Innis on Russia: the Russian Diary and Other Writings by Harold A. Innis (review)

REVIEWS 263 InnisonRussia: theRussian DiaryandOther Writings. HAROLD A. INNIS.Editedby WILLIAM CHRISTIAN. Toronto,InnisCollege,Universityof Toronto,•98•. Pp. 9ø . On 6June•945 Harold Innis,headof theDepartmentof Political Economy at theUniversity ofToronto,together withtwoacademic colleagues from McGill, tookoff from Rockcliffeaerodromein Ottawato attendmeetings in Moscow markingtheSoviet Academyof Sciences • •oth anniversary. They followedthe wartimetrans-Siberia ferryroutethroughEdmonton,Whitehorse, andAlaska, and it was the first time he had flown. Overthenextfiveweeks Inniskeptadiaryin whichherecordedhisexperiences andobservations. Therearementions ofacademics, diplomats, andjournalists whomhemetatmeetings or receptions, andnotes of visits toLeningrad andYasnaya Poliana, Tolstoy's countryestate,whichenabledInnisto seefirsthandsomeof theenormous destruction Russia sufferedduringWorldWar II. After returning to Canadahe elaboratedupon hisjottings, publishingtwo shortarticles in theFinancial Times, deliveringa lectureat Queen'sUniversity sometime inJanuaryor Februaryx946,andcontributinga pieceto thefirst issue oflnternationalAffairs, thenewjournal of theCanadianInstituteof InternationalAffairs ,whichhesubsequently incorporated in hisbookPolitical Economy inthe Modern State. Individually,theobservations andexpansions confirmInnisasanintelligent traveller,delightedbyhisfirstflyingexperiences whichenabledhim toseean extensive cross-section of Canadafrom a freshvantagepoint and to contrast thiswith whathe sawin Russia. Together,however,the four sections which constitute InnisonRussia aresurprisingly repetitious, theirindividualfreshness dulledbyhischaracteristically turgidprose. The diaryentries(whichform themajorpartof thebook)confirmthatInnis undertookno specialpreparationswhich might have given him a greater awareness of the Russian character, customs, or ways.For the mostpart they record many of the commonplaceaspectsof Russianlife. Interspersed throughout thejournal, however,are occasional commentsor observations thatsometimes amuse,surprise,or illuminateeitherthe subject or thewriter. Thus, Izvestia journalistswere 'asstupidasjournalistsin capitalistcountries'; Marxism asreflected in the USSRreminded Innis of socialcredit, 'an elaborate devicefor foolingthe peopleandfoolingthemselves and actuallya meansof bringingindividualrevolutionto birth with governmentcredit'; the key to Russia's significance wasthat country's'ability to developspheresbeyond restrictions of pricesystem butquestion dangerof neglecting contribution of pricesystem.' Stalin,whomInnisglimpsed ata Kremlinreception, struckhim asbeingsimple, informal,andunaffected, amanwhose dignitywasconfirmed byhisnotmakingaspeechl Ashisvisitdrewtoaclose Innisspeculated aboutthedifficulties of establish- 264 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW inggreaterunderstanding between eastandwest.Pessimistically, heconcluded thatwhileit wouldbehardenoughfor mostwestern nations tofindcommon groundfor accommodation withtheSovietUnion andothersocialist countries withrevolutionary traditions, Canada, withitshistorical background of a prerevolutionary churchin Quebecand a counter-revolutionary Loyalisttradition ,hadparticularly awkward problems toovercome. Asareflection ofthemanInnisonRussia reveals something ofhispersonality andcastof mind. In thecontextof 1945-6,let alonetoday,it addslittleto our knowledge andunderstanding oftheUSSR orCanada. WILLIAM RODNEY Royal Roads MilitaryCollege LeQuibec dans lemonde. ANDRE •'ATRY. Ottawa,LesEditionsLem&ac, 198o.Pp. 167. In hisbiography of DanielJohnson, PierreGodindescribes theappointment of oneofJohnson's mostinfluentialadvisers: 'Un intellectuel rac& del'Universit& Laval, tr•s vers/•,de surcr6it,dansles affairesde la plan/•te,Andr& Patry, devientenjuillet chefdu Protocole et conseiller sp&cial del'ex&cutif pour les relationsinternationales: A readerofLe Quibec dans lemonde wouldnotlearn so muchaboutAndr&Patrywho,in thisdisappointing book,reveals thathetook partin theevents of thelater •96osbut doesnottellwhatparthetook.He is perhapscorrectnottoemulateCaesaror deGaulle,butheconfuses theunsuspectingreader evenmore by referring many timesto the chiefof protocol withoutmentioningthathehimselfheldthatoffice.The reticence iscuriousin onewhohasbeensocontroversial and,in otherguises, hasexpressed himself veryclearly. The book beginswith a very selective and eclectichistoryof Quebec's encounters with theworldbeyondCanada's borders.There islittlenewin this section, andthereisquitea bit whichismisleading, evenwhenthe evidence properlypresented mighthavesupportedPatry's argument.He observes, for example,that clergy-inspired anti-Communism made'lesQu&becois' accept the Korean War. Indeed, he adds that 'ils envoient [to Korea] un nombre de volontaires 1/•g•rement sup&rieur hleur pourcentage auseindelapopulation canadienne.' In checking, onefindsin thefootnotereferencetoEayrs's The Art ofthePossible that it isnot 'lesQu&becois' but the proportionsentfrom the province of Quebecwhichwas'slightlyhigherthanthatof thepopulationof Quebectothepopulation of thewholecountry.' Moreover,theGallupPollof 3 August•95oshowed thatonly• 1percent of Quebec residents wouldapprove of sending troopsto Koreaasopposed to41 percentof theresidents of other provinces. In 195• only 3• percentof Quebecresidents thoughtit wasnot a mistaketo sendtroopsto fightin Korea.In manyothercases theresearch is ignoredin favourof ruminationwherepresentconcerns mediatethecontact ...