Cult Of Personality Flashcards
Why did it safeguard comm control
The population were accustomed to expressing their loyalty to one person (Tsar) so by giving a human face to comm, it was made easier to switch loyalties and support cause without the difficulty of resistant ingrained attitudes
Stalin cult
Presentation of man of people through his plain clothes, statues of him littering the Volga-Don canal and town mames being changed to commemorate him (Stalingrad).
Effect of Stalin cult
Elevated him to a god-like figure, respect worship admiration. Evolved into support for Party and trust in way it was governed. People identified woth Communism more as familiarity and attachment as if they knew him personally ‘papa joe’
What shows success of cult
When govt pfficials saw hum walking in the grounds of Kremlin, they did not recognise him. Even prisoners in Gulag wept when they heard of his death
Khrushchev cult
Hired son-in-law as editor of Isvestiya, who included incessant adulation of the leader in the news. Man who cared for avg person- used visits to peasants on collective farms as photo opportunities
Brez cult
Used as a substitute for real power, ensuring the stability of the USSR so it did not break out into a power struggle and divide the Party. For last 6 years of life clinically dead, suffering from heart attacks and strokes, yet appearance of leadership kept ideology secure
Evaluation
Made ideology real and worth fighting for, so the transition of loyalties made smoother. Admiration and unquestionable loyalty may never have been achieved without the cults of personality
