The Development of the Stalinist Cult. Flashcards
What is meant by the Cult of Stalin?
1) People being enamoured by Stalin.
2) Propaganda - Stalin was presented as being paternal and the father of Russia. This is similiar to the Tsar, who was referred to as the ‘Little Father’.
3) Stalin wanted to unify Russia underneath him.
4) It was all about Stalin being loved but also feared.
5) Part of the cult was so Stalin could be worshipped and remembered and there were many towns named after him - Stalingrad.
How did Stalin spread his message?
1) All different types of media were used to promote Stalin and develop his cult of personality.
2) Censorship: wiping Trotsky out of history. The rewriting of the October revolution and the Civil War. Trotsky’s role was completely wiped out.
3) Stalin liked to be pictured next to Lenin, because he wanted to be viewed as Lenin’s natural successor.
From when did Stalin’s cult begin to grow noticeably?
December 1929.
What did portraits start to show?
Marx, Engles, Lenin and Stalin in continous progression, bringing elightenment to the people of Russia.
There were even songs about Stalin! Can you think of an example?
One was by Izakovsky in 1936, saying “[Stalin] gave us for ever and ever youth, glory and power.”
Stalin was glorified as what?
A “universal genius” and the “shining sun of humanity”.
When was the Stalin cult fully established? When did it continue to grow?
It was fully established between 1933-1939 and got more intense after WW2.
A history textbook was produced for schools and universities. How was it altered to praise Stalin?
Stalin was given a key role in the October Revolution and the Civil War. Trotsky was painted as an enemy of the people and his pictures were removed. The book sold 34 million copies by 1948.
Why worship Stalin?
1) some people felt like they had actually benefited from Stalin’s rule, or that they might benefit in the future.
2) The tradition of loyalty to one leader: many had an emotional attatchment to Stalin. He was benefitted by the history of Tsaris and the way people were used to following one leader. There’s a historical debate on whether or not Stalin was the ‘Red Tsar’.
The idea of worship:
1) In the corner of their homes, peasants may have had images of Lenin and Stalin in places of imagery of saints.
2) Stalin likely wanted more worship, although there is debate on how much he encouraged his cult.
Stalin claimed he didn’t want to encourage - was this because it wasn’t very Marxist? However, he could’ve stopped it if he really wanted to. So…
Some historians argue that in 1928, the beginning of the Great Change, there was also a cultural revolution between which years?
1928-1931.
What were the aims of Socialist Realism?
1) to create a technically skilled and educated proleteriat with Communist values.
2) to create a new soviet person - someone with communist morals, values and characteristics.
3) To create willing servants to the state.
There was a huge emphasis on promoting and educating the workers = communist.
Was Socialist Realism just a movement from above?
No! The Komsomol (young Communists) were eager to act and the revolution gained a mind of its own. These young communists went further than leadership wanted. In 1931, Stalin commented on their enthusiasm in the previous year; “dizzy with success”.
Socialist Realism in Education:
- Values of the old intelligentsia and middle class attacked.
- Non-Marxists in higher education were attacked and the working class entered universities in their thousands.
- Social mobility = working class move from manual to white collar jobbs - eg. office jobs.
When we say ‘culture’, what do we mean?
The arts, literature, cinema, architecture, music. It can also be religion.
When was the RAPP set up and what was it all about?
It was set up in 1928, with the aim to praise the economic advances, such as the FYPs and Collectivisation. It stood for ‘Russian Association of Proletarian Writers’.
The RAAP was seen as inadequate and eventually replaced. When and by what?
In 1932, the Union of Writers was established to replace it.
