Stalinism
Stalinism is a term largely used by anti-communists, revisionists and Trotskyists to attack real or imagined supporters of the socialist construction which took place in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Bolshevik Party under Joseph Stalin. It falsely proposes that a cult of personality dominated Soviet politics and life roughly between 1928 and 1953.
Despite the rampant usage of the term in bourgeois academia, "Stalinism" was seldom used in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Instead, the more accurate term[a] Marxism–Leninism was used, of which Stalin popularized.
Marxist–Leninist usage
Stalin rejected the usage of "Stalinism" as another delineation of Marxism-Leninism. After Kaganovich proposed the term, Stalin replied, "How can you compare a dick to a watchtower?"[1] In this respect, Stalin appeared to be more modest. However, the use of the term changed in context over time. Certain tendencies of Marxist-Leninism use the term "Stalinism" as a self-description, because they view it as a point of pride to be associated with Stalin in such a way. In particular, Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha sometimes used the term "Stalinism" or "Marxism–Leninism–Stalinism" to contrast himself with the anti-Stalinist Khrushchev clique and other phony "Marxist–Leninists."[2]
The modern revisionists and reactionaries call us Stalinists, thinking that they insult us and, in fact, that is what they have in mind. But, on the contrary, they glorify us with this epithet; it is an honor for us to be Stalinists for while we maintain such a stand the enemy cannot and will never force us to our knees. —Enver Hoxha
See also
References
- ↑ Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend.
- ↑ Enver Hoxha (1969). The Demagogy of the Soviet Revisionists Cannot Conceal Their Traitorous Countenance
"And the only road to this is the recreation of the Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist revolutionary party, that must take in its hands the banner of the struggle for the overthrow of the revisionist clique and the restoration of the dictatorship of the proletariat, to turn the Soviet Union back to the road of communism."
Notes
- ↑ Stalin based himself on Lenin's and Marx's contributions rather than inventing his own theory.