I was asked once in class to choose the person I considered to be the greatest political leader of the twentieth century. That’s easy enough but I also had to defend my choice. It’s always difficult to make assessments of this kind because of all of the variables that have to be taken into consideration; but as far as I am concerned the real political giant of the twentieth century was Joseph Stalin. This does not mean to say that I like him; I do not: not by any measure. But I cannot help but admire him: I admire his ruthlessness, his intelligence, his political skill and his determination.
The son of a cobbler, born of the fringes of the old Russian Empire, he outwitted time and again those better placed than him within his own party, not excluding Lenin. Rising to the top, he industrialized his country in a way that surely saved it when the great test came in 1941. He defeated Hitler- and, yes, it was the Soviet Army that bore the brunt of the fighting against the Germans and several of their allies- going on to outplay Churchill, Roosevelt and Truman. He stands across the twentieth century like a true colossus. He may not have been a good man, but he was a great one. Are the great, I have to ask myself, ever good?
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ReplyDeleteNo, not kindly, just realistic, and that comes from a White Countess. :-))
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ReplyDeleteAna, A provocative point of view since Stalin was responsible for millions of deaths so could hardly be acclaimed as 'good'. As Adam says much depends on what is meant by 'good'. Stalin was ruthless and being ruthless was necessary for 1940's Soviet Russia but he can never be described as 'good' except for good riddance.
ReplyDeleteSorry Ana...I forgot your title and main point. Yes, you have a point here though and Adam sums things up well too.
ReplyDeleteana, you write faster than i read so i have to pick up short ones to make me feel like having done lots of reading...
ReplyDeleteanother brave and honest "opinion"! similar to stalin is mao zhedong in china. mao was also ruthless and intelligent. probably not known by people outside of china is mao's poetry - brilliant! and i never would blame mao solely for the disasters occurred in china during his era.
love your writing and thoughts!
Yes, thanks, Nobby
ReplyDeleteYunyi, I'm sorry: I must slow down a bit. It's just that my head is overflowing with ideas, thoughts of all kinds on all sorts of subjects. It's like a factory that never closes!
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ReplyDeleteI agree that we should give Stalin credit for defeating the Nazis, but to be fair we also have to assign blame for his refusal to take seriously the threat of an impending Nazi invasion in the early months of 1941, despite indications to the contrary. Not to mention the decimation of his military leadership caused by the purges. Both of those things hampered his ability to defend against the Nazi invasion.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have with historians defining "greatness" as being successful at what they sought to achieve, without any regard whatsoever to moral considerations of what it is they were successful at, has always bothered me. Robert Merry praised Polk as a great president because Polk achieved various goals, including the conquest of half of Mexico. Try asking the Mexican people if they think that Polk was a great president; they would have a slightly different opinion.
Yes, Stalin was "successful" at achieving total political power and at exterminating those who opposed him. Trotsky would argue that Stalin was successful at betraying the Russian Revolution by instigating its Thermidor. Success is an interesting term, and its definition may depend on what you think it desirable and what isn't.
MS, yes indeed. You might like to browse through my Soviet and Stalin archive here. I like to look at historical figures and questions from a whole variety of angles.
ReplyDeleteAna, I have just read Orwell's, Animal Farm. Napoleon is, of course, Stalin and, presumably, Snowball is Trotsky. Excellent stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, Snowball is Trotsky. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-)
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