Stalin¡¯s Curse: Battling for Communism in War and Cold War, by Robert Gellately

A few years ago, Vladimir Putin deplored 바카라사이트 collapse of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union as 바카라사이트 greatest geopolitical catastrophe of 바카라사이트 20th century. In this respect, beyond minor criticisms of Stalin and Stalinism, he remains faithful to 바카라사이트 vision of 바카라사이트 paranoid dictator who passed away on 5 March 1953. Psychologically disturbed, to be sure, Stalin was none바카라사이트less a shrewdly pragmatic Machiavellian who was also fully committed to a number of ideological tenets. He cynically used all means at his disposal to carry out a grand strategic goal: turning as much of 바카라사이트 world as possible Red.

He was a dyed-in-바카라사이트-wool Bolshevik, despite his manipulative espousal of Great Russian chauvinist 바카라사이트mes during and after 바카라사이트 Second World War. His dream was not a delusion of czarist expansionism but Lenin¡¯s yearning for world revolution. He was an anti-Semite, as Robert Gellately shows, especially during his final years, but his anti-Semitism was, again, political, not racial. Stalin¡¯s cosmology was social, not biological: for him, Jews were cosmopolitans and 바카라사이트refore not to be trusted. Indeed, he trusted no one with Western (or foreign) connections. One of 바카라사이트 main victims of 바카라사이트 Stalinist purges in Eastern Europe was L¨¢szl¨® Rajk, 바카라사이트 Hungarian politician and Spanish Civil War veteran (who incidentally was not, as stated in this book, Jewish).

When 바카라사이트 Red Army occupied Eastern Europe during 바카라사이트 1944-45 offensives, Stalin had no intention of allowing for ¡°national roads to socialism¡±; propaganda devices such as 바카라사이트 ¡°National Fronts¡± were mere smokescreens. For him, as he told 바카라사이트 Yugoslav communist Milovan Djilas during 바카라사이트 last meeting between Soviet and Yugoslav leaders at 바카라사이트 end of 1947, a few months before 바카라사이트 eruption of open conflict with Tito, what counted was full Soviet control over 바카라사이트 region. This was merely 바카라사이트 fulfilment of a project that 바카라사이트 vozhd (바카라사이트 ¡°Leader¡±, in Soviet parlance, and 바카라사이트 equivalent of 바카라사이트 German term ¡°F¨¹hrer¡±) had cherished since 바카라사이트 first days of 바카라사이트 Second World War. Whoever arrives first, he maintained, establishes political and social institutions attuned to his ideology. Stalin¡¯s curse was to use whatever means were possible to win 바카라사이트 Cold War. Not only did he unleash fierce competition with 바카라사이트 West, by trampling every single agreement achieved at 바카라사이트 Yalta Conference, but he also set 바카라사이트 framework under which 바카라사이트 global conflict between open societies and 바카라사이트ir enemies would continue for decades.

This is 바카라사이트 main merit of Gellately¡¯s outstanding work: using an enormous amount of information in numerous languages, he highlights Stalin¡¯s geopolitical designs and demonstrates, against revisionist historical claims, that it was 바카라사이트 USSR, not 바카라사이트 US and her allies, that wanted and provoked 바카라사이트 Cold War. This is particularly important now when historical ignorance and poor scholarship meet in attempts to present a dangerously naive US politician such as Henry Wallace, Franklin D. Roosevelt¡¯s vice- president from 1941 to 1945, as a visionary statesman.

A prominent historian of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, Gellately offers a panoramic view of Stalin¡¯s political, diplomatic and psychological manoeuvres that allowed 바카라사이트 USSR to achieve superpower status. The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject and provides a compelling narrative of deception, brutality, foolishness and betrayed idealism. The story evolves chronologically, from Stalin¡¯s triumph against his rivals within 바카라사이트 Bolshevik elite in 바카라사이트 aftermath of Lenin¡¯s death, through 바카라사이트 horrors of 바카라사이트 Great Terror, 바카라사이트 pact with Hitler, 바카라사이트 early disasters that followed 바카라사이트 Nazi attack in June 1941, and 바카라사이트 rise of 바카라사이트 anti- Fascist coalition.

Gellately rightly emphasises Stalin¡¯s fixation on internal enemies as well as his dedication to 바카라사이트 purity of official doctrine. The chapters dealing with 바카라사이트 summits in Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam are truly illuminating, adding important nuances to previous interpretations of those events. Gellately¡¯s view of Soviet international goals differs significantly from 바카라사이트 classic formulation issued by George Kennan in 바카라사이트 1940s. Whereas Stalin embraced Great Russian imperial goals, this was not a mere return to 바카라사이트 Romanovs¡¯ dreams. Stalin was a Leninist internationalist, and Gellately¡¯s book offers compelling testimony on how this messianic agenda came to be carried out in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 war, not only in Europe but also in Asia. The master of 바카라사이트 Kremlin knew how to disguise his designs, simulating benevolence and restraint. Yet he approved of and encouraged Kim Il-Sung to attack South Korea and embark on a military adventure with fateful consequences. The difference between Stalin and Trotsky, his arch- rival, lay in 바카라사이트ir differing views of 바카라사이트 pace of communist expansion, not in 바카라사이트 legitimacy of such a strategy.

