“The man who turned the Soviet Union from a backward country into a world superpower at unimaginable human cost (Joseph Stalin).” “Stalin was born into a dysfunctional family in a poor village in Georgia (Joseph Stalin).” Permanently scarred from a childhood bout with smallpox and having a mildly deformed arm, Stalin always felt unfairly treated by life, and thus developed a strong, romanticized desire for greatness and respect, combined with a shrewd streak of calculating cold-heartedness towards those who had maligned him. “He always felt a sense of inferiority before educated intellectuals, and particularly distrusted them (Joseph Stalin).” Sent by his mother to the seminary in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), the capital of Georgia, to study to become a priest, the young Stalin never completed his education, and was instead soon completely drawn into the city's active revolutionary circles. “Never a fiery intellectual polemicist or orator like Lenin or Trotsky, Stalin specialized in the humdrum nuts and bolts of revolutionary activity. Risking arrest every day by helping organize workers, distributing illegal literature, and robbing trains to support the cause, while Lenin and his bookish friends lived safely abroad and wrote clever articles about the plight of the Russian working class (Lenin & Stalin).” “ Although Lenin found Stalin's boorishness offensive at times, he valued his loyalty, and appointed him after the Revolution to various low-priority leadership positions in the new Soviet government(Lenin & Stalin).” In 1922, Stalin was appointed to another such post, as General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee. “Stalin understood that "cadres are everything": if you control the personnel, you control the organization. He shrewdly used his new position to consolidate power in exactly this way--by controlling all appointments, setting agendas, and moving around Party staff in such a way that eventually everyone who counted for anything owed their position to him(Stalin Biography).” By the time the Party's intellectual core realized what had happened, it was too late--Stalin had his people in place. While Lenin, the only person with the moral authority to challenge him, was on his deathbed and incapable of speech after a series of strokes, and besides, Stalin even controlled who had access to the leader. The General Secretary of the ... ... middle of paper ... .... “This ambitious plan brought hardship and met resistance as he purged the kulaks (wealthy peasant farmers) (Stalin: The Man and His Era).” This was followed in 1932 by the second, equally ambitious Five-Year Plan. In 1936, Stalin developed a new Soviet constitution, which was seen as a democratic document. “However, the following elections were marred by purge trials from 1934 to 1938 in which Stalin systematically eliminated his opposition(Stalin: The Man and His Era).” Stalin further hurt his international image when he signed a nonaggression pact with Adolf Hitler in 1939. The Nazi leader soon broke this agreement and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. “In Allied negotiations after the war, Stalin succeeded in obtaining control of half of Europe, and the following year the Iron Curtain descended over the Soviet Union and its "satellites" in Eastern Europe as Stalin consolidated his gains (Joseph Stalin).” This began the cold war, which continued throughout Stalin's rule. He died in Moscow in 1953 and was entombed in Red Square alongside Lenin. “However, his character was later attacked by Nikita Khrushchev and his body removed from the Lenin mausoleum (Stalin Biography)”.
Joseph Stalin said, “Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don 't let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”. Stalin was a dictator of the USSR from 1929 to 1953. Under his dictatorship, the Soviet Union began to transform from a poor economy to an industrial and military based one. While still a teen, Stalin secretly read Karl Marx 's book the “Communist Manifesto”, and became more interested in his teachings. When Stalin gained power, he ruled his nations using terror and fear, eliminating those who did not comply with his governance.
In conclusion, many soviets citizens appeared to believe that Stalin’s positive contributions to the U.S.S.R. far outweigh his monstrous acts. These crimes have been down played by many of Stalin’s successors as they stress his achievements as collectivizer, industrializer, and war leader. Among those citizens who harbor feelings of nostalgia, Stalin’s strength, authority , and achievement contrast sharply with the pain and suffering of post-revolutionary Russia.
He had a large group of devout followers, molding them from a young age. Stalin, along with other Communist leaders, used education, literature, and even romance to mold the diverse group people. They used these sources to make the people adopt the positive attitude towards hard work, undying devotion for their country, and strict social cooperation. In A.O. Avdienko’s The Cult of Stalin, Avdienko examines the extent of devotion that Stalin’s followers had for him and how he used this to transform Russia’s society to his liking. He goes on to state that “centuries will pass, and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of mortals, as the most fortunate of men, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our inspired leader”. Avdienko then goes on to explain that Stalin “never had an equal in world history” and that when he and his wife has a child “the first word it shall utter will be: Stalin” (Avdienko, p.339-340). Not only does this show the blind devotion these people have for the great “Stalin” it also shows how influential Stalin was. Avdienko refers to Stalin as the “great educator” multiple times, which most likely pays homage to his use of education to promote the Communist way. By having such a wide spread influence over his people and their education, it was no wonder Stalin was able to
"Joseph Stalin." UXL Biographies. Detroit: U*X*L, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
When most people hear the name Joseph Stalin, they usually associate the name with a man who was part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. He was willingly to do anything to improve the power of the Soviet Union’s economy and military, even if it meant executing tens of millions of innocent people (Frankforter, A. Daniel., and W. M. Spellman 655). In chapter three of Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book, Everyday Stalinism, she argues that since citizens believed the propaganda of “a radiant future” (67), they were able to be manipulated by the Party in the transformation of the Soviet Union. This allowed the Soviet government to expand its power, which ultimately was very disastrous for the people.
