Two things hit me as I emerged from the Oktyabrskaya metro station on Saturday morning to check out the KPRF May Day march. First was that God himself must have been smiling down on the KPRFers. After several days of on and off rain, his holiness decided to part the clouds, let the sun shine through, and let Russian commies do their thing without the hindrance of rainfall. The second thing that hit me was that unlike most, or should I say every political rally I’ve been to, the Communists began marching on time. Who would have ever guessed Communists to be prompt. And they say Leninist discipline is dead. As soon as I pushed through the heavy glass metro doors, I had to quicken my step to catch up with the dancing red flags on the move.
Luckily, a rapid pace quickly turned unnecessary. The Communist march stretched at least three, even four blocks down Bolshaya Yakimanka (Anyone who’s been to the capital knows that is a pretty long distance.) The KPRF at the head of the ruddy train was already out of sight. Before me and my four companions stood the tail which consisted of the “far Left”–Trudovaya Rossiia, the Red Youth Vanguard, the Revolutionary Communist Youth League (RKSM (b)), the National Bolshevik Party, and a variety of anarchists, antifascists and left frontists.
The attendance was large. It felt that there were at least five thousand people. The Russian media is saying that there were indeed 5000; the organizers say there were 7000. The English press pegged it at a lower 3000.
The attendance was an eclectic mix–young people, old people, even children. Red was the dominant color, of course. The sounds were that of political chants–”Peace! May! Labor! Socialism!”; “Nato–Get the hell off of Red Square!” (in reference to plans for the Americans, British, and French soliders to march in the upcoming Victory Day parade.); “No Predatory Rise in Utility Prices!”; among others. Brawny speeches bounced off of the buildings lining Zamenka Street. Old Soviet songs raised a comradely spirit. Down the train there was even a brass band blowing marching songs. People carried KPRF flags and fine Soviet era banners of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Marchers hoisted pictures of Stalin. Homemade signs bobbed along. One read: “Bureaucrat! You are a servant of the people! Not the bosses!” What concerned people was not the abstract issues of “human rights,” “democracy,” “law and order,” or “free speech.” Those were to be addressed at the sparse Solidarity rally later that day (which of course the Western media focused on). The communist rally was about the social economics of everyday life, tradition, and good fun.
Of course there is Stalin, again something the Western media makes sure to note without any critical reflection. Yes there were lots of Stalin signs. There was even a large Stalin banner. Stalin was on homemade signs. Stalin was on t-shirts. But what did Stalin mean? This is probably one of the most perplexing, yet mostly ignored questions.
It was clear what Stalin was not. Stalin, for better or worse, was not the NKVD, terror, Gulag, or totalitarianism. That’s what it meant to the people of Solidarity with its artsy display of Stalin portraits with red-blood vampire teeth.
But for a little old man holding a photo of Stalin? For him, the dictator means something wholly different. There is certainly a large element of historical nostalgia embedded in Stalin’s portrait. Stalin is mostly about the USSR’s victory over the Nazis and a time when Russia was a superpower. This is especially the case since the 65th anniversary of Victory Day is a few days away. The Stalin posters also signify a longing for an imagined past of stability, predictability, and ironically, a paternal state that dealt a measure of social and economic justice. Stalin’s image, I think, is also about class. Stalin is the antithesis of the oligarchs, the capitalists, the bureaucrats and the intellectuals–the very people that causes the Russian working class man seething hatred. Stalin is a metaphor for the longstanding class divide that haunts Russia and a time of class justice rendered. Lastly, Stalin is also defiance. People carry posters of Stalin simply because others tell them they shouldn’t. Hoisting Stalin to the sun is about the current war over memory. It’s about saying without hyperbole: This is my Stalin and he has nothing to do with yours. In this sense there is no historical Stalin. The Stalin that is illuminated through documentary evidence and historical truth has no bearing. Stalin is a metonym for the political struggles of the present. One may disagree. One may even be disgusted. But like it or not this variegated memory of Stalin must be reckoned with.
The crowd had visibly thinned by the time the march reached its destination at Teatralnaya Square and nestled in front of a stage shadowing the Karl Marx monument. The nearly eight kilometer march exhausted some. The inevitable boredom that would accompany listening to didactic speeches vanquished more. Politics caused the rest to move on. After all, the stage was a KPRF only event. The united left front splintered off to join other rallies around the city, home, to a pub, or who knows where.
