Invitation to a Feast : Access to Soviet files could prove to be a historic opportunity

The archives of the Soviet Union may contain as much as 6 billion pages of material, most of which has never been seen outside the closed ranks of the now defunct Communist Party. That will soon begin to change. The Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University is being given the opportunity to review and microfilm the millions of pages in the files of the Communist Party Central Committee and the state ministries of the former U.S.S.R. An information avalanche of enormous importance to a more comprehensive understanding of this century’s history could soon follow.

What is uncovered by Hoover researchers over the five-year life of the project will of course depend on what they are allowed to see. There are secrets buried in the archives that could embarrass many who still hold power and influence. There are secrets certain to offend those who continue to honor the icons of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin especially. It’s probable that some, maybe even many, files have disappeared or been sanitized; purging records along with political opponents was a familiar Soviet practice. So a word of caution is in order. Outside researchers may not in all cases be seeing the unexpurgated record. Much may by now have vanished into the real-life equivalent of George Orwell’s fictional memory hole.

But even in the absence of full access, the opening of the archives promises to illuminate such areas as how decisions were made at the top in the Soviet Union; what information was available to Soviet leaders; what help was given to foreign Communist parties and revolutionary movements; what motivated Soviet behavior in scores of interventions and confrontation with other countries. The archives will offer a historical feast, and all who would better understand this tumultuous century will want a place at the table.