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osprey_archerI’ve finished Why Lenin? Why Stalin? Why Gorbachev?.
It’s probably the most pro-Stalin book I’ve ever read—which means that Theodore Von Laue, the author, points out Stalin’s achievements instead of lingering over his horrors. Yes, he was a genocidal maniac who killed hundreds of thousands of people for very bad reasons, but he did consolidate his country and amp up Russian industry enough that it could fight off the Germans during World War II.
It’s this last part that’s giving me pause. The USSR did the real work winning World War II. The Western front—in terms of everything but British and American ego—was essentially a sideshow.
So yes, Stalin did terrible things. But if he hadn’t, Russian industry could not have supplied to army to fight off Hitler, who would have been worse, and probably over a larger area.
It’s discomfiting to think of Stalinist terror as a necessary evil.
It’s probably the most pro-Stalin book I’ve ever read—which means that Theodore Von Laue, the author, points out Stalin’s achievements instead of lingering over his horrors. Yes, he was a genocidal maniac who killed hundreds of thousands of people for very bad reasons, but he did consolidate his country and amp up Russian industry enough that it could fight off the Germans during World War II.
It’s this last part that’s giving me pause. The USSR did the real work winning World War II. The Western front—in terms of everything but British and American ego—was essentially a sideshow.
So yes, Stalin did terrible things. But if he hadn’t, Russian industry could not have supplied to army to fight off Hitler, who would have been worse, and probably over a larger area.
It’s discomfiting to think of Stalinist terror as a necessary evil.
