Stalin was the first head of state in history to transform his real self into a “virtual” person for showcasing to the world. This episode reports in detail on the Stalin cult: his motives, modus operandi and methods. It also reveals the real person behind the “Shining Sun”, as he had himself called: his cynicism, his ruthlessness, his affairs. The person who at the end of his life, as he himself admitted, no longer trusted anyone — not even himself.
This episode concentrates on describing and attempting to explain the origins of the policy of “terror” instigated by Stalin as leader of the USSR. There are interviews with surviving family members and experts all of whom attempt some sort of personality “analysis” of the dictator to explain his behaviour and policies. Another question that is examined is, given his record of “terror”, why was he so popular? Why did so many Russians mourn his death in 1953?
This is the final program from the three-part biography of Stalin. This episode deals with Stalin’s conduct of affairs during the Great Patriotic War, the devastating defence of Russia from Hitler's invasion in 1942, at a cost of over 20 million Russian lives, military and civilian. The perspectives presented are very critical of Stalin and may balance some of the post-Cold War revisionism.