The stalin cult, bolshevik rule and kremlin interaction in the 1930s

Abstract

This chapter examines the history of the Stalin cult within the political history of Bolshevik rule and the establishment of Stalin’s personal dictatorship in the 1930s.1 It analyses the group dynamics which developed within Stalin’s ruling circle at the beginning of that crucial decade. This should be placed in relation to the process by which the leader constructed his authority within the highest echelons of the party. Stalin’s top lieutenants reacted to this process by launching the image of the new leader into the Soviet public sphere. By 1933 the absolute power of the dictator had been solidified, and the leader cult had become an important pillar of the political system.