The Life of Stalin by Jimmie Moglia

Moglia: A natural guide to complex topics.

Today I am presenting you with what I consider a very important publication.  My friend Jimmie Moglia, whom you might remember from his excellent series on the history of the Ukraine and the history of American imperialism, has just released a 5-part video series on the life of Stalin.  (Jimmie’s historical video series can be inspected here, too.)

---

I am posting it here before having had the opportunity to view it because I want to stress that I am taking no position about Jimmie’s interpretation of the life and personality of this historical figure.  To be honest, my own views about Stalin have slowly but steadily been shifting and I have been observing with some interest the relative growth of popularity of Stalin amongst Russians today.  What I really need to do now is to sit down and share with you the conclusions to which I have come.  I will do that, hopefully later this week, but I think that to have a healthy debate before I speak my own mind about this topic is a good thing, as it will “prepare the ground” for a 2nd round of exchanges once I post my own interpretation of the life and personality of Stalin.  I want that discussion to be as free as possible (as long as it does not degenerate into personal attacks).  Stalin is most definitely a most controversial figure and good and honest people can have radically divergent view of his life and legacy.  So, please, let’s keep this one civil, okay?

---

Normally a post like this one would be filed under “Watch List” but in this case, this 5-part series is really a very detailed analysis of a complex topic and I think that it therefore ought to be posted under “Analyses”.

---

              A huge “THANK YOU!!!” to Jimmie for his work and for sharing it with us.

Cheers and hugs, The Saker

The Life of Stalin

Life of Stalin 1: Birth of Stalin in Gori, Georgia, his parents and the first part of his youth in Gori and Tbilisi:

Life of Stalin 2: Considerations on the state of Russia at Stalin’s birth (1882), and the conditions vis-a-vis Europe – how socialism reached Georgia plus telling facts about Stalin’s education, exiles, flings and revolutionary activities:

Life of Stalin 3: Covering the period approximately 1900 to 1924. Stalin’s introduction to socialism, his relentless activity in the Caucasus, the multiple exiles in Northern Russia and Siberia, his marriages, his sons, in and out of marriage. The combination of circumstances that made the 1917 revolution successful. What Lenin saw in Stalin for the continuation of the revolution.)

Life of Stalin 4: Dedicated to the 1930s, perhaps the most controversial decade of the Soviet Union. This episode discusses briefly the most critical issues, collectivization, emphasis on heavy industry and the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact – inexplicable without realizing the background and the antecedents.

Life of Stalin 5:  The conclusion of the life of an extraordinary character – extraordinary per se, and independently of ideological leanings. Includes the effect in the USSR of the explosions of the atomic bomb in Japan, the death of Stalin, the XXth Party Congress, the denunciation of the ‘Cult of Personality’ and the effect that this Congress had on the life and  future of the USSR:

---

The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world

$27.95