ABSTRACT
Until the 1960s the label generally used in the West to describe the social order under Stalin was 'totalitarian', and in the post-Soviet period it has been eagerly taken up by Russian historians. Stalin hailed the 'Ural-Siberian Method' as a popular and ideologically sound development of class warfare. In December Stalin proudly introduced the only thoroughly democratic constitution in the world, resplendent with universal, direct, secret, and equal suffrage, and the full panoply of guaranteed civil liberties. The 'Stalinists' became divided over how best to tackle the malfunctioning of the state and economic apparatus. Just as Stalin had predicted, class warfare was intensifying: foreign and domestic enemies alike were trying to undermine the mighty effort of the Soviet people. The new orthodoxy was not only stifling but often absurd as specialists took their cue from Central Committee statements or the almost casual remarks of Stalin himself.
