10/4/2017 -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin, Russian in full Iosif Vissarionovich TABLE OF CONTENTS Stalin, original name Introduction (Georgian) Ioseb Dzhugashvili (born The young revolutionary December 18 [December Rise to power 6, Old Style], 1879, Gori, Lenin’s successor Georgia, Russian Empire The great purges [see Researcher’s Note]— Role in World War II died March 5, 1953, Moscow, , U.S.S.R.), Last years secretary-general of the Assessment Communist Party of the Major Works (1922–53) and premier of the Soviet state (1941–53), who for a quarter of a century dictatorially

Joseph Stalin, 1950. ruled the Soviet Union and transformed it into a major world power. Sovfoto During the quarter of a century preceding his death, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin probably exercised greater political power than any other �gure in history. Stalin industrialized the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, forcibly collectivized its agriculture, consolidated his position by intensive police terror, helped to defeat Germany in 1941–45, and extended Soviet controls to include a belt of eastern European states. Chief architect of Soviet totalitarianism and a skilled but phenomenally ruthless organizer, he destroyed the remnants of individual freedom and failed to promote individual prosperity, yet he created a mighty military–industrial complex and led the Soviet Union into the nuclear age.

Stalin’s biography was long obscured by a mendacious Soviet-propagated “legend” exaggerating his prowess as a heroic Bolshevik boy-conspirator and faithful follower of Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union. In his prime, Stalin was hailed as a universal genius, as a “shining sun,” or “the staff of life,” and also as a “great teacher and friend” (especially of those communities he most savagely persecuted); once he was even publicly invoked as “Our Monument of Joseph Stalin in front of the town hall in Gori, Georgia. Father” by a metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 1/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia © Tomasz Parys/Shutterstock.com Church. Achieving wide visual promotion through busts, statues, and icons of himself, the dictator became the object of a fanatical cult that, in private, he probably regarded with cynicism.

THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY

Stalin was of Georgian—not Russian—origin, and persistent rumours claim that he was Ossetian on the paternal side. He was the son of a poor cobbler in the provincial Georgian town of Gori in the Caucasus, then an imperial Russian colony. The drunken father savagely beat his son. Speaking only Georgian at home, Joseph learned Russian—which he always spoke with a guttural Georgian accent—while attending the church school at Gori (1888–94). He then moved to the Ti�is Theological Seminary, where he secretly read Karl Marx, the chief theoretician of international , and other forbidden texts, being expelled in 1899 for revolutionary activity, according to the “legend”—or leaving because of ill health, according to his doting mother. The mother, a devout washerwoman, had dreamed of her son becoming a priest, but Joseph Dzhugashvili was more ruf�anly than clerical in appearance and outlook. He was short, stocky, black-haired, �erce-eyed, with one arm longer than the other, his swarthy face scarred by smallpox contracted in infancy. Physically strong and endowed with prodigious willpower, he early learned to disguise his true feelings and to bide his time; in accordance with the Caucasian blood-feud tradition, he was implacable in plotting long-term revenge against those who offended him.

In December 1899, Dzhugashvili became, brie�y, a clerk in the Ti�is Observatory, the only paid employment that he is recorded as having taken outside politics; there is no record of his ever having done manual labour. In 1900 he joined the political underground, fomenting labour demonstrations and strikes in the main industrial centres of the Caucasus, but his excessive zeal in pushing duped workers into bloody clashes with the police antagonized his fellow conspirators. After the Social Democrats (Marxist revolutionaries) of the Russian Empire had split into their two competing wings—Menshevik and Bolshevik—in 1903, Dzhugashvili joined the second, more militant, of these factions and became a disciple of its leader, Lenin. Between April 1902 and March 1913, Dzhugashvili was seven times arrested for revolutionary activity, undergoing repeated imprisonment and exile. The mildness of the sentences and the ease with which the young conspirator effected his frequent escapes lend colour to the unproved speculation that Dzhugashvili was for a time an agent provocateur in the pay of the imperial political police.

