Posted on 03/04/2023 11:35:46 AM PST by Rummyfan
On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Josef Stalin's death, attitudes to the Soviet Union's wartime leader remain mixed in the nations he once ruled with an iron fist.
During three decades of dictatorial rule, Stalin oversaw rapid industrialisation and victory over the Nazis but also the deaths of millions in purges, Gulag labour camps and famine.
With Russia embroiled in conflict again in Ukraine, in what the Kremlin says is a fresh existential battle for national survival, memories of the Soviet dictator loom large.
"Firstly, thank you for the victory (in World War Two)," said 21-year-old Madina in a typically mixed view of Stalin's legacy among people on the streets of Moscow.
"Secondly, he is a negative person for me because there were a lot of deaths. A lot of executions, shootings, expulsions, arts were banned, etc. So it’s impossible to have a clear position one way or the other," she added, declining to give her second name.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Stalin Rose From Czarist Oppression to Transform Russia Into Mighty Socialist State
From the NY Times of course....
Stalin was a socialist.
Stalin focused on his country and what he perceived as the national interests of Russia.
You can say the same for Hitler.
Hitler called himself a National Socialist.
Stalin did not use that term, and certainly opposed Nazi state. But Hitler and Stalin had a lot in common.
And you could say that Putin fits right in there as well.
The real outlier is Trotsky.
Trotsky did not support “socialism in one country” but looked for Internal Socialism and world revolution.
Stalin opposed Trotsky, kicked him out of Russia and had him hunted down and killed in Mexico.
Putin is a bit of a National Socialist, like Stalin. And the Globalist/International Socialists are still the main opposition.
Ukraine is important. I don’t see it as really Hitler vs. Stalin. I see it as Trotsky vs Stalin — and Trotsky is the West today.
No Good Guys in this fight.
There is really nothing to admire about Stalin.
He was a naive’ idiot in believing that he had a deal with Hitler and he was greedy to boot in that he agreed to carve up nations with Hitler.
He acted like a babbling idiot when the Germans did invade for days costing many lives. His inability to make rational decisions was on par with Hitler - it is almost a miracle that his Field Marshals were able to grind out victory from the seeds of defeat that Stalin promoted.
He is one of the biggest mass murderers in human history.
All around he was a nasty and vile man. Period.
LIBERALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both cows, slaughters them for their own food,
and taxes you to death for worthless social programs, for having
the animals originally.
PROGRESSIVISM
You have 2 cows.
Progs advocate for advancements in science, technology,
economic development and social organization, but they’re so full
of bullshit, nothing ever changes.
You still have 2 cows.
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State forces you to give one to your neighbor, shoots the neighbor
and forces you to milk them both, giving all milk back to the state.
The State gives you a cup of sour milk.
LEFTISM
You have 2 cows.
The State terrrorizes the animals until they can’t produce milk,
beats you and your wife to death, and puts your daughters & sons
into the Pedophile Nation, for the Epsteins, Weiners, Clintons etc.
MARXISM
You have 2 cows.
The government takes both and tosses you into a hog pen, where you’re
devoured and never found.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you nothing.
They shoot your family and put you in a gulag.
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, promises more free cows, lets you vote and gives you sour milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots your wife and kids.
ANARCHISM
You have 2 cows.
The State shoots the cows, you and your family.
CRONY CAPITALISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, milks, slaughters them, and makes a tidy profit from the sale
of choice meat cuts and fresh milk.
You get some lousy hamburger and a jar of sour milk.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, hires a sub-contractor to milk the other, and then throws the milk away.
CONTEMPORARY WALL STREETISM
You have 2 cows.
You sell one, bundle the other with a goat, a mule,
and two dry cows.
You pile into the derivatives market, buy a Gulfstream
and when it all comes down around your ears...
You go to the government for a bailout.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have 2 cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
During the war the Soviets had a problem. Turns out, subjects living in repressive communist regimes aren’t always enthusiastic about laying down their lives for a bunch thugs, crooks, and degenerates. Who knew, right?
This is where appeals to their love of country and history came in “The Great Patriotic War” and such. I was musing on this the other day, because the American government is poised dangerously on similar grounds.
It is increasingly difficult to attract or retain high quality individuals into the military when there is an unprecedented assault on our shared or common history, and a constant barrage of blood libel against our citizens based on their race, religion, creed, or politics. “You’re f&@ked up, everything is white supremacy, your form of government is illegitimate and you’re on stolen land.”
What happens if there is a “serious” war? Where are they going to get the personnel? What appeals to patriotism are they going to draw upon?
Yeah, they done shit in their messkit on this one. Oops. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of nicklefvckers.
You left out Biden, Hillary, Obama and Nuland. I would like to hear how anyone of them are any way better than Putin.
If you look at the personal lives of guys like Stalin, Karl Marx, and any of the others of that ilk, every single one of them was an evil SOB in their personal life, just as they were in governing. Absolutely despicable human beings.
Massive credit to the Russian people should be granted for the defeat of Hitler. But that credit should not go to Stalin. Their victory over the Germans was in spite of him, not because of him. The misery those people endured is sickening. And there’s probably no accurate way to know how many of their World War II casualties are directly because of Stalin’s leadership, as opposed to expected casualties of warfare. The two are so intermingled that it’s hard to separate them I think.
And it’s fortunate that he died in 1953. Everything I’ve read indicates that he was on the cusp of launching another giant murderous purge. It’s an even better that he was killed by people knowing they could get caught up in the next one.
And not only was his babbling when Barbarossa was launched counterproductive. In the five or six years before the war began, he practically eliminated the leadership of the Soviet army in purges and murder. The very reason the initial attack went so poorly for Russia is that he had destroyed their military before Barbarossa even began.
Yep. We are purging our military now for “woke”. It never works out well and peacetime military promotions are usually based on parameters that mean nothing in wartime performance.
Patton could not have made Major in today’s Army.
How is Hitler’s polarizing legacy looming?
Stalin was a military idiot, but Hitler was the worst. During the second year of the war after the Germans bogged down I think Stalin took more of a hands off approach overall and let his generals do their thing.
He was incredibly ruthless though and his penchant to take his subordinates outside and put them against a wall caused untold casualties within his military because it wasted soldiers for unwinnable battles.
Stalin opposed the Nazi state only after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. The Sovs were doing business with Germany almost to the day of the invasion. He had been warned by British intelligence but ignored that as capitalist misinformation.
You have to watch that film at least 3 times to catch all the things that are happening just outside the frame.
Stalin did study for the Orthodox priesthood as a young man. The revolution in Russia turned everything upside down. Not making excuses mind you….
Yep. Except for Gorbachev. He was a good one. A reasonable fellow. Then Boris Yeltsin. Not a bad guy. A drunk though. His biggest mistake was grooming Putin. Here we are.
As a person of faith I think anyone who casually commits murder on the level of Stalin, Hitler, or Mao is by their very nature demonic.
It is literally beyond comprehension for a sane human being.
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