Cult of Personality

The Cult of Stalin

Just as the tsar had been known as the ‘Little Father’, Stalin's personality was separated from any errors or bad decisions. Stalin wanted to be praised and adored. A cult of personality developed in the USSR.

Why was there a cult?

Stalin was presented as a wise leader who cared about the concerns of ordinary people.
Creating a cult of personality around Stalin also enabled the leadership of the party to exploit the Russian people’s religious sensibilities.
Problems in society could now be blamed on ‘class enemies’ rather than the leadership of the nation.

A true leader

The cult put Stalin above all critique by the Russian population. He was the only person who could deliver true leadership to the people.
Stalin was also presented as the new Lenin, someone who could take the ‘cult of Lenin’ to new heights.
- He was called the ‘Leader, Teacher and Friend’ of the Soviet Union.

Stalin's transcendent role

He was presented as a genius who understood communism and its politics in a way that no-one else could. He never used the word Stalinism, he was merely a servant of Marxist-Leninism.
Stalin was depicted as working alongside factories, farms and workers. This made him seem close to the people.
He was often surrounded by the Russian youth in propaganda, applauded by workers and gazed at lovingly.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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