On the Book by L. Graham and Tula Gunsmiths

Graham L. (2014) Smozhet li Rossiya konkurirovat’? Istoriya innovatsij v tsarskoj, sovetskoj i sovremennoj Rossii [Lonely Ideas: Can Russia Compete?], Moscow: Mann, Ivanov, Ferber.

Abstract

Citation: Gerasimov G. (2019) On the Book by L. Graham and Tula Gunsmiths. Mir Rossii, vol. 28, no 3, pp. 176–186 (in Russian). DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2019-28-3-176-186

This article critically addresses some of the statements in Graham’s book “Lonely Ideas: Can Russia Compete?”, which have been uncritically adopted by some Russian authors. In particular, I debunk the ‘spasmodic’ model of technological development in Russia by drawing on the case of the Tula Arms Plant (TAP). I discuss the history of arms production in Tula and provide examples that reveal Graham’s arbitrary manipulations of historical material up to the point of direct falsification in order to fit events to his theory. I show that the real history of TAP does not square well with Graham’s theory and his assertions about the technical and technological lag of TAP leading to defeat in the Crimean War of 1853–1856. I then proceed with a discussion of Graham’s conclusion according to which the technical and technological backwardness of Russia compared to the West can only be eliminated by adopting a Western liberal-democratic path of development. The history of Russia shows, however, that whenever liberalism dominated in this country it did not lead to any substantial advancement, rather it pushed Russia into the abyss of dictatorship or towards economic collapse. I conclude that the ‘modernization transit’ is not appropriate for Russia and its peoples – we need our own original theory of development based on its own ideological basis and reliable facts.