The roots of Stalin’s cult

Modern russian society has divided into two large groups: one loves money, and the other — Stalin. Liberals (those that love money) also talk a lot about Stalin — as a dark and bloody devil. Like, if you do not want Stalin to come with repression, then love money. And the Stalinists speak of him as a light demigod, they say, since this demigod made repressions, it means that it was necessary.

So why did Stalin persecute?

Russian historian Vadim Rogovin answers:

As the repression intensified, the number of those who were disgruntled and embittered by violence and injustice multiplied. Getting acquainted with the intelligence reports of the NKVD, which reported on the growth of opposition sentiment, Stalin could not perceive the political situation as quite stable. Imposing a state of siege in the party and the country, he himself in a certain sense felt himself in a state of siege. “There is no doubt that since he was at the pinnacle of power, he has a lack of confidence, it is not common for him, but it is growing stronger, — Trotsky observed. — He himself knows his past too well, the discrepancy between his ambition and personal resources … and his own ascension seems to him (and it can’t be other way) as a result of not only his own persistent efforts, but also of some strange event, almost historical lottery. The very need for these hyperbolic praises, in the constant heap of flattery, is an unmistakable sign of self-doubt. In everyday life over the years, he measured himself in contact with other people, he could not help but feel their superiority over himself in many ways, and sometimes in all. The ease with which he coped with his opponents could in a certain short period of time create an exaggerated idea of ​​his own strength, but in the end, when meeting new difficulties, it seemed to him inexplicable and mysterious. ”
To an even greater degree, the ascension of Stalin should have seemed mysterious to the old Bolsheviks. Stalin’s rule contradicted the traditional Marxist ideas about historical laws and the role of the individual in history. (Rogovin V. Stalin’s neo-NEP)