УДК 9:35

EDN ECPKZI

 

Original article

 

Peculiarities of Activity of the Soviet State Administration Bodies in the Second Half of the 1930-s (a Case Study of Leningrad and the Region)

Zhukov S. A., Zhukova N. A.

 

Abstract

Introduction. The second half of the 1930s was a difficult period for the activity of the USSR state administration system. Preparations for a world war, difficulties in the field of economic development — all left an imprint on the nature of the work of state, military and party leadership.

The current difficult international situation again confronts us with complex issues related to the modernization of the public administration system, makes us look for proven ways to solve political, economic, military tasks, evaluate successes and study typical mistakes in the activities of public administration bodies.

Materials and methods. The study is based on materials from Leningrad archives, memoirs of the participants in the events, documents of the party and government bodies. Using special historical methods (chronological, statistical, periodization), an analysis of documents was carried out and conclusions were drawn regarding the specifics of the activity of the state administration bodies of the USSR in the second half of the 1930s.

Results and discussion. Despite the works devoted to the functioning of the administrative-command system of the USSR, the peculiarities of the activities of the state administration bodies of the USSR in the second half of the 1930s are not comprehensively considered in the historical literature. The article attempts to reveal the factors of the activity of the Soviet public administration system and the associated features of the methods used by officials in order to solve the problems facing the country.

Conclusion. As a result of the study, it can be concluded that in the second half of the 1930s, the state administration bodies of the USSR were forced to act in the face of a growing threat of war and a strict time limit for making effective management decisions. The leadership of the USSR was looking for the optimal type of management system by trial and error, creating and abolishing all new management structures. They tried to stop the negative consequences by party control over the activities of organizations and institutions, which by the end of the 1930s had become, in fact, total.

Keywords: governing bodies of the USSR, management methods, history of the USSR, party control

For citation: Zhukov SA, Zhukova NA. Peculiarities of Activity of the Soviet State Administration Bodies in the Second Half of the 1930-s (a Case Study of Leningrad and the Region). Bulletin of the Research Institute of the Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. 2023;15(4):65—75. EDN ECPKZI

 

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The article was submitted 17.05.2023; approved after reviewing 28.07.2023; accepted for publication 04.08.2023.

 

Information about the authors:

Stanislav A. Zhukov, Associate Professor of Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines of the Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps (3 Tikhoretsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg 194064, Russia), Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, stasevitsch@yandex.ru

Natalia A. Zhukova, Lecturer of  Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines of the Budyonny Military Academy of the Signal Corps (3 Tikhoretsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg 194064, Russia), na-talja.naj2@yandex.ru

 

Contribution of the authors:

Zhukov S. A. — concept development, methodology development, data collection and literature analysis, writing the initial version of the article;

Zhukova N. A. — critical analysis and scientific editing of the text.

 

Conflict of interests: the authors declare no conflict of interests.

 

The authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.