Stalin's Cult of Personality

1. Does the fact that images of Stalin appeared everywhere, as described by Steinbeck in Source 14.8, prove that Stalin attracted genuine adulation?
No, the fact that images of Stalin appeared everywhere does not prove that Stalin attracted genuine adulation because just because Stalin appeared everywhere was supposed to mean that everyone would think that Stalin was watching over them and that they were safe with a great leader. Just because Stalin's pictures were everywhere doesn't mean that people didn't like it. People were scared to say anything because of the purges and they were nervous for their selves so they would rather not care that Stalin's pictures were everywhere.

2. Describe the various devices used to establish and spread the cult of Stalin.
The Stalin cult provided an image of purpose and solidity, giving people confidence and faith that someone could lead them out of their troubles to the good society. They would spread the good word of Stalin through pictures in classrooms, museums, train stations, in parks, libraries, in the class room. There would be songs about Stalin and poems that made the children believe that he was a great man and everybody else as well.

3. Account for the relative success of the cult - why do you think it worked with the Russian people?
I believe that it worked so well with the Russian people because they were very clueless about what was really happening. They saw pictures that they could easily understand and all they heard was good things about Stalin which made them believe that he was a really good man. There was little talk about Stalin because people were scared and so they soon believed that he was a great leader. There was so much advertisement about Stalin and how great of a leader he was that people saw it so much and soon believed it. The pictures were easy for the people to understand and it worked for the Russian people.

4. What conclusions can you reach about whether the adulation Stalin received was genuine? Make notes of your answers.
Service maintains that genuine entusiasm for Stalin was limited until the end of the 1930s when the mass indctrination campaign reached its peak. Such enthusiasm as had been around was then heightened by the grace threat to the soviet union presented by the war. People velieved that stalin was their true guide and the person who cared for them.