Using the Evidence: Experiencing Stalinism

1. Question

   Defending Stalinism: Develop an argument that the fundamental goals of Stalinism (building socialism) were largely achieved during the 1930s.

2. Question

   Criticizing Stalinism: Develop an argument that genuine socialism was essentially betrayed or perverted by the developments of the Stalin era.

3. Question

   Assessing change: In what ways did the Stalin era represent a revolutionary transformation of Soviet society? In what ways did it continue older patterns of Russian history?

4. Question

   Considering moral judgments: Why do you think that historians have found it so difficult to write about the Stalin era without passing judgment on it? Does this represent a serious problem for scholars? Should students of the past seek to avoid moral judgments or is it an inevitable, perhaps even useful, part of the historian’s craft?