A woman poses by the newly unveiled bronze bust of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin outside the museum dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad in the southern Russian city of Volgograd on February 1, 2023, on the eve of commemorations of the Soviet victory in the Stalingrad battle. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)
Stalin, who was responsible for the torture and death of millions of Soviet citizens, has not retained a blood-red stain in the minds of the Left: on the contrary, activists do not hesitate to confess their love for him.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Vladimir Putin visited Volgograd (Stalingrad from 1925-1961) and took part in commemorative events. Particularly noteworthy was the opening of a monument to Joseph Stalin in the city a few days before the arrival of the president of the Russian Federation. This event once again makes us think about the paradoxical status of Stalin in the history of Russia, reflected like a mirror in the monuments erected to him.
The fates of the visible commemorations of Stalin’s time has been varied. A large number of monuments erected during the life of the dictator were later removed or demolished during the later Soviet years or after the fall of the Soviet Union. The abovementioned Stalingrad, for example, was renamed in 1961. After the removal of Stalin from the mausoleum on Red Square that he shared with Lenin, a bust was stationed near the Kremlin wall. Despite Khrushchev having denounced Stalin’s ‘cult of personality,’ the tombstone remained in place. Communists still lay flowers there every year on the dictator’s birthday.
Russian Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov (C) lays flowers at the Monument of Joseph Stalin’s grave at the Kremlin wall marking the 137th anniversary of the birth of Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin in Moscow on December 21, 2016. (Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)
In total, there are about a hundred Joseph Stalin monuments throughout Russia, almost all built during the Putin regime (particularly after 2005) at the expense of the modern Communist Party or private individuals, on private territory. The new monument in Volgograd is notable for being erected on public land and with taxpayer money. It is the second alarming encroachment of the Russian state towards sympathy for Stalinism after the introduction of a separate article in the Code of Administrative Offenses, which fixed a fine for “comparing the goals, decisions and actions of the leadership of the USSR with the goals, decisions and actions of the leadership of Nazi Germany.”
Unlike his German ‘colleague’ in the socialist movement, the Soviet dictator is still an ambiguous figure for some. The leader, who was responsible for the torture and death of millions of Soviet citizens, has not retained a blood-red stain in the minds of the Left: on the contrary, activists, including the younger generation, do not hesitate to confess their love for his methods. Mentioning “Stalin’s achievements” in a political speech or in everyday discussion will be not regarded as unusual or a shameful deed in Russian society. This effect can be achieved through strict adherence to the view that ‘we do not betray our guys.’
Today, the Left are questioning the role of such figures as Churchill or de Gaulle, piling on accusations of various ‘crimes.’ Monuments to them must be demolished, they say, but it is quite acceptable to erect monuments to Stalin. An amazing blindness afflicts the Marxist: if you simply remind him of the millions of indisputable victims of the regimes of Stalin, Pol Pot, or Mao, you will hear that “real communism has never been tried.” I just wonder if he would have said the same thing to Comrade Stalin’s face.
Dmitrii Kartashkov is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Turin.
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New Monument to Stalin Unveiled in Russia
A woman poses by the newly unveiled bronze bust of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin outside the museum dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad in the southern Russian city of Volgograd on February 1, 2023, on the eve of commemorations of the Soviet victory in the Stalingrad battle. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Vladimir Putin visited Volgograd (Stalingrad from 1925-1961) and took part in commemorative events. Particularly noteworthy was the opening of a monument to Joseph Stalin in the city a few days before the arrival of the president of the Russian Federation. This event once again makes us think about the paradoxical status of Stalin in the history of Russia, reflected like a mirror in the monuments erected to him.
The fates of the visible commemorations of Stalin’s time has been varied. A large number of monuments erected during the life of the dictator were later removed or demolished during the later Soviet years or after the fall of the Soviet Union. The abovementioned Stalingrad, for example, was renamed in 1961. After the removal of Stalin from the mausoleum on Red Square that he shared with Lenin, a bust was stationed near the Kremlin wall. Despite Khrushchev having denounced Stalin’s ‘cult of personality,’ the tombstone remained in place. Communists still lay flowers there every year on the dictator’s birthday.
In total, there are about a hundred Joseph Stalin monuments throughout Russia, almost all built during the Putin regime (particularly after 2005) at the expense of the modern Communist Party or private individuals, on private territory. The new monument in Volgograd is notable for being erected on public land and with taxpayer money. It is the second alarming encroachment of the Russian state towards sympathy for Stalinism after the introduction of a separate article in the Code of Administrative Offenses, which fixed a fine for “comparing the goals, decisions and actions of the leadership of the USSR with the goals, decisions and actions of the leadership of Nazi Germany.”
Unlike his German ‘colleague’ in the socialist movement, the Soviet dictator is still an ambiguous figure for some. The leader, who was responsible for the torture and death of millions of Soviet citizens, has not retained a blood-red stain in the minds of the Left: on the contrary, activists, including the younger generation, do not hesitate to confess their love for his methods. Mentioning “Stalin’s achievements” in a political speech or in everyday discussion will be not regarded as unusual or a shameful deed in Russian society. This effect can be achieved through strict adherence to the view that ‘we do not betray our guys.’
Today, the Left are questioning the role of such figures as Churchill or de Gaulle, piling on accusations of various ‘crimes.’ Monuments to them must be demolished, they say, but it is quite acceptable to erect monuments to Stalin. An amazing blindness afflicts the Marxist: if you simply remind him of the millions of indisputable victims of the regimes of Stalin, Pol Pot, or Mao, you will hear that “real communism has never been tried.” I just wonder if he would have said the same thing to Comrade Stalin’s face.
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