Statiev A. The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010. — 386 p. — ISBN-10: 0521768330; ISBN-13: 978-0521768337.The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands investigates the Soviet response to nationalist insurgencies that occurred between 1944 and 1953 in the regions the Soviet Union annexed after the Nazi-Soviet pact: Eastern Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Based on new archival data, Alexander Statiev presents the first comprehensive study of Soviet counterinsurgency that ties together the security tools and populist policies intended to attract the local populations. The book traces the origins of the Soviet pacification doctrine and then presents a comparative analysis of the rural societies in Eastern Poland and the Baltic States on the eve of the Soviet invasion. This analysis is followed by a description of the anti-communist resistance movements. Subsequently, the author shows how ideology affected the Soviet pacification doctrine and examines the major means to enforce the doctrine: agrarian reforms, deportations, amnesties, informant networks, covert operations, and local militias. The book also demonstrates how the Soviet atheist regime used the church in struggle against guerrillas and explains why this regime could not curb the random violence of its police. The final chapter discusses the Soviet experience in the global context.Origins of Soviet Counterinsurgency
The Borderland Societies in the Interwar Period: The First Soviet Occupation and the Emergence of Nationalist ResistanceThe Borderlands under German Occupation (1941-1944): Social Context of the Soviet ReconquestThe Borderlands during the German Onslaught
The German Occupation Policies
German and Soviet Collaborators during the German Occupation
The Nationalists during the German OccupationNationalist Resistance after the Soviet ReconquestThe Social Basis of the Resistance
Anti-Soviet Resistance after the Soviet Reoccupation of the Borderlands
Local Civilians as the Primary Victims of Anti-Soviet ResistanceSoviet Agrarian Policy as a Pacification Tool
Deportations, "Repatriations," and Other Types of Forced Migration as Aspects of Security Policy
Amnesties
Red Rurales: The Destruction BattalionsPolice Tactics: Actions of NKVD Security Units, Intelligence Gathering, Covert Operations, and IntimidationTactics of the Regular Security Units
Informer Network and Undercover Agents
Covert Operations
Investigation Procedures
IntimidationThe Church in Soviet Security PolicyViolations of Official Policy and Their Impact on PacificationEscalation of Unauthorized Violence from the First to the Second Soviet Occupation
Common Crimes
Crimes Committed During Counterinsurgency Operations
Crimes and Harassment by Civilian Administrators
Government Reaction to the Crimes Committed by its Representatives
Causes for the Failure to Thwart Unauthorized ViolenceConclusion: Nationalist Resistance and Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Global ContextNote on Used Terms and Geographic and Personal Names
Note on Primary Sources