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Biographies
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Twenty Letters to a Friend
(1967)
a psychological insight into Stalin's personality from his daughter,
Svetlana Alliluyeva
Khrushchev Remembers
(1971)
a psychological insight into
Stalin's personality from
Nikita Khrushchev,
a close colleague and future leader of the Soviet Union |
The succession
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 Simon Sebag Montefiore: Young Stalin
This has to be read by anyone who seriously wants
to understand what made Stalin tick. The account of his youth and formative
years (up to Oct/Nov 1917) clearly indicates the impact of growing up in the
wilds of (still lawless and gangster riddled) Georgia and the Caucasus. Sebag
Montefiore's account does more though - it explains perhaps the ease with which
the USSR slid into oligarchy and lawlessness in the 1990's - because of a
general underlying tradition of violence, but also the dangers of faith schools
and the risks of encarcerating enemies of the state in similar places. Stalin?
More educated and culturally rounded than I had thought, but presents as not a
pleasant character at all - easy to understand his purges and ruthlessness as
later USSR leader. Equally repugnant seemed to be his inclination towards
impregnating teenage girls at least half his age - one of whom was only 13, (he
was in his 30's......) Very readable nonetheless.
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casahistoria
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2. The
Stalinist State
Stalinism
Lecture notes on Stalinism in the 1930's from Goucher College. Rudimentary but a good, clear overview with statistical support
Leninism
versus Stalinism : Was Stalin the executor of Lenin’s will -
or just his comrades?
IB notes based on an article by
Simon Hartfree in Modern History Review, Vol.8, Issue 2.
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Communist Party;
Politburo;
NKVD;
Secret Police
from Spartacus educational Site. Excellent introductory
sections for an overview linked to documents
Humanising Stalin?
By Simon Sebag Montefiore BBC background essay to its
programme on the death of Stalin. "History portrays Stalin
as an inhumane and vicious leader - but he was a man as well
as a monster. Do we betray his victims by noting his human
side, or will the full picture help guard us against
potential tyrants in the future?"
Stalinism: Its Origins and Future
Huge online book looking at Stalinism's origins as well as where
it led to in the lat 20th century. Not over objective, but also
has a full list of
potted biographies as a footnote to the
immense work.
The Age of Totalitarianism: Stalin
and Hitler by
Steven
Kreis.
These lectures
were written over the past five years and served as the basis for
European history classes at Florida Atlantic University and
Meredith College.
The Nature of Stalinism
Online lecture by Ted Grant
A New Society
By Prof Rempel,
Western New England College. Detailed lecture
Glory
to our Great Party Jokes about the Communist Party, the
Soviet regime, the standard of living, etc
 The
Making of the Stalinist State 1928-1941 Dr Jane McDermid puts Stalin's
Russia under the microscope from the first of the Five Year Plans to the
outbreak of World War II. This is part 1, click
here for part 2.
Local Control
Edited, EA Rees. series of very valuable chapters on
the local government of the main regions across the Soviet Union. A rare
example of a publisher (Macmillan) posting academic research free on the
web. pdf file
Cult of the
Personality
Propaganda
Well produced site looking at the way photography was
manipulated during the Stalin period
The Chairman Smiles: Soviet Posters
"By 1930, propaganda focuses on
political discipline and the Five Year Plans, ambitious programs
for the collectivization of agriculture and establishment of
heavy industry. The posters give a powerful, dynamic impression,
using photomontage, compositions with diagonal lines, and strong
contrasts in colours and shapes."
Museum of Russian Poster.
Good chronological listing of posters by year from this Russian site.
The Soviet Poster- Revolution by Design
Clearly explained and illustrated sections on the main aspects
the poster on Stalinist policies. Click on the "View posters" by
each section to see all the posters.
Soviet Constructivistic propaganda
1920 - 1929
Visually interesting site of examples of constructive agitprop..
"Life's
Getting Better" In 1934,
Stalin announced in a speech that "life was getting better" as a
result of his program and encouraged artists to promote the
"better life" of the Soviet Union. One of the best-known songs
of these years was the 1936 "Life's Getting Better," written by Aleksandr Aleksandrov, founder and leader of the Red Army
Ensemble. From the
Mosaic site.
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Collected
Documents
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Stalin documents from the early period (Can be slow to load, patience!):
casahistoria
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caféhistoria
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3a.
Economics: 1927-41: Overview
 
Go to casahistoria site on
Stalin's Economy, 1927-41
4.
The Terror
Go to casahistoria site on
The Terror
casahistoria
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caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
5.
Women
in Stalin's Russia
Women in
Totalitarian States:
For extensive links to Women in Stalinist Russia click to visit the Stalin's Russia
section of the casahistoria
site.
This also has
comparisons
with women in other single party states
Sections include:
casahistoria
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caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
6.
Cultural
Policy
 What
happened - and the impact:
from Spartacus educational Site. Excellent introductory sections
for an overview linked to documents
Neo-Realism
to Socialist Realism
Excellent
site for those looking at the impact on Art. Begins with a concise
explanation of the changes in policy, and is well illustrated with examples.
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Modernism
Web site of the V&A exhibition in London (May-July '06) the V&A.
