The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
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Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#2Stalin's propaganda was even effective in the U.S. He really deserves to be at the top of the list when evil leaders are discussed. Yes, Hitler was awful, but Stalin was far worse. But saying so often draws only criticism. That's how good his propaganda was.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#3In the photo of her on the table, her left leg looks really swollen/large. It might be some sort of lense distortion though that seems unlikely. I wonder what that’s all about?
Putting in a plug for Simon Sebag Montiefiore’s books on Russia. Specifically ‘Young Stalin’ and ‘Court of the Red Czar’. They are excellent.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#4Stalin's propaganda was even effective in the U.S. He really deserves to be at the top of the list when evil leaders are discussed. Yes, Hitler was awful, but Stalin was far worse. But saying so often draws only criticism. That's how good his propaganda was.
I think you’re being downvoted because the conventional reasoning is that Nazi Germany would’ve likely conquered all of Europe if it wasn’t for the Soviet Union. While this is (mostly) true, if we’re operationalizing the definition of “evil” in terms of a raw body count Stalin would indeed be at the top of the list.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#5them teeth tho
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#6Stalin's propaganda was even effective in the U.S. He really deserves to be at the top of the list when evil leaders are discussed. Yes, Hitler was awful, but Stalin was far worse. But saying so often draws only criticism. That's how good his propaganda was.
I think you’re being downvoted because the conventional reasoning is that Nazi Germany would’ve likely conquered all of Europe if it wasn’t for the Soviet Union. While this is (mostly) true, if we’re operationalizing the definition of “evil” in terms of a raw body count Stalin would indeed be at the top of the list.
The USSR would've conquered all of Europe if it weren't for Germany - read _Icebreaker_, et. al. by Suvorov.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you’re being downvoted because the conventional reasoning is that Nazi Germany would’ve likely conquered all of Europe if it wasn’t for the Soviet Union. While this is (mostly) true, if we’re operationalizing the definition of “evil” in terms of a raw body count Stalin would indeed be at the top of the list.
The USSR would've conquered all of Europe if it weren't for Germany - read _Icebreaker_, et. al. by Suvorov.
Suvorov’s books are widely considered an entertaining alternative history fiction as far as I know. I’d be curious to know of any actual historians who consider his books a realistic and plausible version of history.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#8In the photo of her on the table, her left leg looks really swollen/large. It might be some sort of lense distortion though that seems unlikely. I wonder what that’s all about? Putting in a plug for Simon Sebag Montiefiore’s books on Russia. Specifically ‘Young Stalin’ and ‘Court of the Red Czar’. They are excellent.
She is wearing felt knee-high boots (valenki) which make both feet look thicker than you expect. The left foot is casting a shadow on the right foot, which makes the right foot appear thinner.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#9Stalin's propaganda was even effective in the U.S. He really deserves to be at the top of the list when evil leaders are discussed. Yes, Hitler was awful, but Stalin was far worse. But saying so often draws only criticism. That's how good his propaganda was.
I’m not sure any kind of “x was worse than y” makes sense on that scale of evils. How can one possibly weigh the countless lives lost due to decisions made by both? I think the only thing one can truly say is, both were terrible human beings, and hope we can detect and stop someone in the future from becoming such. Yet, I am not sure it is possible, the banality of evil is slow and unnoticeable until it is too late.
Re: The dark story behind Stalin’s popular photo with a Soviet girl
#10Stalin's propaganda was even effective in the U.S. He really deserves to be at the top of the list when evil leaders are discussed. Yes, Hitler was awful, but Stalin was far worse. But saying so often draws only criticism. That's how good his propaganda was.
I’m not sure any kind of “x was worse than y” makes sense on that scale of evils. How can one possibly weigh the countless lives lost due to decisions made by both? I think the only thing one can truly say is, both were terrible human beings, and hope we can detect and stop someone in the future from becoming such. Yet, I am not sure it is possible, the banality of evil is slow and unnoticeable until it is too late.
My point is really that no one calls their opponents 'Stalin' or 'Commies' the same way people in America tend to call others 'Hitler' or 'Nazis,' which is surprising, given the enormity of the crimes against humanity committed by Stalin and the Russian Communists during roughly the same time. I posit that the root cause is due to the effects of propaganda. No one has really addressed that.