We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Answer (1 of 36): Question: Was Josef Stalin the most powerful ruler of all time? Read about our approach to external linking. Nationalism, the new issue of Jacobin is out now. Stalin forced rapid industrialization and the collectivization of agricultural land, resulting in millions dying from famine while others were sent to labor camps. But the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany is a source of national pride. There should be no apology by people on the Left for Stalin. Did Stalin adhere to the rules of Communism? N. N. Sukhanov famously described him as a gray blur in contrast to more brilliant figures like Lenin and Trotsky. That was good for me. Joseph Stalin as a Machiavellian leader. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. But given the dominance of bourgeois culture, of the hegemony, as he called it, of bourgeois ideas, its very difficult for them to gravitate spontaneously toward socialism. To be fair, it needs to be noted that fear of competition was far from the only reason for Stalin to fight Trotsky. Ruthless in his conduct, moderate estimates suggest that he was directly responsible for the death of 40 million people. The latter was the main associate of the undisputed leader of the Bolsheviks Vladimir Lenin. His newest book is the long-awaited biography Stalin: Passage to Revolution, which chronicles the transformation of a sensitive Georgian boy named Iosib Soso Djugashvili into the man known to the world as Stalin. As war clouds gathered over Europe in 1939, Stalin made a seemingly brilliant move, signing a nonaggression pact with Germany's Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. Most people who lived during Stalin say it was a time of rapid growth of healthcare, education, infastructure, and living standards. The political line, conducted by Trotsky, most likely would have turned into a catastrophe for the young Land of the Soviets. We just marked the centenary of the Bolsheviks overthrow of this Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG). But in the following decades the Soviet authorities covered up the true scale of Stalin's crimes. What crisis occurred in Italy that allowed Mussolini to take power? At the first of these meetings, in Tehran, Iran, in late 1943, the recent victory in Stalingrad put Stalin in a solid bargaining position. Which then, as you say, in the extra-European world becomes more of a model. Stalin wanted a far more centralized Soviet Union with less autonomy for national groups. Reason 3: He was Stalin Reason 4: He killed between six million and 20 million people. So he was a worker-intellectual, and Lenin promoted him for that reason. After his death in 1953, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's remains were embalmed and put on display next to those of Vladimir Lenin. What motivated you to write this particular book? The people who cast the votes decide nothing. Stalin was born 18 December 1878 in poverty and he had daddy issue. It is enough that the people know there was an election. ng bi lc Thng Mt 19, 2023. Marxism and socialism are basically a democratic expansion of bourgeois liberal democracy. Stalin is seen as the main figure who defeated fascism, who gets the honours for victory in the Great Patriotic War. Well have a democratic coalition of the lower classes, and we can make a revolution that way.. Its the empowerment of ordinary people. His long reign finally ended. The second main point was that if nationalities choose to stay within the empire, they would be organized on the basis of regional autonomy, but not national, cultural, or ethnic autonomy, within the new unified and centralized state. After heroic efforts on the part of the Soviet Army and the Russian people, the Germans were turned back at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. Latest answer posted October 06, 2019 at 11:40:56 AM. Then I came back to Stalin and worked in the Russian and Georgian archives, and in Armenia, and got the book that you see today. Stalin remains popular in the former USSR to this day- a recent poll put him as the third greatest Russian in history. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago, and Senior Researcher at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He said, So what are you interested in, and why are you writing this book? This was before his book came out. On a hot day, Mercader came dressed in a raincoat, but that didnt alert anyone such a regular he was in the house. Stalin was a good leader but in good and bad ways. Dravidian leader MK Stalin is at a seminal moment in his political career. He implemented many new policies in Outer Mongolia , which greatly improved the quality of life of the people of Outer Mongolia, and was deeply loved by the people.. Ramon Mercader, aka Frank Jackson, Aug. 31, 1940. "Stalin was the best master. Latest answer posted February 03, 2021 at 6:26:14 PM. The social democrats can bring that message and teach workers about the need for the socialist consciousness and a revolutionary posture. Advertisement Advertisement Smallpox as a child left him with lasting scars and a deformity. answer choices A. redrawing the map of Europe on the basis of self-determination B. punishing Germany by dividing it into four permanent occupation zones In the course of the Civil War, the Red Army, created by Trotsky, needed experienced combatants and commanders thats why he advocated recruiting former Imperial army officers. Even Lenin, who was gravely ill, was helpless to regain control from Stalin. However, further paranoia set in and Stalin soon conducted a vast reign of terror, having people arrested in the night and put before spectacular show trials. and Barbara Bushs Amazing Love Story. My parents spoke it, but not to me. 1. The. