Formation of Stalin’s сult in Soviet Belarus in 1934–1939

  • Alexander A. Huzhalouski Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33581/2520-6338-2019-3-57-67

Abstract

Оn the basis of archival sources, periodicals and contemporary research works, сonsolidation of Stalin’s cult in Soviet Belarus is presented in the article. The few works that appeared during the two waves of de-Stalinization – in the second half of the 1950 – 1960s and in the second half of the 1980 – 1990s – did not reveal the phenomenon of the cult of the leader in Soviet Belarus. They only indicated the contours of this problem, without clarifying its essence, specific forms and consequences. The author gives an opportunity to a reader to examine the period from the 17th Congress of the CPSU(b), when the cult began to actively develop until the 60th anniversary of Stalin, when he reached his zenith. Supplemented by unlimited violence, the cult of Stalin was as effective as the Marxist doctrine to mobilize the society for support of Soviet totalitarian regime. The cult origin was rooted in a traditional, archaic society. It had irrational nature, what reflected the entire Soviet political culture. The main tool for leader’s cult construction was the party bureaucracy, true ruling class of Soviet society. The cult was introduced through the propaganda machine and was essentially a state religion with its own sacred texts, dogma, rituals, rites, holidays, and shrines. Under the direction and control of the party leadership, the image of a charismatic leader – the father, the teacher, the creator of a brighter future was purposefully formed during the second half of the 1930s with the help of media, literature, art, and educational institutions.

Author Biography

Alexander A. Huzhalouski , Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

doctor of science (history), full professor; professor at the department of ethnology, museology and history of arts, faculty of history

References

  1. Kamenskaya NV. [On some issues of historical research development in Byelorussia]. Voprosy istorii. 1960;11:159–167. Russian.
  2. Kuchynski UA, Margunski SP. [Рopular sovereignty as the basis of constitutional construction in a socialist state]. Vesci Akadjemii navuk Belaruskaj SSR. Seryja gramadskih navuk. 1964;4:21–28. Belarusian.
  3. Shykunow VS. [The development of prosecutors in Soviet Byelorussia]. Vesci Akadjemii navuk Belaruskaj SSR. Seryja gramadskih navuk. 1967;4:94–102. Belarusian.
  4. Kostjuk MP. Bol’shevistskaya sistema vlasti v Belarusi [The Bolshevik system of state power in Belarus]. Moscow: Institut rossijskoj istorii RAN; 2002. 340 p. Russian.
  5. Platonaw RP. Palityki. Idjei. Ljosy. Gramadzjanskija pazicyi va wmovah narastannja idjeolaga-palitychnaga dyktatu w Belarusi 20–30-h gadow [Politics. Ideas. Fates: social positions in the face of growing ideological and political dictate in Belarus in 1920–1930s]. Minsk: Belarusian Archival Science and Records Management Research Institute; 1996. 382 p. Belarusian.
  6. Prot’ko TS. Stanovlenie sovetskoi totalitarnoi sistemy v Belarusi (1917–1941 gg.) [Formation of the Soviet totalitarian system in Belarus (1917–1941)]. Minsk: Tesej; 2002. 688 p. Russian.
  7. Trotskij LD. Stalin. Tom 2 [Stalin. Volume 2]. Moscow: Terra; 1990. 285 р. Russian.
  8. Friedrich CJ, Brzezinski ZK. Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1965. 439 p.
  9. Ennker B. Politische Herrschaft und Stalinkult, 1929–1939. In: Plaggenborg S, editor. Stalinismus. Neue Forschungen und Konzepte. Berlin: Verlag Arno Spitz; 1998. S. 151–184.
  10. Gill G. Symbols and legitimacy in Soviet politics. Сambridge: Сambridge University Press; 2011. 356 p.
  11. Morgan K. International communism and the cult of the individual: leaders, tribunes and martyrs under Lenin and Stalin. London: Palgrave Macmillan; 2017. 363 p.
  12. Rees EA. Leader cults: varieties, preconditions and functions. In: Apor B, Behrends JC, Jones P, Rees EA, editors. The leader cult in communist dictatorships: Stalin and the Eastern Bloc. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004. p. 3–26.
  13. Rolf M. Working towards the centre: leader cults and spatial politics in pre-war Stalinism. In: Apor B, Behrends JC, Jones P, Rees EA, editors. The leader cult in communist dictatorships: Stalin and the Eastern Bloc. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2004. p. 141–157.
  14. Plamper J. Alkhimiya vlasti. Kul’t Stalina v izobrazitel’nom iskusstve [The alchemy of power. The Stalin cult in a fine art]. Мoscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie; 2010. 496 p. Russian.
  15. Pisch A. The personality cult of Stalin in Soviet posters, 1929–1953: archetypes, inventions and fabrications. Canberra: ANU Press; 2016. 516 p.
  16. Shtjoppler B, Zuppan A. [«Revolution from above» and cult of Stalin]. In: Nosov BV, editor. Slavjanskie narody: obshhnost’ istorii i kul’tury. K 70-letiju chlena-korrespondenta Rossijskoj akademii nauk Vladimira Konstantinovicha Volkova [Slavic peoples: community of history and culture. To the 70th anniversary of corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Volkov]. Moscow: Indrik; 2000. p. 286–305. Russian.
  17. Kelly C. Riding the magic carpet: children and leader cult in the Stalin era. The Slavic and East European Journal. 2005;49(2):199–224. DOI: 10.2307/20058260.
  18. Sobanet A. Generation Stalin: french writers, the fatherland, and the cult of personality. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 2018. 312 р.
  19. Post JM. Current concepts of the narcissistic personality: implications for political psychology. Political Psychology. 1993;14(1):99–121.
  20. Ashirova A. Stalinismus und Stalin-Kult in Zentralasien. Turkmenistan 1924–1953. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag; 2009. 412 S.
  21. Berdjaev NA. [The Religious Foundations of Bolshevism. (From the Religious Psychology of the Russian People)]. In: Berdjaev NA. Duhovnye osnovy russkoj revolucii. Opyty 1917–1918 gg. [Spiritual foundation of the Russian revolution. Experiences of 1917–1918s]. Bronnikova VE, compiler. Saint Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo russkogo khristianskogo gumanitarnogo instituta; 1999. 429 р. Russian.
  22. Eliade M. Sacrum i profanum: o istocie religijności. Reszke R, tłumacz. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo KR; 1999. 206 s.
  23. Sebag-Montefiore S. Stalin: dvor Krasnogo monarkha [Stalin: the court of the Red tsar]. Moscow: OLMA-PRESS; 2005. 764 p. Russian.
  24. Davies S. Popular Opinion in Stalin’s Russia: terror, propaganda and dissent, 1934–1941. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1997. 258 р.
  25. Kancher Е. [From the history of the Civil War in Byelorussia in 1917–1920 (written on memories, personal records and documents)]. Belaruskaya dumka. 2010;1:92–97. Russian.
Published
2019-07-25
Keywords: cult of Stalin, Soviet Belarus, party bureaucracy, totalitarian regime, mass media, literature, art, anniversary, state religion
How to Cite
Huzhalouski A. A. Formation of Stalin’s сult in Soviet Belarus in 1934–1939 // Journal of the Belarusian State University. History. 2019. 3. PP. 57-67.
Issue
No 3 (2019): Journal of the Belarusian State University. History
Section
Belarusian History

Copyright (c) 2019 Journal of the Belarusian State University. History

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)