The Stalin Society is a British discussion group for individuals who see

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

as a great Marxist–Leninist and wish to preserve his legacy. The society originated as a consequence of the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and what the members perceived as a subsequent increase in the criticism of Stalin. According to the Stalin Society's website, " e Stalin Society was formed in 1991 to defend Stalin and his work on the basis of fact and to refute

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

, revisionist,

opportunist Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...

and

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

directed against him".

Organisation

The society is based on individual membership but political groups such as the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist), and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) are notably prominent within it. Many have pointed to a considerable overlap of membership with

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...

's Socialist Labour Party, including Scargill himself.Andy McSmith and Severin Carrell
"Stalin apologists drink to the memory of Uncle Joe"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 2 March 2003 The Stalin Society's chair,

Harpal Brar Harpal Brar (born 5 October 1939) is an Indian communist politician, writer and businessman, based in the United Kingdom. He is the founder and former chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist), a role from which he s ...

, for instance, was at one time a member of both organisations (although he subsequently left the SLP to head the CPGB-ML). Through Brar, the society was also linked to the

Association of Communist Workers The Association of Communist Workers was an anti-revisionist political party in the United Kingdom. It originated in 1969 as a split from the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League around Harpal Brar. Initially regarded as Maoist, it spent time ...

. One of the Stalin Society's founders, Bill Bland, was expelled in an organizational dispute. Kamal Majid, a founding member of the Stalin Society, is a patron of the

Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Coalition has c ...

Views on mass deaths during Stalin’s leadership

The Stalin Society puts forward unconventional views on events such as the

Holodomor The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...

, a famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33, the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

, a campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union in 1936–38, and the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

, a mass execution of Polish figures in 1940. The responsibility for these events is generally ascribed to the NKVD during the time of Stalin's leadership, but articles published online by the Stalin Society deny this, citing

Nikolai Yezhov Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov ( rus, Никола́й Ива́нович Ежо́в, p=nʲɪkɐˈɫaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪt͡ɕ (j)ɪˈʐof; 1 May 1895 – 4 February 1940) was a Soviet secret police official under Joseph Stalin who was head of the N ...

, and not Stalin as responsible. The Holodomor is said to have resulted from poor weather conditions and sabotage by rich peasants. The belief that Stalin intentionally brought the famine about in order to break the Ukrainian national spirit is attributed to 1930s anti-Soviet propaganda perpetuated by Ukrainian nationalists and McCarthyists.John Puntis
"The Ukrainian famine-genocide myth"
July 2002 The Great Purge is regarded as a fair legal process designed to thwart an anti-Soviet coup, for which the numbers of imprisoned and dead have been exaggerated by anti-Soviet propagandists.Mario Sousa
"Lies concerning the history of the Soviet Union"
March 1999 The Katyn Massacre is said to have been committed by

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

forces who captured Polish prisoners of war held by the Soviets. Nazi propaganda is said to have been responsible for its attribution to the Soviets.Ella Rule
"The Katyn Massacre"
July 2002

21st century

The society continues to hold public meetings. The Stalin Society has produced many booklets on subjects including

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

purges, famines and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...

. The "Stalin Society of Pakistan" was formed in 2013 and has a website and Facebook account. The society has claimed on Facebook that it "stands for communist revolution in Pakistan" and on its website it states that it is "not a political party but an academic venture" which aims to "refute anti-Stalin propaganda and revisionism". Stalin Societies have also been formed in the United States and Canada, Tunisia, India, Italy, Ireland, and Argentina, and an International Stalin Society was formed in 2014.

References

External links

British Stalin Society homepage

The Stalin Society of North America
{{UK far left, state=collapsed Anti-revisionist organizations Neo-Stalinist organizations Communist organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Political organisations based in the United Kingdom

Organisation

Views on mass deaths during Stalin’s leadership

21st century

See also

References

External links