Soviet Historiography from Brezhnev to Gorbachev (1964-85)

I am Brezhnev. During this time, I didn’t really like to denounce Stalin, but at the same time was definitely not going to go back to his policies. Thus, we manipulated history publications to ignore Stalin’s actions and leadership; essentially creating a vacuum in which the famine of 1932 and the gulags did not exist. We created a historical perspective with a reduction of Stalin’s USSR significance.

However others were not so happy with this reduction. Many dissidents like that damn R Medvedev, published books abroad. He tried to say that Stalinism was a bunch of deviations and mistakes from the Marxist line and focused on Stalin’s responsibility for this; although he occasionally noted the role of the overall party. Overall, he tried to say that Stalinism was not an inevitable consequence of the Bolshevik Revolution. He also disclosed much information and testimony that would have been lost. That Medvedev… Such a pest.

The Soviet View Under Khrushchev (1953-64)

I am Khrushchev and I came into power in 1953. I was the one who started destalinisation and began to challenge traditional views of him. I didn’t like his cult of personality and his use of terror, and I successfully made him a scapegoat for mistakes and excesses; though I was careful not to challenge the communist system itself. This would have been dangerous for me. So, I pulled Stalin’s official historical publication of 1938 from circulation and a new edition was published in 1959. In this edition, every mention of Stalin was disconnected from favorable connections, with credit being given to the party and the people.

Trotsky and other Soviet Émigrés

Mexico – 1940

I am Trotsky, and I seek to reveal to the public an uncensored account of developments under Stalin. I am not the only one who has been deported from the USSR or who left in defiance of Stalin. Others are also working hard to criticize Stalin’s policies. Stalin is a betrayer of the revolution, he’s very obviously using the power gained by the revolution for his own ambitions and interests. Myself and others will criticize the Bolshevik Revolution and the course it had taken under Stalin by showing Bukharin’s views in Stalin in an interview

Wait- what’s that?! Gun fire?! Damn that Stalin. HEL- .

*connection lost*

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Trotsky RIP 1940. Although Trotsky also published publications that tried to justify his own actions as well, his revelations of Stalin were valuable to Western historians. Another legacy was his alerting of the West to Lenin’s testament.

The Soviet View Under Stalin – By Andreyovitch

My name is Andreyovitch and I was alive during the Stalinist period of 1928-53. During this time, the government had solid control over publications. We saw Stalin being portrayed as an all-wise leader who saved the USSR through strict application of Marxist ideology in many different newspapers and things. I remember buying the History of the All-Union Communist Party when it was published in 1938 (it was ordered to be created by Stalin). It gave Stalin a prominent role in policy developments, as a continuer of Lenin’s work, and portrayed him as essential to saving the revolution. Upon retrospect, these works were obviously an exaggeration of reality and a highly biased historiographical perspective, however many of us citizens at the time truly believed in Stalin. We really thought that his policies would create a dream world of hope and equality. Tsarism, world war, and civil war led us to really hope for so.