The speeches commenced. I ignored them as I strolled around eying the remaining crowd as they held their banners, sat in the courtyard of the Bolshoi Theater, rummaged through the several second hand booksellers along the sidewalk, or licked much deserved ice cream purchased from a nearby vendor. One noticeable moment was when the Soviet National Anthem began blaring through the sound system. The crowd paused and stood at attention in solemn reverence.
“And now Comrade Zyuganov will speak.” Well, that was our signal. Time to jet. Sorry to no time to hear the bald, warted one. Our growling stomachs were pulling us to a nearby cafe.
The day didn’t end there. Though I had grand delusions of attending as many rallies as possible that day–United Russia, the Russian Federation of Labor march, Just Russia, and even the Eurasian Youth League, one of my companions got a call from a friend at the Solidarity gathering at Bolotnaya Square. We decided to head there. To my disappointment, the crowd was predictably sparse. The ‘roid raged riot police clearly outnumbered the participants. Orange flags stood at attention as bad punk music blared from the stage. Kasparov has spoken sometime before. No loss there. The only things of note were signs reading “Russian without Putin,” a display of Stalins with the vampire teeth, and a series of political cartoons mocking the Russian legal system. The twenty minute minimum I decided to grant Solidarity couldn’t come fast enough.
Just before we left, I noticed one large photo from 1990 of a 100 thousand strong protest for “democratic reform.” I guess the liberals suffer from a bit of historical nostalgia of their own, I thought to myself. As the Solidarity gathering proved, the days of thousands demanding “democratic reform” are long over. . .
{ 30 comments }
Brilliant post, Sean. Top-notch stuff
Thanks- IMHO it is a very interesting, well-written & thoughtful piece. (a minor remark – I did not know that Russian proletariat hate(-s,-ed) the “intellectuals” – unless, of course, here it means such persona as Kasparov, Latynina, Ksenia Sobchak – and now perhaps, Julia Ioffe
Cheers
I doubt that people at May KPRF rally in Moscow belong to the working class. Most of them are white collar workers and are (or would have been) middle class. Upon a look at list of top 100 current Russian intellectuals it comes to me that possibly there are only two people (three with the convicted felon) on that list who can indeed be hated. Not because they are intellectuals, mind you, but because they were the the architects of failed economic reforms that robbed KPRF followers of middle class life and retirement.
Thanks for the link, Pyotr – some entries are real eye openers for me. I found this i-vote http://www.intelros.ru/intelros/reiting/reyting_09/ for the next round – afaik some (good) candidates there would not be very pleased to see with whom they were put together.
Uh-huh. Seconded. Great commentary, Sean.
Sean, what are the Communists going to do when the pensioners die off? You mention the ‘far left’ groups that tailed KPRF at the march, but are they waiting in the wings to inherit this bunch? Or does KPRF have its own youth-outreach, youth-led faction?
Is there a Red Ilya Yashin out there, trying to keep the party alive? So much of the Communists’ rhetoric and symbolism, as you point out, has to do with memory and nostalgia. How does that pan out when nobody is alive to remember anything firsthand?
Be much interested to know more…
AGT, I recently found out from a grad student who is here interviewing party activists from the KPRF and United Russia that the vast majority of KPRF activists in the provinces are in their 20s and 30s. I was surprised to hear this because I had the same assumptions you do about the old people. So all might not be lost when the older generation dies out.
The KPRF does have a youth wing, the SKM RF (http://skm-rf.ru/). I don’t think they are very large though. I also recall an attempt a few years ago by some young KPRF activists to get more influence in the party. I’m not sure of what came of it.
If there is indeed a new generation waiting to take control after Zyuganov (hopefully sooner rather than later) I would expect the KPRF to become more social democratic. But maybe this is my hope.
As for who are principles in the next generation, I don’t know.
Wonderful report! I’m so jealous too…
O/T: Alex, thanks for that link to the intelros.ru.
I *cringe* to link Pravda, but alas I must here: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/04-05-2010/113250-stalin-0
Several months ago, officials decided that a small number of Stalin posters would grace the 65th anniversary of WWII victory. According to Pravda reports, anti-Stalinists organized to fight the 10 meager posters to be displayed saying they would protest heavily if the posters were displayed. That apparently created a retaliatory response to be predicted, with sales of Stalin t-shirts shooting up and ppl apparently saying “I’ll wear my Stalin t-shirt and bring my brass knuckles” to any rendezvous w/ anti-Stalinists. I’d like to hear how Russian media (outside of Pravda’s sensational ‘reporting’) is portraying the May Day events.
