ABSTRACT
In 1921 Stalin gave a clever definition of the Soviet system:
In our Soviet country we must evolve a system of government which will permit us with certainty to anticipate all changes, to perceive everything that is going on among peasants, the non-Russian nationals and the Russians; a system of barometers which will anticipate every change, register and forestall a Basmachi movement, Kronstadt, and all possible storms and ill-fortune. 1
