On the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany in WWII: 'Stalin's Anti-Fascism: A Limited Review'
Sukla Sen
Stalin's Anti-Fascism: A Limited Review
Stalin's Anti-Fascism and WW II: A Limited Review
A recent mail circulated on the net informs us of inclusion of "Stalin Archive" ("Volumes 14 to 18 of the Works of Stalin which were published by Red Star Press, London, in the 1970s and 1980s", to be more specific) on the website <www.revolutionarydemocracy.org> (see: <http://www.mail-archive.com/green...@googlegroups.com/msg10959.html>).
Then it goes on to reproduce in full the introductory comments. (The complete text of the mail is provided below for ready reference.)
In what follows here, we offer a limited examination of the hagiographical reference to Stalin: his "anti-fascism", in particular.
The intro tells us:
Stalin was a leading communist revolutionary of the twentieth century whose seminal contribution is increasingly felt in the twenty first century. His name is identified with the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union, the victory over fascism in the Second World War and the transition to communist society.
The (pretty much unsubstantiated) claim that Stalin's "seminal contribution is increasingly felt in the twenty first century", as made above, is so very much out of touch with actual reality that it hardly merits any comment.
Then, the politics of'Socialism in One Country as initiated and championed by Stalin, along with a few other related issues, had been discussed by this commentator in some details under the same caption back in 1989 (available at <http://www.jstor.org/pss/4394571> and <http://archive.epw.in/data/PDF/001620_EPW_25_3_1989_Vol_XXIV_No_12/DISCUSSION_Socialism%20in%20One%20Country.pdf>, for both subscriptions are required though). One may also look up <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_One_Country> for a brief but useful account.
The claim as regards the "the transition to communist society" is also obviously as silly.
Here, we'd in brief, focus on some aspects of Stalin's (seminal) role in "the victory over fascism in the Second World War".
In fact, after the pitiable implosion of the gigantic Soviet Union, and, close to half a century back, public repudiation of Stalin's legacy by the successor regime soon after the death of the dictator without causing any waves of protest or whatever anywhere in its immediate aftermath, despite "the transition to communist society" led by Stalin and all that crap; his only claim to "greatness" lies in his presumed role in the "the victory over fascism in the Second World War".
It is in this context, one needs be reminded that Soviet Russia under Stalin had joined the WW II virtually as a junior accomplice of the Hitlerite Nazi Germany via the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union signed on 23/24 August 1939. This is popularly known as Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. (Ref. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov–Ribbentrop_Pact>.)
And the War started on September 1 1939 marked by the German invasion of Poland coming barely a week after the signing of the Treaty. (Ref. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>.) Evidently, it was no mere coincidence. TheTreaty played a decisive role in triggering off the German attack on Poland.
The momentum had, however, started visibly building up since 1933 with Hitler occupying power in Germany.
In addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a secret protocol dividing Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, anticipating potential "territorial and political rearrangements" of these countries. Thereafter, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded their respective sides of Poland, dividing the country between them. Part of eastern Finland was annexed by the Soviet Union after the Winter War. This was followed by Soviet annexations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Bessarabia.
[Source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov–Ribbentrop_Pact>.]
Also relevant:
On September 15, 1939, [i.e. two weeks after the commencement of the WW II] Stalin concluded a durable ceasefire with Japan, to take effect the following day (it would be upgraded to a formal armistice in April 1941). The day after that, September 17, he belatedly joined Germany in the joint invasion of Poland. Although some fighting continued until October 5, the two invading armies held at least one joint victory parade on September 25, and reinforced their partnership with a German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation on September 28.
On November 30, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, for which it was expelled from the League of Nations. The following year, the USSR annexed the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, together with parts of Romania.
[See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II#Soviet_Union>.]
That's about Stalin's opposition to, nay fight against, fascism.
Even if we forget the disastrous impact of the "social fascism" line pursued by the Comintern under Stalin, and thereby the German Communist Party, in Germany itself.
Here is an interesting snippet going back to (January) 1934 allowing a revealing glimpse into Stalin's mind and his (principled) attitude towards fascism:
In this connection some German politicians say that the U.S.S.R. has now taken an orientation towards France and Poland; that from an opponent of the Versailles Treaty it has become a supporter of it, and that this change is to be explained by the establishment of the fascist regime in Germany. That is not true. Of course, we are far from being enthusiastic about the fascist regime in Germany. But it is not a question of fascism here, if only for the reason that fascism in Italy, for example, has not prevented the U.S.S.R. from establishing the best relations with that country. .... We never had any orientation towards Germany, nor have we any orientation towards Poland and France. Our orientation in the past and our orientation at the present time is towards the U.S.S.R., and towards the U.S.S.R. alone. (Stormy applause.) And if the interests of the U.S.S.R. demand rapprochement with one country or another which is not interested in disturbing peace, we adopt this course without hesitation.
[Excerpted from the 'Report to the Seventeenth Party Congress ...' at <http://ciml.250x.com/archive/stalin/est1934_1.html>, p. 691/2.]
It is Hitler, and NOT Stalin, who broke with the USSR.
