Mezhevikin’s case. Conflict in the academic environment during the Great Patriotic War

Abstract

Backround. Against the background of the conflict between the director of the Kuibyshev Aviation Institute F.I. Stebikhov and Associate Professor S.S. Mezhevikin, the article examines the role of informal connections in the Soviet academic circles during the Second world war. The purpose of the article is to study the activities of the “most active members of the institute” – the dominant group that controlled the process of distribution of scarce goods and took part in solving the most significant issues facing the team. Materials and methods. The basis of the study was unpublished archival documents located in the funds of the Samara Regional State Archive of Socio-Political History and the Samara National Research University. The methodological basis of the study is the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency. Results. The phases of the conflict are consistently studied, starting from the sending of the teachers to public works and ending with the dismissal. Strategies of behavior of the participants were identified, including complaints to officials and letters to the editorial offices of newspapers. Conclusions. In addition to the formal hierarchy, the institute had a system of informal relations. The most active members of the institute, which had weight and authority in the eyes of the staff, formed a common position on a number of significant issues and largely determined the attitude towards each member of the team. The authors come to the conclusion that it was the most active members of the institute that played a decisive role in the development and resolution of the conflict.

Keywords

• informal connections
• clannishness
• institution
• complaint
• conflict
• supply
• scientist
• bureaucracy