UNDERSTANDING STALIN

“Russian archives reveal that he was no madman, but a very smart and implacably rational ideologue”

By: Anne Applebaumoct

Published: The Atlantic, October 14, 2014; http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/11/understanding-stalin/380786/  

Level of difficulty: **

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How would you describe Stalin? A mad sociopath or ruthless, cold, calculating and single-minded?

·         Does he share certain qualities with other dictators?

·         Why do you think people follow such people so blindly?

NOW WATCH THE VIDEOS

·         Stalin: mini biography http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723/videos/joseph-stalin-mini-biography-2232250110

·         Joseph Stalin: the secret police  http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723/videos/joseph-stalin-the-secret-police-2237394247

Joseph Stalin: fighting the war http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723/videos/joseph-stalin-fighting-the-war-2237394179

QUESTIONS

1.       The fact that Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili became the Stalin we know is incredible / to be expected.

2.       Many experts have tried to explain the transformation in the characters of people like Hitler and Stalin through…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3.       Why could Leon Trotsky have put about such damming views concerning Stalin?

4.       What misconception concerning Stalin the person did the archives prove to be wrong?

5.       Ingenuity and hard work helped Stalin create the Soviet Union but they weren’t the only factors. What else helped him with his mission?

6.       What advantage did Stalin the person possess that his two companions didn’t?

7.       Refer back to question three; what judgment concerning Stalin was proved to be wrong by Kotkin?

8.       How did the Bolshevik coup d’état benefit Stalin and his friends?

9.       The framework for all Stalin’s actions is stated to be ………………………which seemed to offer security.

10.   One of the reasons for Stalin’s terrible reputation was the fact that…………………………………

11.   According to Kotkin, Stalin wasn’t a psychopath or a sociopath; rather, he was………………………

12.   The “deep sense of certainty” provided by ideology was very comfortable because ……………………..could be explained away.

13.   Read the account of Stalin’s mission in Tsaritsyn. Which adjectives best describe Stalin’s behavior in this instance:

·         Single-minded and ruthless

·         Sadistic and ambitious

14.   What method first used in Tsaritsyn became Stalin’s regular fallback plan throughout his career?

15.   What does “it” refer to in the phrase “it resulted in Stalin’s complete political triumph”

16.   The warning offered in the conclusion is that:

·         Violent ideologies still exist

·         Violent ideologies still have their followers

·         Both of the above

·         None of the above (please explain)

17.   Look back at the text and try and place the subtitles listed below in their appropriate places.

·         Ideology Carried Too Far

·         The Truth

·         Psychological and Political Explanations

·         The Role of Ideology

·         Freud Was Wrong

·         And So Was Trotsky

WRITING TASK

Now that you have studied the text in detail, write a summary. Remember a good summary needs to be brief and to the point; longer isn’t always better. This summary task is challenging in another respect too: it requires massive reorganization of the information so think carefully and send in your summary if you believe it is good enough to post. Have fun.

UNDERSTANDING STALIN KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This text may look like a tired old topic about an infamous dictator we have read so much about but it is not. Through Stalin, the writer seeks to imagine the single minded attachment to an ideology, how this ideology takes hold and that it is an ever present danger. Question 17 and the writing task require special attention.

1.       Incredible

2.       Their subject’s upbringing / childhood

3.       To inspire the Trotskyites to remain faithful to the revolution

4.       That he was a lumpen bureaucrat

5.       With the help of a circle of equally dedicated men as well as thousands of fanatical secret policemen

6.       A mother who despite her background, was ambitious and energetic …

7.       That he was an unlettered man who…

8.       It brought them personal security, force and power they had never before known.

9.       Ideology

10.   All his policies required mass violence to implement

11.   A man shaped by rigid adherence to a puritanical doctrine

12.   Whatever went wrong

13.   The first

14.   Extralegal revolutionary methods

15.   The displacement, the imprisonment and eventually the orchestrated starvation of millions of people

16.   Both of the above

17.   Ideology Carried Too Far: “The ideology offered Stalin…”

The Truth: “Since the opening…”

Psychological and Political Explanations: “Under Freud’s influence…”

The Role of Ideology: “Year by year…”

Freud Was Wrong: “In an exceptionally ambitious biography, …”

And So Was Trotsky: “More important Kotkin notes…”