ABSTRACT

The nature of Stalinism and the question of the socialist character of the Soviet system have remained subjects of profound disagreement outside the Soviet Union ever since de-Stalinization had its impact in the 1950s. Lenin's entrancement with military modes of thinking applied not only to his conception of revolutionary political organization, but to the methods required for political success, both internally and internationally. Under Stalin, socialism as the public control of economic enterprise began to play an essentially instrumental role as a system for mobilizing resources to overcome national backwardness and maximize the civilian base of military power. In the economic and social spheres, particularly, "militarized socialism" is a more concrete description of the operation and criteria of Soviet totalitarianism. A military model of political organization and action was the core of Bolshevism as Lenin formulated it in his early writings and pursued it through his split with the Mensheviks.