The Baltic political elite of the 'Stalin generation': background, identity, and practices of governance

ENResearch on the Soviet political elite at different levels has its own tradition in historiography. Early in the development of Soviet historiography, the ruling class received one common designation - nomenklatura — following the publication of a famous book by Mikhail Voslenskii, and thus became the object of interest for historians and political scientists. The coverage of problems in the publications about the topic is quite large, this includes questions related to the formation and functioning of the political elite, the qualifications of members, and the numerical characteristics and the configuration of patron-client relationships. Among all age cohorts of the Soviet elite, the Stalin generation — the ‘new elite’ (Sheila Fitzpatrick) or the ‘new class’ (Milovan Djilas) - is located at the center of research interest. Only recently has the focus shifted from the traditionally popular 1920s and 1930s to the post-war period. [Extract, p. 47]