Well, he wasn't the same as Stalin, and Stalin wasn't the same as him. History never repeats itself.

I gather in Russia there are a lot of people who think Stalin was quite a good chap, and no doubt in time there'll be more. Out in Mongolia Ghengis Khan is a national hero, and they've just renamed their main airport after him. I suspect Saddam will have his fans in time.

That's how it goes, as history rubs off the rough edges.

In London there's the Cromwell Road, and a statue outside Parliament. The old man isn't doing too badly, considering. Just don't anyone try putting up a statue to him in Ireland.   And it'd be better is he doesn't get put up as a kind of role model. Anyone using him as a role model is likely to turn out a lot worse than he did.

Which gets us back to Stalin. Here is an extract from an interview he gave in 1934 to HG Wells:

Stalin: 'The Communists base themselves on rich historical experience which teaches that obsolete classes do not voluntarily abandon the stage of history. Recall the history of England in the seventeenth century. Did not many say that the old social system had decayed? But did it not, nevertheless, require a Cromwell to crush it by force?'

HG WELLS: 'Cromwell operated on the basis of the constitution and in the name of constitutional order...'

STALIN: 'In the name of the constitution he resorted to violence, beheaded the king, dispersed Parliament, arrested some and beheaded others!'