RISE TO POWER

Dzhugashvili made slow progress in the party hierarchy. He attended three policy-making conclaves of the Russian Social Democrats—in Tammerfors (now Tampere, Finland; 1905), Stockholm (1906), and London (1907)—without making much impression. But he was active https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 2/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia © Tomasz Parys/Shutterstock.com Church. Achieving wide visual promotion through busts, behind the scenes, helping to plot a spectacular holdup in Ti�is (now Tbilisi) on June 25 (June statues, and icons of himself, the dictator became the 12, Old Style), 1907, in order to “expropriate” funds for the party. His �rst big political promotion object of a fanatical cult that, in private, he probably regarded with cynicism. came in February (January, Old Style) 1912, when Lenin—now in emigration—co-opted him to serve on the �rst Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, which had �nally broken with the THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY other Social Democrats. In the following year, Dzhugashvili published, at Lenin’s behest, an important article on Marxism and the national question. By now he had adopted the name Stalin was of Georgian—not Russian—origin, and persistent rumours claim that he was Ossetian Stalin, deriving from Russian stal (“steel”); he also brie�y edited the newly founded Bolshevik on the paternal side. He was the son of a poor cobbler in the provincial Georgian town of Gori newspaper before undergoing his longest period of exile: in Siberia from July 1913 to in the Caucasus, then an imperial Russian colony. The drunken father savagely beat his son. March 1917. Speaking only Georgian at home, Joseph learned Russian—which he always spoke with a guttural Georgian accent—while attending the church school at Gori (1888–94). He then moved In about 1904 Stalin had married a pious Georgian girl, Ekaterina Svanidze. She died some to the Ti�is Theological Seminary, where he secretly read Karl Marx, the chief theoretician of three years later and left a son, Jacob, whom his father treated with contempt, calling him a international Communism, and other forbidden texts, being expelled in 1899 for revolutionary weakling after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in the late 1920s; when Jacob was taken activity, according to the “legend”—or leaving because of ill health, according to his doting prisoner by the Germans during World War II, Stalin refused a German offer to exchange his mother. The mother, a devout washerwoman, had dreamed of her son becoming a priest, but son. Joseph Dzhugashvili was more ruf�anly than clerical in appearance and outlook. He was short, Reaching Petrograd from Siberia on March 25 (March 12, stocky, black-haired, �erce-eyed, with one arm longer than the other, his swarthy face scarred Old Style), 1917, Stalin resumed editorship of Pravda. He by smallpox contracted in infancy. Physically strong and endowed with prodigious willpower, brie�y advocated Bolshevik cooperation with the he early learned to disguise his true feelings and to bide his time; in accordance with the provisional government of middle-class liberals that had Caucasian blood-feud tradition, he was implacable in plotting long-term revenge against those succeeded to uneasy power on the last tsar’s abdication who offended him. during the February Revolution. But under Lenin’s In December 1899, Dzhugashvili became, brie�y, a clerk in the Ti�is Observatory, the only paid in�uence, Stalin soon switched to the more-militant employment that he is recorded as having taken outside politics; there is no record of his ever policy of armed seizure of power by the Bolsheviks. When having done manual labour. In 1900 he joined the political underground, fomenting labour their coup d’état occurred in November (October, Old Leon Trotsky. demonstrations and strikes in the main industrial centres of the Caucasus, but his excessive Style) 1917, he played an important role, but one less zeal in pushing duped workers into bloody clashes with the police antagonized his fellow H. Roger-Viollet prominent than that of his chief rival, Leon Trotsky. conspirators. After the Social Democrats (Marxist revolutionaries) of the Russian Empire had Active as a politico-military leader on various fronts during split into their two competing wings—Menshevik and Bolshevik—in 1903, Dzhugashvili joined the Civil War of 1918–20, Stalin also held two ministerial posts in the new Bolshevik the second, more militant, of these factions and became a disciple of its leader, Lenin. Between government, being commissar for nationalities (1917–23) and for state control (or workers’ and April 1902 and March 1913, Dzhugashvili was seven times arrested for revolutionary activity, peasants’ inspection; 1919–23). But it was his position as secretary general of the party’s Central undergoing repeated imprisonment and exile. The mildness of the sentences and the ease Committee, from 1922 until his death, that provided the power base for his dictatorship. with which the young conspirator effected his frequent escapes lend colour to the unproved Besides heading the secretariat, he was also member of the powerful Politburo and of many speculation that Dzhugashvili was for a time an agent provocateur in the pay of the imperial other interlocking and overlapping committees—an arch-bureaucrat engaged in quietly political police. outmaneuvering brilliant rivals, including Trotsky and Grigory Zinovyev, who despised such mundane organizational work. Because the pockmarked Georgian was so obviously RISE TO POWER unintellectual, they thought him unintelligent—a gross error, and one literally fatal in their case. Dzhugashvili made slow progress in the party hierarchy. He attended three policy-making From 1921 onward Stalin �outed the ailing Lenin’s wishes, until, a year before his death, Lenin conclaves of the Russian Social Democrats—in Tammerfors (now Tampere, Finland; 1905), wrote a political “testament,” since widely publicized, calling for Stalin’s removal from the Stockholm (1906), and London (1907)—without making much impression. But he was active https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 2/11 https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 3/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia secretary generalship; coming from Lenin, this document was potentially ruinous to Stalin’s career, but his usual luck and skill enabled him to have it discounted during his lifetime.

