Vejas Liulevicius

Stalin is able to rely on a secret police apparatus that had been built up under Lenin already. And it's very early in the foundation of the Soviet state that the Cheka, or the Extraordinary Commission, is established as a secret police to... terrify the enemies, beat down the opponents of the regime, and to keep an eye on society more generally.

The person who's chosen for that task also is an anomaly among Bolsheviks. That is a man of Polish aristocratic background, Felix Zerzhinsky, who comes to be known by the nickname Iron Felix. Here's a man about whom a cult of personality also is created.

The person who's chosen for that task also is an anomaly among Bolsheviks. That is a man of Polish aristocratic background, Felix Zerzhinsky, who comes to be known by the nickname Iron Felix. Here's a man about whom a cult of personality also is created.

The person who's chosen for that task also is an anomaly among Bolsheviks. That is a man of Polish aristocratic background, Felix Zerzhinsky, who comes to be known by the nickname Iron Felix. Here's a man about whom a cult of personality also is created.

Zerzhinsky is celebrated in the Soviet period as the model of someone who's harsh but fair, an executioner but with a heart of gold, somebody who loves children, somebody who has a tender heart but forces himself. to be steely-willed against the opponents of the ideological project of the Bolsheviks.

Zerzhinsky is celebrated in the Soviet period as the model of someone who's harsh but fair, an executioner but with a heart of gold, somebody who loves children, somebody who has a tender heart but forces himself. to be steely-willed against the opponents of the ideological project of the Bolsheviks.

Zerzhinsky is celebrated in the Soviet period as the model of someone who's harsh but fair, an executioner but with a heart of gold, somebody who loves children, somebody who has a tender heart but forces himself. to be steely-willed against the opponents of the ideological project of the Bolsheviks.

Zerzhinsky is succeeded by figures who will be absolutely instrumental to Stalin's exercise of power. And they're not immune either. Stalin, in his purges, takes care also to purge the secret police as a way of finding others upon whom to deflect blame for earlier atrocities and to produce a situation where even committed Bolsheviks are uncertain of what's going to happen next.

Zerzhinsky is succeeded by figures who will be absolutely instrumental to Stalin's exercise of power. And they're not immune either. Stalin, in his purges, takes care also to purge the secret police as a way of finding others upon whom to deflect blame for earlier atrocities and to produce a situation where even committed Bolsheviks are uncertain of what's going to happen next.

Zerzhinsky is succeeded by figures who will be absolutely instrumental to Stalin's exercise of power. And they're not immune either. Stalin, in his purges, takes care also to purge the secret police as a way of finding others upon whom to deflect blame for earlier atrocities and to produce a situation where even committed Bolsheviks are uncertain of what's going to happen next.

and feel their own position to be precarious. I mean, incidentally, there are other influences that probably are wrought to bear here as well. It gets said about Stalin that he used to spend a lot of time flipping through Machiavelli's The Prince. And it seems that Stalin's personal copy of The Prince, nobody knows where that is, if it still exists. But

and feel their own position to be precarious. I mean, incidentally, there are other influences that probably are wrought to bear here as well. It gets said about Stalin that he used to spend a lot of time flipping through Machiavelli's The Prince. And it seems that Stalin's personal copy of The Prince, nobody knows where that is, if it still exists. But

and feel their own position to be precarious. I mean, incidentally, there are other influences that probably are wrought to bear here as well. It gets said about Stalin that he used to spend a lot of time flipping through Machiavelli's The Prince. And it seems that Stalin's personal copy of The Prince, nobody knows where that is, if it still exists. But

historians have found annotations in works by Lenin that Stalin, who was a voracious reader, as it turns out, made in the back of one of the books, which sounds almost like a commentary on Machiavelli's almost-but-not-quite suggestion that the ends justify the means. Stalin's own writing says that if someone is strong, active, and intelligent—

historians have found annotations in works by Lenin that Stalin, who was a voracious reader, as it turns out, made in the back of one of the books, which sounds almost like a commentary on Machiavelli's almost-but-not-quite suggestion that the ends justify the means. Stalin's own writing says that if someone is strong, active, and intelligent—

historians have found annotations in works by Lenin that Stalin, who was a voracious reader, as it turns out, made in the back of one of the books, which sounds almost like a commentary on Machiavelli's almost-but-not-quite suggestion that the ends justify the means. Stalin's own writing says that if someone is strong, active, and intelligent—

even if they do things that other people condemn, they're still a good person. And so Stalin's self-conception of himself is someone who along these lines, and in line with Lenin's emphasis on practical results and discipline, somebody who gets things done, that's the crucial ethical standard. And ultimately, in criticisms by later dissidents of Bolshevik morality,

even if they do things that other people condemn, they're still a good person. And so Stalin's self-conception of himself is someone who along these lines, and in line with Lenin's emphasis on practical results and discipline, somebody who gets things done, that's the crucial ethical standard. And ultimately, in criticisms by later dissidents of Bolshevik morality,

even if they do things that other people condemn, they're still a good person. And so Stalin's self-conception of himself is someone who along these lines, and in line with Lenin's emphasis on practical results and discipline, somebody who gets things done, that's the crucial ethical standard. And ultimately, in criticisms by later dissidents of Bolshevik morality,

This question of what is the ethical standard, what is the ethical law, will bring this question into focus because by the—and this goes back to Marx as well, incidentally—the notion that any ethical system, any notion of right or wrong, is purely a product of class identity because every class produces its distinctive ideas, its distinctive religion, its distinctive art forms, its distinctive styles.