[Nasional-e] Stalin's legacy lives on

Wed Sep 25 20:12:07 2002

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Letters / Stalin's legacy lives on /=20

Stalin's legacy lives on

Seumas Milne manages to pass over several important facts in his attempt =
to balance the historical account on Stalin and the Soviet Union (The =
battle of history, September 19). He correctly points out that the =
Soviet people fought Nazism heroically and at great cost, but disregards =
the non-aggression pact Stalin signed with Hitler in 1939.
The pact provided for Soviet-German cohabitation in eastern Europe until =
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Milne is right in saying =
comparisons between Nazism and communism tend to ignore the murderous =
record of European colonialism. But he fails to recognise that, from its =
forcible annexation and Russification of neighbouring countries in =
eastern Europe and the Caucasus after the revolution to its complete =
post-war domination of central Europe, the Soviet Union provided one of =
the largest colonialist and imperialist enterprises of the past century.
Above all, he seems largely oblivious to the fact that the Soviet Union =
did far more than its anti-communist adversaries to destroy the =
credibility of the revolutionary left. It provided a brutal caricature =
of revolutionary socialism as an agent of repression=20
 rather than liberation. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the damage that =
it caused continues to undermine the democratic, non-revolutionary left =
in its efforts to present a viable alternative to the current worship of =
an unconstrained free market.
 (Prof) Shalom Lappin=20
 King's College, London, UK
* Seumas Milne rightly asks why the crimes of communism are remembered =
while those of colonialism are ignored. There is a crucial difference: =
the USSR turned against its own people and to a limited extent on =
outsiders. The democratic West, on the other hand, oppressively targeted =
colonial populations to enrich its own freedoms and wealth. The USSR =
lost legitimacy among its own people, while people in the West tended to =
support their political systems - the ill effects of colonialism having =
been conveniently transferred to the third world.
In the third world colonialism and imperialism posed a greater threat =
than the USSR, and crimes of colonial times are still fresh. However, =
these views do not make their presence felt in Western media.
 Srikanth Bandi=20
 London, UK

The Guardian Weekly 26-9-2002, page 13

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size=3D3>Letters / Stalin's legacy lives on / Stalin's =
legacy=20
lives on Seumas Milne manages to pass over several important =
facts in his=20
attempt to balance the historical account on Stalin and the Soviet Union =
(The=20
battle of history, September 19). He correctly points out that the =
Soviet people=20
fought Nazism heroically and at great cost, but disregards the =
non-aggression=20
pact Stalin signed with Hitler in 1939. The pact provided for =
Soviet-German=20
cohabitation in eastern Europe until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in =
1941.=20
Milne is right in saying comparisons between Nazism and communism tend =
to ignore=20
the murderous record of European colonialism. But he fails to recognise =
that,=20
from its forcible annexation and Russification of neighbouring countries =
in=20
eastern Europe and the Caucasus after the revolution to its complete =
post-war=20
domination of central Europe, the Soviet Union provided one of the =
largest=20
colonialist and imperialist enterprises of the past century. Above =
all, he=20
seems largely oblivious to the fact that the Soviet Union did far more =
than its=20
anti-communist adversaries to destroy the credibility of the =
revolutionary left.=20
It provided a brutal caricature of revolutionary socialism as an agent =
of=20
repression &nbsp;rather than liberation. Unfortunately, the =
magnitude of the=20
damage that it caused continues to undermine the democratic, =
non-revolutionary=20
left in its efforts to present a viable alternative to the current =
worship of an=20
unconstrained free market. &nbsp;(Prof) Shalom Lappin =
 &nbsp;King's=20
College, London, UK * Seumas Milne rightly asks why the crimes of =
communism=20
are remembered while those of colonialism are ignored. There is a =
crucial=20
difference: the USSR turned against its own people and to a limited =
extent on=20
outsiders. The democratic West, on the other hand, oppressively targeted =

colonial populations to enrich its own freedoms and wealth. The USSR =
lost=20
legitimacy among its own people, while people in the West tended to =
support=20
their political systems - the ill effects of colonialism having been=20
conveniently transferred to the third world. In the third world =
colonialism=20
and imperialism posed a greater threat than the USSR, and crimes of =
colonial=20
times are still fresh. However, these views do not make their presence =
felt in=20
Western media. &nbsp;Srikanth Bandi &nbsp;London, UK The =
Guardian=20
Weekly 26-9-2002, page 13 </DIV></BODY></HTML>

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