LENIN’S SUCCESSOR

After Lenin’s death, in January 1924, Stalin promoted an extravagant, quasi-Byzantine cult of the deceased leader. Archpriest of Leninism, Stalin also promoted his own cult in the following year by having the city of Tsaritsyn renamed Stalingrad (now Volgograd). His main rival, Trotsky (once Lenin’s heir apparent), was now in eclipse, having been ousted by the ruling triumvirate of Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev, and Stalin. Soon afterward Stalin joined Vladimir Ilich Lenin, 1918. with the rightist leaders Nikolay Bukharin and Aleksey Tass/Sovfoto Rykov in an alliance directed against his former co- triumvirs. Pinning his faith in the ability of the Soviet Union to establish a viable political system without waiting for the support hitherto expected from worldwide revolution, the Secretary General advocated a policy of “Socialism in one country”; this was popular with the hardheaded party managers whom he was promoting to in�uential positions in the middle hierarchy. His most- powerful rivals were all dismissed, Bukharin and Rykov soon following Zinovyev and Kamenev into disgrace and Leon Trotsky. political limbo pending execution. Stalin expelled Trotsky

H. Roger-Viollet from the Soviet Union in 1929 and had him assassinated in Mexico in 1940.

In 1928 Stalin abandoned Lenin’s quasi-capitalist New Economic Policy in favour of headlong state-organized industrialization under a succession of �ve-year plans. This was, in effect, a new more devastating in its effects than those of 1917. The dictator’s blows fell most heavily on the peasantry, some 25 million rustic households being compelled to amalgamate in collective or state farms within a few years. Resisting desperately, the reluctant muzhiks were attacked by troops and OGPU (political police) units. Uncooperative peasants, termed kulaks, were arrested en masse, being shot, exiled, or absorbed into the rapidly expanding network of Stalinist concentration camps and worked to death under atrocious conditions. Collectivization also caused a great famine in . Yet Stalin continued to

