Question by Kay I: What are some of Stalin’s actions that follow Machiavelli’s rules on how to be a dictator?
Question explains all. I need to know some actions Stalin did that prove he followed Machiavelli’s rules in The Prince. Any ideas?
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Answer by spiffer1
For one thing he divided those in the Committee with whom he was supposed to work.
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Spellbound says
The Prince, the book which lays out much of Machiavelli’s ideas is not a long book, but to go through all of it, with examples from Stalin’s rule would necessitate a massive answer. I’ll outline five of Machiavelli’s ideas, the most important ones, and show how Stalin either followed, or did not follow his rules.
“He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.” (Prince Ch. 15)
Stalin said in 1931 that,
“We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or we shall go under.” This was as the USSR was rapidly industrialising, and collectivising the farms. Stalin realised that to delay industrialisation was indeed to neglect what ought to be done.
Machiavelli states that conquered territory was easy to enter, but difficult to hold: he states that the best way to hold it was to destroy the bloodline of the old ruling prince. (Ch. 4)
Stalin did something similar in Eastern Europe when his armies liberated those countries from the Nazis. The old political elites were either decimated by arrest, trial and imprisonment, or were neutered by having their ranks, titles and influence removed – and then, exiled (mostly they fled).
Machiavelli claims that when a prince comes to power through luck or the blessings of powerful figures within the regime, he has an easy time gaining power but a hard time keeping it. In order to maintain power, Machiavelli states that the prince must destroy those who put him in power, especially any military commanders. (Ch 7)
Stalin did exactly that. He rose to power through cunning, luck and through the goodwill of naive comrades. He then decimated them, and the military, as it was (possibly) more loyal to Trotsky.
A prince may be perceived to be merciful, faithful, humane, frank, and devout, but he should only SEEM to possess these qualities, as sometimes it is necessary to act against them, and even to act in an evil way on occasion. (Ch 15)
Again Stalin seemed, to the Soviet people, to possess all these qualities (he WAS devout to the ideas of Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism), and more: he was portrayed as most wise, kind, and able to solve any problem. However, he was (as I’m sure you are aware) cruel, cunning, paranoid and vicious. And certainly he was more than capable of evil acts – some, it must be said, for the good of the USSR, such as some of his acts during WWII.
In possibly the most famous part of the Prince, Machiavelli states that a prince should try to be loved AND feared, but, if that is not possible, it is better to be feared than loved. (Ch 17)
Stalin WAS loved by much of the population, but amongst the politically important sections – the Communist Party, the army and the upper echelons of Soviet society – the Nomenklatura – he was feared. They all owed their positions, indeed their lives, to Stalin. A wrong word, an ill-advised look, a comment about a policy not working as planned, and they could find all their ranks, privileges and luxuries gone – or worse.