Ben Clarke
Stalin: Man or Monster?
Study sources A, B, C. Do these sources give similar or different impressions of Stalin? Explain your answers with references to the sources.
Source A shows an anti-humanitarian side of Stalin which shows the deaths of many Russians. Stalin seems to advertise them as a kind of tourist attraction. This was drawn by enemies of Stalin who were in exile in Paris. The skulls show the victims of the purges as it was drawn in the 1930’s which were ordered by Stalin because of his paranoia. Source B is propaganda portraying Stalin in a positive way, as the man who whilst being friendly with the workers whilst also being an efficient leader by building a dam (the Dnieprostroi dam) which is made to look very modern. The fact that Stalin is smoking shows that while he has built a huge dam he also has the time to relax and be communist, talking with his workers and be an equal. However, he is dressed in white which indicates that he his angelic and not equal to the workers around him. It also shows Stalin in the middle focusing attention on him, not as an equal to his workers. Source C shows Stalin as a large figure perhaps more than a man. He takes up most of the picture and is supposed to be propaganda for him more of a godly figure like source B. This is a different type of propaganda to source B showing his great political might not his industrial achievements. It also is less human than source B with him towering over his army opposed to him smoking a pipe. Overall, the sources are different as source A shows him to be a tyrant, B shows him to be a good man and achiever which can be linked to source C which shows his military might whilst also showing himself to be superhuman.
Study source D. Does this source provide any useful information about Stalin? Explain your answer.
Source D was written by Stalin himself during his time in Siberia. This source can be seen as authentic as it accounts how Stalin felt and what he thought at the time. Stalin was said to be brutal as we can see by the executions during the Purges in 1930. His time in exile was mostly during the days of the Tsarist system and the source tells us that he had a sign of remorse ‘It seemed to me that the lack of concern our leaders show towards the people is the same as the attitude I met in far-off Asia’. History as made Stalin to be seen as a kind of tyrant, some saying he was worse than Hitler but in this source we learn that he had some care for humanity during the years of the Tsar. He seems to feel loyal to his communist beliefs as he refers to the fallen man as a ‘comrade’. This can show that Stalin was a man that kept his word and was loyal to the Bolsheviks. However, this source can be seen as not as useful as it may have been used as propaganda by Stalin to show him to be a caring leader and show him to regard all his subjects as equal and most people regard someone as a tyrant throughout his life. Stalin said that ‘one death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic’ this undervaluing of human life is well known by historians. Stalin had also once said that he ‘lost all faith in humanity’. He valued the lives of a few loyal party members over the majority of peasants. For instance during the civil war he led his war train full of food to a place with more loyal Bolsheviks rather than going to Baku where there was a famine and a need for food. Overall I can see source D as useful as since it was written by Stalin it shows us a side of his personality that may have been overlooked by many historians but Stalin’s tyranny can not be overlooked as his regime killed millions and brought fear into the Russian people.