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 4/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia secretary generalship; coming from Lenin, this document export the grain stocks that a less cruel leader would have rushed to the famine-stricken areas. was potentially ruinous to Stalin’s career, but his usual Some 10 million peasants may have perished through his policies during these years. luck and skill enabled him to have it discounted during Crash industrialization was less disastrous in its effects, but it, too, numbered its grandiose his lifetime. failures, to which Stalin responded by arraigning industrial managers in a succession of show trials. Intimidated into confessing imaginary crimes, the accused served as self-denounced LENIN’S SUCCESSOR scapegoats for catastrophes arising from the Secretary General’s policies. Yet Stalin was After Lenin’s death, in January 1924, Stalin promoted an successful in rapidly industrializing a backward country—as was widely acknowledged by extravagant, quasi-Byzantine cult of the deceased leader. enthusiastic contemporary foreign witnesses, including Adolf Hitler and such well-known Archpriest of Leninism, Stalin also promoted his own cult writers as H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. in the following year by having the city of Tsaritsyn Among those who vainly sought to moderate Stalin’s policies was his young second wife, renamed Stalingrad (now Volgograd). His main rival, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, whom he had married in 1919 and who committed suicide in 1932. They Trotsky (once Lenin’s heir apparent), was now in eclipse, had two children. The son, Vasily, perished as an alcoholic after rising to unmerited high rank in having been ousted by the ruling triumvirate of Zinovyev, the Soviet Air Force. The daughter, Svetlana, became the object for her father’s alternating Lev Kamenev, and Stalin. Soon afterward Stalin joined Vladimir Ilich Lenin, 1918. affection and bad temper. She emigrated after his death and later wrote memoirs that with the rightist leaders Nikolay Bukharin and Aleksey illuminate Stalin’s well-camou�aged private life. Tass/Sovfoto Rykov in an alliance directed against his former co- triumvirs. Pinning his faith in the ability of the Soviet THE GREAT PURGES Union to establish a viable political system without In late 1934—just when the worst excesses of seemed to have spent themselves—the waiting for the support hitherto expected from worldwide Secretary General launched a new campaign of political terror against the very Communist revolution, the Secretary General advocated a policy of Party members who had brought him to power; his pretext was the assassination, in Leningrad “Socialism in one country”; this was popular with the on December 1, of his leading colleague and potential rival, Sergey Kirov. That Stalin himself hardheaded party managers whom he was promoting to had arranged Kirov’s murder—as an excuse for the promotion of mass bloodshed—was strongly in�uential positions in the middle hierarchy. His most- hinted by , �rst secretary of the party, in a speech denouncing Stalin at the powerful rivals were all dismissed, Bukharin and Rykov 20th Party Congress in 1956. soon following Zinovyev and Kamenev into disgrace and Leon Trotsky. political limbo pending execution. Stalin expelled Trotsky Stalin used the show trial of leading Communists as a means for expanding the new terror. In

H. Roger-Viollet from the Soviet Union in 1929 and had him assassinated August 1936, Zinovyev and Kamenev were paraded in court to repeat fabricated confessions, in Mexico in 1940. sentenced to death, and shot; two more major trials followed, in January 1937 and March 1938. In June 1937, Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, at the time the most in�uential military In 1928 Stalin abandoned Lenin’s quasi-capitalist New Economic Policy in favour of headlong personality, and other leading generals were reported as court-martialed on charges of treason state-organized industrialization under a succession of �ve-year plans. This was, in effect, a new and executed. Russian revolution more devastating in its effects than those of 1917. The dictator’s blows fell most heavily on the peasantry, some 25 million rustic households being compelled to Such were the main publicly acknowledged persecutions that empowered Stalin to tame the amalgamate in collective or state farms within a few years. Resisting desperately, the reluctant Soviet Communist Party and the Soviet elite as a whole. He not only “liquidated” veteran semi- muzhiks were attacked by troops and OGPU (political police) units. Uncooperative peasants, independent Bolsheviks but also many party bosses, military leaders, industrial managers, and termed kulaks, were arrested en masse, being shot, exiled, or absorbed into the rapidly high government of�cials totally subservient to himself. Other victims included foreign expanding network of Stalinist concentration camps and worked to death under atrocious Communists on Soviet territory and members of the very political police organization, now conditions. Collectivization also caused a great famine in Ukraine. Yet Stalin continued to called the NKVD. All other sections of the Soviet elite—the arts, the academic world, the legal and diplomatic professions—also lost a high proportion of victims, as did the population at https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 4/11 https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 5/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia large, to a semi-haphazard, galloping persecution that fed on extorted denunciations and confessions. These implicated even more victims until Stalin himself reduced the terror, though he never abandoned it. Stalin’s political victims were numbered in tens of millions. His main motive was, presumably, to maximize his personal power.

ROLE IN WORLD WAR II

During World War II Stalin emerged, after an unpromising start, as the most successful of the supreme leaders thrown up by the belligerent nations. In August 1939, after �rst attempting to form an anti-Hitler alliance with the Western powers, he concluded a pact with Hitler, which encouraged the German dictator to attack Poland and begin World War II. Anxious to strengthen his western frontiers while his new but palpably treacherous German

(From left) , Franklin ally was still engaged in the West, Stalin annexed eastern Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Romania; Conference, 1945. he also attacked Finland and extorted territorial Army Signal Corps Collection/National concessions. In May 1941 Stalin recognized the growing Archives, Washington, D.C. danger of German attack on the Soviet Union by appointing himself chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars (head of the government); it was his �rst governmental of�ce since 1923.

