Stalinism'S Ideology, Representation Of Stalin.

Stalinism is the name given to the political and economic system which Joseph Stalin instigated in the Soviet Union between 1934 and 1953, while he was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It includes a command economy, a widespread use of propaganda to establish a personality cult around an absolute dictator, and the use of the secret police to maintain social submission. Stalinism refers to a style of government, rather than a political ideology. The term used in the Soviet Union and by most who support its legacy, however, is Marxism-Leninism. However, historians describe his policies as tyrannical or pluralistic. Stalin prided himself on maintaining the legacy of Lenin as a founding father for the Soviet Union and this resulting in the coining of the term of Stalinism. Stalin established himself as the supreme leader of Russia in 1924, eliminating anyone who openly criticized him or opposed his policies and using the NKVD, (the secret police), the military and his intelligence organization to ensure that no person succeeded in questioning his authority. Stalin’s regime also heavily relied on the use of propaganda directly aimed at the public to influence their opinions of Stalin, from this propaganda a cult of personality had developed around Stalin and this was always one of the most visible elements of Soviet politics of the time. If Stalin had not used his assets to maintain social submission I believe Stalin’s regime could have collapsed and led to revolt in the Soviet Union. Stalin’s extensive use of the Secret Police or NKVD and propaganda to create fear allowed him to maintain social submission and intimidation within the Soviet Union. This allowed Stalin to maintain power and maintain the populations productivity, for the state to advance industrially and economically.

A new intelligence organization emerged when Stalin took control of the Soviet Union and went by the name of the NKVD. NKVD was an acronym for the People’s Commissariat for Internal affairs. The NKVD became a direct instrument of Stalin for use against the party and the country during the Great Terror of the 1930s. The NKVD prevailed as the most powerful and feared Soviet institution throughout the Stalinist period. The public had feared betraying Stalin’s policies because they would have been faced with NKVD’s harsh repercussions. (Loc. gov, Secret Police)The NKVD did several jobs for Stalin; however, their main function was to maintain state security of the Soviet Union, or to be used to force the wishes of Stalin. This was accomplished through massive social and political repression. This involved the warranted murders, kidnappings, assassinations and mass deportation of many politicians and citizens within Russia. One of the first major assassinations undertaken by the NKVD was on 1st of December 1934 in Leningrad. Sergei Kirov had been assassinated over a dispute in the Communist Party hierarchy and had interfered with Stalin’s orders. Kirov had been placed previously by Stalin to lead the Leningrad Party Organisation, However, Kirov started to demonstrate a sense of independence and gradually it was assumed that his position of power could rival Stalin’s.

Stalin increasingly noticed that Kirov was a threat to his own power and it was assumed that Stalin ordered the NKVD for Kirov to be assassinated, to protect his own power. (Repression and Terror: Kirov Murder and Purges)Kirov was found dead at the Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad and evidence suggests that he assassinated by a young party member by the name of Leonid Nikolayev, yet Nikolayev was shot along with thirteen other suspected accomplices. Stalin released a statement to the public that he discovered a widespread conspiracy of anti-Stalinist communists who were all planning to exterminate Soviet leadership. Stalin was like a conductor, playing everyone as he saw fit. It is suggested by historians the executions of the ‘suspected traitors’ and Nikolayev was a way to cover up the assassination of Kirov. This shows that to Stalin, anyone is disposable. Before the assassination Nikolayev had been a mysterious figure and had been questioned by the NKVD for not having a permit to carry a loaded revolver in the party headquarters. After this the NKVD had released Nikolayev even after he had clearly broken Soviet laws and that would have normally ended up facing charges in people’s court. Several days after this occurred, the NKVD had withdrawn all security for Kirov at the party headquarters and only left Kirov with an escort to the headquarters and a security post outside the headquarters. Numerous days later Sergei Kirov was found dead at the Leningrad Party Organisations headquarters. There is many pieces missing to this puzzle and it seemed very suspicious but all evidence from Soviet records and historians suggests that Stalin and the NKVD organised the assassination of Kirov. (Repression and Terror: Kirov Murder and Purges)

