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G. L. Piatakov (1890-1937): A Mirror of Soviet History*ANDREA GRAZIOSII. INTRODUCTIONIf I had to define what I am trying to do, I would say that I am attempting towrite a piece of the "normal" 1 history of a phenomenon which is so atypical,"abnormal," and thus so scientifically interesting, as the history of theUSSR in the twentieth century.I would add that I hope in this way to contribute to the reconstruction ofthat crucial period in European history that has been defined as the ThirtyYears' War of our time. Indeed, I believe that Soviet history is an integralpart of a series of phenomena linked to the First World War. This is not todeny the importance of the imperial Russian past. To the contrary, theimpact of the war in each country was filtered through the peculiarities ofthat country's history, and the historical material sedimented in each countrytriggered the subsequent historical developments. This material was inpart the fruit of such common processes—experienced everywhere albeit indifferent ways—as urbanization, industrialization, and some culturalphenomena and was in part absolutely specific. And yet, it would be a seriousmistake not to take into account, even when studying small portions ofSoviet history, that this history itself is part of that process of "going backward"(the quotation marks are necessary because, of course, history nevermoves backward) and of the barbarization of the continent which followedWorld War I and which was immediately felt, though in different ways, byCroce and Meinecke, Cassirer and Rostovtsev.* This paper, written before the crisis of the Soviet state and slightly modified after workingin Russian archives in 1992, puts forth some of the hypotheses which have emerged from myresearch in the hope that they will receive further criticism. During 1990-1991,1 discussed thepaper with friends and colleagues at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris),at the Kennan Institute, and at the Universities of Harvard, Yale, and Michigan (Ann Arbor).The title is, I think, Paul Bushkovitch's idea. The EHESS, the Kennan Institute, the HarvardUkrainian Research Institute, the TsSGO MGU, the Italian Ministry of Research, and theItalian National Research Council made its writing possible.1I say "normal" because, as a consequence of its political, ideological, and moral charge,Soviet history has, at times, been dealt with in rather strange ways.