I'm just asking about a post I made on the revleft forum that has been interpreted as being Stalinist. Is it?
Stalin played a huge role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. I can give them that. Also, the fact that he transformed the Soviet Union into a superpower. Before the revolution, the majority of the population was relying off farming. Lenin brought in a few short term economic plans, but these would have been virtually useless over a long term period. In all honesty there wasn't really much that could have been done until the revolution was spread. Stalin tried to compromise and I have to say that maybe he did make mistakes, but he was stuck in a difficult situation.
First of all about "Stalin's role in the defeat of Nazi Germany". It was not Stalin's role, it was the workers and peasants fighting like lions for the defence of the planned economy among others. Although bureaucraticaly planned, the means of production were still nationalized so that meant an improvement of the standard of living of the working class. But it wasn't Stalin who nationalized the means of production. It was the working class under the leadership of the Bolsheviks. Stalin and the bureaucratic caste he represented managed to take away the control from the working class and put it to the hands of the bureaucrats. This led to the creation of a bureaucratic caste, which got strengthened over time and created internal contradictions in the USSR, which eventualy ended with the bureaucrats selling the nationalized planned economy, in order to serve their own interests.
Also Stalin purged a lot of generals and officials from the Red Army, in his famous purges. That weakened the Red Army significantly. Also the bureaucrats of the Soviet Union were not ready for an attack by Hitler, having signed the Stalin-Hitler pact. Thus the attack caught them by surprise and that meant the death of millions and jeopardized the Soviet Union in the war. Thankfuly the USSR defeated the Nazis, but it was do to the self sacrifice of the workers and peasants, not the purges of Stalin who weakened the Red Army and the Stalin-Hitler pact, which almost made Hitler victorious.
On Lenin's short term economic plans. The NEP was created due to the backwardness of the USSR. It was a necessary measure in order to latter proceed in building socialism. In fact Stalin vaccilated from left to right in his period of totalitarian rule. He denounced Trotsky's 5 year plans which were necessary but latter he adopted a caricature of them. "A 5 year plan in 3 years", which meant enormous suffering for the workers. Also until 1928 he dismissed the Left-Opposition's (led by Trotsky) proposal of voluntary collectivisation of the land. He pursued a right wing policy of supporting the kulaks, which were basicaly the capitalists of agriculture. When the kulaks became too strong and threatening for the bureaucracy and when he realized that this policy undermined the rule of the bureaucracy, he
enforced collectivisation. So he sent the Red Army to forcefuly collectivize the land!!!! During this period, millions of peasants and workers died off starvation, due to that insane policy.
About the spreading of the revolution.. Stalin and the bureaucracy had a vested interest for the revolution to not spread. That would undermine their rule, as a healthy workers state created outside the USSR would be a threat to them. Thus the Stalinists betrayed the revolution in China in 1927, by making the Communists subordinate themselves to the Kuomintang which drowned the workers and peasants in blood. In 1933 under the orders of the Kremlin, the German communist Party adopted an ultrea-left attitude, instead of uniting with the Social Democrats against fascism. That led to the Nazis taking power. "Not one window broke when Hitler came in power" . Also when hitler came in power the Stalinists said "After Hitler, our turn". This is how bankrupt they were, not realizing the defeat and the rise of fascism due to their policies!!! These among many other examples (Spain 1936, Greece which as you know is my country of origin etc).
Undoubtely the rise of Stalinism was due to objective conditions, along with subjective. But as marxists, we should understand that the rise of Stalinism was a counter-revolution in the USSR, which terminated workers democracy and paved the way to the restoration of capitalism. As Trotsky pointed out in 1936 " either there will be a political revolution and workers democracy, or the bureaucracy will sell-out the nationalized planned economy in order to serve its own interests " (im paraphrasing here). We should understand the anti-marxist, reformist theory and tactics of stalinism, its betrayals to the workers movement etc. We should not be apologists, for an ideology that has harmed the working class movement and in the last analysis for a man that was the medium of the elimination of hundreds of thousands of Bolsheviks including Trotsky. We should not be apologists for an ideology that is responsible for the deaths of millions of workers and the loss of countless opportunities to bring about socialism.
Stalin represented a caste that had opposing interests with the Soviet and world working class. This is the bureaucratic caste that exerted totalitarian rule and betrayed many revolutions including the one on October. To be apologists of Stalinism, is to be anti-marxists, anti-communists and in the last analysis , anti-worker.
PS: Sorry for my rough reply but its 3 in the mroning :D
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