The assassination of Kirov was an example of how the NKVD operated, the NKVD had been detaining and murdering people all throughout the Great Terror all under the order of Stalin controlling the NKVD actions. An estimated death toll was hard to determine, during this period people simply disappeared and the NKVD covered their tracks well. The official number from Soviet records stands at 1,500,000 arrests made and of whom 681,000 were shot. I believe without the extensive use of the NKVD to arrest, murder, kidnap and interrogate people, Stalin would have struggled to maintain social fear and political submission leading to the weakening of his power and the collapse of his own regime. (Repression and Terror: Kirov Murder and Purges)The Great Terror was Stalin’s purge of the 1930’s, the purge was a campaign political and social repression, and this played a huge role in controlling the opinion of the public. While previous purges under Stalin involved the persecutions of kulaks, Nepmen clergymen, and former oppositionists, the Great Purge is branded by imprisonments and executions not only of criminals and enemies of the state but of Communists leaders and party members, members of the Red Army, and the Intelligentsia. The Great Purge introduced a new type of terror in which the people who were not affected by the terror were no existent because everyone had been affected. The purges organised all under the order of Stalin. Stalin had organized the purge because he wanted no threats against his power and regime. Stalin used the NKVD to do the so called ‘dirty work’ for the purges to be successful. The Great Terror created a cult personality around Stalin, this was because of the use of propaganda and fear tactics. Stalinist propaganda was used to formulate a bias opinion around Stalin for the public, Stalin was often represented as the father of the Soviet Union. (The Great Terror: Stalin's Purges of the Thirties)

Stalinist propaganda was seen in all aspects of life, some examples are: Schools, Radio, Posters, Cinemas, Art, Newspapers and Books. Stalin’s propaganda was like advertisement, Stalin would essentially advertise himself and the status of his authority. The constant hammering of widespread propaganda on the people was successful at making the people worship Stalin like if the people were in a cult. However, the way he achieved this was unethical and corrupt, as he suppressed the publics freedom and tried to create a new generation of Stalin worshipers within the youth of Russia. The manipulation through propaganda, of the Russian people created Stalinism. (The Personality Cult of Stalin in Soviet Posters)Artists and writers were ordered to glorify Stalin to manipulate the public, they followed certain archetypes to represent Stalin either as a father or teacher. Here there is a propaganda poster of Stalin holding a young child. This poster presents Stalin as a father figure but the bigger picture he is trying to get across to the public, is that he is the father figure of the Soviet Union. The child in the poster is holding the Soviet flag but also seems to happy and comfortable in Stalin’s hands. This represents the new generation of the Russian people and how the new youth are all becoming apart of Stalin’s cult. The poster also provides a false impression of Stalin and is very bias towards him because it was ordered to be made like that by Stalin himself. However, it demonstrates how Stalin tried to paint a positive image of himself to manipulate the people into thinking Stalin fair and wants best for the people, even though in reality this was false. (Refer to Appendix 1)

A section in the book The Red Fog: A Memoir of Life in the Soviet Union discusses the repression that citizens had during the Great terror and World War ll. The author describes the Great Terror as human suppression, but also the author described life during the time as always being paranoid and fearful of what would happen if you did the wrong thing. The author briefly mentioned how that propaganda was seen everywhere in daily aspects of life and you could not escape from it, this demonstrates how Stalin was trying to sway public opinion into his favour. (The Red Fog: A Memoir of Life in the Soviet Union)The constant repression by the NKVD supported with propaganda of forcing predetermined opinions about Stalin allowed Stalin to create his cult of Stalinism. This forced the public to obey Stalin and his policies. This created a cult personality about Stalin’s regime because people could not escape from it, as it was forced upon them and the people had no power to combat against his regime.

After the Great Terror is when the cult of Stalinism transpired, Stalin had created a new generation of people that would worship him because of propaganda that was laid upon the children and youth in schools. In conclusion, Stalin's ideological approach of a cult and representation of himself as a god allowed him to control his population. The use of propaganda and secret police to maintain social submission, led to greater control over his population, thus led to rapid industrialisation of the country and the fulfilments of Stalin's five-year plans. Without having total control over his population. Because Stalin created a new generation of worshippers that were manipulated by propaganda and kept in line by the NKVD. As a result of this Stalin was able to advance the Soviet Union industrially, economically and agriculturally than ever before and was able to elevate Russia to the top of the table of most powerful countries of the time.