The power of persuasion: remembering the battle of Stalingrad during the Thaw, 1958-1966

This essay examines how memoirists of the thaw period following Josef Stalin's death in 1953 collaborated with the state to represent morale as a positive force that acted to persuade Red Army soldiers fighting the Wehrmacht at the Battle of Stalingrad in the justness of their cause. Morale also served as a counterbalance to the threat of violence associated with Stalinism. As a system that justified its rule using morally sanctioned language, the Soviet state desperately needed to revitalize itself after a brief crisis of legitimacy that followed de-Stalinization and the growth of a dissident movement. Although Stalinism presented coercive measures as an acceptable means of disciplining the population, de-Stalinization made it necessary to emphasize the use of persuasive methods in the process of molding good citizens. The Communist Party acted through high-ranking officers to articulate how the power of persuasion had motivated Soviet soldiers to achieve victory.Master of Art