Synopses & Reviews
This is the first book to analyze the distinct leader cults that flourished in the era of "High Stalinism" as an integral part of the system of dictatorial rule in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Fifteen studies explore the way in which these cults were established, their function and operation, their dissemination and reception, the place of the cults in art and literature, the exportation of the Stalin cult and its implantment in the communist states of Eastern Europe, and the impact which de-Stalinisation had on these cults.
Synopsis
Introduction: Leader Cults, Varieties and Preconditions; E.A.Rees PART I: THE MAKING OF THE CULT: METHODS AND INDIVIDUALS Stalin and the Making of the Stalin Cult in the 1930s; S.Davies 'A Very Modest Man': B la Ill s or How to Make a Career through the Leader Cult; .V.Klim Leader in the Making: The Role of Biographies in Constructing the Cult of M ty s R kosi; B.Apor PART II: THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LEADER CULT The Stalin Cult, Bolshevik Rule and Kremlin Interactions in the 1930s; B.Ennker Grandpa Lenin and Uncle Stalin: Soviet Leader Cults for Little Children; C.Kelly Georgian Koba or Soviet 'Father of the Peoples'? The Stalin Cult and Ethnicity; J.Plamper Working Towards the Centre: Leader Cults and Spatial Politics in Pre-war Stalinism; M.Rolf PART III: BEYOND MOSCOW: THE CULT'S PERIPHERIES Exporting the Leader: The Stalin Cult in Poland and East Germany (1944/45-1956); J.C.Behrends President of Poland or 'Stalin's Most Faithfull Pupil'? The Cult of Boleslaw Bierut in Stalinist Poland; I.Main Georgi Dimitrov: Three Manifestations of his Cult; M.Wien Leader Cults in the Western Balkans (1945-1990): Josip Broz Tito and Enver Hoxha; S.Sretenovic & A.Puto PART IV: THE DILEMMAS OF DE-STALINISATION: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN LEADER CULT PATTERNS IN THE POST-STALIN PERIOD 'I've Held, and I Still Hold Stalin in the Highest Esteem': Discourses and Strategies of Resistance to De-Stalinisation in the USSR, 1953-1962; P.Jones Surviving 1956: Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and 'The Cult of Personality' in Romania; A.Mocanescu The Second Step of a Ladder: The Cult of the First Secretaries in Poland; M.Zaremba
About the Author
Balbliogázs Apor is a postgraduate researcher at the European University Institute, Florence, where he is working on a thesis on the cult of Matyas Rakosi in Hungary.
Jan C. Behrends is Research Fellow at the Herder-Institut, Marburg, Germany.
Polly Jones is a Junior Research Fellow at Worcester College Oxford, and is completing her PhD on the Stalin cult and de-Stalinisation.
E.A. Rees is Professor of Eastern European History at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Leader Cults, Varieties and Preconditions--E.A.Rees * PART I: THE MAKING OF THE CULT: METHODS AND INDIVIDUALS * Stalin and the Making of the Stalin Cult in the 1930s--S.Davies * 'A very modest man': Bbliogéla Illbliogés or How to Make a Career through the Leader Cult--A.Klimbliog¢ * Leader in the Making: The Role of Biographies in Constructing the Cult of Matyas Rakosi--B.Apor * PART II: THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LEADER CULT * The Stalin Cult, Bolshevik Rule and Kremlin Interactions in the 1930s--B.Enker * Grandpa Lenin and Uncle Stalin: Soviet Leader Cults for Little Children--C.Kelly * Georgian Koba or Soviet 'Father of the Peoples'? The Stalin Cult and Ethnicity--J.Plamper * Working Towards the Centre: Leader Cults and Spatial Politics in Pre-war Stalinism--M.Rolf * PART III: BEYOND MOSCOW: THE CULT'S PERIPHERIES * Exporting the Leader: The Stalin Cult in Poland and East Germany (1944/45-1956)--J.C.Behrends * President of Poland or 'Stalin's most faithfull pupil'? The Cult of Boleslaw Bierut in Stalinist Poland--I.Main * Georgi Dimitrov: Three Manifestations of his Cult--M.Wien * Leader Cults in the Western Balkans (1945-1990): Josip Broz Tito and Enver Hoxha--S.Sretenovic & A.Puto * PART IV: THE DILEMMAS OF DE-STALINISATION: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN LEADER CULT PATTERNS IN THE POST-STALIN PERIOD * 'I've held, and I still hold Stalin in the highest esteem': Discourses and Strategies of Resistance to De-Stalinisation in the USSR, 1953-1962--P.Jones * Surviving 1956: Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and 'the cult of personality' in Romania--A.Mocanescu * The Second Step of a Ladder: The Cult of the First Secretaries in Poland--M.Zaremba