Stalinism: Ideology, Politics, and Impact
Stalinism: Ideology and Political Practice
Stalinism is the term used to describe the ideology and political practice of Joseph Stalin. It was characterized by political centralization, the use of force and violence, a cult of personality, a planned economy, and a state that oppressed the people.
The Struggle for Power
The Stalinist Dictatorship was a totalitarian regime, representing a direct attack on rights and freedoms. In 1922, Trotsky and Stalin, representing different conceptions of the revolution and socialism, clashed.
- Trotsky believed that socialism was impossible without considering the international labor movement. He advocated for a more open party and state.
- Stalin supported socialism in one country, aiming to strengthen the revolution in Russia and then help implement similar schemes elsewhere. He also proposed strong political and administrative centralization.
Stalin ultimately succeeded Lenin and removed Trotsky as commissar of war. Having eliminated his chief rivals, Stalin began a policy of consolidating his personal power, which increased in subsequent years, giving rise to the political regime that bore his own name: Stalinism.
Characteristics of Stalinism
The rise of Stalin’s dictatorship led away from the principles that had inspired the Bolshevik Revolution. He took control of the party and the political police, the dreaded NKVD, to eliminate the old Bolsheviks.
The Stalinist state was institutionalized with the 1936 Constitution, which consolidated the socialization of the means of production and established the duty of citizens to serve the regime and its interests.
Stalin’s absolute power was based on absolute control of the State and the Communist Party, leading to the formation of a submissive breed of leaders.
The Stalinist Economy
Stalin’s economy was subject to state direction through strong centralization and a planning model called Five-Year Plans. These plans had two main objectives:
- Sustain a process of accelerated industrialization, modernizing Russia’s infrastructure and heavy industry.
- Implement forced collectivization in the countryside through a system based on collective ownership (Kolkhoz) and state-owned land where farmers received a salary (Sovkhoz).
Stalin’s rise to power coincided with the Great Depression of 1929. His message to the world was that while the capitalist economy was sinking, Russia continued to grow.
Stalinism ensured a range of social services, such as food, housing, education, and healthcare, especially in large cities. However, the gains were far from being as deep as propaganda proclaimed.
The Purges
The darker aspect of the period was the purges carried out by the regime, leading to millions of deportations and killings.
- Ethnic Minorities: Stalin displaced millions of people to remove any vestige of multinationalism and ensure submission to authoritarian politics.
- Peasants: The ideal of collective farming was not shared by the peasants, who were subjected to fierce repression, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced.
- Political Dissidents: All dissenters were considered enemies of the regime. Many were sent to Siberia, where a system of concentration camps, or gulags, was established, from which escape was virtually impossible.
Socialist Realism in Art
The avant-garde art that flourished during the revolution disappeared. A new aesthetic, Socialist Realism, was developed to represent Stalin’s USSR.