Very useful site bringing together a mass of exhibits, drawings
and photos it looks at the development of the movement in the
interwar period. The focus is rightly on developments in central
& eastern Europe and index can be centred on countries
individually.
Dream Factory Communism: The Visual Culture of the Stalin Era Site
of an exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurtin 2004, Dedicated to
to Soviet art in the Stalin Era. Brief but with some good pictures but the
ads are a a nuisance!
Examples of Stalinist Posters & Political Art (1930-1953)
Small site but has interesting images.
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Socialist Realism Exhibits
from MIA
(at times
unaccessible if download limit is exceeded!)
Soviet Socialist Realism Full
and detailed site from
Institute of Modern Russian
Culture, Univ of
Southern California
Examples of
Socialist Realism: Stalin
Stalin in (sycophantic?) paintings.
A Stalinist Dream of Art
Alexander Jartsev, who grew up in the Soviet Union, writes about the
Stalinist propaganda art as shown at an exhibition in Stockholm and
St. Petersburg in 1996.
An interview with Ilya Kabakov - very lengthy interview with the Russian modernist artist
of the 1930's about "unofficial art" especially under Stalin. From
Art in America,
Jan,
1995 by
Robert Storr.
Nazi
& Soviet Art
To
see how a Stalin´s changes on Art were similar to those of Hitler
in the 1930´s.
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Music
under Soviet Rule -
Designed by the late Ian MacDonald (the
author of "The New Shostakovich") Very technical but of interest should you wish to be a musician interested in the history
of Soviet music.
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Library
of Congress's Documents from the Soviet Archives - Attacks on
Intelligentsia:
casahistoria
home visit
caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
7.
Death of Stalin
By
Leonida Krushelnycky BBC item on the narrative of his death. Liks to
related sites
Stalin`s death history
Stalin's Death,
1953 from Gradschools.com.
Student produced. Brief text, good on images.
Thaw
Sovlit.com's summary of Ilya Ehrenburg's novel The Thaw (1956),
which refers to the Doctor's Plot
The Death of Stalin Contemporaries Take Stock of a Dictator 50
Years Later. Donna Urschel writes this discussion of the Stalin legacy from 2003, US Library of Congress.
How Moscow broke the news of Stalin's death.
Interesting March 7th 1953 report from Moscow by Victor Zorza in the
Manchester Guardian.
Finally:
From the
Mosaic Western Civilisation site. "Historians have struggled to
understand Stalinism and particularly the Great Terror, which
reached its peak in 1937. Perhaps the last voice should be Anna Akhmatova's (1889-1966). Akhmatova, a poet, saw her husband, the
poet Nikolai Gumilyov, arrested and shot by Soviet authorities in
1921. Her son, Lev, was arrested in 1937. The poem "Requiem,"
reproduced here, offers her testimony of the Stalin era.
Stalin's
Body Removed From Lenin's Tomb
After his death in 1953, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's remains were embalmed and
put on display next to Vladimir Lenin. Why did the Soviet government change
their mind? What happened to Stalin's body after it was removed from Lenin's
tomb?
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"Stalin Old and New"
Looks at the legacy of Stalin with regard to the collapse of
communism by Anthony D'Agostino
The Russian Review,
vol. 54, no. 3, July 1995
casahistoria
home visit
caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
8.
General information
From the Library of Congress Country Studies . Uncited, but clear, concise and thorough description of the key stages,
both before and after the events of 1917. Well presented.
Russian
Studies on the Internet A very
thorough, and quite academic listing of sites relevant to Russian History. For serious casahistorians in particular, but difficult to navigate.
Red Files
PBS
overview
site on the USSR. Interactive and looks good, but is actually a
nightmare to navigate.
Propaganda section is
the most useful.
Who
is who? A set of brief biographies of key figures during the
Revolutionary period
Glossary An explanation of the main events, words, places connected
with Russia, 1917-41
Timeline
of Stalin A basic timeline of key events during the Stalin
era
Links to documentary evidence
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Chronology
of Russian History: Soviet Period
A well presented university site, looking at the grand sweep of
Russian/Soviet history from a chronological position. Good linked access to
documents such as Tsar´s abdication letter, Order No 1, April
Theses...
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History of the Soviet Union
This website of translated documents by the Univ of East Anglia
is designed to give students easy access to a wide selection of
sources on Russian history translated into English and available
electronically.
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Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Russian Revolution
Key Documents on the
revolutionary period
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PLP translations:
an enormous number of books/documents translated by
Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds. This links to the
enormous index. Good for browsing for sample documents - but you need a
general idea of what/who you are looking for as the index is author based,
not thematic
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J. V. Stalin Internet
Library.
Very large collection of Stalin speeches and writing. Set out
chronologically from the Marx2Mao site
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Stalin Reference Archive:
Large compendium of
Stalin writing & speeches by
Marxists Internet Archive
(at times unaccessible if download limit is exceeded!)
For
extensive links to the events of Lenin's Russia go to the casahistoria
Lenin´s Russia
site
casahistoria
home visit
caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
These have all been read and
are recommended by casahistoria
For a longer(!) list including several novels & fuller crits/descriptions
go to
casahistoria
home visit
caféhistoria
for updates and current topic news
v07.10
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