Stalin, at no stage, took any initiative to break with the Nazi Germany and its ongoing war of aggression.
On 22 June 1941, Germany, along with other European Axis members and Finland, [in an apparently surprise, and which would turn out to be fatally premature, move] invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. [Ref: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>.]
Consequently, in the initial phases, the USSR suffered enormous losses.
But eventually the success for the Germans turned out to be Pyrrhic.
Apart from the bravery of the Red Army, the vast, virtually endless, frozen stretches to be covered by the German ground forces, proved to be its undoing.
Almost reenacting Napoleon's devastating defeat in Tsarist Russia about a century and three decades back.
The Soviet Russia then joined the "imperialist" Allies.
As a price, the Comintern had to be dissolved.
At the start of World War II, the Comintern supported a policy of non-intervention, arguing that the war was an imperialist war between various national ruling classes, much like World War I had been (see Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). But when the Soviet Union itself was invaded on 22 June 1941, the Comintern changed its position to one of active support for the Allies.
On May 15, 1943, a declaration of the Executive Committee was sent out to all sections of the International, calling for the dissolution of Comintern. The declaration read:
"The historical role of the Communist International, organised in 1919 as a result of the political collapse of the overwhelming majority of the old pre-war workers' parties, consisted in that it preserved the teachings of Marxism from vulgarisation and distortion by opportunist elements of the labor movement.... But long before the war it became increasingly clear that, to the extent that the internal as well as the international situation of individual countries became more complicated, the solution of the problems of the labor movement of each individual country through the medium of some international centre would meet with insuperable obstacles."
Concretely, the declaration asked the member sections to approve:
"To dissolve the Communist International as a guiding centre of the international labor movement, releasing sections of the Communist International from the obligations ensuing from the constitution and decisions of the Congresses of the Communist International."
After endorsements of the declaration were received from the member sections, the International was dissolved. ....
Usually, it is asserted that the dissolution came about as Stalin wished to calm his World War II Allies (particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill) and keep them from suspecting the Soviet Union of pursuing a policy of trying to foment revolution in other countries.
[See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comintern>.]
That's about Stalin's anti-fascism.
That's about Stalin's anti-imperialism.
That's about his (seminal) role in "the victory over fascism in the Second World War".
Sukla Sen
[Here is the mail reproduced below in full.]
The Revolutionary Democracy website at: www.revolutionarydemocracy.org
now includes a Stalin Archive.
Just Scroll down the left side of the site.
The archive includes so far Volumes 14 to 18 of the Works of Stalin
which were published by Red Star Press, London, in the 1970s and 1980s;
the Correspondence Between the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of
the USSR and the Presidents of the USA and the Prime Ministers of Great
Britain During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the Minutes of
The Tehran Yalta& Potsdam Conferences.
Here is the introductory note to the archive:
Stalin was a leading communist revolutionary of the twentieth century
whose seminal contribution is increasingly felt in the twenty first
century. His name is identified with the construction of socialism in
the Soviet Union, the victory over fascism in the Second World War and
the transition to communist society. These colossal victories would not
have been possible without the defeat of the oppositions led by Trotsky
and Bukharin who opposed socialist industrialisation and
collectivisation. By the time of the death of Stalin a large people’s
democratic camp had been built up in central and eastern Europe and Asia
alongside the USSR.
Yet the writings of Stalin are not easy to locate despite the fact that
a number of websites include some of his works. 13 Volumes of the Works
were completed in English prior to the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU in
1956. The dummy of Volume 14 had been printed prior to this event and
the publication of the volume was announced before the Closed Speech. It
was not to be printed. The Soviet archives show that preparatory work
had also begun for volumes 15-17 of the Works of Stalin. This archive
represents an attempt to widen the availability of the writings of this
classic of Marxism. We begin by reconstituting Volumes 14 to 18 of the
Works of Stalin which were published by Red Star Press, London in the
1970s and 1980s. These volumes which are much in demand have been out of
print for many years. The Red Star Press compilation drew upon the
labours of communists who had gathered materials for the publication of
the Works of Stalin in French and German. Separate from these endeavours
communists in Albania and Spain independently compiled volumes 14 in
their languages. In the United States, Volumes 14 to 16 were published
in Russian from Stanford based upon the official Soviet publications.
Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev some of the contributions of Stalin
bearing upon diplomatic matters were published in the Soviet Union. We
are placing a part of these on the web. After the fall of the USSR
volumes 14 to 18 have been published in Russian and more are under
preparation under the editorship of Prof. Richard Kosalapov. With the
opening up of the Stalin Archive currently held in the former Central
Party Archive of the CPSU a considerable part of the vast body of
Stalin’s writings are now available in the public domain. In the near
future we plan to put on the web in a chronological form some of
Stalin’s writings which are not included in existing collections. This
is an international task and we appeal for assistance on this in terms
of the location of materials and the translation of Stalin’s writings
from the Russian. Those who wish to help in this cause may contact us
at: editor...@rediffmail.com <mailto:editor_revdem%40rediffmail.com>