Aglaya's Response To Stalin

Monumental Changes:
Or how the reaction to Stalin by three social groups illustrates the development of Socialism in the Soviet Union from 1945 to the 1990s.

Monumental Propaganda relates a bottom-up history of the Soviet Union from the end of WWII to Post-Socialist Russia of the 1990s. The story is presented from the perspective of an unwavering defender of the cultural mores of post-war Russia, Aglaya Stepanovna Revkina. It is through this outlook that the reader glimpses the political transformations of the Soviet Union. Because Aglaya remains a devoted Stalinist, reactions to her should also be taken as reactions to Stalin and his ideology. Though Aglaya does not change her opinions, the world around her certainly does. In the course
Her opinion was not unusual at the time. Stalin was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953. Stalin was, essentially, the whole of the government. As Aglaya states, “Stalin was the Party, and the Party was Stalin (Voinovich, 23).” And the Party, at this time, had broad and general appeal. The Soviet citizen “...expected the state to provide a wide range of social benefits and services, as well as job security, and they approved the regime's stated welfare objectives (Bushnell, 362).” More importantly, the Party fulfilled these expectations. It redistributed resources. It intervened, should a business go bankrupt. The party nationalized industries and created jobs. Basic needs were provided for. Stalin gave workers a feeling of empowerment; there was no boss; there was just the state and the worker. With no sector of the population based entirely on money, social mobility was “exceptionally high (Vovchenko, 2/21).” As Aglaya undoubtedly appreciated, women were empowered. Daycare was made free. Through the collectivization of agriculture, food production increased during the 1940s and 1950s. The party was responsible for, in short, all aspects of the economic and social development of the nation (Ibid). The state was the only agent capable of providing the
She loses her political foresight and acuity as she ages. Yet the following decades were significant, even if Aglaya did not bother to notice. Gorbachev came into power in 1985. Perestroika, or “restructuring” became government policy, and a number of major reforms were passed. He immediately made it his goal to stimulate economic growth and activity. He sought to modernize industries by increasing investments in new technologies. Cooperatives were promoted in order to get people to leave their government jobs and go into the private sector. Glasnost, or “freedom of speech” took place, and censorship was removed. Presses became privatized, and newspapers began criticizing the government. Political cartoons—real political cartoons, not sponsored by the state—emerged. This is evident in the novel with the description of two artists, drawing caricatures of the president. More notable than the activity of the artists, however, is the response of those people watching them. Where formerly they would have been characterized as dissidents, and treated as enemies, now, “There were several people standing over the artists and looking at their work, laughing and exchanging spiteful remarks (311).” There was an air of general liberality, with a marked toleration toward the arts, religion, gender, sexuality, class, and nationality. Opinions, both good and bad, were discussed openly, in the public forum.