Stalin’s prewar defensive measures were exposed as incompetent by the German blitzkrieg that surged deep into Soviet territory after Hitler’s unprovoked attack on the Soviet Union of June 22, 1941. Khrushchev claimed that Stalin was shocked into temporary inactivity by the onslaught, but, if so, he soon rallied and appointed himself supreme commander in chief. When the Germans menaced Moscow in the winter of 1941, he remained in the threatened capital, helping to organize a great counter-offensive. The (in the following winter) and the Battle of Kursk (in the summer of 1943) were also won by the Soviet Army under Stalin’s supreme direction, turning the tide of invasion against the retreating Germans, who capitulated in May 1945. As war leader, Stalin maintained close personal control over the Soviet battlefronts, military reserves, and war economy. At �rst over-inclined to intervene with inept telephoned instructions, as Hitler did, the Soviet generalissimo gradually learned to delegate military decisions.

Stalin participated in high-level Allied meetings, including those of the “Big Three” with Churchill and Roosevelt at Tehrān (1943), Yalta (1945), and Potsdam (1945). A formidable negotiator, he outwitted these foreign statesmen; his superior skill has been acclaimed by Anthony Eden, then British foreign secretary.

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 6/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia large, to a semi-haphazard, galloping persecution that fed on extorted denunciations and ASSESSMENT confessions. These implicated even more victims until Stalin himself reduced the terror, A politician to the marrow of his bones, Stalin had little though he never abandoned it. Stalin’s political victims were numbered in tens of millions. His private or family life, �nding his main relaxation in main motive was, presumably, to maximize his personal power. impromptu buffet suppers, to which he would invite high ROLE IN WORLD WAR II party of�cials, generals, visiting foreign potentates, and the like. Drinking little himself on these occasions, the During World War II Stalin emerged, after an unpromising dictator would encourage excessive indulgence in others, start, as the most successful of the supreme leaders (Left to right) Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, thus revealing weak points that he could exploit. He thrown up by the belligerent nations. In August 1939, after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British … would also tease his guests, jocularity and malice being �rst attempting to form an anti-Hitler alliance with the nicely balanced in his manner; for such bluff banter Western powers, he concluded a pact with Hitler, which Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Stalin’s main henchman, Vyacheslav Molotov, the encouraged the German dictator to attack Poland and stuttering foreign minister, was often a target. Stalin had a begin World War II. Anxious to strengthen his western keen, ironical sense of humour, usually devoted to frontiers while his new but palpably treacherous German de�ating his guests rather than to amusing them. (From left) Winston Churchill, Franklin ally was still engaged in the West, Stalin annexed eastern Foremost among Stalin’s accomplishments was the Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Romania; industrialization of a country which, when he assumed Conference, 1945. he also attacked Finland and extorted territorial complete control in 1928, was still notably backward by Army Signal Corps Collection/National concessions. In May 1941 Stalin recognized the growing comparison with the leading industrial nations of the Archives, Washington, D.C. danger of German attack on the Soviet Union by world. By 1937, after less than a decade’s rule as appointing himself chairman of the Council of People’s totalitarian dictator, he had increased the Soviet Union’s Commissars (head of the government); it was his �rst governmental of�ce since 1923. total industrial output to the point where it was surpassed Stalin’s prewar defensive measures were exposed as incompetent by the German blitzkrieg only by that of the United States. The extent of this that surged deep into Soviet territory after Hitler’s unprovoked attack on the Soviet Union of achievement may best be appreciated if one remembers June 22, 1941. Khrushchev claimed that Stalin was shocked into temporary inactivity by the that Russia had held only �fth place for overall industrial onslaught, but, if so, he soon rallied and appointed himself supreme commander in chief. output in 1913, and that it thereafter suffered many years When the Germans menaced Moscow in the winter of 1941, he remained in the threatened Joseph Stalin. of even greater devastation—through world war, civil war, capital, helping to organize a great counter-offensive. The Battle of Stalingrad (in the following Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. famine, and pestilence—than af�icted any of the world’s winter) and the Battle of Kursk (in the summer of 1943) were also won by the Soviet Army no. LC-USW33- 019081-C) other chief industrial countries during the same period. under Stalin’s supreme direction, turning the tide of invasion against the retreating Germans, Yet more appallingly ravaged during World War II, the who capitulated in May 1945. As war leader, Stalin maintained close personal control over the Soviet Union was nevertheless able, under Stalin’s leadership, to play a major part in defeating Soviet battlefronts, military reserves, and war economy. At �rst over-inclined to intervene with Hitler while maintaining its position as the world’s second most powerful industrial—and now inept telephoned instructions, as Hitler did, the Soviet generalissimo gradually learned to military—complex after the United States. In 1949 Stalinist Russia signaled its arrival as the delegate military decisions. world’s second nuclear power by exploding an atomic bomb. Stalin participated in high-level Allied meetings, including those of the “Big Three” with Against these formidable achievements must be set one major disadvantage. Though a high Churchill and Roosevelt at Tehrān (1943), Yalta (1945), and Potsdam (1945). A formidable industrial output was indeed achieved under Stalin, very little of it ever became available to the negotiator, he outwitted these foreign statesmen; his superior skill has been acclaimed by ordinary Soviet citizen in the form of consumer goods or amenities of life. A considerable Anthony Eden, then British foreign secretary. proportion of the national wealth—a proportion wholly unparalleled in the history of any https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 6/11 https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 7/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