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Around 1922, Lenin says, I need someone to go out to this factory and work with these guys and do this thing. It's also speculated he was asked to leave due to his political views challenging the tsarist regime of Nicholas II. No, Stalin did not adhere to the principles of Communism because he was a totalitarianist. The authority and influence of Trotsky were so massive that Stalin back then already contemplated how to get rid of this competitor. He wasnt a flamboyant and eloquent orator like Trotsky. The Allies responded with the massive Berlin Airlift, supplying the city and eventually forcing Stalin to back down. Eventually, that democratic and participatory revolution was consumed by foreign intervention, the civil war, the breakdown of the economy, and the building, by the Bolsheviks, of a centralized, authoritarian state. Lenin had a 'great modesty', was a 'patient educator', and displayed a 'keen and solicitous concern . Chennai: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said there are chances for DMK top leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to become the Prime Minister if Opposition. Stalin promotes an image of himself as a great benevolent leader and hero of the Soviet Union. A Stanford historian answers the question, was it genocide? Essay due? "Quantity has a quality all its own.". Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. Stalin really seemed to imbibe the idea that social-democratic worker-intellectuals had a very important and special role to play in building the movement and bringing their message to the masses. What did the Gilded Age reformers have in common with Jackson era reformers? But when the workers were spontaneously getting active and revolutionary, Lenin wanted to celebrate that. A path toward a different kind of socialism was thwarted and not allowed to develop. Ronald Suny has devoted his life to studying the history of the Soviet Union and the countries of the South Caucasus. Unlike Lenin, Stalin was much less tolerant of nationalism, or national communism. Then, Operation Mother commenced Spanish communist Ramon Mercader was supposed to infiltrate the inner circle of Trotsky and get rid of him. Maybe, if I live long enough, Ill write the second volume. Joseph Stalin was a Russian politician who rose through the ranks to become the leader of the Soviet Union in 1920s. For a time, the revolutionaries supported a provisional government, believing a smooth transition of power was possible. When the resolution to support South Korea came to a vote in the Security Council, the Soviet Union was unable to use its veto. But whats very interesting is that, in the 1890s, certain Georgian intellectuals, many of whom came out of the same religious Orthodox seminary that Stalin would go through, migrated to Poland and to Russia and came back with what was then the most progressive, Western, revolutionary, modernizing philosophy: Marxism. By the next year, the Soviet Army was liberating countries in Eastern Europe, even before the Allies had mounted a serious challenge against Hitler at D-Day. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Then a very strange and interesting thing happened. The fledgling Soviet government went through a violent period after the revolution as various individuals vied for position and control. He is currently more popular in Russia now than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, thanks to a rehabilitation campaign by Russian president Vladimir Putin. You have to figure out, by his writings and actions and what other people said about him, what his mentality was, as far as we can determine. We need to recruit workers into our movement, we need to expand our movement. Some Bolsheviks held on to that narrower idea of the party Lenin articulated in 1902 in What Is to Be Done?, and that conception will later come back in Soviet times. Chapter 3-4 review. However, once in power he was not a good leader. Any intelligent person can read the book and understand whats going on. And they were against capitalism and the bourgeoisie, not the Armenians per se. Vengeance is a way of reestablishing a just order, by getting rid of those who have broken the traditional ways of justice and fairness. Lets ally with the poor peasantry and the working class. B+E Manufacturing Company, Inc. Toggle Navigation. 39 terms. The new position provided Stalin with a fair amount of power, as he was able to appoint his friends to government jobs, and develop a base of political support. Stalin was so distraught at Hitler's treachery that he hid in his office for several days. Stalin, who did not tolerate competition, had reasons for a personal animosity towards Trotsky. Hitler is famous for many quotes such as "Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless." Beauregid Genden is a shrewd and proud politician. The period known as the Great Purge eventually extended beyond the party elite to local officials suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. Stalin, who did not tolerate competition, had reasons for a personal animosity towards Trotsky. 1 March, 2023 09:00 am IST. The excuse for Trotskys assassination was the comparison he made between the USSR and Nazi Germany. was stalin a fair leader. Then I went to Georgia. So they shifted what could have been a more ethnically oriented opposition into a kind of class or social opposition. Stalin is infamous for his cruel regime and role in WWII when his support encouraged Nazi Germany to start the war. Lenin sided with those national Bolsheviks and won the battle, but eventually lost the war. But you see Stalin as a more important figure in the movement than these critical assessments made him out to be. In his books and articles, written in emigration, Trotsky called his opponent Hitlers intendant and criticized his cult of personality, totalitarianism and especially bureaucracy. As I started to write in the 1980s and signed my first contract, I realized that the Soviet Union was shifting (though I didnt know it was going to collapse). Eventually, the soldiers went over to the crowds, and you had a revolution. Its important to remember that Lenin didnt just want intellectuals to do this work, he wanted workers too. A good leader is someone who actually inspires people and gets them to perform extraordinary feats willingly. It was during this time that he adopted the name Stalin, meaning "steel" in Russian. Western powers interpreted these actions as proof of Stalin's desire to place Europe under Communist control, thus formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to counter Soviet influence. Under his leadership, the Soviet Union played a major role in the defeat of Hitler 's Germany during World War II. Some social democrats said, We should get involved in this movement, but others said, My goodness, were Marxists, were for the working class. francis avent gumm cause of death; alexandra andersson net worth; baker's dictionary of theology page 152; kettle run football schedule; eon emergency credit 2013, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/do-you-think-stalin-was-good-leader-427444. Then I realized, what if I actually wrote about Stalin, the most important figure in this area, and used that as what Alfred Hitchcock called a MacGuffin, a gimmick to get them pulled into the story? Joseph Stalin maneuvered to take control of the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin's death. First of all, the seminary was run by the most ruthless and repressive Russian Orthodox priests who looked down on the Georgians and were intent on Russifying them. They brought this message back, and it applied to Georgia very neatly for them. My biography is not psychoanalytical. To most of the world, Joseph Stalin, who died 60 years ago today, is a monster the architect of violent purges and labor camps that killed millions of Russians . Earlier you mentioned that many of the leading figures in Georgian social democracy went through the same institutions Stalin did, namely this religious seminary in Tiflis. He is currently more popular in Russia now than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, thanks to a rehabilitation campaign by Russian president Vladimir Putin. Stalin also set in motion rapid industrialization that initially achieved huge successes, but over time cost millions of lives and vast damage to the environment. Stalin Collapses . That is why I suggest that the comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post and appointing another man in his stead, who, in all other respects, differs from Comrade Stalin in having only one advantage, namely, that of being more tolerant, more loyal, more polite and more considerate to the comrades, less capricious, etc.. "Their perception of Stalin is based on myth, fed by older generations," she said. Subscribe today and get a yearlong print and digital subscription. In 1901, he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party and worked full-time for the revolutionary movement. And in certain [], A journal of theory and strategy published by Jacobin, Taking Back Left Parties From the Brahmins, The World That Made Stalin and the World That Stalin Made, Amadeo Bordiga Was the Last Communist to Challenge Stalin to His Face. Keith Wagstaff. Lenin flirted with recognizing and even making concessions to this republic. Surprisingly, perhaps, it soon moved from being the ideology of this intellectual elite to the national liberation movement of Georgians. During World War II became the Party 's leader and absolute ruler of the Soviet Union. Russia. Lenin did not want to ally with the bourgeois liberals and said, No, dont be afraid of that. He must have inspired some loyalty in those who helped him get there. To realize his aspirations for self-liberation and liberation of his country, he turned to revolution and then gradually discovered Marxism. That was one motivation. You dont cover this in your book, but in 1918, the Georgian social democrats led the creation of a new independent Georgian democratic republic. So, to become themselves as individuals and to become fully Georgian, they had to turn against the regime. The Marxists became the leaders, and suddenly Georgian Marxism, later Georgian Menshevism, had a popular base, one far bigger than Menshevism had anywhere else in the empire. He left a legacy of death and horror, even as he turned a backward Russia into a world superpower. After an assassination plot was uncovered, he ordered the head of the secret police to instigate a new purge of the Communist Party. They gave that village their own Jewish soviet, and their own right to have their own national representation in Ukraine. It went from being a very backwards country to being a world power. By March, the tsar had abdicated the throne and was placed under house arrest. Many were exiled abroad to Europe and the Americas, including presumed Lenin successor Leon Trotsky. In the 1930s Stalin's communist terror engulfed the USSR, sending millions to labour camps or firing squads. Danh mc . With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. Trotsky, however, was the head of the Council, so the struggle between the two continued. So there was a clear difference between Georgian and Russian Mensheviks there. By October, the revolution was complete and the Bolsheviks were in control. The mainstream Georgian social democrats also wound up shifting their approach to the national question once they took power. It's estimated that Stalin killed as many as 20 million people, directly or indirectly, through famine, forced labor camps, collectivization and executions. The Russian Mensheviks wanted to ally with bourgeois liberals and were worried about scaring them off into reaction. He advocated full-scale terror and dictatorship within the country, as well as spreading the fire of Revolution across the entire world. Stalin gained infamy being associated with the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery, which resulted in several deaths and 250,000 rubles stolen (approximately $3.4 million in U.S. dollars). Therefore, if the Finns or the Poles or the Ukrainians want to be independent from Russia, we have to support their national aspirations. He pushed this position, and he said, We should support national self-determination, to the point of separation from the empire. This was a radical position in the movement. But eventually these Georgian Marxists who later become Mensheviks, the more moderate wing of the empires Social Democratic Party linked up with these revolutionary peasants. Just after the turn of the century, in 1902, local peasants in a place called Guria in western Georgia revolted against their landlords. 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