The Stalin Question

Twentieth Century Communism - ISSN 1758-6437
Volume 2018 Number 14

The Stalin Question
John Callaghan pages -

Abstract

When polling on the topic first began in 1989, Stalin was ranked bottom of the list of the most important Russians, scoring 12 percent. The same survey, by the independent Levada Centre, placed him at the top in 2017, with an approval rating of 38 percent.1 The intervening period has witnessed the publication of numerous studies of aspects of the Stalinist state and society, of Stalin’s colleagues, and of Stalin himself. Some of the biographies, aimed principally at Russians, are intent on depicting him as a hero. Ever since his death in March 1953 he has had his Russian champions, and not merely among those who deny the scale of the violence associated with his rule. Stalin’s role in the Great Patriotic War, his industrialisation of the Soviet Union, his guidance of the country to super-power status – even his treatment of nationalists, dissidents, rivals and criminals – continue to find apologists both erudite and crude. Pro-Stalin sentiment was already associated with the resurgence of Russian nationalism by the mid-1980s, as was contemporary discontent with the weaknesses of the state in the face of mounting social problems.2 But a growing list of scholarly studies have taken advantage of post-1991 access to the archives to examine the Soviet dictator objectively. 

SORRY - you are not registered as being permitted online access to the full text of this article

You have the following options:

  1. If you are viewing this via an institution or academic library you can ask that your institution takes out a Subscription to this journal.
  2. If you already have a Personal Subscription please login below


    Forgotten your username / password? Click here to locate

  3. Purchase an annual Personal Subscription
    PRINT + DIGITAL personal subscription (£30 / year)
    DIGITAL personal subscription (£25 / year)
    A Personal Subscription provides immediate access not only to the single article you are seeking, but also to all past and future articles in this journal up to the expiry of your annual (calendar year) subscription.
  4. Purchase immediate access to this single article (UK£7.00) - Buy article Coming Soon

To cite this article
John Callaghan (2018) The Stalin Question, Twentieth Century Communism, 2018(14), -

Share this