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Extreme times promote extreme behaviour. He was a terrible human, and the regime he was fighting was too.

• ein0p 3y ago
  The regime he was fighting was far too humane for its own good, that is quite obvious in retrospect. Stalin, however, is not a black and white figure for Russian/Soviet history. On the one hand yes, there were purges, and a large famine on his watch. Millions perished. But on the other he industrialized the country and won WW2, which most likely would be impossible without industrialization. I wish there were easier answers to these moral questions, but there never are if one thinks in more than one dimension
  • lostlogin 3y ago
    > The regime he was fighting was far too humane for its own good Compared to communist Russia, maybe, but it was cruel, unequal and badly run by every measure I can think of. I don’t think you can describe it as ‘humane’ by any real measure except comparison with what followed.