peacetime capitalist country—was appropriated by the state to cover military expenditure, the police apparatus, and further industrialization. It is also arguable that a comparable degree of industrialization would have come about in any case—and surely by means less savage—under almost any conceivable regime that might have evolved as an alternative to Stalinism.

Stalin’s collectivization of agriculture did not produce positive economic results remotely comparable to those attained by Soviet industry. Considered as a means of asserting control over the politically recalcitrant peasantry, however, collectivization justi�ed itself and continued to do so for decades, remaining one of the dictator’s most durable achievements. Moreover, the process of intensive urbanization, as instituted by Stalin, continued after his death in what still remained a population more predominantly rural than that of any other major industrial country. In 1937, 56 percent of the population was recorded as engaged in agriculture or forestry; by 1958 that proportion had dropped to 42 percent, very largely as a result of Stalin’s policies.

Another of the dictator’s achievements was the creation of his elaborately bureaucratized administrative machinery based on the interlinking of the Communist Party, ministries, legislative bodies, trade unions, political police, and armed forces, and also on a host of other meshing control devices. During the decades following the dictator’s death, these continued to supply the essential management levers of Soviet society, often remaining under the control of individuals who had risen to prominence during the years of the Stalinist terror. But the element of total personal dictatorship did not survive Stalin in its most extreme form. One result of his death was the resurgence of the Communist Party as the primary centre of power, after years during which that organization, along with all other Soviet institutions, had been subordinated to a single man’s whim. Yet, despite the great power wielded by Stalin’s successors as party leaders, they became no more than dominant �gures within the framework of a ruling oligarchy. They did not develop into potentates responsible to themselves alone, such as Stalin was during his quarter of a century’s virtually unchallenged rule.

