Exporting the leader: The stalin cult in Poland and East Germany (1944/45-1956)

Abstract

Stalin’s 70th birthday in 1949 was the most extensive celebration of his leader cult.1 After months of campaigning, the attention of the entire Socialist Bloc was focused on Moscow, the Stalinist Rome, where communist dignitaries from around the world had assembled to pay their tribute. No efforts had been spared: throughout autumn the mobilisation for the event had left its mark on public life in the Soviet empire. The official public celebrations as staged by the party-states concentrated on building up excitement for the event. The whole socialist camp became one giant display case showing the love of its peoples for the leader. The jubilee provided an opportunity to spread and solidify Stalin’s image as the leader and symbol of unity of the post-war Soviet empire. In contrast to the celebrations of his 50th and his 60th, Stalin’s 70th birthday was an international affair: Pravda showed the leader not only amongst his Soviet lieutenants, but amidst a host of foreign guests such as Mao Zedong and Walter Ulbricht. Highlighting the campaigns around Stalin’s 70th birthday campaign and his death in 1953, this chapter will explore how the cult was exported to and indigenised in Poland and East Germany. How were the narratives of the cult changed? And, finally, what can we say about reactions to the Stalin cult in these countries?.