ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter on culture and ideology, we saw how Stalin quite explicitly sought to legitimize his own personal rule by posing as the heir to a deified Lenin and to the old rulers of the Great Russian Empire. Traditions of authoritarian rule were thus imprinted upon the Soviet state, reinforced by notions of Russian supremacy in the multinational state and by a deliberate official comparison between Stalin and the great Tsars, Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great. A distinctly Russian historical frame of reference gained prominence in Soviet society. In the present chapter, we shall be concerned with the process of transition from this time of vigorous high Stalinism to the subsequent period of Brezhnevian stagnation. It is certainly true that the Khrushchev regime accounts for the bulk of this phase, but since it is our understanding that the really fundamental ideological transition had already taken place before the outbreak of de-Stalinization, we shall be rather brief concerning Khrushchev’s years in power. Our main interest shall be devoted to the years 1949-53, which we consider to be the crucial period of maturation of the official ideology. The Khrushchev years will be dealt with merely to examine the nature of the process of apparent ‘secularization’ of Soviet society. The latter will be done in order to examine what basic conclusions may be drawn, not only about continuities but also about irreversible changes in Soviet ideology during the transition from Stalinism to Brezhnevism.
