Сталин и культ личности Stalin and the Cult of Personality

Stalin’s power was largely developed through violence and terror He also generated devotion through propaganda Stalin was depicted as both –God (Father of his people) –Mortal (Man of the people) The overall result was a cult of personality, created by Lenin but developed by Stalin

The written word Stalin was, according to Montefiore, “The best read ruler of Russia from Catherine the Great, up to and including Vladimir Putin, even including Lenin who had the benefits of a nobleman’s education” Stalin’s control of Soviet writers was exemplified by the First Congress of Soviet Writers (1934), which punished with deportation anything not authorised by the Soviet Writer’s Union Andrei Zhadanov was appointed head of the congress and rapidly became one of the most influential party members

Poetry A O Avdienko, an article in Pravda, 1936 O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples Thou who broughtest man to birth Thou who fructifies the earth Thou who restorest to centuries Thou who makest bloom the spring Thou who makes vibrate the musical chords Thou, splendour of my spring, O thou Sun reflected by millions of hearts

Pictures Stalin is portrayed as a man of the people, but also idolized as a God. Stalin could be many things in images, including a Georgian peasant, a father figure and a deity, yet all working together to create the cult of Stalin

Film Leader worship was a constant theme in films of the Stalinist era Great Citizen presents Stalin, Lenin and Kirov as the leaders of the Revolution. Kirov is assassinated by Zinovievites, helping to justify the purgesGreat Citizen Alexander Nevsky was anti-German propaganda, it was banned after the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact then re- released after the 1941 invasionAlexander Nevsky Circus tells the story of an American woman with a black father, ostracised into joining a Russian circus. Parts of the film are in a variety of languages, but the Yiddish section was cut in 1948 when Stalin began his anti-Semitic purgeCircus