That Stalin’s system persisted as long as it did, in all its major essentials, after the death of its creator is partly due to the very excess of severity practiced by the great tyrant. Not only did his methods crush initiative among Soviet administrators, physically destroying many, but they also left a legacy of remembered fear so extreme as to render continuing post-Stalin restrictions tolerable to the population; the people would have more bitterly resented—might even, perhaps, have rejected—such rigours, had it not been for their vivid recollection of repressions immeasurably harsher. Just as Hitler’s wartime cruelty toward the Soviet population turned Stalin into a genuine national hero—making him the Soviet Union’s champion against an alien terror even worse than his own—so too Stalin’s successors owed the stability of their system in part to the comparison, still fresh in many minds, with the far worse conditions that obtained during the despot’s sway. https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 8/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia peacetime capitalist country—was appropriated by the state to cover military expenditure, the Stalin has arguably made a greater impact on the lives of more individuals than any other police apparatus, and further industrialization. It is also arguable that a comparable degree of �gure in history. But the evaluation of his overall achievement still remains, decades after his industrialization would have come about in any case—and surely by means less savage—under death, a highly controversial matter. Historians have not yet reached any de�nitive consensus almost any conceivable regime that might have evolved as an alternative to Stalinism. on the worth of his accomplishments, and it is unlikely that they ever will. To the American scholar George F. Kennan, Stalin is a great man, but one great in his “incredible criminality…a Stalin’s collectivization of agriculture did not produce positive economic results remotely criminality effectively without limits,” while Robert C. Tucker, an American specialist on Soviet comparable to those attained by Soviet industry. Considered as a means of asserting control affairs, has described Stalin as a 20th-century Ivan the Terrible. To the British historian E.H. Carr, over the politically recalcitrant peasantry, however, collectivization justi�ed itself and the Georgian dictator appears as a ruthless, vigorous �gure, but one lacking in originality—a continued to do so for decades, remaining one of the dictator’s most durable achievements. comparative nonentity thrust into greatness by the inexorable march of the great revolution Moreover, the process of intensive urbanization, as instituted by Stalin, continued after his that he found himself leading. To the late Isaac Deutscher, the author of biographies of Trotsky death in what still remained a population more predominantly rural than that of any other and Stalin—who, like Carr, broadly accepts Trotsky’s version of Stalin as a somewhat mediocre major industrial country. In 1937, 56 percent of the population was recorded as engaged in personage—Stalin represents a lamentably deviant element in the evolution of Marxism. agriculture or forestry; by 1958 that proportion had dropped to 42 percent, very largely as a Neither Deutscher nor Carr has found Stalin’s truly appalling record suf�ciently impressive to result of Stalin’s policies. raise doubts about the ultimate value of the Russian October Revolution’s historic Another of the dictator’s achievements was the creation of his elaborately bureaucratized achievements. administrative machinery based on the interlinking of the Communist Party, ministries, To such views may be added the suggestion that Stalin was anything but a plodding legislative bodies, trade unions, political police, and armed forces, and also on a host of other mediocrity, being rather a man of superlative, all-transcending talent. His special brilliance was, meshing control devices. During the decades following the dictator’s death, these continued to however, narrowly specialized and con�ned within the single crucial area of creative political supply the essential management levers of Soviet society, often remaining under the control of manipulation, where he remains unsurpassed. Stalin was the �rst to recognize the potential of individuals who had risen to prominence during the years of the Stalinist terror. But the bureaucratic power, while the other Bolshevik leaders still feared their revolution being element of total personal dictatorship did not survive Stalin in its most extreme form. One betrayed by a military man. Stalin’s political ability went beyond tactics, as he was able to result of his death was the resurgence of the Communist Party as the primary centre of power, channel massive social forces both to meet his economic goals and to expand his personal after years during which that organization, along with all other Soviet institutions, had been power. subordinated to a single man’s whim. Yet, despite the great power wielded by Stalin’s successors as party leaders, they became no more than dominant �gures within the Ronald Francis Hingley framework of a ruling oligarchy. They did not develop into potentates responsible to The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica themselves alone, such as Stalin was during his quarter of a century’s virtually unchallenged rule. Anarkhizm ili sotsializm? (1949, Russian version of articles published serially in Georgian That Stalin’s system persisted as long as it did, in all its major essentials, after the death of its periodicals, 1906–07; Anarchism or Socialism?, 1950); Natsionalny vopros i marksizm (1914, creator is partly due to the very excess of severity practiced by the great tyrant. Not only did his based on the article “Natsionalny vopros i sotsial-demokratiya” in the periodical methods crush initiative among Soviet administrators, physically destroying many, but they Prosveshchenie, 1913, and reissued as Marksizm i natsionalnokolonialny vopros, 1934; Marxism also left a legacy of remembered fear so extreme as to render continuing post-Stalin and the National and Colonial Question, 1935); Na putyakh k Oktyabryu (1925; selections restrictions tolerable to the population; the people would have more bitterly resented—might translated as The Road to Power, 1937); Voprosy leninizma (1926, 11th ed., much enlarged, 1939; even, perhaps, have rejected—such rigours, had it not been for their vivid recollection of Leninism, 1940, or Problems of Leninism, 1940 and 1953), a monumental collection of treatises, repressions immeasurably harsher. Just as Hitler’s wartime cruelty toward the Soviet articles, reports, and speeches including “Ob osnovakh leninizma” (1924; Theory and Practice of population turned Stalin into a genuine national hero—making him the Soviet Union’s Leninism, 1925, and Foundations of Leninism, 1932); “K voprosam agrarnoy politiki v SSSR” champion against an alien terror even worse than his own—so too Stalin’s successors owed the (1929); “O proyekte konstitutsii Soyuza SSR” (1936; On the Draft Constitution of the U.S.S.R., 1936, stability of their system in part to the comparison, still fresh in many minds, with the far worse and The New Democracy, 1937); and “O dialekticheskom i istoricheskom materializme” (1938; conditions that obtained during the despot’s sway. Dialectical and Historical Materialism, 1941); Ob oppozitsii (1928), a massive collection of https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 8/11 https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 9/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia writings of the period 1921–27; O pravom uklone v VKP(b) (speech of 1929 published integrally as a separate book in 1954); O nedostatkakh partiynoy raboty i merakh likvidatsy Trotskistskikh i inykh dvurushnikov (1937); Istoriya Vsesoyuznoy Kommunisticheskoy Partii (Bolshevikov): Kratky kurs (1938, ostensibly the work of a party committee but wholly Stalinian in inspiration; Short History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1939); Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin: Kratkaya biogra�ya (1940, 2nd ed. 1947, likewise ostensibly a collective production; Stalin, 1943); O Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyne Sovetskogo Soyuza (1942, 5th ed., much enlarged, 1946–52; The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1945, or War Speeches, Orders of the Day, and Answers to Foreign Press Correspondents during the Great Patriotic War, July 3, 1941–June 22nd, 1945, 1946); Marksizm i voprosy yazykoznaniya (1950; Marxism and Linguistics, 1951); Ekonomicheskie problemy sotsializma v SSSR (1952; Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., 1952); Perepiska Predsedatelya Sovieta Ministrov SSSR s prezidentami SShA i premier-ministrami Velikobritanii vo vremya Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyny (1957; Correspondence with Churchill, Attlee, Roosevelt and Truman, 1941–45, 2 parts, 1958).

