Stalin's Cult of Personality

1. Does the fact that images of Stalin appeared everywhere, as described by Steinbeck in Source 14.8, prove that Stalin attracted genuine adulation?

The fact that images of Stalin appeared everywhere does not prove that Stalin attracted genuine adulation. I believe this because the "Cult of Personality" occurred after the Great Purges so the people could've still been a little afraid to do something Stalin wouldn't approve because they could be executed. Since they still fear being executed it shows that they wanted to bring the least amount of tension towards themselves, and the only way to do that was to blend in with the crowd, who had Stalin statues and paintings everywhere in his honor. Not only could have the people been afraid of Stalin but their neighbors and co-workers as well. Their neighbors and co-workers could still be in that mode during the Great Purge, where many people were executed and denounced because their neighbors told the NKVD and Stalin that they are Trotskyites. So basically there still could've been fearfulness going around during the "Cult of Personality" because of the Great Purge, therefore some people may have thought that the only way to prove themselves loyal and not get executed was by having statues and paintings of Stalin in their homes.

2. Describe the various devices used to establish and spread the cult of Stalin.

The various devices used to establish and spread the cult of Stalin are as follows: the link between Stalin and Lenin, Stalin's accomplishments in the First Five-Year Plan, Stalin being protrayed as a hero, paintings and other forms of art portrayed Stalin with co-workers, peasants, and other citizens, retrogressing back to Stalin's childhood, and the success in World War II against the Nazis.
First, the link between Stalin and Lenin was one of the devices in the spread by Stalin being protrayed as Lenin's desciple, as he was portrayed at Lenin's funeral. Stalin is shown in some paintings as giving Lenin advice, and in Source 14.6 Lenin is showing Stalin that he can go ahead of him which is supposedly a symbol if Lenin showing Stalin the way to the bright future. Therefore Stalin is shown as still a desciple of Lenin and that Stalin is going to be just a good a leader as Lenin was, giving people hope and almost guarantee that Stalin is and will be a good leader.
Also, Stalin’s accomplishments in the First Five-Year Plan are used because it shows the people what Stalin has accomplished in a positive light, and that more great stuff will occur in the future with Stalin. Basically, Stalin accomplished all the industrialization in USSR and he could do it again in the future.
Third, Stalin was portrayed as a hero amongst all the villains from the Great Purge. The “traitors” were being executed during the Great Purge and confused the citizens because of all the executions and supposed traitors, but Stalin was shown as a leader that would get USSR through the Great Purge, and that he would lead the people out of confusion.
In addition, in paintings and other forms of art like statues Stalin is portrayed as there for the people and that the people are in his best interest. This is true because in some paintings Stalin is with industrial workers talking with them and in others he’s in the fields talking to peasants, which shows that Stalin has the people as his top priority. Since Stalin is shown as keeping the people as a top priority it probably gave people peace almost, that they would be taken care of by Stalin. There were also posters in hospitals saying that without Stalin they wouldn’t have had a happy childhood, which shows that Stalin made the people very happy and without him it wouldn’t have been joyful.
Another device that was used was going back to Stalin’s childhood. They used his childhood to show that he was a natural born leader. Since he’s portrayed as this it gave the people hope that Stalin, a natural born leader, will bring USSR to greatness and possibly become one of the great powers. Also, it gave the people almost guarantee that since he was a natural born leader he must be able to do all good for the country.
Lastly, the success in World War II against the Nazis was used as another device in the Cult of Personality. The success enhanced Stalin’s position and fed the cult because now Stalin wasn’t portrayed as a disciple but as an equal or even the master. Now Stalin was giving Lenin directions, and Stalin was perceived almost like a god. In some paintings he is distant from everyone and even portrayed as the sun, which shows that he was very powerful and very much praised by the people.

3. Account for the relative success of the cult - why do you think it worked with the Russian people?

I believe the “Cult of Personality” worked with the Russian people because of the chaos and uncertainty the Great Purge made and then Stalin being perceived as a great leader who will bring them out of the chaos. The Great Purge caused confusion because nobody trusted anyone anymore, and they didn’t know what was the real purpose of the Great Purge (they were confused on Stalin’s motives with the Great Purge). Since they didn’t know Stalin’s motives and if he was really leading them, they became confused; however, Stalin saw this and tried to fix it with the “Cult of Personality.” The main factor, in my opinion, that made it work with the people was how Stalin was perceived in paintings and other forms of art as being able to lead the people out of the confusion and bring them stability. This is what the people wanted, stability and leadership, since Stalin was portrayed as this they saw hope and certainty that Stalin would and could do this. Stalin being portrayed as leader and bringing stability is similar to when Lenin used the ideology “Peace, Bread, and Land,” which was all the people wanted at that time. In the end the people were content that Lenin became the leader because of his political platform, he planned on bringing what the people wanted most, and this is exactly what Stalin is doing.

4. What conclusions can you reach about whether the adulation Stalin received was genuine? Make notes of your answers.

I can come to two conclusions about whether the adulation Stalin received was genuine, and that is yes and no. Yes in the aspect that Stalin offered the Russian people what they wanted most, and no in that some people were still afraid that they would be executed. Since Stalin planned on being the leader and bring USSR out of the chaos from the Great Purge the people were almost excited or relieved that finally someone was going to lead them and bring them out of this chaos. Since Stalin was going to bring this it made the people praise him more, therefore, the adulation that Stalin received was genuine from this point of view. On the other hand, some people could have still been afraid of being executed by Stalin due to the Great Purge. Since there were so many people executed during the Great Purge for many reasons that weren’t always fair, people could have still been afraid after the Great Purges. If they were still afraid of being executed most likely they would have tried to blend in so they wouldn’t get executed. During this time, the “Cult of Personality,” the only way to blend in was by having paintings of Stalin and giving him adulation. Therefore, the adulation given to Stalin on this side wasn’t genuine because the people on this side were just extremely fearful of being executed, and were solely praising him so that they wouldn’t die not because they really did praise Stalin.