Canadian Slavonic Papers

German Rule in Russia 1941-1945: A Study of Occupation Policies (Second Revised Edition) byAlexander DallinReview by: K. C. TaylorCanadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes, Vol. 24, No. 2 (June 1982), pp. 188-189Published by: Canadian Association of SlavistsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40867986 .

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188 I Canadian Slavonic Papers June 1982

Teddy J. Uldricks. Diplomacy and Ideology: The Origins of Soviet Foreign Relations 1917-1930. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1979. 239 pp. $9.95.

The title of Professor Uldricks's book Diplomacy and Ideology: The Origins of Soviet Foreign Relations 1917-1930 would suggest that it consists of a historical presentation of Soviet diplomacy during the first decade of Bolshevik rule plus an examination of the role of ideology and its impact on diplomacy. The reader in quest of such a presentation will not find it in this slim volume. Hardly any attempt is made to construct a picture of Soviet diplomatic history in its first decade. While oblique references are made to such events as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Genoa Conference, Rapallo and the Locarno agreements, no effort is made to analyze these important milestones in Soviet diplomacy, let alone to place them in historical perspective. Uldricks's book is not a diplomatic history in the con- ventional sense.

Having dealt summarily with the chronological tale of Soviet diplomacy Uldricks introduces the problem of ideology and its impact on diplomatic behaviour. Without doubt this section constitutes one of the strengths of the book. He succeeds in conveying the militant and crusading nature of Soviet diplomatic aims during the earliest years of the revolution and the growing disappointment with the failure of the world revolution to occur. The book manages to portray the abandonment of Soviet revolutionary zeal for a more self-centred national policy in a world which to some extent had temporarily regained its equilibrium after the shocks of World War I.

The most original part of the book deals with the socio-economic and edu- cational make-up of the diplomatic corps during the 'twenties. Here Professor Uldricks has given to an English-reading public a composite picture of the Soviet diplomatic staff not found in other diplomatic histories.

Irving H. Smith, Concordia University

Alexander Dallin. German Rule in Russia 1941-1945: A Study of Occupation Policies (Second Revised Edition). Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1981. xx, 707 pp. $35.00.

In historical literature there are 'second' editions and 'revised' editions. The former are revised to the extent that errors are corrected and are updated with the addition of a chapter or two covering the latest research and bibliographical details, together with reflections by the author on the adequacy of his original work (in this case appearing in 1957). On the other hand, there are those, like Hugh Thomas's The Spanish Civil War first published in 1961 and revised in 1977, that re-examine the historical questions raised from an entirely different perspective, dictated by years of further reflection and new research.

Unfortunately, the work under review falls into the first and lesser category. It

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Vol. XXIV, No. 2 Book Reviews | 189

was, and is, as it was hailed when it first appeared, a masterpiece, the definitive work on the subject, as well as being iucid,' 'exciting,' and a 'revelation' of the ir- rationality of Nazi policy towards Soviet citizens. It tells us much, then, by extra- polation, of Nazi attitudes, as well as of the failure of Nazi leadership and ideology in general. In addition it reveals a great deal about the negative attitudes of the Soviet population towards the Stalin regime, of which the Nazis failed to take advantage and thus inevitably turned the ostensible Crusade against Bolshevism from a risky venture into unavoidable defeat. It is perhaps as well, therefore, that this new edition has appeared. One suspects that it has over the years been relegated to the back of the scholar's memory by the appearance of more recent, yet lesser, accounts of the same subject. The author points out that he has not revised the text, other than to correct errors, because to his embarrassment, surprise, and relief his original conclusions have been accepted as the 'conventional wisdom' and the only revisions would be due to changes in his own and society's contemporary mores over a quarter of a century. But we need reminding that this is the fountainhead of that conventional wisdom, and a masterwork in its own right, able to stand, despite its age, against the changes in our attitudes. Its appearance in a second edition can- not be "Briefly Noted." It is an event in scholarship in its own right.

One is left, however, with a question. Is it necessary for the student of Soviet affairs, Nazi Germany, or World War II, who already possesses a copy of the original edition, to purchase at considerable expense (despite the attempt to cut costs by production in Hong Kong) this second edition? The answer is an un- qualified no. On the other hand, for those who do not yet own a copy of Dallin's work there is no longer any excuse to hold back. Those scholars worthy of the name must recognize that possession of it as a reference tool is a sine qua non of their area of interest or profession.

K. C. Taylor, University of Alberta

Michael E. Urban. The Ideology of Administration: American and Soviet Cases. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1982. xiii, 174 pp. $33.50 cloth, $9.95 paper.

It has been the tradition to approach the subject of ideology in a theoretical and holistic way. There have been few empirical examinations of the concept. More- over, many scholars concerned with ideology continue, consciously or not, to employ the categories developed either by the young Marx or by Mannheim.

While not exactly breaking away from these long-standing orientations, Michael Urban has produced a study which illuminates the dominant values of the American and Soviet bureaucratic structures. The fact that he has presented his arguments in a lucid, cogent, and scholarly way adds to the book's value for special- ists in comparative politics and public administration.

Of course, there is little new in approaching ideology as a force which has the "ability to speak with reason's voice and yet utter a word magic which carries its

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