Legacy of Stalinist Leadership and the Great Terror
"In many ways, the legacies of Stalin’s reign continue to constrain political and economic transformation in the postcommunist world even today."
-Thomas E. Rotnem
Current Opposition Towards Joseph Stalin's Leadership
Since the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, and especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians and the public worldwide have united themselves for the purpose of condemning Stalin and his principles of government, such as his ruthlessness, purges, gulags, and famines that resulted in the deaths of millions of his own citizens.
"We loved Stalin. The whole country loved him. Everyone loved him- and now they refuse to have anything to do with him!" -Kira Kornienkova, neo-Stalinist |
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"The atrocities committed by Stalin outweigh his services. The construction projects were built on the bones of the convicts and victory in the war was won by the people."
-Boris Drozdov, son of a gulag prisoner
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Personal Interview with Alexis PogorelskinOverall, do you believe that the atrocities committed during the leadership of Joseph Stalin are adequately justified by the successes achieved as a result of his leadership?
"Nothing justifies mass murder and imposing terror on a whole people. What successes Stalin had came at a brutal price imposed on the Soviet people."
Navigate to: Alexis Pogorelskin
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Current Support for Joseph Stalin's Leadership
Such principles did modernize and industrialize the nation, earning the Soviet Union its place as a top world power, and for this reason, Stalin continues to be honored and admired throughout Russia as a strong leader who led his country to victory in World War II.
"They say that he was a dictator. In any case, I hold him in high respect. The Russians are lazy people...but from 1924 to 1953, he brought this nation to a level whereby we went into space before the Americans."
-Kochkon Saktanov, Kyrgyz author
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"He [Joseph Stalin] was responsible for more deaths than Hitler, and yet we don't demonize him in the same way, why? The main reason is because the Soviets were on our side during the Second World War and therefore we needed him for us to be successful, also even though the human suffering would today be considered in violation of human rights, Russia and its satellite states were reformed and modernized in an incredible way. The progress that Russia made from Tsarism until the outbreak of the Second World War enabled Stalin to defeat the Nazis. Had it not been for his advances and programmes, it is highly probable that the Nazis could have won the Second World War." |
"We became a great country because we were led by Stalin."
-Valentin Varennikov, Russian general, 2008
Personal Interview with Thomas Wolfe
Why did so many Soviet citizens admire Joseph Stalin despite all of the horrible atrocities that he committed in his leadership? How was this unreserved support achieved?
"The vast majority of people in the country didn't know enough to really get a good picture of what he was doing, and most importantly he was the leader of their country in the worst war in Russian history, a war that they won at an enormous cost of people and economic assets."
Navigate to: Thomas Wolfe
Positive Aspects of Joseph Stalin's Leadership
Despite his strong legacy of fear and repression, many Russians miss the control and stability that Joseph Stalin’s leadership offered, as these conditions are currently not very prevalent in their country.
"I appreciate Stalin very much. I consider him to be my idol. Why? Because he appreciated the hard-working man, the man with calluses on his hands." -Kochkon Saktanov, Kyrgyz author Click on the image below to enlarge.
"In those days, only one word of Stalin's was needed, and everyone understood...it seems strange to us now when orders and laws aren't obeyed...What have we come to that we have nothing in the stores? Farms and factories don't fulfill their plans! Some even say that we should bring Stalin back to life for a couple of months- this is a joke, of course!- to bring order to the country. I say, let's find a Georgian who looks the same! Then people will be scared and will obey the laws. Discipline is undermined now, it's undermined everywhere." |
"As for the hate and the fear that the name has aroused, time is at last healing even these great wounds, while the reverence and adulation that still exist serve as reminders that our own scale of values is not universal and that there may have been some positive aspects to Stalin's work..." -Paul Dukes, historian Click on the image below to enlarge.
"...the orderly Stalin era [w]as a happy contrast to today, with its rising crime and corruption, beggars in the streets, newly rich businessmen driving BMWs, ever less food, and an economy in shambles." Click on the image below to enlarge.
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"In a bewilderingly short time, all the old certainties are gone- guaranteed employment, guaranteed good news in the press, the infallibility of the Party, superpower status, the very Soviet Union itself."
-Adam Hochschild, author of The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin
Personal Interview with Adam HochschildWhy do so many people in Russia, including some of those who you interviewed, still continue to view Joseph Stalin as a positive leader, despite being aware of all of the horrible things he did while in power?
"Because he was a powerful authority figure, and tens of millions of Russians want a strong, confident leader. And, in the latter part of his reign, the Soviet Union was one of two superpowers, which Russia no longer is today." Navigate to: Adam Hochschild
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