Stalinism

Ideological bases

Stalinism is primarily a practice, applied in the USSR then in the States of the Eastern bloc. It has nevertheless an ideological component , characterized by:

the organization of the Party: Stalin estimates that no debate and no opposition could be tolerated inside the Party. Only the general secretary (Stalin in the USSR) must direct the Party. By contrast, one will recall that Trotski thus defends a minimum of democracy and pluralism, but only within the strict framework of the Party; and that the communist of councils defend a local decision, and consider that “the revolution is not a business of parties” (Otto Rühle).
the theory of “socialism in only one country”. Lénine and Trotski preached on the contrary the international, permanent revolution until the victory.
Stalin is in favor of a State extremely and authoritative, even if its disappearance is declared “envisaged” at the end of the process. While waiting, the State suspends the many individual freedoms and collective conquered in the Russian Révolution, like the right to the Avortement (the right to the abortion had been obtained in Russia in 1920 pennies pressure of Alexandra Kollontaï; it was then removed by Stalin in 1936), the vote for all for the women, freedom of press, sexual freedom (including the Homosexualité)…
Contrary to “the disappearance of work”, ultimate goal proclaimed by Karl Marx, Stalinism exalte the work and the devotion of the Salarié with the doctrines of the Stakhanovisme. Stalin gives up the NEP (Nouvelle economic policy) started in 1921 and starts Re-to nationalize the means of production systematically.
Stalin developed the Nationalisme, including chauvinism and xenophobia - what was the reverse of the principle of the Internationalisme (one of the bases of Communism).

Stalin condemned with force “the egalitarianism”. He considered that the socialist company was to adopt standards of distribution of the richness differentiated according to the “contribution” from each social layer to the company. The living and working conditions of the bureaucratic elite were definitely more favorable than those of the working mass. The farming community was the large losing one of these inequalities with very fragile conditions of existence and, at certain periods, situations of famine.

While asserting officially Marxism, Stalin was opportunist who adapted his ideas to his goal of domination (changing them to take adversaries with opposite course and to transform them into “traitors”, for example), and not an ideologist using his domination to advance ideas. Thus, Stalinism “ was not theorized a priori, but corresponds more to practices having for objective the confiscation of the capacity by Stalin ”.

Stalinist practices

The concept of Stalinism, not being truly an ideology, is associated with practices of terror organized by the State. It left its mark in:

the systematic elimination of all the real or potential opponents, inside like outside. Stalin makes assassinate all the Polish executives (Katyń, inter alia), his opponents Bolsheviks (of which Trotski) or not, etc;
massive deportation in the Gulag S of whole people and real or supposed opponents (cf Kolyma);
when the Deportation or the police and military action is not possible, the use of the Famine organized to overcome the rebellious people;
a permanent handling of the History and Ideology, with “purgings” aiming at eliminating all the “traitors”, i.e. in practice all potential competitors, all witnesses and all traces of the evolutions of Stalin;
the concept of Stalinist lawsuit: the culprit in advance (because he recognizes its crime, following a psychological preparation adequate and if necessary under the direct or indirect threat aiming its friends or its family) is judged without pity and with a very formal respect of the procedures, because all is prepared in advance. The lawsuit is used to justify the purgings, but also to make carry the weight of the failures to scapegoats;
a militarist mode and “totalitarist”;
a very active Propaganda and entirely with the service of the chief (announcing a harvest record one year of famine, for example);
a monitoring of the whole population by itself, under the cane of regularly purged highly developed secret services (Tcheka, GPU/Guépéou, OGPU, NKVD/NKGB, and services successors), themselves.

These processes are not specific to Stalin, they have many antecedents and historical successors, in Russia and elsewhere, but one can say that Stalin industrialized them and carried to an high degree, so much so that the machine will continue to function after his death. Stalin starts to dominate in the USSR since 1922, then, starting from the death of Lénine in 1924 Stalin consolidates his capacity gradually. The exclusion of Leon Trotski of the Party in 1927 mark its final success. Its practices, and the means of the USSR, make it possible Stalin to dominate the principal “Communist parties” (stalinized), joined together in the Komintern (IIIe Internationale), then the Kominform starting from 1947. On the other hand, they fail to really give to the USSR the place in the world to which Stalin claimed (the first).

Worship of the personality

For the totalitarian State, the worship of the personality is used to weave bonds between the Chief and the subjected population, to develop the national identity like masking the various problems (lack of freedom, arbitrary arrests…). Starting from the 50e birthday of Stalin (1929), Stalinism does not make exception to the rule. In addition to the multiple portraits of him which flower at good number of Soviets, there exist poems with the glory of the “small father of the people”:

“ O large Stalin, O chief of the people You who gives birth to the man You who fertile the ground You who renovated the centuries You which make flower spring You who makes vibrate the musical cords You splendor of my spring, Sun reflected by thousands of hearts. ” (Rakhimov, Pravda , August 28th, 1936, put in music by Prokoviev).

