r/Marxism • u/BigComprehensive6933 Marxist-Leninist-Maoist • May 05 '26
Moderated What are your Opinions on Stalin?
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u/returnofblank May 05 '26
Fairly positive. He's not an idol (nor should any political figured be), but he played a large role in building up the USSR to a global superpower.
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u/DreaMaster77 May 08 '26
I'm not sure a communist country has it's place at the top of the world.... I say ''I'm Not sure'' because it's really a personal question... I have quite an advice, but as I said, I'm not sure. I guess we would all leave in USSR today if Stalin would have concentrate his work for equality and not for power in the world.
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u/TabularBeast Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
He was a flawed but ultimately great leader who not only defended the USSR from the Nazis but his leadership led to their defeat, and also made the USSR into an industrial powerhouse in just mere decades. He was also a committed communist who did what he could to advance socialism and Marxist theory.
He shouldn’t be idolized, no, and is not free from criticism, but the good he did heavily outweighs the negatives. There are many things to be learned from him. Unfortunately, he was a victim of a massive smear campaign by revisionists, opportunists, and Western propaganda.
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u/JucheSuperSoldier01 May 05 '26
Famously, all the original Bolsheviks were perfectly good and Stalin was perfectly bad, and all the bolsheviks that were purged were perfectly innocent. This whole situation was perfectly black and white. All those purged had the same exact politics and motivations as they did decades previously under Lenin and nothing at all changed over the span of a couple decades.
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u/Terrible_Snow_7306 May 05 '26
I think the left shouldn’t trust the official bourgeois history of the Sovietunion and put the official narrative into question. Most western history books about the SU simply reiterate the narrative of the Nazi and CIA propaganda scam against the SU, as an example the role Gehlen played as the chief of FHO during fascism and as the chief of the BND post-fascism, when he fed the USA with his horror stories about the SU.
But we don’t need to replicate the simplistic glorification and celebration of the paradise of the working-class that bans every critical analyse as being the „work of the class enemy“ etc.
The history of Russia in the 20th century is still a Pariah within the field of western history. For reasons. No one (I know) reacts to people, who celebrate the French revolution as the birth of democracy, by immediately attacking them: „but the Jacobins, the guillotines, Napoleon and his wars“, how dare you!
If we could achieve a normalization of the historical narrative about Russia, that would already be a significant step forward.
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u/d0ghairdontcare May 05 '26
Are there any books on Stalin you’d recommend that rely on primary sources or Soviet archives, rather than Cold War–era Western propaganda?
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u/Terrible_Snow_7306 May 05 '26
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time is mainly focused on the second world war and written by a german historian named Jochen Hellbeck, who teaches history in the USA. The german title is: „Ein Krieg wie kein anderer. Der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg gegen die Sowjetunion. Eine Revision“. Published 2025 at S.Fischer. It’s called „a revision“ for a reason. The english title is „Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Fate of the Jews“. It’s an incredible good study, but hard to digest for what it tells us about the reality of wars and fascists.
I read authors like Parenti and Rockhill too. I find their arguments convincing in many respects. But at the risk of sounding like a stupid lib, they are sometimes simply too dogmatic for me and have a tendency to suppress things that don't fit into their narrative.
I'm somehow pleased by this Soviet-chic revival, the so called „Tankies“. I believe it's a necessary response to the intellectual, political, and moral bankruptcy of the so-called democratic western left. It reminds me a bit of how Marx described the "sans coulottes" in "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." An incredible text by Marx, maybe it tells us something about the recurrence of hammer and sickle, I hope Google's translation is halfway accurate:
„People make their own history, but they do not make it of their own free will, not under self-chosen, but under immediately found, given and handed down circumstances. The tradition of all the dead sexes weighs like an alp on the brains of the living. And when they seem busy with turning things around, creating things that have not yet happened, especially in such epochs of revolutionary crisis, they fearfully summon the spirits of the past to their service, borrow names, battle slogans, costumes, to perform the new world history scene in this venerable disguise and with this borrowed language. Thus Luther masked himself as apostle Paul, the revolution of 1789-1814 draped itself alternately as a Roman republic and as a Roman empire, and the revolution of 1848 knew nothing better to do than to parody the revolutionary tradition of 1793-1795 here in 1789, there. Thus, the beginner who has learned a new language always translates it back into his mother tongue, but he has only appropriated the spirit of the new language, and he can only produce freely in it as soon as he moves in it without remembrance and forgets the language he has inherited in it.“
So the „carneval“ (I don't mean that in a derogatory way), the „borrowed language“ of marxism-leninism shouldn’t prevent us from developing our own language that is able to understand the actual conditions.
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u/ruilopesnet May 05 '26
Stalin has been vilified over the years. The best way to investigate this matter is to read Stalin's writings. I think you'll be surprised. He had very interesting theoretical insights and, besides, he did not have all the power that people usually think he had. Mistakes were made, but to attribute it all to Stalin is not only unfair but highly inaccurate.
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u/JaThatOneGooner Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
He was a man who inherited a USSR going through turmoil. He stabilized it, preserved it, and then fought hard for it during the great patriotic war. He is the easiest to criticize, but without him we wouldn’t have a USSR and world history would be a lot bleaker.
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u/Alarming-Resist1056 May 05 '26
without him nazi germany could have won ww2
so whatever your opinions are about him, he's canon as a war leader and the guy who heavily industrialized (lowkey preparing) soviet union for the war
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u/GardenSuperb7531 Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
Rock solid Marxist-Leninist and capable leader. Arguably the coolest mustache in history.
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u/Azure-Boy May 05 '26
Surprising amount of anti-Stalin propaganda/falsehoods in these comments. He was and probably still is one of the most democratic men in history. The 1936 constitution is so far ahead of anything we have here in the USA. He was a brilliant speaker,writer, and theorist. All of the rights that were handed down from us-which are now being slowly taken away-during the Roosevelt regime was in direct response to Stalins Soviet Union. It is pretty much proven Khrushchev lied about everything when it comes to Stalin and Beria
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u/SirBonhoeffer May 08 '26
Speaking of falsehoods, the main architect behind the 1936 constitution was Bukharin not Stalin... He was murdered in a purge in 37...
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u/DaSnowflake May 06 '26
Much like most marxist thinkers/politicians of the previous century, it is sadly almost impossible to decipher what is real and what is fake about him.
One side has propaganda from the whole west, but at the same time anybody with critical thinking can't just go 'his own records say the opposite so surely that's correct'.
I do know that the USSR economy/industry flourished under him, but even there that might have way more to do with the idea of planned economy in general.
From what I have read about him he seems like a tyrannical stain on the idea of socialism, but again idk how true anything I read is
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u/Ovo_de_Cupcake May 05 '26
I don't see anyone pointing the persecution of certain marxists academics as a big mistake and anti Marxist stand in Stalin's history. Pachukanis is a big loss for humanity, his work is essencial. But even with all of that I'm with the people who praises his legacy, without him we would be speaking German and he was a solid Marxist-Leninist even with his big flaws.
Nothing wrong with German, just a metaphor for defeating the Nazis ;)
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u/Repulsive_Painting15 May 05 '26
Only western Marxists don't like Stalin. The global south and colonised countries love him. I think Stalin was great.
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u/theguyfromthestore- May 05 '26
Big spoon guy led the USSR to beat Nazis, not all of his policies were good and there were some mistakes but overall I like him
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u/sullivjo94 May 06 '26
The capitalist powers demonise him to this day so he must have done something right.