Son of a poverty-stricken shoemaker, raised in a backward province, Joseph Stalin had only a minimum of education. However, he had a burning faith in the destiny of social revolution and an iron determination to play a prominent role in it. His rise to power was bloody and bold, yet under his leadership, in an unexplainable twenty-nine years, Russia because a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a despotic ruler who more than any other individual molded the features that characterized the Soviet regime and shaped the direction of Europe after World War II ended in 1945. From a young revolutionist to an absolute master of Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin cast his shadow over the entire globe through his provocative affair in Domestic and Foreign policy.
It was not until the 10th of July, that Stalin was appointed to the position. As the three million German forces crept closer to Moscow, panic began to pervade all of the USSR because the military had been removed from its best commanders in the 1930s, and it took much time for the Soviets to reorganize” (Wegner 381). The Germans failed at first to bring down the Soviet Union, but they continued to attack and attack until the Soviet Union and Stalin would fall. After the Soviet Union’s victory against Germany, Stalin was in critical condition and it was near the end for the chaotic tyrant. “In the early morning hours of March 1 1953, after an all-night dinner and a movie, Stalin arrived at his Kuntsevo residence 15 km west of Moscow centre, with interior minister Lavrentiy Beria and future premiers Georgy Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin, and Nikita Khrushchev, where he retired to his bedroom to sleep.
A leader is defined as a guiding or directing head. Stalin was the leader of the party that was in charge of the Soviet Union. He created a totalitarian regime which brought great suffering to the Russian people. The individual Russian played two distinct roles under Stalin. One role would be that of a person who under Stalin’s system was no different than the person who is standing next to them. Everyone was treated equal in all facets. The other role the individual Russian played was that of a victim. We are able to see by many different accounts that an individual had different roles to play and under Stalin, each role came with a price that sometimes lead to death. The role of the individual Russian played a huge role in Stalin’s aim at creating a stronghold on a nation that ended up imprisoning and killing millions of its own people
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Joseph Stalin became leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. Lenin had a government of abstemious communist government. When Stalin came into government he moved to a radical communist society. He moved away from the somewhat capitalist/communist economy of Lenin time to “modernize” the USSR. He wanted to industrialize and modernize USSR. He had overworked his workers, his people were dying, and most of them in slave labor camps. In fact by doing this Stalin had hindered the USSR and put them even farther back in time.
Much like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and despised people in the recorded history of the world. Stalin though his policies found it fit to abused his people in any way he saw fit. This man started what history now calls "The Great Purges."
Joseph Stalin once said, “Death is the solution to all problems. No man-no problem.” He followed his philosophy throughout his rule. Joseph Stalin was a cruel Russian man who ruled the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR) from 1941 to 1953, many have idolized Joseph Stalin, while others have hated him. Joseph stalin grew up extremely poor and by his ultimate determination to transform the USSR, he became a ruler of a very powerful union. His goal was to positively transform the USSR from a peasant society to an industrial superpower. Joseph Stalin ran a government of fascism, killed millions, ruled in terror, took over agriculture by killing millions, and focused on running a government with complete power and turn it into an industrial
Joseph Stalin is a polarizing figure. Decades after his death his legacy still continues to create debate about his tumultuous years as the leader of the Soviet Union. This is evident throughout the four documents while some praise Stalin as impeccable others criticize his policies and lack of political, economic, and social progress during his regime. Even though Stalin was behind various violations of human rights he was able to maintain the Soviet Union during a time of turmoil both domestically and internationally as a result he has earned notoriety as a great leader and advocate for Marxist ideology.
While Trotsky was a brilliant orator and military mastermind, willing to do whatever it took to win the war, his greatest flaw was that he greatly lacked the political traits necessary to gain support of his party and obtain the leadership during the power struggle with Stalin. Trotsky was unable to formulate realistic policies following the death of Lenin and increasingly lost the support of his party and the general populace, on the other hand Stalin was a master political manipulator who was able to mould any situation in a way which put him in an advantageous position. This is delineated upon in Trotsky’s continued obsession of Marxist theory and the idea of permanent revolution, an idea which showed little prospect of success. He was unable to recognise the want for his surrounding members to focus on their own country following 8 years of political turmoil, while Stalin was able to, promoting his idea of “socialism in one country.” Combined with this Trotsky continued to carry himself in an increasingly egotistical way, with his patronising and demeaning manner doing nothing to gain the support of his fellow members in the Politburo, lacked an understanding of party organisation, displayed naivety in internal party affairs and misunderstood the mood of the country. As David
...gerous (Johnson 97) -- began making his grab at power. Unfortunately for Russians, Stalin beat Trotsky and became Secretary of the Communist Party upon Lenin’s death, a position which was as good as dictator (100). Stalin, who was probably mentally unstable (96) , trashed the ideals of Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky in his own thirst for power. Marx had held the view that “The key to Communism is education,'; (New Generation) and the working class must be a learned people. As dictator, Stalin resorted to censorship of all media to consolidate his power (Johnson 114). Had Lenin lived longer, he could have seen Communism through to its ideal state. Nevertheless, even under Stalin, Lenin was virtually deified for having saved the nation.