Stalinism [European civilization: 1648-1945]

Presents part of course, European Civilization, 1648-1945, when Professor John Merriman describes one of the central questions in assessing Stalinism is whether or not the abuses of the latter were already present in the first years of the Russian Revolution. Stalin, although not an ethnic Russian himself, was committed to the assimilation of national identity, and universal identification with the Soviet State. This commitment, lead to executions and deportations aimed at solidifying the state through exclusion of "undesirable" or politically suspect elements. Throughout years of economic hardship and violent purges, the Soviet idealism emphasized a glorious future in order to justify the miseries of the present. A future proved, in many ways, to be an illusionEducação Superior::Ciências Humanas::Históri