Soviet Opposition to Stalin: A Case Study in World War II

This important book contains two different accounts. One is the little-known story of one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II—the story of the large body of Soviet soldiers and civilians who after capture by the German army sided with Hitler against Stalin under the leadership of an ex-Red Army Lieutenant General, Anxirei A. Vlasov. The other part of this book—closely interwoven with the first—is a general examination of the Soviet opposition to Stalin. This examination covers the likelihood of such opposition, its forms, and its aspirations. The material on the Vlasov Movement is brand new, and George Fischer’s informative analysis of the nature and extent of native Soviet opposition to Stalin—organized resistance, passive disaffection, and active individual defection—challenges many of the prevailing conceptions upon which the policies of the United States are based.