Overview

On June 1, 1962, triggered by a Kremlin announcement of a steep rise in the prices of meat and butter, thousands of workers in the city of Novocherkassk went out on strike. Greatly alarmed by a strike of this magnitude, the Soviet leadership of the worker's state swiftly dispatched several high-level negotiators (including Anastas Mikoyan) to Novocherkassk, at the same time hastily deploying several thousand troops and tank units to the city. On June 2, some of the strikers became violent, breaking into the police station, where five strikers were killed. The Moscow leaders determined to disperse the crowd promptly, and troops and police opened fire, killing 16 and wounding scores of others. More than 100 workers were put on trial and seven executed, with many others given long prison terms. Because the events of June 2 were reminiscent of tsarist Russia's slaughter of peaceful demonstrators in January 1905 (Bloody Sunday), a tight lid of secrecy was placed on the entire episode, which was virtually unknown outside the Soviet Union until it was mentioned by Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago. Only with the advent of glasnost and the efforts of investigative journalists beginning in the late 1980s did the story gradually begin to leak out.

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Reviews

'Exciting to read, this excellent book reconstructs a little-known yet very important and dramatic incident in the Soviet Union during the Khruschev era. There is simply no other work like it, not even in Russian. It is a major contribution to the emerging historiography of the period.' Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago

Exciting to read, this excellent book reconstructs a little-known yet very important and dramatic incident in the Soviet Union during the Khruschev era. There is simply no other work like it, not even in Russian. It is a major contribution to the emergin historiography of the period. --Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago Baron's book provides substantial new insights into events that were shrouded in secrecy until the final days of the Soviet Union... It is the first in-depth, English-language analysis of the events of 'Bloody Saturday.' ... Baron's contributions to understanding the flaws of the Soviet system of government are both novel and significant. Bloody Saturday in the Soviet Union is accessible for college level readers and would be valuable to those interested in empirical history and an understanding of the basis of Soviet labor policy in the post-Stalin era. --History Baron's analysis of what happened in Novocherkassk and why is extensive, subtle, and penetrating. The book is more than a mere history of the strike and massacre. It also examines the history of the cover-up and the process of the rehabilitation of the event and the victims in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Until more documents are available, this book is likely to remain the most definitive account of the incident and its history. --The Russian Review Drawing on a wealth of materials and containing numerous period photographs, Bloody Saturday is a classic of recent history. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Choice There are books that are labors of love. [This volume] is a labor of conscience... The author carefully and convincingly traces both the political and economic ramifications of the event and their ultimate contributions to the weakening of the Soviet Union. Baron's volume is a valuable case study of Society methods of handling crises and making decisions. --Slavic Review It is a major contribution and should be warmly welcomed. --Graeme Gill, University of Sydney Baron's book will likely stand as the definitive treatment of this important episode in Soviet political history. It is well-written and highly readable, it includes maps and pictures that bring the events and participants to life, and it provides sufficient political context for an informed general audience. The book has a lot to offer both specialist and broader readerships. --Journal of Cold War Studies

Exciting to read, this excellent book reconstructs a little-known yet very important and dramatic incident in the Soviet Union during the Khruschev era. There is simply no other work like it, not even in Russian. It is a major contribution to the emergin historiography of the period. - Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago Baron's book provides substantial new insights into events that were shrouded in secrecy until the final days of the Soviet Union... It is the first in-depth, English-language analysis of the events of 'Bloody Saturday.' ... Baron's contributions to understanding the flaws of the Soviet system of government are both novel and significant. Bloody Saturday in the Soviet Union is accessible for college level readers and would be valuable to those interested in empirical history and an understanding of the basis of Soviet labor policy in the post-Stalin era. - History Baron's analysis of what happened in Novocherkassk and why is extensive, subtle, and penetrating. The book is more than a mere history of the strike and massacre. It also examines the history of the cover-up and the process of the rehabilitation of the event and the victims in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Until more documents are available, this book is likely to remain the most definitive account of the incident and its history. - The Russian Review Drawing on a wealth of materials and containing numerous period photographs, Bloody Saturday is a classic of recent history. Upper-division undergraduates and above. - Choice There are books that are labors of love. [This volume] is a labor of conscience... The author carefully and convincingly traces both the political and economic ramifications of the event and their ultimate contributions to the weakening of the Soviet Union. Baron's volume is a valuable case study of Society methods of handling crises and making decisions. - Slavic Review

Author Information

Samuel H. Baron is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina.

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