User:RSuee/new sandbox
The following text is copied from the article linked Cult of personality with credits to the various authors of the page. All underlined sections are current edits in progress.
Sections I have Edited[edit]
Under Characteristics subheading, I have added the underlined portion
Under Soviet Union subheading, I have added underlined portion. I haven't changed any of the previous authors additions, rather I've worked around it.
Under Soviet Union subheading, I have also added an image of a Soviet Poster.
Suggested Edits[edit]
For the "Characteristics" headline: suggestion is to remove the edit entirely. Although the reason for the suggestion is based that the current information is adequate, the section starts of by saying there are "various views", one of which is the addition I made. I believe it to be important to my edit in the "Soviet Union" headline.
For the "Soviet Union" headline: a suggestion is to space out the section more and in chronological order, starting with Lenin and then in Stalin. I will be taking this feedback and doing so because it allows for ease of reading. There were also suggestions for grammar which I will be following as well.
Suggestion three is that I needed to paraphrase more. I believe the section to be sufficiently paraphrased as all of it is in my own words, not taken directly from the text. If specific examples could be provided, I would be happy to change it.
Suggestion four is that there are minor details that distract from the main point. I do believe that those details pertain to the main point and I will try to cut down on some but I believe them all to be relevant.
Suggestion five was in relation to the image I added. While images on Wikipedia do not have to be directly explained on the page, I do have a reason for the image in the last line of the "Soviet Union" heading where I talk about posters.
Suggestion six was to move the sources from the section copied to the sandbox. I will not be doing this because I give credit in the first sentence and when I move the work to the main page, those sources will be there.
Characteristics[edit]
There are various views about what constitutes a cult of personality in a leader. Historian Jan Plamper has written that modern-day personality cults display five characteristics that set them apart from "their predecessors": The cults are secular and "anchored in popular sovereignty"; their objects are all males; they target the entire population, not only the well-to-do or just the ruling class; they use mass media; and they exist where the mass media can be controlled enough to inhibit the introduction of "rival cults."
In his 2013 paper, "What is character and why it really does matter," Thomas A. Wright states, "The cult of personality phenomenon refers to the idealized, even god-like, public image of an individual consciously shaped and molded through constant propaganda and media exposure. As a result, one is able to manipulate others based entirely on the influence of public personality... the cult of personality perspective focuses on the often shallow, external images that many public figures cultivate to create an idealized and heroic image."
Adrian Teodor Popan defines cult of personality as a "quantitatively exaggerated and qualitatively extravagant public demonstration of praise of the leader." He also identifies three causal "necessary, but not sufficient, structural conditions, and a path dependent chain of events which, together, lead to the cult formation: a particular combination of patrimonialism and clientelism, lack of dissidence, and systematic falsification pervading the society’s culture."
One underlying characteristic as explained by John Pittman is the nature of the cult of personalities to be a patriarchy. The idea of the cult of personalities that coincides with the Marxist movements gains popular footing among the men in power with the idea that they would be the "fathers of the people." By the end of the 1920s, the male features of the cults became more extreme. Pittman identifies that these features became roles including the "formal role for a [male] 'great leader' as a cultural focus of the apparatus of the regime; reliance on top-down 'administrative measures'; and a pyramidal structure of authority" which was created by a single ideal.[1]
States and systems with personality cults[edit]
Soviet Union[edit]
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Main article: Stalin's cult of personality
The development of the cult of personality did not appear until after the death of Vladimir Lenin. During his lifetime, Lenin did not approve of the cult's power and influence. [2] After the assassination attempt on Lenin in August 1918, he suffered numerous severe stokes with the worse in May 1922 and March 1923. It was during this time that the Communist Party began to promote the accomplishments of Lenin as the basis for Lenin's cult of personality, using him as an image of morality and revolutionary ideas. [1]
After Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924 and the exile of Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin came to embody the Soviet Union. Once Lenin's cult of personality has risen in power and had created enough influence, Stalin integrated his ideals in his own cult.[2] Unlike other cult of personalities, the Lenin and Stalin cult's were not created to give themselves power, they were created to give power to the Communist Party. Even after Stalin had risen to power, he spoke out against the cult and its claim of power centered around him.[3] To merge the idea of the Lenin and Stalin cult's together, Stalin changed aspects of Lenin's life in the public's eye in order to place himself into power. This kept the two cult's in a line that showed that both Lenin and Stalin had the same ideals.[2]
In December 1929, Stalin celebrated his 50th birthday which made Stalin become a prominent feature in the Soviet press. The Soviet press used positive adjectives like, "Great", "Beloved", "Bold", "Wise", "Inspirer", and "Genius" to describe him. Similarly, speeches that were given by people to the peasants described Stalin as "Our Best Collective Farm Worker", "Our Shockworker, Our Best of Best", and "Our Darling, Our Guiding Star". By 1934, under Stalin's full control of the country, social realism became the endorsed method of art and literature.[3] Even under the communist regime, the Stalin cult of personality portrayed Stalin's leadership as a patriarchy under the features laid out during Khrushchev's speech.[1] After 1936, the Soviet press described Stalin as the "Father of Nations".
One key element of Soviet propaganda was interactions between Stalin and the children of the Soviet Union. He was often photographed with children of different ethnic backgrounds of the Soviet Union and was often photographed giving gifts to children. In 1935 the phrase, "Thank You Dear Comrade Stalin for a Happy Childhood!" started to appear above doorways at nurseries, orphanages, and schools; children also chanted this slogan at festivals. Another key element of Soviet propaganda was the imagery of Stalin and Lenin. In many posters Stalin and Lenin were placed together to show that their ideals were one. Throughout the 1930s, posters with both images were used as a way to bring the Communist Party together as a nation but also as a military.[3] Stalin was also portrayed in numerous films produced by Mosfilm, which remained a Soviet led company until its the fall of the Soviet Union.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Pittman, John (2017). "Thoughts on the "Cult of Personality" in Communist History". The Russian Revolution One Century Later. 81: 533–548 – via Guilford Press Periodicals.
- ^ a b c Tucker, Robert (1979). "The Rise of Stalin's Personality Cult" (PDF). The American Historical Review. 84 (2): 347–366 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c Pisch, Anita (2016). The Personality Cult of Stalin in Soviet Posters, 1929-1953: Archetypes, Inventions, and Fabrications. Australia: ANU Press. pp. 87–190. ISBN 9781760460624.