Josef Stalin: How do the Russians See Him

A Hero For Russians

 Can we use the title 'Stalin the great' ?

The Legend of Stalin

Stalin ruled Russia for 29 years with an iron hand. He died in 1953, leaving behind a police state which took 25 years to dismantle. I have read a lot about Stalin and also visited Russia when it was the USSR and also after the Soviet state had been dismantled. All along on my visits one basic fact emerged   that most Russians do not criticize Stalin. 

 I have read that Stalin signed execution orders, yet the Russian people are nostalgic about him. A look at the Russian websites is again something that can confuse the best of brains. Both communists and anti-communists give him a fair amount of respect. The communists glorify Stalin as the builder of modern Russia and as the colleague of Lenin who ushered in an era of Russian greatness as a counter poise to the United States.

The anti- communists also have good things to say about Stalin. They give him credit for the victory over Hitler. They of course do not mention his communist and socialistic leanings and concentrate on his achievements. The net result is that both the anti-communists and communists see Stalin as a man, who led Russia forward, not as a cruel despotic dictator who got thousands executed. In effect Stalin is a unifying force in Russia.

 People generally feel that Stalin himself had nothing to do with the Concentration and Labor camps in Siberia.  Many even stated that Stalin was not aware of them. This is something hard to digest, yet this is what the Russian people feel. In the 21^st century Vladimir Putin is trying to wear that legacy of Stalin. The fact remains that the Russians long for Stalin and the great power status he gave them. the West also cannot overlook the harsh fact  that but for Stalin the war against Hitler may well have been lost. Surely Stalin deserves the title "The Great"