can you tell the difference How Boris Johnson isn’t the first political figure to be mysteriously erased from history
- Joseph Stalin had images edited to remove former comrades-turned-enemies
- In one in Moscow, former secret police officer Nikolai Yezhov was bombed from the air
- Stalin also had an image of Vladimir Lenin edited to remove the enemy Leon Trotsky
- Chinese Mao Zedong and Italian Benito Mussolini also edited photos
When it emerged yesterday that Boris Johnson had been airbrushed from a photo with Grant Shapps, there were immediate calls for foul play.
While the business secretary insisted he had no knowledge of which of his staff was responsible for the image, it was immediately noted online that the move to “delete” the former prime minister had rather sinister connotations.
Many pointed to the connection to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who often retouched images to remove former allies who had fallen victim to his reign of terror.
Most famously, he had former secret police officer Nikolai Yezhov erased from a picture that originally showed the couple with two other officers next to the Moscow Canal.
And China’s Chairman Mao also used the tactic to get rid of old photographs from his political enemies.
Stalin is known to have cut his political enemies out of photographs. One of these enemies was Nikolai Yezhov, a secret police officer who oversaw Stalin’s purges. When he fell out of favor in 1938, Yezhov was removed from a picture showing him next to his boss at the Moscow Canal
When it emerged yesterday that Boris Johnson had been airbrushed from a photo with Grant Shapps, calls for foul play were immediate and critics pointed to the links to Stalin’s tactics. Above: Mr Shapps tweeted a picture of him meeting and greeting staff at Spaceport Cornwall. The version issued by Downing Street in 2021 showed an identical scene but with then Prime Minister Mr Johnson in the centre
Yezhov had been one of Stalin’s right hands but fell out of favor with the dictator in 1938.
He was denounced, arrested, brought before a secret court and then executed.
The retouchers simply replaced it with new water. Stalin used similar tactics with dozens of other party officials.
Editing of photos was largely part of Stalin’s Great Purge, which killed an estimated 750,000 people between 1936 and 1939 as he attempted to eliminate any remaining influence of his former comrade Leon Trotsky and all other political rivals.
Mao Zedong had a picture of him with his comrades edited to remove rival Po Ku in 1936 (left)
Not only did Stalin use editing tactics to eliminate his new enemies, but he also had himself put in a picture of the ailing Vladimir Lenin in 1922. In the retouched photo, he was seated next to his then-leader, as intended to show how Stalin had visited Lenin before his death in the hope that it would improve his prospects of succession
More than a million other victims were sent to remote areas of Russia to do forced labor in gulags.
Some of Stalin’s enemies disappeared from their homes, while others were publicly executed after show trials.
Another famous use of the edit was a picture of Stalin with Communist Party comrades Nikolai Antipov, Sergei Kirov, and Nikolai Shvernik in 1926.
As the men began to suffer from his psychopathic tendencies, one by one, Stalin had them removed from the picture until only he was left.
And an image of Lenin addressing a crowd of troops in Moscow in 1920 was later altered under Stalin’s orders to eliminate Stalin’s bitter enemy Leon Trotsky.
This image of Vladimir Lenin addressing a crowd of troops in Moscow was later edited by the censors to remove Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev
Not only did Stalin use sniping tactics to eliminate his enemies, but in 1922 he also had himself cast in an image of an ailing Vladimir Lenin.
In the retouched photograph, he was seated next to his then-leader, the depiction being intended to show Stalin visiting Lenin before his death in the hope that this would improve his chances of succession.
But the dictator wasn’t the only leader to use editing, both China’s Chairman Mao and Italy’s Benito Mussolini did the same.
Mao Zedong had a picture of him with his comrades edited in 1936 to remove rival Po Ku.
And as part of an effort to present himself as a man of strength, Mussolini had an image of him on a horse edited to remove the person tending to the horse.
As part of an effort to present himself as a strongman, Mussolini had an image of him on a horse edited to remove the person tending to the horse