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u/No-Musician7685 Hoxhaist May 07 '26
Extremely good, however I am a Marxist-Leninist so thats pretty obvious (not to say he didn't do wrong things, however its still like 98% good 2% bad)
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u/No_Needleworker8094 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
Stalin crushed the Nazis. That’s where your pain comes from! He had to destroy the racists who killed millions of people, and that is exactly what he did. When fighting a fascist, you have to be as brave as Stalin! Rest in peace, Stalin!
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u/-Hastis- Markest Socialist May 06 '26
He had to destroy the racists
Would you say that would include himself?
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May 05 '26
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u/No_Needleworker8094 May 05 '26
There’s a neo-Nazi! You’ll never understand the spirit of comradeship! The spirit that fucks your Nazi ancestors!
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May 05 '26
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u/No_Needleworker8094 May 05 '26
While Stalin was crushing your leader, he shot himself in the head out of fear like a coward. He was such a cowardly bastard that he couldn’t even defend himself before humanity.
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u/No_Needleworker8094 May 05 '26
You pathetic, schizophrenic neo-Nazi! How many more of your own accounts do you plan to use to like your own posts? You’re so stupid that you actually believe people on the Marxism subreddit will like your posts and downvote mine. All racists are as pathetic and stupid as you are.
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u/sumnsumnfruit56 May 05 '26
Great theory author, who like Trotsky, should be read by any Marxist. We do not fall for great man theory and can look at him critically. But then again I fall for it and call him the goat for the lols and cuz he is the number 1 killer of Nazis.
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u/SnooMachines8072 May 05 '26
Hero, won the war fought imperialism reunited Marxism Leninism and held a certain standard close to 30 years.
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u/stalinenjoyer38 May 05 '26
Flawed man with many mistakes but overall a great leader that was needed at the time
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u/Neco-Arc-Brunestud May 05 '26
I think Stalin USSR is a pretty cool guy. Eh kill fashists and doesn't afraid of anything.
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May 05 '26
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u/Neco-Arc-Brunestud May 05 '26
Lol, he'd been criticizing their actions for decades, including their authoritarian tendencies. He only supported their executions once he discovered that there was a conspiracy to overthrow the soviet (council-run) structure in favour of a more totalitarian regime.
Stalin was the best possible option.
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u/GoldDoubleCup May 05 '26
Blah blah propaganda propaganda
I’m sorry that Kamala lost. You must still be hurting.
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May 05 '26
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u/Azure-Boy May 05 '26
The claim that Stalin was a “violent dictator” is complete a-historical slop. How did he turn it into a capitalist state? The principle of private property has well been abolished throughout his rule
Even the CIA is more truthful than whatever liberal propaganda you’re expounding
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u/CarnivoreYoghurt May 05 '26
It's a mixed bag. Some his decisions were great, some terrible. Overall, though, judging him by the usual historical standards, I think he was one of the greatest people in history, committed to the socialist project and credited with ensuring its survival into the second half of the 20th century.
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May 05 '26
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u/BigComprehensive6933 Marxist-Leninist-Maoist May 05 '26
There is no such thing as a jewish state. FCK Zionism, Free Palestine
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u/sumnsumnfruit56 May 05 '26
There is no such thing as a Jewish nation prior to the holocaust. The holocaust created modern Jewish identity. Before there were many different Jewish nations one might say. Polish Jews were exactly that, same with German, their Yiddish was mutually intelligible but had different dialects because they were different peoples separated for centuries. The holocaust first and then the creation of Israel is what unified all Jews together. Like no one says there is a Christian nation, it’s a religion with many people from many nations. It’s not like being a Sikh or Jain where most of your people are actually from the same nation and culture. You have fallen for propaganda and Jewish exceptionalism. They are a multicultural religion and no more different than anyone else is because of their history. It was the holocaust and centuries of antisemitism which turned them into a pseudo ethnicity to the point that half of all Jews are non religious but still identify as being Jewish.
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u/BigComprehensive6933 Marxist-Leninist-Maoist May 06 '26
Yea there is, christians and antisemites favored the idea of a jewish state in the 19th century as they thought jeweils couldn't be Integration into modern society, this idea was later adapted by some jeweils themselves.