Posterity

Stalin dies in 1953. In 1956, the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe start to break with certain aspects of Stalinism, while declaring themselves always favorable to the “Marxisme-léninisme”. The fundamental ones of the Stalinist mode are however preserved, and the report/ratio Khrouchtchev indicates the crimes of Stalin only like “excesses” and “deviations”.

Starting from the the Sixties and Rupture sino-Soviet, only the Popular republic of China of Mao Zedong and its allied Albania of Enver Hodja continue to be claimed of Stalin. Since, Stalinism evolved/moved in the form of the Maoïsme: mode of the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea, guerilla of the luminous Path with the Peru starting from the Years 1980 or guerilla Maoist with the Nepal. In France, in 2007, the last bunches asserting Stalinism openly are the Communist party Marxist-Leninist of France and the Communist party of the workmen of France.

The Stalinist modes are characterized by the dictatorship of Heads of States like Stalin or Mao Zedong, and by a bureaucratized planned economy (called by other communist branches a Capitalisme of State), where the bureaucracy of State constitutes the exploitor and single oppressor of the masses. These modes are regarded as true prisons with open sky. The word is applied to indicate practices considered as the roof of unacceptable, in particular in term of ridiculed Démocratie, even if they do not have any relationship with the Communisme.

Genesis of the concept

The " term; stalinien" is used starting from 1926, and " stalinisme" as from 1929.

Stalin put itself ahead by organizing the worship of its personality, like that of Lénine, which ensured a legitimacy to him. Thus as of the years 1930, partisans as adversaries largely used the term of “Stalinist” (as of the middle of the years 1920 for some Communiste S opponents with Stalinism). For example, the leader of PCF, Maurice Thorez, proclaimed “first Stalinist France”. As of this period, the trotskist S, communist S not Leninist S (libertarian, luxemburgists, conseillists…), the representatives of the Left Communist and some Socialiste S (in particular various revolutionary Socialists) denounced the “Stalinism” of the government of the the USSR and the various parties affiliated to PCUS.

Stalin proclaimed an absolute respect of “large old” (the Marx, Lénine) and made indicate the doctrines in force only under the term of “Marxisme-léninisme”, term used to indicate the doctrines of the parties of the Komintern then Kominform, under Stalinist domination (of 1924 with 1956 approximately). In fact, Stalin was not a theorist, but rather a propagandist, his “talent” was not to create concepts again, but rather of their giving of it an interpretation accessible and apparently in conformity with the originals, while being initially and above all in phase with his own objectives. Same manner, Stalin could denature the designs of its enemies to make them pass for “obvious” errors even treasons.

The concept of Stalinism is the subject sometimes of polemics. Thus, in the Error of the Occident , Alexandre Soljenitsyne - inter alia - endeavoured to dispute the existence even “Stalinist” doctrines. For him, to consider that Stalinism exists would amount attenuating the crimes committed under the Russian Révolution of 1917. Stalin would have done nothing but apply the precepts of Lénine: “Stalinism existed neither in theory nor in practice: one can speak neither about Stalinist phenomenon, nor of Stalinist time, these concepts were manufactured after 1956 by the Western thought of left to keep the communist ideals. ” However, the term of “Stalinism”, as opposed to what affirms Alexandre Soljenitsyne, was used as of the years 1920, and even more largely as from the years 1930, to mark what was regarded as a rupture with the Marxism (even with the Bolchevisme), for example by Boris Souvarine or several personalities trotskists of which Trotsky itself.

Nowadays, the term is generally used in a pejorative way in occident, but of many parties and groups in the world themselves are asserted of Stalinism.

Quotations

“Stalinism, it is the longest way to go from capitalism… to capitalism. ” Lech Wałęsa.
“presentation of the Russian mode like " socialiste" - or as having an unspecified relationship with socialism - is the greatest known mystification of the history. ” Cornelius Castoriadis, In front of the war , 1981.
In Stalinism “the practice precedes the theory: it is primarily about a composite whole of practices of which some were set up afterwards in theories, but the majority remained without theoretical formulations, and even dissimulated under contrary formulas with reality. ” It is “a party which indefinitely prolongs its dictatorship, which left plasters with the service of a new profiteuse oligarchy whose illusory ideology, Stalinism or Marxism-Leninism, dissimulates a relentless exploitation of the man by the man, negation of socialism and Communism. ” Boris Souvarine, Stalinism , 1964.
“a death it is a tragedy… A million deaths, statistics. ” Joseph Stalin.

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