Olaf MertelsmannDer stalinistische Umbau in Estland

Rezension

[...] The special situation of the newly acquired territories that were reoccupied in 1944, and the resulting differences to the rest of the union, make the book an interesting read.

[...]

It is the first post-Soviet attempt to provide an overview ober the economic sovietization in Estonia. And in contrast to many other overviews it is mainly based on a wide range of archival sources. It is true, the statistical work inevitably suffers from a certain amount of incredibility of the sources and can sometimes be done only by means of small case studies. However, Mertelsmann uses the quantitative material in a cautious way and juxtaposes it with a great amount of narrative statements that give insight into the daily practices of the Soviet economy. The outcome is a very readable and useful account of the Soviet command economy in Estonia.