The Stalin cult in East Germany and the making of the postwar Soviet empire, 1945-1961 / Alexey Tikhomirov ; translated by Jacqueline Friedlander.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tikhomirov, Alexey, author.

Contributor:

Bloomsbury (Firm), publisher.

Series:

Harvard Cold War studies book series.

The Harvard Cold War studies book series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953--Influence.

Stalin, Joseph.

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953.

Communism--Germany (East)--History.

Communism.

Political culture--Germany (East)--History.

Political culture.

Political leadership--Germany (East)--History.

Political leadership.

Political rehabilitation--Germany (East).

Political rehabilitation.

Post-communism--Germany (East).

Post-communism.

Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Politics and government.

Germany (East)--Politics and government.

Germany (East).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 pages)

Distribution:

New York : Bloomsbury Publishing (US), 2025.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2022]

Summary:

This study examines the Stalin cult in East Germany as both a representative and a unique case study of Sovietization in Eastern Europe. The author investigates the emergence and functioning of the postwar Soviet empire from the end of World War II to the building of the Berlin Wall.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Harvard Cold War Studies Book Series

Dedication

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Goals and Objectives of This Study

Sources and Levels of Analysis

Terminology: "Personality Cult" or "Stalin Cult"?

Historiographical Overview

Research Methodology

Structure of the Book

Notes

Father of the People, Face of the Nation: The Premodern and Modern Foundations of Personality Cults

The Patriarchal and Familial Foundations of the Ruler Cult

The Spatial and Ritual Orders of the Cult Community

Spatialization of the Ruler Cult and Unification of the Cult Community

Ritual Unification of the Cult Community

Personality Cults and Historical Change

The Empire of Stalinism: The USSR and East Germany after 1945

The Stalin Cult between the Center and the Periphery: Sovietization as Symbolic Politics

The Boundaries of the "Dictatorship of Discourse": Creating a Unified Discursive Space of Socialism

From the "Red Tyrant" to the "Liberator": The Image of Stalin in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany

The Politics of Hate: Toward an Emotional Economy of Victor and Vanquished

"Liberator," Not "Victor": Myths of the Beginning in Postwar Germany

Stalin as Guarantor of Peace, Spiritual Father, and Teacher: Representations of Guilt and the Question of German National Honor

The Stalin Cult in the SED: The Sovietization of East German Political Culture

The Stalin Cult in Public Spaces

In a Line and at the Bierstube: Popular Opinions about Stalin in Nonofficial Public Spheres

"The Best Friend of the German People": The Making of the Cult Community in the GDR.

Exporting the Stalin Cult to East Germany: Logistics, Methods, and Agents of Ideological Transfer

Respect, Gratitude, and Love for Stalin: Emotions and Feelings in the Empire of Stalinism

The Rituals of the Stalin Cult: Models and Algorithms for Symbolic Communication

From "Darkness" to "Light": Subjectivity and Self-Improvement in the Micro-Rituals of the Stalin Cult

Between the Factory and the Mass Organization: Political Classes and Hierarchies in the Cult Community

The Stalin Cult in the Macro-Rituals of Constructing the State, the Nation, and the Empire: Producing Shared Meanings and Securing Hierarchies

Provincializing the Cult: Stalin's Birthday in Saxony

Stalin's Death and Funeral: Mourning Ceremonies and Representations of Social Consensus

"The 'Enemies of the People' Are the Enemies of Stalin": Vigilance in Uncertain Times

Life and Work Stalinist-Style: The Stalinallee and Stalinstadt

"The Fierce Enemy of the German People": The Personality Cult and Iconoclasm in East Germany

The Potential for Conflict in Official Public Spheres

The Times and Spaces of Iconoclasm

Dishonoring the Regime and the Emotional Work of East German Society

Symbolic Competition between the Stalin Cult and the Hitler Cult

"We Wanted to Make a God but He Turned Out to Be the Devil": The Politics and Practices of De-Stalinization in the GDR

Walter Ulbricht and Reactions to Him Inside the SED

Popular Responses to De-Stalinization in East German Society

The Crisis in Public Symbolism and the Search for Representations of Power after Stalin

Conclusion

Bibliography

Archival Sources

Published Primary Sources

Document Collections

Secondary Sources

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-9787-3475-1

1-9787-7507-5

1-66691-190-9

OCLC:

1306058997