Abstract
The French Communist Party and Stalinism after World War II
The author starts by discussing the appropriateness of the concept of «Stalinism». He then outlines the many-sided features of French Stalinism (including both its most obvious outlets through the press and communist discourse, and its more covert expression through the political culture of the French Communist Party), giving priority to its conception of history and its dogmatic political beliefs. He goes on to show how its considerable strength was a result of the social role that it fulfilled; it acted as the cement for holding together a counter-culture or alternative society. In conclusion, analysis of the various aspects of the political culture of the PCF in this period, particularly Its ways of operating, its conjuring-up of an imagined utopia, its twisting of the meaning of words and its links with the Soviet Union, all make it appropriate to identify the PCF as a proto-totalitarian party, a farreaching shadow of Stalinist totalitarianism.
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