Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin
Nicholas (Yarushevich) and other Soviet, Church and foreign dignitaries |
Joseph Stalin, second leader of the Soviet Union, died on 5 March 1953 at his Kuntsevo Dacha after suffering a stroke, at age 74. He was given a state funeral in Moscow on 9 March, with four days of national mourning declared. On the day of the funeral, hundreds or thousands of Soviet citizens visiting the capital to pay their respects died in a human crush.[1][2]
Stalin's body was embalmed and interred in Lenin's Mausoleum until 1961, when it was moved to the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. The members of Stalin's inner circle in charge of organizing his funeral were Nikita Khrushchev, then-head of the Moscow branch of the Communist Party; Lavrentiy Beria, head of the NKVD; Georgy Malenkov, the chairman of the Presidium; and Vyacheslav Molotov, previously the Soviet Union's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Illness and death
The last three days of Stalin's life have been described in detail, first in the official Soviet announcements in
At 7:00 a.m. on 2 March, Beria and a group of medical experts were summoned to examine Stalin. Based on their examination, which revealed
Stalin's body was then taken to an unspecified location and an autopsy performed, after which it was embalmed for public viewing. Attempts to locate and access the original autopsy report were unsuccessful until the 2010s,[7][8] but the most important findings were reported in a special bulletin in Pravda on 7 March 1953, as follows:
"Pathological-Anatomical Examination of the Body of J. V. Stalin"
Pathologic examination revealed a large hemorrhage, localized to the area of subcortical centers of the left cerebral hemisphere. This hemorrhage destroyed important areas of the brain and resulted in irreversible changes in the respiration and circulation. In addition to the brain hemorrhage, there were found significant hypertrophy of the left ventricle (of the heart), numerous hemorrhages in the myocardium, in the stomach and intestinal mucosa; atherosclerotic changes in the vessels, more prominent in the cerebral arteries. These are the result of hypertension. The results of the pathologic examination revealed the irreversible character of J.V. Stalin's disease from the moment of brain hemorrhage. Therefore, all treatment attempts could not have led to a favorable outcome and prevent a fatal end."[9]
As summarized above, rather than suggesting a plot by Beria, on whom suspicion fell for his purportedly telling Molotov that he "took him out"[10] at one point, and his seemingly willful delay in obtaining medical treatment for Stalin, the physical changes seen during autopsy were consistent with extracranial changes that often occur in stroke victims.
Beria's son, Sergo Beria, later recounted that after Stalin's death, his mother Nina told her husband that, "Your position now is even more precarious than when Stalin was alive."
Funeral service
External videos | |
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Official Soviet documentary on Stalin's funeral | |
Part of Soviet footage of Stalin's funeral |
On 6 March, the coffin containing Stalin's body was put on display at the Hall of Columns in the House of the Unions, remaining there for three days.[16] On 9 March, the body was delivered to Red Square[17] prior to interment in Lenin's Mausoleum.[18][19] Speeches were delivered by Khrushchev, Malenkov, Molotov and Beria, after which pallbearers carried the coffin to the mausoleum. As Stalin's body was being interred, a moment of silence was observed nationwide at noon Moscow time. As the bells of the Kremlin Clock chimed the hour, sirens and horns wailed nationwide, along with a 21-gun salute fired from within the precincts of the Kremlin. Similar observances were also held in other Eastern Bloc countries including Mongolia, China and North Korea. Immediately after the silence ended, a military band played the Soviet State Anthem, and then a military parade of the Moscow Garrison was held in Stalin's honor.
