Government Think Tank on Collapse of Former Soviet Union
— Stalin＇s Autocracy is the Cause
Tue, 09/11/2007 - 20:20 — LD
The root cause of the collapse of the former Soviet Union was not so much Gorbachev＇s actions alone; it lies deep in its system dating back to Stalin＇s autocracy, according to a government think tank article published by the official Xinhua news agency.
On September 4, 2007, Xinhua published an article by Wen Yi, a research fellow at China＇s Academy of Social Sciences, a prestigious government think tank in Beijing. The article criticizes the popular approach in China that only addresses the achievements of the former Soviet Union and avoids the crimes it committed against its own citizens. [1]
The article states, "a truthful understanding of the disintegration of the Soviet Union comes from a comprehensive and objective understanding of that country. For a long period of time, our understanding of the Soviet Union has been incomplete and skewed." "People tend to talk about positives and avoid negatives. However, the job of historians is to find the truth among the positives and negatives."
The article continues that the concept that there is only one path for human development seriously limits and suppresses people＇s thinking. One could only sing praises to Stalin. Any criticism of Stalin＇s personal style would be labeled as anti-socialism and become a crime. Soviet propaganda played a critical role in fostering such a linear way of thinking, wrote Wen Yi.
Wen Yi believes that Stalin＇s autocracy that suppressed and eliminated any disagreement eventually wiped out the socialist harmony and balance. "In my opinion, the issue is not how many were executed in the Great Purge but why and how people were executed. Based on the declassified Soviet archives, the Great Purge had three problems. One, the executions were preventive in nature and it would rather err on overkill in order to further the Proletarian interests. Two, executions were carried out pursuant to the internal quota that 3 to 5 percent of the Party members must be purged. Three, executions took place without the rule of law — a written comment from Stalin was the judgment of the death sentence."
There are many negatives like the Great Purge in the 70 years of history of the Soviet Union. "When we look at the historical process of the Soviet Union, it is very important to recognize these negatives, because it was these negatives that eventually brought about the disintegration of the Soviet Union."
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