The Staging of History in France. The Characterization of Historical Figures in French Grand Opera during the Reign of Louis-Philippe

Stalin did nothing of the sort. They were therefore not fitted to act effectively within the new, undemocratic framework of the Bolshevik State. He was. They were crushed by that framework, while he proceeded to build around it his autocratic System of government.[8] The trend of the time found in Stalin its вЂorgan’. If it hadn't been Stalin it would have been another. A similar view when expressed about other historical figures may seem implausible; but it is exceptionally convincing in the case of Stalin. When it is said that the general trend of the Renaissance would not have been different without Leonardo da Vinci and that at the most some of its вЂindividual features’ would have been different, one immediately thinks of the вЂLast Supper’ and вЂMona Lisa’, and one wonders: Would the trend really not have been different? Was the contribution of Leonardo (or of Michelangelo) merely one of its вЂindividual features’? When one is told that another French general of the period of the Directory could have filled the place of Napoleon, one cannot help thinking about Napoleon's elan, intellectual brilliance, and romantic appeal; and one wonders just how much Napoleon's individual characteristics counted in the general course of events ...»