The Soviet counterinsurgency in the western borderlands / Alexander Statiev.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Statiev, Alexander, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Borderlands.

History.

Counterinsurgency.

Military relations.

Soviet Union--Military relations--Poland.

Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Military relations--Baltic States.

Poland--Military relations--Soviet Union.

Poland.

Baltic States--Military relations--Soviet Union.

Baltic States.

Counterinsurgency--Soviet Union--History.

Borderlands--Soviet Union--History.

Poland--Annexation to the Soviet Union.

Baltic States--Annexation to the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--History, Military.

History, Military.

Soviet Union--Foreign relations--1945-1991.

International relations.

Physical Description:

xvi, 368 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Summary:

"The Soviet counterinsurgency in the western borderlands investigates the Soviet response to nationalist insurgencies that occurred between 1944 and 1953 in the regions the Soviet Union annexed after the Nazi-Soviet pact: Eastern Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Based on new archival data, Alexander Statiev presents the first comprehensive study of Soviet counterinsurgency that ties together the security tools and populist policies intended to attract the local populations. The book traces the origins of the Soviet pacification doctrine and then presents a comparative analysis of the rural societies in Eastern Poland and the Baltic States on the eve of the Soviet invasion. This analysis is followed by a description of the anti-communist resistance movements. Subsequently, the author shows how ideology affected the Soviet pacification doctrine and examines the major means to enforce the doctrine: agrarian reforms, deportations, amnesties, informant networks, covert operations, and local militias. The book also demonstrates how the Soviet atheist regime used the church in struggle against guerrillas and explains why this regime could not curb the random violence of its police. The final chapter discusses the Soviet experience in the global context"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Origins of Soviet counterinsurgency

The borderland societies in the interwar period : the first Soviet occupation and the emergence of nationalist resistance

The borderlands under German occupation (1941-1944) : social context of the Soviet re-conquest

Nationalist resistance after the Soviet re-conquest

Soviet agrarian policy as a pacification tool

Deportations, "repatriations," and other types of forced migrations as aspects of security policy

Amnesties

Red rurales : the destruction battalions

Police tactics : actions of NKVD security units, intelligence gathering, covert operations, and intimidation

The church in Soviet security policy

Violations of official policy and their impact on pacification

Conclusion: nationalist resistance and Soviet counterinsurgency in the global context

Appendix 1: note on used terms and geographic and personal names

Appendix 2: note on primary sources.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521768337

0521768330

OCLC:

468978702