As to the KPRF, their members and their possible evolution:
Can a real, viable Social Democratic party emerge out of the KPRF? Social dem’s are, afterall, in opposition to the Stalinist tradition. It’s less about replacing capitalism with socialism and more about social safety nets and basic welfare- all of which do not need a Soviet style apparatus nor a longing for Stalinist traditions (indeed, nothing would kill a well fare economy quicker, particularly in today’s world).
I have a difficult time equating the KPRF (even if they are filled with youth) and a rather *insignificant* 5,000-strong rally with a real social movement that can change anything (of course 5k is not to be ignored, but if that’s a harbinger of things to come than Tea Party activists in the States should be rejoicing as they see tens of thousands if not 100k consistently and I don’t predict they will radicalize our politics to the degree they seek to).
I think social dem’s will have to distance themselves from the reactionary KPRF and the predictable neo-Stalinists and anarchists in order to seek out democratic reform in a new tradition as of yet unseen in Russia… and that won’t include marching w/ banners of Stalin. Stalin banners will remain a way to quickly rile up the public on one side or the others- a deserving case study indeed! Ultimately, I think a viable, more moderate alternative must come not from a reaction to current problems, but from within itself- knowing exactly what it wants to provide, to whom and how it will do so.
Cheers… enjoyed the write-up!
I don’t really have anything particularly intelligent to add, so I’ll just leave my impression that this is an excellent post.
I know it’s no use to expect a coherent answer from Sean, but I still feel compelled to ask him, Can you please explain when and how did you aquire that uncanny ability to see the whole world ass-backwards, Sean? How many times did you have to hit your head against the wall to see everything in reverse, Sean? What do you do to yourself at dark hours to not allow the light of day to dispel your delusions, Sean?
Specifically, in what alternative virtual reality one’s mind has to dwell to see “social economics of everyday life, tradition, and good fun” among crowds of people glorifying one of the worst murderous despots in history? Obviously it’s the same alternative reality where US “Tea Party” crowds appear as “lunatics” and harbingers of “historical tragedy”. All I want to know is how did you get stuck in there, Sean?
About that “little old man holding a photo of Stalin” above. How do you know for him it is not about “the NKVD, terror, Gulag, or totalitarianism.”? Did you ask him? Did you ask what he was doing during Stalin years? Did you make sure he wasn’t employed as a member of an execution squad, maybe doing the shootings, maybe washing up afterwards (stable job, anyway)? Do you know how many “”little old men” were serving the GULag system in various capacities?
Finally, do you seriously believe that Russia continues to be “haunted” by the “longstanding class divide”? and what is this “Russian working class man” you are fantasizing about?
Personally I would never walk with any crowd that puts Stalin on a pedestal, but I can see how for those poor folk it’s a symbol of a strong country that everyone was afraid of , atomic bombs etc.
It is very convenient to have history and historical figures classified in just two categories – either “bad” or “good”. Saves the limited brain power.
Sean presented a *balanced* , open-question-style view, without taking sides. Every nation has its “heroes” – especially when it comes to treatment of other nations. Each one of them, with exception of Russia and, maybe, Germany, is pretty cool about forgiving them(selves). You want eg. Australian examples – I can provide several. The big difference though is that what Stalin is habitually blamed for, had been done largely to his own nation.
So I suggest to permit Russians themselves to decide how to think and feel about Stalin – well, to those of the Russians who did not loose – or simply had a chance to acquire the ability – to think and feel about anything bigger than personal income after the “democratization” of 90s. I would recommend them to use an approach to their own history similar to that taken by Anglo-Saxon nations.
I had known a (Russian) man who spent 25 years in “Stalin’s” camps in Siberia for accidentally drowning his – well, the Government’s – tractor in a swamp. I never dared to say a bad word about Stalin in his presence. He would say “Yes, it would be better to have the regime not that harsh, but then with Him we won the War, the Country was getting better every day and no one was stealing Government’s money or accepted bribes.” Maybe it was the one with the portrait?
Cheers, Igor
http://unpublished-notes.blogspot.com/2009/04/artistic-truth.html
Thanks Sean, this was a thoughtful post.
There are even accounts of Gulag prisoners lamenting Stalin’s death. One just can’t reduce world-historical forces like Stalinism to a simplistic good/evil binary (itself a pretty useless and sometimes counterproductive concept). One does not have to be a Stalinist, or even seek to “rehabilitate” Stalinism, to see that such an attitude is, in it’s own way, as blind-sighted as was Candide’s Panglossian namesake.
