In my continued exposure to leftist spaces and a leftist view on history it has become clear that all I understand about Stalin is the reactionary rhetoric I've been fed my whole life. I have only just started on reading theory and exposing myself to a leftist view, so Stalin as a topic isn't something I've reached yet.

But I have to ask, and I think this is the place to ask it, what is the deal with Stalin?

The vibe I get is that people at a minimum don't hate Stalin, but also maybe at most appricate Stalin. I'm aware that the efforts of the USSR during WW2, especially in regards to Nazi aggression are a credit to his administration and leadership, but is that really where the vibe starts and stops?

I'm not looking for a dissertation on the guy, but just the notes or primary points. I'll take reading suggestions too.

Thanks comrades.

  • Alaskaball [comrade/them]
    ·
    4 months ago

    He was a complicated guy. Grew up with an abusive father and a mother who left his dad and basically raised Stalin by herself.

    Isn't a lot of that sourced from historical fabricator Simon Sebag Montefiore's Young Stalin? From my understanding of what's written by him and about him from reputable authors and historians, his father was not abusive nor entirely absent from his life up till his departure to seminary school. That's not saying he didn't get his ass whooped, as such was a historical and cultural norm of the period.

    As I recall reading from both Kotkin, Barbusse, and G. Roberts, Stalin was more closer to a scholarly type than a rough and tumble gangster. I think to save myself time from writing another Stalin dissertation, I'll wrap up by saying even the modern communist understanding of who Stalin was is incredibly flawed as well.