The Rule of Stalin

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 1. cult of the leader: the all-knowing and all-seeing Father of the People.

The Cult of Personality After Lenin’s death (and very much against his wishes) a personality cult was created around his memory, using methods such as: Embalming his body and putting it on public display in Red Square Lenin’s image appeared everywhere in posters, film, statues Petrograd was renamed Leningrad (St. Petersburg-Petrograd (1914)-Leningrad (1924)-St. Petersburg (1991)) Stalin was an active promoter of this cult so as to link his name with that of Lenin The Lenin personality cult made it easier for Stalin to create one around himself.

Celebrations for Stalin’s 70th birthday in 1949. A huge picture of Stalin hangs over Red Square in Moscow – as if by magic. In fact, it is suspended by a balloon and then lit by searchlights.

Stalin’s Cult of Personality Stalin also had a city named in his honour – in 1923 Tsaritsyn became Stalingrad The slogan: ‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’ was officially encouraged Stalin adopted the title ‘Vozhd’ (Great Leader) Stalin was portrayed in various guises: Stalin with peasants, Stalin with workers – all designed to show him as an ordinary man of the people. Stalin liked to be portrayed, as here, as the friend of the workers, discussing the latest project – in this case the Dneiper Dam.

Youth Organizations Party youth organisations were: The Pioneers for those under 14 Komsomol for those between 14-18; membership shot up from 2.3m in 1929 to 10.2m in 1940. Young people were encouraged to report members of their own families to the authorities for ‘anti-Soviet’ views One boy, Morozov, reported his father who was then jailed. When the boy was murdered by members of his own family, he was made a martyr and hero by the state.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 2. Radical ideology Marxism-Leninism: the driving rationale for Stalin’s power grab. But Stalin altered the ideology to serve his personal nationalist ambitions. Stalinism refers to a brand of communism that is both extremely repressive and nationalistic.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements Stalin intertwined his own myth with the revolutionary struggle. One current gallery exhibit about Stalin notes: “Only a few photographs of Stalin exist from his youth and the early revolutionary period. A past was created for Stalin through works of art. He was often cut and pasted into photographs to create an artificial history which placed him at the forefront of events.”

Altering Photographs to fit the cause… An example of how the picture was altered again and again after each person fell out of favor with the regime of Joseph Stalin.

This image taken by the Moscow Canal was taken when Nikolai Yezhov was water commissar. After he fell from power, he was arrested, shot, and his image removed by the censors.

The background of the original image includes a store that says in Russian, "Watches, gold and silver". The image was then changed to read, "Struggle for your rights", and flag that was a solid color before was changed to read, "Down with the monarchy - long live the Republic!"

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 3. Organization Soviet communist party effectively solidified Stalin’s power. Party cells operated in every workplace & classroom, with party members reporting on anyone who was not loyal enough.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 4. Secret police – the KGB. The KGB (КГБ) is the common abbreviation for the (Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Committee for State Security). It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and its premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.

The Media All media were controlled by the government Pravda was the paper of the Communist Party Izvestiya was the paper of the Soviets Radio stations conveyed the official party view

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 5. Central control of all organizations. News media: no independent press Heavily centralized “command economy.” Stalin’s 1st goal to create an advanced industrial economy. An economy where supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces. Government planners decide which goods and services are produced and how they are distributed. Peasants resisted; killings; exile. Severe agricultural losses & famine. After a decade, millions dead.

“Command Economy” Stalin wanted a modern industrial power The first of Stalin’s “five year plans” Put ALL basic economic decisions under government control Government owned ALL businesses

Collectives Under Stalin, the Government seized ALL farm land OR The Government allowed Peasants to stay on their land if they gave it (and all resources) to a “collective” The state controlled all supplies

Angry Peasants Killed their animals, burned crops, and destroyed tools Stalin responded with brutal force In response, some Peasants grew just enough to feed themselves Famine killed 5-8 million in Ukraine alone

Anti-Religion Atheism was the official religion under Stalin Russian Orthodox Churches were seized and turned into offices and museums Priests and Religious leaders were killed Jewish Synagogues were seized Hebrew language was banned

Kulaks Term for the “wealthy” peasants Stalin “purged” kulaks Over 5 million kulaks deported to Siberia

Art and Popular Culture ‘Socialist realism’; this was seen in all forms of culture – art, cinema, literature. Socialist realism was much more conventional, traditional but it was designed to convey pro-Soviet messages to inspire the population to work harder, love the leader etc. A typical painting in the style of ‘socialist realism’. Stalin is shown amongst the workers, urging them to meet their production targets. The workers look on, impressed.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 6. Violence & Terror. Brutality on massive scale. Targets: political opponents & party rivals.

The Great Purge/The Great Terror The Great Purge/Terror was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in 1934–1938. It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and Government officials, repression of peasants, Red Army leadership, and the persecution of unaffiliated persons, characterized by widespread police surveillance, imprisonment, and executions.

The Great Purge In 1934 Stalin became paranoid that people were attempting to take his power. Old Bolsheviks, Activists, Army heroes, writers, and ordinary citizens

The Gulag Soviet system of forced labor camps “Corrective labor camps” Several million inmates

Military Vacuum The Great Purge brought about a young loyal generation of new leaders Most of the old military leaders were “purged” Military “experience” was gone

In 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City, Mexico In 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City, Mexico. He was killed with an ice ax by KGB agent Ramon Mercader.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements Political purges from 1934 to 1936 were called the Great Terror. Show trials, with coerced confessions and summary executions, from 1936 to 1938. During his rule, one million direct killings & 12 million deaths in Soviet prisons & slave labor camps.

Stalin died March 5, 1953 of an apparent stroke Stalin died March 5, 1953 of an apparent stroke. He was embalmed on March 9, 1953. He was buried in Lenin’s tomb until 1961 when his body was moved to outside the Kremlin wall during “de-Stalinization.” Some believed he was poisoned – possibly by Berria, interior minister. 2003, Russian and U.S. investigation shows Stalin could have ingested a powerful rat poison. The cause may never be known.