Source B and C are similar and both different to source A. They both show that Stalin was an adored person who was in the centre of attention and was also friendly and liked to interact the Russian public. In Source B Stalin is seen with workers from a hydroelectric power station. This gives the impression that he was behind the creation of the dam and with the workers and Stalin together they made it; but because of the censorship on creativity in Russia it could have been built through forced labour. This source was probably made to boost morale of workers during the industrialisation of Russia .It also seems to me that they are having a good time and enjoying his company, giving the impression of the adoration that they have for him and that he is the man of the moment
In source C Stalin is shown congratulating the wives of army officers; the wives all reaching out to him in desperation for him to shake their hand gives me the impression of his adoration like in source B; it also shows a softer image and shows that he is considerate and grateful for what they have done. This photo proves that Stalin was a much-loved leader and was looked up to by the civilians.
Source B and C are different in content but both have similar impressions and are probably different to A because they had to be approved by Stalin himself. Source A is the odd source out because Source A only describes the results of his policies and not his popularity with the people, therefore not contradicting source B and C because they portray different ideas. But in spite of this, Source A, B and C all show that Stalin is the decision-maker and the centre of attention.
Q.B
This source was written by Stalin so is most probably biased to give him a good image of being a caring and compassionate man.
This source was written and created by Stalin so is clearly biased as he is trying to portray an image of himself as being a compassionate and caring man. The content itself does not give accurate historical facts because in hindsight we know Stalin did not behave like this and was in fact a vindictive and manipulating man.
The source however is not useless by any means because it shows how his regime involved so much dishonest propaganda and egocentric advertisement. It shows in a way his own recognition that he could be seen as a cruel man and his need to tone down his characteristics in the public’s eye. He killed thousands of people for ethnic and political reasons unfairly and releases material like this. He implies in the source that he values human life when he supposedly tells off the Siberians for caring about animals more than men. This shows he is a hypocrite because someone who is believed to be responsible for twenty million deaths cannot truthfully say this.
The source shows an ulterior motive as well because he writes “it seems to me that the lack of concern our leaders show towards the people is the same attitude I met in far off Siberia”. Here he is trying to make the impression that other Russian leaders do not respect the life of the Russian people whereas he does. This to me proves why he wrote this article which has no documented proof of its actual occurrence.
Stalin not only wrote this source because it shows him as a leader who is communicating with his public but he wrote it to alleviate his cruel image to the public. In addition to this he wanted to look more compassionate than other leaders at the time.
This source is very beneficial to a historian because it demonstrates how he will go to any means to look better than he really is and to make other leaders look incompetent.
