The aforementioned reforms to the history curriculum were useless unless they were applied as envisioned by Stalin. Thus, in February 1934, teachers were instructed that “[p]upils must be left with a strong and wonderful feeling about those grandiose deeds which have been carried out under the supervision of the Communist Party over the time surveyed, and of the great changes that stand before the Land of the Soviets. Against the background of the struggle for socialism must be shown the guiding role of the Leninist party and of the great leader of the international proletariat, Comrade Stalin.“ It is critical to note that Stalin was considered as the leader of the international proletariat when in fact Lenin played an arguably equally, if
…show more content…
In an interview with Philip Boobbyer in Paris in March 1997, Tatiana Khodorovch, a high school teacher teaching Russian language and literature from 1948-1951 and who later became a human rights activist under the Brezhnev rule, describes this teacher’s dilemma in further detail. She remembers being horrified by what she was required to teach the children, as “all the exercises, all the examples which were demanded from pupils for them to illustrate some grammatical rule, all this was full of words like ‘communist’, ‘socialism’,… ‘we invented everything’,…’all this is the achievement of the Soviet state’”. Even in subjects outside of history, Stalin ensured that students were continuously indoctrinated with terms related to the praise of Stalin and the Soviet political system. The curriculum was strictly outlined to ensure it met communist standards and allowed hardly any flexibility for the …show more content…
The evidence previously discussed in the investigation allows the conclusion to be drawn that aspects of Stalin’s reforms of the curriculum did increase Stalin’s cult. Stalin’s cult of personality was based on propaganda portraying Stalin has a protecting and caring fatherly figure. Stalin’s insistence on the positive qualities of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great to be emphasized (while their negative traits were ignored) was the primary instance in which Stalin adapted the history material taught in Soviet schools in order to enhance his image as a great leader among the people, especially the youth, as both Ivan and Peter were great role models for him. Most of his other educational reforms called for a focus on communism, the Communist Party and patriotism in all types of exercises; however, they were not directly linked to Stalin’s personality cult, but rather centered on general indoctrination practices to instruct children on the great achievements of the Communist Party and the inevitability of communism in order to produce loyal citizens and ensure a stable government. Thus, it can be concluded that while some aspects of Stalin’s reforms of the history curriculum contributed to his personality cult the majority of his reforms had a greater effect on generally
In an interview with Philip Boobbyer in Paris in March 1997, Tatiana Khodorovch, a high school teacher teaching Russian language and literature from 1948-1951 and who later became a human rights activist under the Brezhnev rule, describes this teacher’s dilemma in further detail. She remembers being horrified by what she was required to teach the children, as “all the exercises, all the examples which were demanded from pupils for them to illustrate some grammatical rule, all this was full of words like ‘communist’, ‘socialism’,… ‘we invented everything’,…’all this is the achievement of the Soviet state’”. Even in subjects outside of history, Stalin ensured that students were continuously indoctrinated with terms related to the praise of Stalin and the Soviet political system. The curriculum was strictly outlined to ensure it met communist standards and allowed hardly any flexibility for the …show more content…
The evidence previously discussed in the investigation allows the conclusion to be drawn that aspects of Stalin’s reforms of the curriculum did increase Stalin’s cult. Stalin’s cult of personality was based on propaganda portraying Stalin has a protecting and caring fatherly figure. Stalin’s insistence on the positive qualities of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great to be emphasized (while their negative traits were ignored) was the primary instance in which Stalin adapted the history material taught in Soviet schools in order to enhance his image as a great leader among the people, especially the youth, as both Ivan and Peter were great role models for him. Most of his other educational reforms called for a focus on communism, the Communist Party and patriotism in all types of exercises; however, they were not directly linked to Stalin’s personality cult, but rather centered on general indoctrination practices to instruct children on the great achievements of the Communist Party and the inevitability of communism in order to produce loyal citizens and ensure a stable government. Thus, it can be concluded that while some aspects of Stalin’s reforms of the history curriculum contributed to his personality cult the majority of his reforms had a greater effect on generally