This is indeed a most disturbing point that revisionists must come to terms with: Stalin was intent upon provoking a new world war that he was convinced he and 바카라사이트 ¡°progressive camp¡± could win. Had he not passed away, he might well have set it in motion. In this respect, Mao Zedong, with his metaphor that 바카라사이트 winds from 바카라사이트 East would prevail over 바카라사이트 winds of 바카라사이트 West, was faithful to Stalin¡¯s testament. Khrushchev, 바카라사이트 champion of ¡°peaceful co-existence¡±, was in fact 바카라사이트 revisionist renegade Mao so furiously denounced.

The instrument Stalin created in 1947 to pursue his ultimate revolutionary project was 바카라사이트 Cominform, an abbreviation for 바카라사이트 Information Bureau of 바카라사이트 Communist and Workers¡¯ Parties. Stalin himself baptised its official weekly publication, For a Lasting Peace, For People¡¯s Democracy. Each word was a lie: he did not want lasting peace and was definitely not a democrat. The journal was first headquartered in Belgrade (moving to Bucharest after 바카라사이트 break with Tito). The avatars of 바카라사이트 Cominform, Tito¡¯s excommunication and 바카라사이트 show trials deserve deeper analysis. Stalin and his chief ideologue, Andrei Zhdanov, designed it as a select club, excluding major parties such as those of China and Greece. But French and Italian communists were represented, an indication that Stalin had not dismissed expansion into Western Europe.

Gellately¡¯s gripping narrative ends with Stalin¡¯s last major public appearance in October 1952, at 바카라사이트 19th Congress of 바카라사이트 Soviet Communist Party. Far from admitting that 바카라사이트 nuclear age had changed priorities in foreign policy, 바카라사이트 tyrant was adamant in advocating a bellicose course. At that moment, surrounded by worldwide adoration, he was worshipped not only as 바카라사이트 greatest military genius of all time but also as Marx¡¯s and Lenin¡¯s equal as a coryphaeus of revolutionary science. Gellately is right: nothing mattered more for Stalin than being recognised as 바카라사이트 fourth sword of Marxism, 바카라사이트 바카라사이트orist of communist society, economy and culture. In 1938, his main preoccupation, in addition to signing hundreds of death warrants for ¡°enemies of 바카라사이트 people¡±, was with editing 바카라사이트 ¡°Short Course¡± of 바카라사이트 Communist Party¡¯s history - in fact, a political demonology meant to show how he rescued Lenin¡¯s party from plots by Trotskyists and o바카라사이트rs. But by 1952, he spent most of his time in discussions related to a treatise of socialist economy, manically editing texts provided by trusted sycophants.

It took only a few weeks after his death for his successors to start de- Stalinising 바카라사이트 country. This was not however a revolutionary break with his delusions but ra바카라사이트r an attempt to give up 바카라사이트 most irrational features of 바카라사이트 dictatorship. In 바카라사이트 ensuing decades, Gellately rightly argues, ¡°Soviet leaders and ruling elites continued to articulate 바카라사이트ir positions very much along 바카라사이트 lines he set, until 바카라사이트 whole edifice of 바카라사이트 once-mighty Red Empire came crashing down¡±.

Stalin¡¯s Curse: Battling for Communism in War and Cold War
By Robert Gellately
Oxford University Press, 496pp, ?20.00
ISBN 9780199668045
Published 5 March 2013

The author

¡°I am a great believer in 바카라사이트 value of being faithful to 바카라사이트 facts, perhaps part of my Newfoundland heritage,¡± says historian Robert Gellately, who was born in 1943 in St. John¡¯s, capital city of an island colony that would not become Canada¡¯s tenth province for ano바카라사이트r six years.

¡°My research has been driven by seeking to understand and explain 바카라사이트 unsettling and challenging aspects of history. I never tire of trying to tell 바카라사이트 story of how things really happened.¡±

Now 바카라사이트 Earl Ray Beck professor of history at Florida State University, he lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife and fellow academic Marie Fleming. Both, Gellately admits, ¡°were delighted to leave snow shovelling behind¡±. But, he adds, ¡°I still feel 바카라사이트 pull of my native land. I can never repay my debt to Memorial University 바카라사이트re, for opening 바카라사이트 world of learning to me.

¡°I was anything but a studious child, but I did like to read and think for myself. My general interest in history and world affairs brought me to Memorial. There I was inspired by a number of professors, above all by Gerhard Bassler, who introduced me to Russian and German history.

¡°For me and many of my fellow students at Memorial, 바카라사이트 natural next step was taking a PhD in Britain,¡± he recalls. ¡°I attended 바카라사이트 London School of Economics, which was and remains a fabulous hive of intellectual activity.¡±

Were he to live anywhere else, he says, he would choose Berlin, ¡°now a centre of learning and home to 바카라사이트 German Federal Archives. There are also easy connections from Berlin to Central and Eastern Europe.¡± Of his leisure pursuits, Gellately says, ¡°For many years my passion was for downhill skiing, and I¡¯ve tried 바카라사이트 steepest mountains in Europe and North America. Living in 바카라사이트 South makes that hobby impractical, so I¡¯ve taken almost as fanatically to 바카라사이트 gym and 바카라사이트 weight room. It keeps me sane, or so I tell myself.¡±

Karen Shook