In Stalin's Time - Oleg Shenin

By Oleg Shenin

Chairman of UCP-CPSU and

International Committee for "Unity and Brotherhood of Peoples"

The destiny of every person who had left a footprint on earth, be it material, or be it remembrance, is reflected in time as though history itself is being printed. But we can say that only a very few had their destiny inscribed in history. Now that we are in the 21st century 120 years since Stalin's birth, we can proclaim that Stalin's destiny will forever be inscribed in the 20th Century. From the experience of a great epoch... hence Stalin's Times!

Stalin's Time was a time of selfless efforts and undisclosed modesty. If the definition is accurate: "a state activist is a politician who places himself at the service of a nation, while a politician is a state activist who places the nation at his own service," -- then without any doubt we could truly say that Stalin was a genuine State Activist. A very gigantic one. In complex specific historical conditions of the time, he was called on to resolve such large problems which, after the untimely death of Lenin, did not fall on anyone else. It is important to underline that none of the genuine politicians at that time was able to do better than Stalin, to defend the revolution and to promote socialist construction.

Sometimes the most difficult and the most responsible of all activities is the necessity of making of the final decisions by one for all! The leaders of the Soviet military understood this best of all. To us all, of exceptional value are the reminiscences about Stalin of Marshall G. Zhukov, a three-time Soviet war hero when he wrote: "Calling a meeting of commanders of the various fronts of the Great Patriotic War, and discussing with them questions regarding all frontal operations, he showed himself as a person who understood all questions no worse, or maybe even better, than his subordinates - Marshals and Generals. In this sense, on numerous occasions he offered and predicted important interesting operative decisions."

And then there are thoughts of Anastas Mikoyan: "He possessed a very remarkable memory, understood immediately the essence of a situation, and I don't remember even one occasion where our serious proposals would have been rejected by the Central Committee or by the government. He had the very remarkable gift of quietly hearing one out and then responding, not lengthily, but straight to the point, quickly grasping the question under discussion."

Giving all of himself to the cause of the development of the nation, Stalin sternly demanded the same of others, but was completely devoid of any ambition to acquire any outward attributes of power, or to show any superiority over others. It is sufficient to look at the documents, signed by Stalin; on standard paper, almost gray in colour and only with a single printed line letterhead:

"Secretary, CC-AUCP(b)."

There was no mention of "General", although he has held the post for over 30 years. It was just "Comrade Stalin" or "Comrade Molotov" in all letters, documents and correspondence.

There is a very interesting story (factual) as told in a book by Marshall Konev, regarding a meeting of the CPSU Politburo where the question of awarding the title Generalissimo to Stalin was discussed (as quoted from the latest book by the well-known and respected Soviet writer Constantin Simonov, titled "With Eyes of My Generation, Reflections on J.V. Stalin"):

"Present were Zhukov, Vasilevski, I and Rokossovski...

"Stalin had interrupted us on several occasions and finally said, "Sit down please, then began talking about himself in the third person:

"You want to award the title of Generalissimo to Comrade Stalin. Why is this so necessary for Comrade Stalin? Comrade Stalin does not need it, Comrade Stalin possesses authority without the title. It is you who need the titles for authority. Stalin does not need any titles for his authority. See, they found a title for Comrade Stalin... Generalissimo! Chiang Kai Shek is also a Generalissimo. Franco is a Generalissimo. Without elaborating, it is real pleasant company for me, Comrade Stalin?? You are all Marshals; I, too am a Marshall. Do you now want to remove me from the ranks of Marshal? Into some sort of Generalissimo? What on earth is that title? Translate it for me.

"It became necessary for us Marshals to bring in several historical books and statutes to explain that this would be only the fourth time in the history of the Russian Army, after Menshikov and one other and Suvorov. In the end he agreed, just to get rid of us."

Stalin always stated (never getting tired of repeating it) "We are all disciples of Lenin."

Stalin's Time is a time of unceasing search for justice and equality between people.

Stalin's Time is a time of grandeur of a person's labour and the grandeur of the nation.

Stalin's Time were times of a genuine dawning of culture, an unceasing anxiety of the leadership about the liquidation of illiteracy, about the mastery of the arts and literature by our artists, in ballet and practically in all of the other spheres of world culture.

Stalin's Time was a time of genuine world internationalism, of harmonious blend of patriotism.

To us a struggle is inevitable with the "leftists" and haters of Stalin, with other Trotskyite craze in the world communist movement. There are now even those enemies who call themselves "National Bolsheviks", Bolsheviks-Leninists."

Stalin's Time was a severe time of fierce struggles with all of the various type of opportunists and simple traitors.

Stalin's Time was a time of genuine sovereignty of all the people. Stalin always defended the principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Stalin's Time was a time of unceasing concerns about the safety of the USSR, about the ability of the State, about the ability of the Soviet Army, about the ability of the entire Soviet people to staunchly defend the peaceful efforts of the entire great Soviet multinational people. There were also concerns about the dignity of the nation.

Stalin's Time is undoubtedly a time of the most important, the most significant period in the history of the Soviet nation.

Expressions could be cited from most of the world leaders about Stalin and his leadership, from friend and foe alike.

Comparing Lenin and Stalin is absurd and asking as to how one would act in the historical time of the other. They were great leaders and thinkers and each one added dimension to the time frame of his life.

Stalin's destiny is forever imprinted in the 20th Century.

Today, to the question of "Who was Stalin?"... It is easy to see now when we look at the lackluster faces of parties and movements, also at the deliberate planned erosion of class struggle and strata distinctions and their conversions into personal socio-political image in the mirror of deception and of self-consciousness

TIME DOES NOT STAND STILL! WE MUST MARCH AHEAD!

Translated by Alex Sturgeoff