Biographies

• Stalin AKA Josef Vissarionovich Dzughashvili Barebones details from a new site, NNDB. Clearly set out and good links to basic info on other leading figures connected with Stalin
• CNN Cold War: Stalin  Fine outline bio of Stalin, from CNN's Cold War series
• The warlords: Joseph Stalin. Another TV piece: Channel 4 background article on Stalin. Good potted bio.
• Stalin: the Totalitarian State The first page of a multi-page section about Stalin. Gives a basic overview with some source support.
• Stalin Biographical Chronicle  Extremely detailed chronology of Stalin, pick a year from (the minutely printed) timeline and get a blow by blow listing of Stalins activities day by day almost ....  Can be slow to load. be patient!
• Stalin, his father and the Rabbit. Full and detailed review of the book on Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. This is a good article by the author which could save you the 300 pages of the book...
• Stalin Early Years Biography Student site, well detailed §
• Another View of Stalin by Ludo Martens a Belgian historian noted for his work on the Soviet Union. He is chairman of the Belgian Workers Party. The full text of the book in English.

• Two brief extracts on Stalin's personality:

Twenty Letters to a Friend (1967) a psychological insight into Stalin's personality from his daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva Khrushchev Remembers (1971) a psychological insight into Stalin's personality from Nikita Khrushchev, a close colleague and future leader of the Soviet Union

 

The succession

• The demise of Lenin & the rise of Stalin This powerpoint resource from Invicta Grammar School is a good starter.
• Lenin's Testament (1922) on who should succeed him in the party leadership
• How Lenin Led to Stalin - a left wing article contrasts the nature of Leninism and Stalinism and the problems of modern interpretation.
• Was Stalinism Implicit in October? - individual view on the Bolshevik 1917 Revolution seeing in it the roots of Stalin's Russia.
• Civil War, Lenin and the Rise of Stalin Lengthy narrative article by Frank E. Smitha covering the period through to Stalin's policies of the 1930's. (1998)
• Comparison of Stalin and Trotsky from johndclare.net. Note format for introduction only.
• Stalin vs. Trotsky Presentation by Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College on Stalins´s rise.
• Stalin: Stalin & the Communist Party in the 1920's Article looking at emergence of Stalin after Lenin's death. (Extracts from N Pereira's article in History Today Vol. 42, August 1992)
• The Rise of Stalinism Online lecture by Ted Grant

 

Simon Sebag Montefiore: Young Stalin This has to be read by anyone who seriously wants to understand what made Stalin tick. The account of his youth and formative years (up to Oct/Nov 1917) clearly indicates the impact of growing up in the wilds of (still lawless and gangster riddled) Georgia and the Caucasus. Sebag Montefiore's account does more though - it explains perhaps the ease with which the USSR slid into oligarchy and lawlessness in the 1990's - because of a general underlying tradition of violence, but also the dangers of faith schools and the risks of encarcerating enemies of the state in similar places. Stalin? More educated and culturally rounded than I had thought, but presents as not a pleasant character at all - easy to understand his purges and ruthlessness as later USSR leader. Equally repugnant seemed to be his inclination towards impregnating teenage girls at least half his age - one of whom was only 13, (he was in his 30's......) Very readable nonetheless.

 

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2. The Stalinist State
   

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Stalinism

• Stalinism in the 1930s: the Second Revolution. Lecture notes on Stalinism in the 1930's from Goucher College. Rudimentary but a good, clear overview with statistical support
• Leninism versus Stalinism : Was Stalin the executor of Lenin’s will - or just his comrades? IB notes based on an article by Simon Hartfree in Modern History Review, Vol.8, Issue 2. §
• Communist Party; Politburo; NKVD; Secret Police from Spartacus educational Site. Excellent introductory sections for an overview linked to documents
• Humanising Stalin? By Simon Sebag Montefiore BBC background essay to its programme on the death of Stalin. "History portrays Stalin as an inhumane and vicious leader - but he was a man as well as a monster. Do we betray his victims by noting his human side, or will the full picture help guard us against potential tyrants in the future?"
• Stalinism: Its Origins and Future Huge online book looking at Stalinism's origins as well as where it led to in the lat 20th century. Not over objective, but also has a full list of potted biographies as a footnote to the immense work.
• The Age of Totalitarianism: Stalin and Hitler by Steven Kreis. These lectures were written over the past five years and served as the basis for European history classes at Florida Atlantic University and Meredith College.
• The Nature of Stalinism Online lecture by Ted Grant
• A New Society By Prof Rempel, Western New England College. Detailed lecture
• Glory to our Great Party Jokes about the Communist Party, the Soviet regime, the standard of living, etc
• The Making of the Stalinist State 1928-1941 Dr Jane McDermid puts Stalin's Russia under the microscope from the first of the Five Year Plans to the outbreak of World War II. This is part 1, click here for part 2.

Local Control

• The Changing nature of Centre-Local Relations in the USSR, 1928-1936 Edited, EA Rees. series of very valuable chapters on the local government of the main regions across the Soviet Union. A rare example of a publisher (Macmillan) posting academic research free on the web. pdf file

Cult of the Personality

• Hymn to Stalin the text by Avidenko to sing along to...
• Stalin and the "Cult of Personality" AO Avdienko and Yevgeny Yevtushenko on Stalin and the "Cult of Personality"

Propaganda

• The Commissar Vanishes Well produced site looking at the way photography was manipulated during the Stalin period
• The Chairman Smiles: Soviet Posters "By 1930, propaganda focuses on political discipline and the Five Year Plans, ambitious programs for the collectivization of agriculture and establishment of heavy industry. The posters give a powerful, dynamic impression, using photomontage, compositions with diagonal lines, and strong contrasts in colours and shapes."
• Museum of Russian Poster. Good chronological listing of posters by year from this Russian site.
• The Soviet Poster- Revolution by Design Clearly explained and illustrated sections on the main aspects the poster on Stalinist policies. Click on the "View posters" by each section to see all the posters.
• Soviet Constructivistic propaganda 1920 - 1929 Visually interesting site of examples of constructive agitprop..
• "Life's Getting Better" In 1934, Stalin announced in a speech that "life was getting better" as a result of his program and encouraged artists to promote the "better life" of the Soviet Union. One of the best-known songs of these years was the 1936 "Life's Getting Better," written by Aleksandr Aleksandrov, founder and leader of the Red Army Ensemble. From the Mosaic site. §

 

Collected Documents

• Stalin documents from the early period (Can be slow to load, patience!):

Concerning Questions of Leninism  (1926) The Social-Democratic Deviation in Our Party  (1926) The Opposition Bloc in the C.P.S.U. (1926) The Party's Three Fundamental Slogans on the Peasant  Question (1927) The Fifteenth Congress of the C.P.S.U. (1927)

 

• See also 8. General sites (Documents at the end of this page).

 

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Go to casahistoria site on Stalin's Economy, 1927-41

4. The Terror
   

5. Women in Stalin's Russia
   

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Women in Totalitarian States: For extensive links to Women in Stalinist Russia click to visit the Stalin's Russia section of the casahistoria site.

             This also has comparisons with women in other single party states

             Sections include: