(Another extract here from Koba The Dread, a polemic about Stalin by Martin Amis. Marvel at the cynicism on display: )
In 1948, Stalin made the following addition to his official biography, the Short Course: “At the various stages of the war, Stalin’s genius found the correct solution that took account of all the circumstances … His military mastership was displayed both in defence and offence. His genius enabled him to divine the enemy’s plans and defeat them.”
Stalin then made this addition to that addition: “Although he performed his task of leader of the Party with consummate skill and enjoyed the unreserved support of the entire Soviet people, Stalin never allowed his work to be marred by the slightest hint of vanity, conceit or self-adulation.”
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February 12, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Jonk
hahah thats GOLD
February 12, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Pete
That is consumate craziness. Wouldn’t it be great to constantly add to your own editorial on your life.
Do ya reckon Stalin’d have made a good blogger?
February 12, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Markk
I do. But in the meantime, we’ll have to make do with the President of Iran’s blog:
http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/
February 13, 2007 at 8:22 am
Jonk
Hey mark
Can you please do your blog posts in my forum? Just don’t mention they are your blog posts innit!!
February 13, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Markk
Yeah that’ll work when I have a link back to my blog at the bottom of every comment
February 14, 2007 at 7:51 am
Pete
What’s Jonk on about now? Give him a Mexican Wave and that should keep him happy.
February 14, 2007 at 7:52 am
Pete
And I had a look at the Iranian President’s blog. Great stuff, a nice link to the Supreme Leader’s site and a charming mugshot.
but I think I read the Arabic backwards
February 15, 2007 at 10:48 pm
saa
@Pete, Iranians don’t understand Arabic.
Oh yes, have you seen Azerbaijan president’s homepage? You should see his photo shots, you may forget Iranian president’s blog then ;-)
http://www.president.az/s03_photoalbum/_photoalbum_04_e.html
April 12, 2007 at 12:10 am
Romance and Stalin « My Opinions Are Important
[...] EDUCATE THYSELF: For those who have not heard of Stalin, I have blogged about him before. [...]
April 18, 2007 at 3:04 pm
soilride
“The Short Course”? I’m pretty sure that the “Short Course” is in reference to the History of the CPSU(B), rather than what is being referred to as an “official biography” of Stalin. In which case, it wasn’t solely writtened by Stalin, but many other prominent members of the CC of the CPSU(B).
My suggestion is to actually find a copy of this publication and check it out before coming to already pre-drawn conclusions that come from someone else, such as Martin Amis.
April 19, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Markk
The same text is quoted in Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, in “Khrushchev Remembers” (p550). According to that account, it comes from the “Short Biography” of Stalin, rather than the “Short Course”. So it appears Martin Amis made an error here. Neither work was written solely by Stalin in any case.
Either way, I’m hardly an expert on this subject, and am unlikely ever to obtain a copy of the “Short Course” or the “Short Biography” to check.
April 26, 2007 at 1:54 pm
soilride
Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” [which can be found here in full: http://www.uwm.edu/Course/448-343/index12.html ] addressed the supposed crimes of Stalin, or rather the Personality Cult of Stalin. Nikita goes out of his way to try to link Stalin with having a role in building this cult up, but not once during this “secret speech” does Nikita actually quote Stalin who took a resolute position against cults of personality and bureacracy. For example in 1938, Stalin was asked on what he thought of a children’s book that praised him: “I am absolutely against the publication of ‘Stories of the Childhood of Stalin’. The book abounds with a mass of inexactitudes of fact, of alterations, of exaggerations and of unmerited praise. But . . the important thing resides in the fact that the book has a tendency to engrave on the minds of Soviet children (and people in general) the personality cult of leaders, of infallible heroes. This is dangerous and detrimental. The theory of ‘heroes’ and the ‘crowd’ is not a Bolshevik, but a Social-Revolutionary (i.e. Anarchist) theory. I suggest we burn this book”. (JV Stalin, Collected Works, Volume 13; Moscow, 1955, p327)
In fact there are quite a number of sources that indicate Stalin’s position on this as there are witness [and majority of them were non-Soviet] that attests to the character and nature of JV Stalin that smashes the charges made against him by Nikita at the “Secret Speech”.
What is not known [and therefore "secret"] is Khrushchevs role in building up a cult of Stalin before this “secret speech” in which Nikita praised Stalin to the skies in full vainglory than anything else. Soviet and non-Soviet testimonies attest to Stalin’s modesty and character that smashes these “secret” allegations that Stalin was self-seeking, self-centered and ego-tripping (and powerhungry). A number of sources for these exist, such as U.S. Ambassador Joesph Davies, the anti-Soviet biographer of Stalin – Isaac Don Levine and Louis Fischer (yes they were hostile of the Soviet Union and its political leadership but still was able to attest to the character of Stalin that tells a different story than the story Nikita shared at the 20th Congress)
Anyways, following up on the sources of citations and understanding some context behind them I feel is important if one wants to have a substantial view of a particular subject.
April 27, 2007 at 5:51 am
Which former dictator would make the best roommate? « My Opinions Are Important
[...] cult surrounding himself, or was he modest and self-effacing, as claimed by soilride in a recent comment on this [...]
February 1, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hi boys!
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