Joseph Stalin (1878 - 1953)
Wed Dec 18, 1878
Joseph Stalin, born on this day in 1878, was a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. "Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished."
Born to a poor family in modern day Georgia, Stalin joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party as a youth. He edited the party's newspaper Pravda and raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings, and protection rackets. After the Bolsheviks seized power during the 1917 October Revolution, Stalin joined its governing Politburo and assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's death in 1924.
Through the Five-Year Plans developed under his leadership, the Soviet Union collectivized its agricultural sector and rapidly industrialized, creating a centralized command economy. This rapid change caused disruptions in food production that were a factor in the famine of 1932 - 1933. Despite this setback, the first five-year plan greatly increased the country's productive capacity.
Although the Soviet Union under Stalin's leadership succeeded in rapidly industrializing Russia, helping end Russian monarchial rule, defeating fascist movements in Europe, and opposing American imperialism, Stalin's detractors hold him responsible for unjust political repression, suppression of labor movements, episodes of ethnic cleansing during the Great Purge of 1937-38, and the criminalization of homosexuality.
Shortly after Stalin's death, the Soviet Union went through a period of "de-Stalinization". His successor, Nikita Khrushchev, gave a series of remarks titled "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (also known as the "Secret Speech") to a closed session of the national congress, denouncing Stalin's political repression and the cult of personality that surrounded him.
Stalin remains popular in Russia today, with 70% of Russians approving of Stalin’s role in Russian history, according to a poll published by the Levada Center. Sociologist Leonty Byzov stated: "Stalin begins to be perceived as a symbol of justice and an alternative to the current government, deemed unfair, cruel and not caring about people".
"It is difficult for me to imagine what 'personal liberty' is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment. Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible."
- Joseph Stalin
- Date: 1878-12-18
- Learn More: www.marxists.org, www.marxists.org, en.wikipedia.org, spartacus-educational.com, www.themoscowtimes.com.
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- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org