- Competitors

Enemies of the People

High Stalinism was an era of extremes.  Some of these extremes were reflected in the explosive growth of the Soviet economy in the 1930s and the  glorification of the “heroic worker,” as you can see in these images of the Stakhanovite movement and in the construction of the industrial city, Magnitogorsk:

• Video: The Stakhanov Movement
• Video: Construction of the Magnitogorsk Metal Works

But, there were also the indescribable and incomprehensible extremes of Stalin’s purges and nothing less than the systematic extermination of the old communist elite.  It is both disturbing and puzzling to think that so many people went along with these polices.

• Video: Verdict of the Court and Verdict of the People

For the Soviet Union, the suffering was devastating, as these slides attest:

• Slides: Forced Labor Camps

But paradoxically, many people, both high officials and ordinary Russians, seemed to love Stalin all the more, as you can see in this video and this hymn:

• Video: Stalin Video Collection
• Hymn to Stalin

• “Z”, “To the Stalin Mausoleum,” section VI.
• Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon. (first half of the book)
• Nikolai Bukharin’s secret letter to Stalin, December 10, 1937.

The Stalinist Model spreads to East-Central Europe

In this lecture, I jump a bit into the future to examine Stalinism’s impact on other European settings immediately after WWII.

• Wolfgang Leonhard, Child of the Revolution, “The Comintern School”

Discussion

The Path of Armed Struggle

Now that we have considered Stalin’s rise to power, I will address the Chinese revolution and the quite different path that Mao Zedong followed, especially during the formative period of the “Long March” of 1934-1935.  Mao’s ability to foment revolution in the countryside occurred as much because of the unintended consequences of others’ actions as it did of his own designs.  There is no greater symbol of Chinese communism than the Long March.

• Map: Long March
• William Rosenberg and Marilyn Young, Transforming Russia and China, pp. 135-47.
• Mao Zedong, “Rectify the Party’s Style of Work,” February 1, 1942.

The Path of the Populist Revolutionary

Today, I will consider the path to power of two populist revolutionaries, Fidel Castro and (at least mythologically)  Kim Il-Sung.  Just as in China, guerrilla warfare had a decisive impact on Cuban and North Korean communism. In fact, Castro only proclaimed his allegiance to world communism after coming to power.  To get a feel for the distinctive culture of Cuban socialism, watch these interviews with some of Fidel’s former guerrilla fighters:

• Video: Cuban Revolution

Likewise, one cannot overstate the distinctive character of North Korean communism.  Here’s a little “Arirang”:

• Video: North Korean Mass Games

Death of the Great Leader Kim Il-Sung:

• Video: Death of the Father of the Socialist Homeland

• Fidel Castro, “The Revolution Begins Now” (excerpt), January 3, 1959.
• Brief background on Fidel and the Cuban revolution.
• Background on North Korea, “Origins of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.
• Kim Il-sung, "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and establishing Juche in Ideological Work” (1955).