komitet po delam iskusstv) and the All-Union Committee for Higher Education (Komvysshshkol or Vsesoyuzny komitet po delam vysshei shkoly). Chairpersons of other committees, such as the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sport (Komfizkult or Vsesoyuzny komitet po delam fiz-kultury i sporta), were not granted this status. During World War II, the State Defense Committee (GKO or Gosudarstvenny komitet oborony), chaired by Josef Stalin, was created as the extraordinary supreme state body to direct military and civilian resources and the economy, in order to achieve victory. This body was very significant during the war, and was the most powerful of all state committees during the USSR’s existence.

  In the 1950s and 1960s, with the increasing complexity of the economy of the USSR, and the increased importance of science and technology, the system of state committees developed rapidly as central interdepartmental agencies that coordinated and supervised the work of ministries and other state departments in their areas of responsibility. Although the state committees were formed theoretically by the Supreme Soviet, and their structure was approved by the Council of Ministers, the real decisions concerning their existence and structure lay with the Politburo. State committees were allocated administrative powers to organize, coordinate, and supervise the state departments with which they were concerned, their instructions having the force of law within the area of their jurisdiction. Like ministries, they could be either all-Union, with plenipotentiaries in the republics, or union-republic, functioning through parallel apparatuses in the republ
ics.

  The State Committee of the USSR on Defence Technology (GKOT or Gosudarstvenny komitet SSSR po oboronu tekhnike) was created in 1957 but incorporated into a newly created Ministry of General Machine Building in 1965. The committee was responsible for all strategic ballistic missiles, spacecraft, and satellites developed in the USSR. By 1973 the following state committees existed: State Planning Committee (Gosplan or Gosudarstvenny planovy komitet). State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Construction (Gosstroi or Gosudarstvenny komitet soveta ministrov SSR po delam stroitelstva). Formed in 1950 to secure increased efficiency in construction. State Committee on Labor and Wages (Gosudarstvenny komitet po voprosam truda i zarabotnoi platy). Formed in 1955 to oversee wages and working conditions. Committee for State Security (KGB or Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti.) Formed in 1954 when the police apparatus was reorganized. The much feared secret police acted with more autonomy than most other government bodies and with a large degree of independence from the Council of Mnisters. State Committee on Foreign Economic Relations (Gosudarstvenny komitet po vneshnim ekonomicheskim svyazam). Formed in 1957 to develop economic cooperation with foreign countries and ensure the fulfilment of obligations. It was also responsible for overseeing organizations responsible for exporting equipment to socialist and developing countries. State Committee of the Council of Mnisters of the USSR for the Supervision of Work Safety in Industry and for Mning Supervision (Gosgortekhnadzor or Gosudarstvenny komitet po nadzoru za bezopasnym vedeniem raboty promyshlennosti i gor-nomu nadzoru). Established in 1958. State Committee for Vocational and Technical Education (Gosudarstvenny komitet po professionalno-tekhnicheskomu obraziva-niyu). Formed in 1959 to implement and