In their efforts to pay their respects to Stalin, a number of Soviet citizens, many of whom had travelled from across the country to attend the funeral, were crushed and trampled to death in a
Foreign dignitaries in attendance
According to Ogoniok, the mourners included the following foreign dignitaries (listed alphabetically by last name):[22]
- Bolesław Bierut – Prime Minister of Poland, Secretary General of the Polish United Workers' Party
- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Bulgaria
- Jacques Duclos – Interim General Secretary of the French Communist Party
- Romanian Workers' Party
- Klement Gottwald – President of Czechoslovakia, Chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
- Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic
- Dolores Ibárruri – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain
- Urho Kekkonen – Prime Minister of Finland[23]
- People's Republic of Albania
- Johann Koplenig – Chairman of the Communist Party of Austria
- Pietro Nenni – Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party
- Harry Pollitt – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain
- Mátyás Rákosi – General Secretary of the Hungarian Working People's Party
- Max Reimann – Chairman of the West German Communist Party
- Konstantin Rokossovsky – Defence Minister of Poland
- General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party
- Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal – Prime Minister of Mongolia
- Walter Ulbricht – First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic
- Zhou Enlai – Premier of the People's Republic of China
Czechoslovak leader Gottwald died shortly after attending Stalin's funeral, on 14 March 1953, after one of his arteries burst.[24]
Other tributes
Fearing their departure might encourage rivals within the ranks of the Party of Labour of Albania, neither Prime Minister Enver Hoxha nor Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu risked traveling to Moscow to attend the funeral, with Hoxha instead pledging eternal allegiance to the late Soviet leader.[25]
Guatemalan officials in the government of
Church tributes
After Stalin's death, Patriarch Alexy I composed a personal statement of condolence to the Soviet Council of Ministers:
"His death is a heavy grief for our Fatherland and for all the people who inhabit it. The whole Russian Orthodox Church, which will never forget his benevolent attitude to Church needs, feels great sorrow at his death. The bright memory of him will live ineradicably in our hearts. Our Church proclaims eternal memory to him with a special feeling of abiding love."[29]
Alexy I also gave a eulogy on the day of Stalin's funeral.[30]
Other Orthodox officials, including
Gallery
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Stalin's funeral procession
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Floristry at the funeral procession
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Aircraft (Ilyushin Il-28) of the Soviet Air Force during the military parade
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The first report about Stalin's illness appeared in Pravda three days after the stroke (1 March) and one day before he died. Pravda issue 63 (12631), dated 4 March 1953.
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Another report on Stalin's medical condition was published four days after the stroke (1 March) and 7 hours before he died. Pravda issue 64 (12632), dated 5 March 1953.
See also
- Death and state funeral of Vladimir Lenin
- Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev
- The Death of Stalin, a 2017 film directed by Armando Iannucci
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-21978-4.
- ^ a b Langewiesche, William (9 January 2018). "The 10-Minute Mecca Stampede That Made History". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-85043-980-6.
- ^ "Announcement of Stalin's Illness and Death". The Current Digest of the Soviet Press. V (6): 24. 1953.
- ^ Volkogonov, D. (1999). Autopsy for an Empire. The Free Press.
- ^ Victor Zorza (7 March 1953). "How Moscow broke the news of Stalin's death". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ISBN 978-5-4484-0279-1.
- S2CID 78094148.
- ^ Pravda, vol. 66, no. 1264, p. 2, March 7, 1953 (translated by S. Brodsky and M. Ruzic)
- ^ Radzinsky, E (1997). Stalin. Anchor Books.
- ^ Beria, S (2001). My Father: Inside Stalin's Kremlin. Gerald Duckworth, and Co. Ltd.
- ^ Knight, A (1993). Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant. Princeton University Press.
- JSTOR 26925014.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
- ^ "Лаврентия Берию в 1953 году расстрелял лично советский маршал" (in Russian). 24 June 2010.
- ^ Ganjushin, Alexander (6 March 2013). "Joseph Stalin's funeral: how it happened". Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Retrieved 17 January 2018 – via Russia Beyond.
On 6 March, the coffin with Stalin's body was displayed at the Hall of Columns in the House of Trade Unions.
- ^ "The Manhoff Archive: Stalin's Funeral - Part One". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ Ganjushin, Alexander (5 March 2013). "Russia on the day of Stalin's funeral: A photo look back". Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Retrieved 17 January 2018 – via Russia Beyond.
On 9 March, Stalin's embalmed body was interred in the Lenin Mausoleum, which was renamed the Lenin–Stalin Mausoleum from 1953 to 1961.
- ^ Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Why Did Russia Move Stalin's Body?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ Evtushenko, Evgenii (1963). "Mourners Crushed at Stalin's Funeral". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ISBN 0-87113-287-7.
- ^ "Mourning of millions". Ogoniok. Vol. 11, no. 1344. 15 March 1953.
- ^ Tikka, Juha-Pekka (18 October 2017). "Kun Josif Stalin kuoli – näin Urho Kekkonen ryntäsi tilaisuuteen" [When Josef Stalin died - Urho Kekkonen rushed to the event]. Verkkouutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ "Czechoslovakia: Death No. 2". Time. 23 March 1953. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-105-2.
- ^ Gleijeses 1992, pp. 141–181.
- ^ Gleijeses 1992, pp. 181–379.
- ^ "Message Conveying the Government' s Official Condolences on the Death of Joseph Stalin | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ^ Religion in the Soviet Union. Walter Kolarz. 1966. p. 65.
- ^ "Патриарх Алексий. Речь перед панихидой по И. В. Сталине".
- ^ Generalissimo Stalin Funeral, retrieved 14 November 2022
Sources
- Brent, Jonathan; Naumov, Vladimir (2004). Stalin's Last Crime: The Plot Against the Jewish Doctors, 1948–1953. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-093310-4.
- ISBN 978-0-691-02556-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7538-1766-7.