Former Bolshevik Opposition in Leningrad: Emotional Regime Under Stalinism

The political history of the first prewar decades in the USSR is still an object of exuberant discussions as in domestic historiography as abroad. Scholars reveal new historical sources and analyse the process of Soviet political development from diverse perspectives. One of the most debatable topics is connected to the Left Opposition, a group of Bolsheviks resisted Stalin's gradual rise to power, and its fate in the 1930s – many were killed, much more remained imprisoned. The case of party members who were former supporters of Trotsky or Zinoviev is a bit controversial. Once they had faced expulsion from the party and, after revival, they faced it again in the 1930s mixed with repressions. What is still unrevealed is their emotional reflection on the circumstances of Stalin’s power appropriation. The purpose of this dissertation is to find out what emotions were articulated by the oppositionists and how they could be used in communication with the Communist party.