Courtesy:

"Joseph Stalin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2017. Web. 04 Oct. 2017 .

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 10/11 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia 10/4/2017 Joseph Stalin -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia writings of the period 1921–27; O pravom uklone v VKP(b) (speech of 1929 published integrally as a separate book in 1954); O nedostatkakh partiynoy raboty i merakh likvidatsy Trotskistskikh i inykh dvurushnikov (1937); Istoriya Vsesoyuznoy Kommunisticheskoy Partii (Bolshevikov): Kratky kurs (1938, ostensibly the work of a party committee but wholly Stalinian in inspiration; Short History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1939); Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin: Kratkaya biogra�ya (1940, 2nd ed. 1947, likewise ostensibly a collective production; Stalin, 1943); O Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyne Sovetskogo Soyuza (1942, 5th ed., much enlarged, 1946–52; The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1945, or War Speeches, Orders of the Day, and Answers to Foreign Press Correspondents during the Great Patriotic War, July 3, 1941–June 22nd, 1945, 1946); Marksizm i voprosy yazykoznaniya (1950; Marxism and Linguistics, 1951); Ekonomicheskie problemy sotsializma v SSSR (1952; Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., 1952); Perepiska Predsedatelya Sovieta Ministrov SSSR s prezidentami SShA i premier-ministrami Velikobritanii vo vremya Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyny (1957; Correspondence with Churchill, Attlee, Roosevelt and Truman, 1941–45, 2 parts, 1958).

"Joseph Stalin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2017. Web. 04 Oct. 2017 .

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 10/11 https://www.britannica.com/print/article/562617 11/11