I don’t care about Stalin portraits, with fangs or without. I’d even agree that people marching peacefully with Stalin banners is another proof of strengthening Russian democracy. I remember well when no deviation from a single Party line was deviated in the USSR, including Stalin adoration. Personally, I’d use my “new found freedoms” differently, but that’s just me.
Heck, I’d even entertain the argument that Stalin worshippers in Russia and Tea Party crowds in the US have more in common than either side would care to allow, at least in the sense that both sides try to reanimate the events that belong firmly in the Past. Although, I’d much rather be denouncing the Big Government, demanding lower taxes and munching on BBQ than standing in stupid silence under some old murderer visage but then again, that’s just me. In any case, I don’t care to do either of those things (’cause I’m too busy doing nothing in particular most of the time).
What sets my teeth on edge is when Sean analyzes dispassionately and at length the Stalinist worshippers but immediately flies into uncontrolled paroxysms of incoherent rage at the first mention of the Tea Party. That is not the Past we are dealing with anymore, this is our unfortunate poisonous Present and it pisses me off to no end.
Candide
I like your parallel between Tea Party Crowds and those die hard Communists. Political conservatism is more of a psychological thing than a preference to policies, either left wing or right wing. Those are people who favor the established ways and oppose social and political change etc. If someone’s interested check out Dr Altemeyer’s research on authoritarian personality.
Those are people who favor the established ways and oppose social and political change etc.
I disagree. Ever-growing state expenditure has been the norm since WWII, the Tea Party movement is campaigning for radical change: curbing government spending. There is no social or political change in offering a whole load more pork to special interests at the expense of the taxpayer.
“There is no social or political change in offering a whole load more pork to special interests at the expense of the taxpayer.”
____________________________________________
On the contrary, it’s called “Hope and Change” don’t you know?
“What’s in a name?” A great deal for some people, it seems…
With regard to Sublime Oblivion’s comment about good/evil binary thinking, it must be said some people do seem to see the world as very black and white and that is divisive and unnecessarily angering. Nonetheless evil is very real and exists. While I would be in the quicker half to tell you there is gray, I cannot imagine anyone putting Stalin there.
“There are even accounts of Gulag prisoners lamenting Stalin’s death.”
Ah, yes, they loved Big Brother.
“If there is indeed a new generation waiting to take control after Zyuganov (hopefully sooner rather than later) I would expect the KPRF to become more social democratic. But maybe this is my hope.”
I am not sure about this. The KPRF appear to have mutated into “derzhavniks” with some left-wing rhetoric. They even somehow incorporated Russian orthodoxy. All of this is in a completely different direction to social democratic. Some of those “far left” organisations you mentioned seem to be more genuinely communist.
Would you allow me to use your 4th photo for a post on my blog? It will be about Stalin in today’s Russia. Thanks in advance.
On a slightly related note, I found this interesting.
@Tim,
Found it banal and uninteresting. Typical right-wing claptrap from Soviet dissidents (Bukovsky) and thieving traitors (Stroilov) who can’t understand that the reason no-one gives a damn about them except for a small bunch of neocons and World War 4 wackos isn’t because of some grand KGB EUSSR conspiracy.
I didn’t find it interesting from a political point of view, either. I found it interesting that there was a mass of Soviet archives readily accessible which are as yet unread.
Tim, That article is, to put it bluntly, completely off base. It got forwarded to a diplomatic historians list-serv and was promptly ripped apart. The gist of the critiques was summed up by Ron Radosh in his occasional role as circumspect historian (and I shan’t comment on his other roles): http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2010/05/16/misleading-article-appears-in-city-journal/?singlepage=true
Buster,
Thanks for the link, I guess that makes things less interesting. Berlinski’s response to Radosh’s article is here, but to be honest I’m not interested in spats between academics.
I only thought is was interesting that, as was claimed, there is a huge pile of transcripts from the Cold War period lying on a server somewhere unread. I was thinking of having a browse through them myself, but it they’ve been read and dealt with already, there’s no point.
I do not believe in communism at all. I have no such ideals and I think it leads nowhere.
This is not a commercial advertising, The FREE book I am promoting does not generate money for anyone. And this is not a comment on the above.
But it is an advert Ludwik. I don’t care if it’s free or you don’t make any money. The fact that you feel you have the right to spam my comments’ section is enough. Plus this isn’t the first time you’ve tried hocking your “book” on my blog. You’ve also done the same on other blogs. Therefore, I’ve deleted your attempt at shameless self promotion.
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