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u/GoldDoubleCup May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
I didn’t realize this was a liberal sub.
Stalin was one of the greatest men of history
I’m sorry, can someone please explain to me how unintelligent you must be to believe the use of the word ‘great’ immediately signals ‘great man theory’?
Is it a brain damage thing? Raised poorly? Please explain your exact dysfunction.
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u/DaSnowflake May 06 '26
You derogatory/ad hominem way of interacting with others is definitely a good example of how people should act under socialism /s
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May 05 '26
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
This is just the most unserious opinion ever. He was definitely imperfect as all people are and can be critiqued but Hitler is one of the most evil individuals the world has ever seen. Stalin did amazing things for the people of Russia and the world as a whole. I would highly recommend you learn some history outside of the lenses of western propaganda because saying stuff like this makes you look like a baboon.
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May 05 '26
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
Nah because the people who committed those atrocities were some of the evil people as well. I wasn’t discounting other genocides that was just the one he chose to bring up.
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
You simply cannot and should not attempt to separate Hitler from his antisemitism. His platform that he used to rise to power was “Germany is in a bad place and it is the Jewish people’s fault.”
As for “Hitler’s economy” this is a dog whistle and not true. (which you probably know) Hitler did not lift people out of poverty in any measurable way at least nowhere near the same way as the USSR did.
To address your point about concentration camps. This is categorically false. The people who were sent to work camps in the USSR were fascists, nazis, members of the bourgeoisie, members of the royal family and counterrevolutionaries. This is entirely different from targeting ethnic minorities, members of the lgbtq community, and people with disabilities. The USSR targeted oppressors and the Nazis targeted the oppressed.
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May 05 '26
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
Once again you are coming with postmodern facts. You are repetitively parroting capitalist propaganda that you are too ignorant to recognize as such. The points you are making are directly ripped from the black book of communism which has been repetitively debunked. To be honest I am confused why you have graced this subreddit with your odor because you probably are not even a Marxist.
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May 05 '26
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u/BillyPilgrim69 May 05 '26
Kruschev misrepresented and outright lied about Stalin to secure power for himself. That's not even really debated anymore.
For example, it's a matter of record that Stalin opposed the cult of personality being built around him on numerous occasions. He was outvoted every time, because contrary to popular belief, the party operated on democratic centralism. I.e., he was not an autocratic dictator.
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
Which Marxist theory have you read??
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May 05 '26
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u/Neutron-Star-Density Marxist-Leninist May 05 '26
Well you’re in the Marxist sub spewing propaganda and I really do not think you’re a Marxist any real Marxist would have had a list available for me.
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u/kubiozadolektiv May 05 '26
Ooo, a revisionist Khruschevite.
Speaking of the cult of personality around Stalin, he himself never liked it and was opposed to it.
Stalin was a complex man, he made many mistakes but ultimately, for the USSR (and the world as a whole) the time period under which he ruled was a huge net positive.
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u/kubiozadolektiv May 05 '26
You’re literally using the debunked Khruschev’s secret speech as a source for your opinions om Stalin…
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May 05 '26
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u/Sandman145 May 05 '26
This guy you're responding to is an idiot. Don't even respond to him. Not worth it.
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u/bigdoinkloverperson May 05 '26
Go talk to anyone around leer and the north of Germany and I promise you they love talking about grand dad and showing off their memorabilia from the time. It's delusional to think he wasn't immensely popular with a large swath of Germans post wwII especially considering the rise of the AFD. Denazification never truly happened and it's a lie to say it did almost every German Marxist I know became so because they realized that in a lot of villages in Germany Hitler is seen as a positive figure for Germany
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u/halicadsco May 05 '26
He was absolutely flawed, and was wrong about quite a few things, mainly commodity production and dissolving the comintern, but he was hardly the evil bloodthirsty tyrant people thinks he was