Josef Stalin's cult of personality

Edvard Radzinsky wrote Stalin: The First In-depth Biography in 1997. From the archives, he told the story of Stalin's search for total domination, first within the Communist Party and then across the Soviet Union. He des­cribed young Stal­in's long-denied involve­ment with terrorism; the importance of his behind-the-scenes role during the October Revolution; his often hostile relationship with Lenin; the infamous show trials of the 1930s; his secret dealings with Hitler; and his plans to deport all the Soviet Union's Jewish doctors. Radzinsky also examined Stalin's rough relationship with his suicidal wife Nadezhda. All archive-based but shockingly brutal nontheless!

I wanted to read a more recently published history for a modern, balanced review of Stalin. So here is Stalin’s Cult of Personality: its Origins and Progression (2015) by Julia Kenny. Stalin was born as Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (1878-1953) in the then-Russian town of Gori, now Georgia. His father was a rough, alcoholic worker who savagely used his fists on young Jos­ef. His mother, soon an impoverished peasant widow, took in washing to feed the children. Worst of all Josef caught smallpox in primary school.

The Geor­g­ian married his first wife Ekaterina Svanidze in 1906, but she died of typhus in 1907. [Their one son, Yakov, later died in Sachsenhausen con­cent­ration camp in 1943]. In 1919 Stalin married his second wife Nad­ezhda Alliluyeva who died by suicide from mental illness in 1932. The son and daughter of the second marriage both survived Daddy Stalin.

Poster of Stalin "Life is getting better", 

1934  

                                 
Poster of  Stalin, Lenin and 'Long live the Komsomol generation!'
1948

Though “Cult of Personality” was a C19th term, it was re-pop­ul­arised for Stalin’s regime. The term meant the vener­at­ion of one omnipotent, infallible leader, in­grained visually and cultur­ally in society via propaganda! I have used the term many times in history lectures, particularly for power-hungry leaders like the Sun God, King Louis XIV of France. 

Clearly modern Russia already had a history of aut­o­cr­at­ic rule & citizens were used to support­ing a strong leader. The 1832 Fundamental Laws made the Emperor of all the Russias an ab­sol­ute mon­arch. Sec­ur­ed by the Imper­ial line of succ­es­sion, the Tsar also became the guar­d­­ian and defender of the Orthodox Church. Visually the power of the Tsar was reinforced in architecture eg the Kremlin or Winter Palace.

The very intelligent Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov/Lenin (1870–1924) enjoyed cult-like status, given that he was the legitimate leader of the Revolution and the found­er of Marxist-Leninism. This status only intensif­ied after Len­in died in Jan 1924. He was embalmed and placed in a Maus­oleum that still stands. Small shrines were placed in factor­ies and villages, design­ed according to guidelines issued by the party in Feb 1924.

Stalin had climbed up party ranks by working his way into Lenin’s inner circle. As Lenin’s right-hand man, he had indeed been app­ointed General Secretary of the Communist party in Apr 1922. Litt­le did Stalin know that, in old age, Lenin had begun compiling a political rec­ord that expres­sed horror of Stalin’s vul­garity and violence. Lenin urged that Stalin be removed from his pos­ition as General Secretary.

Lev Davidovich Bronstein/Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), Stalin’s main political rival, couldn’t attend Lenin’s funeral in 1924. Stalin wanted to emerge as Lenin’s in­heritor, so the Georgian pounced. Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party (1927), exiled to Kazakhstan (1928) and finally exiled from the Soviet Union. As head of the Fourth International, Trotsky could continue to oppose the Stalinist bureaucracy from exile. But on Stalin's orders, he was assassinated in Mexico.

Because of Lenin’s views, Stalin had to re­write his own past. By portraying himself as the embod­iment of Marxist-Leninism, Stalin could transfer the admiration and trust that Lenin had enjoyed as a leader figure, and could create his own cult. Stalin upheld the core prin­cip­les of Marxist-Leninism: a] a centralised govern­ment and b] the ideology of a class-struggle on both a domestic and global scale. Stalin seemed in tune with the public sentiment.

Before 1932, most Soviet propaganda posters showed Lenin and Stalin together. Then Stalin propaganda was everywhere, program­ming citiz­ens to be­lieving that Stalin was working to achieve per­fect socialism for the nation. There were Stalin icons in every home; marches and parades involv­­ed giant Stalin banners. Cin­em­as dis­played Soviet docum­ent­aries, and Stalinist posters were common­. His prop­aganda served well in masking Stalin’s darker side.

Yalta Conference, Feb 1945
in Yalta, Crimean Peninsula
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

Stalin’s displayed himself as a modest but public figure, mys­tif­ying his private life. He used Lenin’s post-Revolution youth movements, Komsomol and Young Pion­eers, to create a new generation of be­l­ievers. Being part of the Pion­eers was pop­ul­ar and they wore their red scarfs with pride, giv­ing them a sense of social incl­us­ion. The youth movements encouraged children to behave like adult Party Members.

If Stalin had a brutal reputation, why did citizens trust his leader­ship? Citizens did NOT know that during the Great Terror of 1936-8, Stalin ordered hundreds of thousands of exec­ut­ions. As in the French Revol­ution, Russians were under con­st­ant threat of being monitored by the secret police NKVD and arr­est­ed. Stalin also had the power to have party officials arr­est­ed and replaced. And many people were interned in prisons. And the cruel famines in Ukraine were certainly Stalin-controlled.

Mainly they trusted Stalin be­cause his regime generated success! Russian children were learning at good schools, and quality science education was actively promot­ed. Fam­ilies were guaranteed top quality health care. Industrial develop­ment was rapid, un­emp­loyment was rare, and cultural and art fac­ilities were well supported. How ironic that while the capitalist world was ex­per­iencing the Great De­pres­sion and grinding work­ing-class pov­erty, Rus­sia emerged as the second biggest modern industrial nation.

Stalin consolidated his power even more after WW2, with some very fine moments. He recognised that vic­tory over the Nazis had been won by the tragic loss of 27 million Russ­ian lives (and other Allies). And Stalin also played a vital role in the creation of the Jewish state in Israel. At the UN he had his Ambassador Andrei Gromyko give an fervent speech in 1947 on the catastrophe suffered by Europe’s Jews and their need to have a safe haven. Stalin had also organised the Eastern European Communist states to vote unanimously for the creation of Israel.

Even now it is diffic­ult to know how gen­uinely popular Stal­­in was in his own country, because everyone who didn't agree with him became an Enemy of the Peop­le. Thus he remained leader of the Soviet Union until his 1953 death.

At the 1956 Party Congress the next party leader, Nikita Khrush­chev, denounced Josef Stalin in a long speech and demolished his pre­dec­essor’s reputation. He proved that Stalin intended to use the Doct­ors' Trial to launch a massive party purge. Under Khrush­chev, Soviet pros­ecut­ors further investigated the brutality of Stalin's later years.

I also recommend Simon Montefiore’s book Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (2012) .