The Bolshevik Party Transformed: Stalin’s Rise to Power (1917–1927)

The article was submitted on 17.01.2017.In 1917, the Bolsheviks promised the liberation of the working masses from exploitation. And yet, within twenty years, they had delivered a regime that was substantially more exploitative and repressive than that of the Tsarist regime they had overthrown. This article argues that more than a quarter of a century after the opening of the archives, we still misapprehend how it happened. Historians tend to see the process as programmatic, or planned and intentional: that the Bolsheviks were authoritarian by nature, or that Stalin hijacked the Revolution and satisfied his lust for power by building a personal dictatorship. The article argues that we have failed to grasp the extent to which the positive programme of liberation continued to motivate the Bolshevik leadership throughout the interwar period. But they had underestimated the obstacles to creating a consensual, participatory political order. Considerable progress was made overcoming basic illiteracy, but it was another matter altogether to establish a functioning administrative apparatus, to fight and win the civil war, and to rebuild a shattered economy. The breakdown of liberal (“bourgeois”) democracies in Europe encouraged complacency about the superiority of the “transitional” proletarian dictatorship. The struggle for power after Lenin’s death turned local organisations against inner party democracy. It did not seem appropriate to revive it either in the midst of collectivisation and rapid industrialisation. The survival of the Revolution and catching up to the advanced capitalist countries took precedence. But if we treat extreme political violence and dictatorship as ends in themselves, we will fail adequately to grasp the fate of the Revolution.В 1917 г. большевики обещали освобождение трудящихся масс от эксплуатации. Но в течение 20 лет они установили режим гораздо более эксплуататорский и репрессивный по своей сути, чем побежденный ими царизм. Автор утверждает, что спустя более четверти века после открытия архивов мы все еще остаемся в неведении по поводу того, почему так случилось. Историки склонны рассматривать этот исход как запрограммированный либо преднамеренно спланированный, поскольку большевики были авторитарны по своей природе, или же Сталин «оседлал» революцию и установил личную диктатуру, удовлетворяя жажду власти. До сих пор нет ясности в понимании того, в какой степени положительная программа освобождения народа продолжала мотивировать большевистское руководство в межвоенный период. Большевики недооценили препятствия на пути создания общественного порядка, основанного на согласованном политическом участии. Существенный прогресс был достигнут на пути ликвидации неграмотности, но значительно труднее было создать функционирующий государственный аппарат, бороться и выиграть Гражданскую войну, а также восстановить разрушенную экономику. Падение либеральных («буржуазных») демократий в Европе укрепляло ощущение превосходства «переходной» пролетарской диктатуры. Борьба за власть после смерти Ленина направила местные партийные организации на борьбу с внутрипартийной демократией. Возрождать ее в условиях коллективизации и ускоренной индустриализации казалось неуместным. Гораздо более важным представлялось выживание революции и стремление догнать передовые капиталистические страны. Автор отмечает, что если относиться к проявлениям политического насилия и диктатуре как к конечной цели советской власти, невозможно должным образом понять судьбу революции

A new approach for estimating northern peatland gross primary productivity using a satellite-sensor-derived chlorophyll index

Carbon flux models that are largely driven by remotely sensed data can be used to estimate gross primary productivity (GPP) over large areas, but despite the importance of peatland ecosystems in the global carbon cycle, relatively little attention has been given to determining their success in these ecosystems. This paper is the first to explore the potential of chlorophyll-based vegetation index models for estimating peatland GPP from satellite data. Using several years of carbon flux data from contrasting peatlands, we explored the relationships between the MERIS terrestrial chlorophyll index (MTCI) and GPP, and determined whether the inclusion of environmental variables such as PAR and temperature, thought to be important determinants of peatland carbon flux, improved upon direct relationships. To place our results in context, we compared the newly developed GPP models with the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) GPP product. Our results show that simple MTCI-based models can be used for estimates of interannual and intra-annual variability in peatland GPP. The MTCI is a good indicator of GPP and compares favorably with more complex products derived from the MODIS sensor on a site-specific basis. The incorporation of MTCI into a light use efficiency type model, by means of partitioning the fraction of photosynthetic material within a plant canopy, shows most promise for peatland GPP estimation, outperforming all other models. Our results demonstrate that satellite data specifically related to vegetation chlorophyll content may ultimately facilitate improved quantification of peatland carbon flux dynamics

Adaptation and Resilience of Interdependent Infrastructure Systems: a Complex Systems Perspective

The effects of disruption upon one or more components in interdependent infrastructure systems and the ability of the system to return to normal operations, is investigated in this paper. This addresses the concept of resilience, and examines the trade-off between redundancy and efficiency, as well as the adaptive ability of a system to respond to disruptions and continue to operate, albeit not necessarily as it did initially

Dark Matter Halos in Galaxies and Globular Cluster Populations

We combine a new, comprehensive database for globular cluster populations in all types of galaxies with a new calibration of galaxy halo masses based entirely on weak lensing. Correlating these two sets of data, we find that the mass ratio $\eta \equiv M_{GCS}/M_{h}$ (total mass in globular clusters, divided by halo mass) is essentially constant at $\langle \eta \rangle \sim 4 \times 10^{-5}$, strongly confirming earlier suggestions in the literature. Globular clusters are the only known stellar population that formed in essentially direct proportion to host galaxy halo mass. The intrinsic scatter in $\eta$ appears to be at most 0.2 dex; we argue that some of this scatter is due to differing degrees of tidal stripping of the globular cluster systems between central and satellite galaxies. We suggest that this correlation can be understood if most globular clusters form at very early stages in galaxy evolution, largely avoiding the feedback processes that inhibited the bulk of field-star formation in their host galaxies. The actual mean value of $\eta$ also suggests that about $1/4$ of the \emph{initial} gas mass present in protogalaxies collected into GMCs large enough to form massive, dense star clusters. Finally, our calibration of $\langle \eta \rangle$ indicates that the halo masses of the Milky Way and M31 are $(1.2\pm0.5)\times 10^{12} M_{\odot}$ and $(3.9\pm1.8)\times 10^{12} M_{\odot}$ respectively.Comment: 6 pages, ApJL in pres