Totalitarianism, Communism, Stalinism Totalitarianism can be both Left and Right: similarities and

differences Communism in its original utopian meaning means

abolition of the state – the exact opposite of totalitarianism Communism as the political praxis of Communist Party

regimes has historically produced the most developed forms of totalitarianism

The fact that the ideology of liberation led to the practice of enslavement of society by the state has dealt a devastating blow to the communist project

Ability of communist states to move away from the totalitarian mode without abandoning a socialist framework would be tested for several decades

2 forms of totalitarianism

Similarities Total subjugation of society to the state State control of the economy, suppression or heavy

regulation of market forces Personal dictatorship Abolition of political and civil liberties The party-state Cult of the Leader Mass political terror and repression, key role of secret

police Mass mobilization in support of the state – key role of mind

control by means of culture, media, propaganda Militarization of society, preparation for war

Stalin and Stalinism The association of a specific form of communist rule with a

specific leader – inevitable, given the enormous personal role of the leader in a totalitarian system

But the personality cult and the new type of autocratic rule were products of specific processes of political and social change

The ubiquity of totalitarianism in the 20th century – Russia was just one of many examples

The march of dictators 1922: Italy, Spain 1923: Turkey 1926: Poland, Lithuania, Portugal 1929: Yugoslavia 1933: Germany 1934: Latvia, Bulgaria 1936: Hungary, Greece 1939: Spain again 1940: Romania

1927 The economy had been restored to pre-World War I levels,

but on an old and weak technological base Need for modernization widely recognized

The rural economy not productive enough, peasants demand higher prices for produce, more industrial goods

Fear of war, sense of backwardness and weakness How to industrialize? By means of national economic planning – Five Year Plans

Nikolai Bukharin, member of the Party’s Politburo

Aleksei Rykov, head of the Soviet Government (1924-30)

Mikhail Tomsky, head of the Soviet trade union federation

Nikolai Uglanov, head of Moscow Party organization

Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky, Uglanov: Planning must be within the NEP framework, combine government directives with market economy maintain peace with the peasantry, developing economic incentives, setting realistic goals for economic growth (not more than

16% a year)

Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov

Lazar Kaganovich

Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich: abandon NEP as obsolete industrialize fast – or perish set high targets for growth (20-22% a year) force the peasants into collective and state farms extract economic “tribute” from them to finance

industrialization suppress market forces, replace the market with state

commands The Command Economy (term invented later)

1928-29: The Bukharin group is defeated by Stalinists The Stalinist version of planning is adopted as government

policy Bukharin and his supporters are removed from their posts Implementation of the 1st Five Year Plan begins Shift from market economy to command economy

Collectivization of agriculture Destruction of traditional forms of rural economy and life Forcing peasants into collective and state farms Liquidation of the kulaks – richer peasants – “as a class” Ordering peasants to produce more at minimal prices Punishment for insubordination Using this “tribute” to finance industrialization Disorganization of agricultural economy Drought Peasant resistance Fall in production Escalation of state violence 7 mln. people died of famine

Members of a village Soviet, 1930

The 1932-33 famine affected 66 mln. people; 7 mln. died

Industrialization Massive construction of new industrial plants Government pressure on the workers and managers to

produce more Labour unions lose their role as defenders of worker

interests Wages fell by 50% Food shortages in the cities Lack of housing Social discontent

This type of forced social change had the characteristics of another civil war

To wage it, the state became totalitarian It did so in the name of “building socialism” It mobilized millions of people to participate in this

offensive Vast expansion of the police apparatus, with the security

police as its core Systematic large-scale repressions against all groups of

the population deemed “dangerous”

“The Cultural Revolution” Massive education campaign (literacy rate grew from 20%

to 70% by 1939) Literacy, culture are used to form a new mindset Suppression of individualism, extolling the virtues of

collective power No dissent allowed Total loyalty to the Party Stalin’s personality cult “We are only cogs in the great machine”

The shift from NEP to Stalinism met opposition and resistance within the Communist Party

In response, Stalinists expelled from the Party those who had different views

The Party was transformed into a “monolithic” political force obedient to Stalin, bureaucratically run

The Party is fused with of the state, becomes its core 1934-38: Repressions aimed at Soviet elites 10 of the 15 members of the first Soviet Government

(formed in 1917 under Lenin) were executed as “enemies of the people”

Sergei Kirov, Leningrad Party leader, killed Dec. 1, 1934

Scale of repression, official secret police data From KGB secret report to Soviet leader Khrushchev, Feb.

1, 1954: Number of people charged with “counterrevolutionary

crimes”, since 1921: Convicted – 3,777, 380 people, of whom:

Executed – 642,000 people, Incarcerated in camps and prisons for terms up to 25 years

– 2,369,000 people, Exiled – 765,180 people.

http://statehistory.ru/52/Stalinskie-repressii/

Instruction of secret police officers

State security organs, numbers of victims, 1926-1953

convicted

released executed

Numbers of persecuted Russian Orthodox priests: blue graph – arrests, red - executions

Genrikh Yagoda, head of security police, 1934-36: executed in 1937 for treason

Nikolai Yezhov, head of security police, 1936-38, executed in 1938 for treason

Lavrenty Beria, head of security police, 1938-1945, executed in 1953 for treason

GULAG wards, 1930s

Prison “kindergarten” for children of “political criminals”

March of Enthusiasts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4htPfh

lY2nA

“Life has become better, comrades, life has become happier – and when life is happy, the work is more productive.” – I.V.Stalin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YsL4HXZN9E&feature=related

“Let us raise a generation fully loyal to the cause of communism!”

“The people’s dreams have come true!”

“Young people – take to the planes!”

1934: ANT-20, world’s biggest airplane

1937: Soviet pilots are first to fly to America over the North Pole

Landing in Vancouver

Collective farmers, 1930s

Athletic games at a summer resort, 1935

High school graduates, 1930s

A family party, 1937

Young Pioneers, 1937

Amusements park, Moscow, 1938

Soviet postage stamps, 1930s

Soviet postage stamps, 1930s

“Worker and Farmer”, giant metal monument by N. Mukhina, 1937

The human toll of Stalinism Causes: policy blunders and state terror Excessive deaths, 1927-38:

10 mln. people 8.5 mln. in 1927-36 (most died of hunger) 1.5 mln. in 1937-38 (executed or died in camps)

Vorkuta, center of GULAG: Memorial to inmates of labour camps

Russia: a memorial to victims of the Great Terror