Communism and the cult of the leader 1917-64

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A defining feature of communism under Stalin was the cult of the leader. Within the USSR this was exemplified by Stalin's own cult, and by the founding cult of Lenin from which it derived its claimed legitimacy. Communism, however, was also an international political movement of unprecedented scope and cohesion, for which the export of Soviet cultic practices provided representation and reinforcement of a culture of centralised control. By the time these practices reached their apogee in the Cold War years of 'high Stalinism', mimetic cults existed in almost every communist party, with a clearly marked international hierarchy culminating in Stalin himself. The leader cult phenomenon, as manifested in countries where communists held power, has given rise to a wide inter-disciplinary literature opening up fruitful lines for further research. As yet, however, there exists no general or comparative study of the genesis, functioning and reception of the leader cults within non-ruling communist parties. This research provides such a study. Covering the period of 1917-64, its chronological scope is set on the one hand by the Russian revolution and founding of the Communist International, and on the other by destalinisation and the passing of a 'Stalin generation' of communist leaders. Its comparative approach extends across the communist parties of Europe and north America, and the communist phenomenon of the leader cult is itself considered in a broader comparative context. Incorporated within this framework is a more intensive focus on the communist parties of Britain and France. These were generally legal, public bodies and they offer extensive documentation of the cults in their diverse representations, from poetry and pageant to exemplary lives and the rituals and protocols of communist meetings. As well as examples of the domestic leader cult in the shape of Harry Pollitt and Maurice Thorez, international cults can be reconstructed through their export and mediation within distinct political milieux. As well as the defining cults of Lenin and Stalin, the research examines a broader cast of internationally prominent leaders. The figure of revolutionary tribune or martyr is traced through Georgi Dimitrov, hero of the Reichstag fire trial, and the imprisoned German leader Ernst Thälmann. Though articulated in strikingly different ways, a commonality of the cults was their masculinist construction. For this reason, the exceptional international standing of the Spanish communist leader Pasionaria' is also given close attention.The generation and promotion of the leader cults has been seen as a straightforward replication and transmission of Stalin's personalised leadership model. This research, however, suggests that their licensing of was a matter of paradox and considerable tension. Intended as an expression of collective authority, individualised cults threatened it through the accumulation of personal political capital. This was certainly addressed: through the anti-individualism of exemplary party lives, or though clear and explicit subordination to the higher cult of Stalin. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of the lesser cults may be compared with that of the 'little Stalins' in the USSR. Leadership crises sometimes resulted, and the party's collective force was regularly turned against the 'anti-cults' by which the individualised figure of the traitor or backslider was anathematised.Historians have postulated a basic distinction between leader cults proper and the glorification of leaders in more open polities The functioning of 'closed' parties within 'open' systems may help clarify and problematise such distinctions and offer new insight into the 'modern' phenomenon of the mass political leader. Within the expanding literature on the modern culture of personality, study of the communist leader cult offers new perspective on the relations between narratives of individuation and the vaunted age of the masses.