Best Soviet Leader?

I'm questioning the apparent contradiction between your two statements. If Khrushchev was "the greatest Soviet leader" because he "ended Stalin's oppression", then how do you reconcile that belief with your statement that Stalin was in fact "the greatest leader of all time in history"?

I think Stalin is one of the biggest pains to sort out when becoming a communist.

"Ah, do I love him or hate him?!"

I don't consider everything that Stalin did was good. As I see him as a cruel but brilliant man. As when the Nazi's captured his son and purging people without proof of them conspiring against the government. Also other things like sending the Chechnyans to Siberia. What I meant in this topic was those after Stalin and Lenin. I wanted to know more about Brezhnev, Andropov, Cherenko. More about Andropov and Cherenko since their reigns where short.

Quote:

I wanted to know more about Brezhnev, Andropov, Cherenko. More about Andropov and Cherenko since their reigns where short.

You mean compared to Stalin's?

No individually. Like I think Brezhnev was the best because he did this in the USSR & etc., etc.. As I said I didn't mean for this topic to be filled with Lenin's and Stalin's.

Oh. Well, I think Brezhnev and Khrushchev together could actually make some sort of passable leader. Khrushchev was great for the U.S.S.R.'s economy and gave a huge kickstart to space exploration, whereas Brezhnev was a great hard-liner and did a decent job of maintaing political stability.

I think brezhnev because according to my parents life was of the best quality during his reign.

It's actually choosing between these options:

1. Only Lenin
2. Only Lenin and Stalin
3. Lenin and Stalin, but also the reign of Suslov and his companion Andropov after Stalin
4. Option for liberal bourgeois traitor fags: Gorbi and Yeltsin

Lensky Khruschev was economically retarded. This is the guy that planted corn north of the Arctic Circle.

Quote:

Khruschev was economically retarded. This is the guy that planted corn north of the Arctic Circle.

He did some good imo.

In answer to the OP, I'm not sure. All the Soviet leaders I've read about have their good and bad points. I need to do some serious research on Soviet history. [/quote]

Quote:

All the Soviet leaders I've read about have their good and bad points.

Yeah, just look at Mao. He thought that humans would eventually live off the barest of minerals.

Stalin, the crowd favorite I would have to say.

Quote:

Stalin, the crowd favourite I would have to say.

That would definitely depend on the crowd. I think that if you walked into PoFo right now and actually said that you liked Stalin, people would be calling you a nutjob. That's just me though, why don't you go try it?

I think he means this crowd.

Anyway, you could mean this different ways:
What did they accomplish and what did their actions directly lead to beyond their own lifetime?
What did they accomplish during their own life time?

Lenin obviously gets the first, Stalin obviously gets the second. Stalin's relatively long tenure in office had something to do with that, as did his policies.

Quote:

I think he means this crowd.

From what I can tell you have more support for Lenin on this board than anyone else. Almost everyone here likes/supports Lenin. All the other leaders have us divided.

If we are talking post stalin, then Andropov. He rocks my socks. Pity it was so short....

Andropov was in se a centrist, but a better kind of centrism in comparison with Suslov.

Fallen Comrade wrote:

He did some good imo.

His '62 programme seemed pretty mediocre to me. Please tell me what you see as Khruschev's greatest advances on Marxist-Leninist theory. Was it the redefinition and deflation of the promises of communism? The promise of 'the material existence for its fruition' existing by 1980?

I'd have to go for Krushev as well, but if he could have had Stalin's bottle in the 'missile crisis' then we could be looking at world socialism now...

RE

As mentioned earlier, Lenin was the great revolutionary, political thinker, and guide for world revolution, but his tenure as Soviet leader was short. Given that, the title has to go to Stalin.

Despite his excessive harshness, Stalin's leadership brought a large semi-medieval nation to the forefront of 20th century industrial society in the span of 10-15 years, nearly eliminated illiteracy, inspired the nation's political will to fight the most formidable army on earth, and rebuilt a torn nation under the pressures of superpower rivalry. And let's not forget how his example served as practical lessons for countless founders of new independent Third World nations.