Biography of Joseph Stalin and the Revolutionary Movement

1407 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: stalins effects on the soviet union

Joseph Stalin grew up believing in Marxist, which led him to devote his time to the revolutionary movement against the Russian Monarchy (World History in Context). In 1922, Stalin became general secretary of the Communist party and after Lenin’s death he promoted himself as Lenin’s political heir. After proclaiming his position of the political heir, Stalin officially became a dictator over the Soviet Union (World History in Context). Stalin was the supreme ruler of the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century. Stalin’s reign of terror caused the death and suffering of millions, but he also oversaw the war machine that played a key role in the defeat of Nazism. It is said that Stalin is one of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history (World History in Context). Joseph Stalin would rule over the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953.
Once Stalin came into power after Lenin’s death he immediately got to work on how he was going to control the Soviet Union. "The triumph of one man turned into the tragedy of an entire nation."(Volkogonov) Joseph Stalin began collectivizing farming and had potential enemies executed or sent to labor camps. Many farmers did not like the idea of the government taking their farms and they refused to cooperate. Since the farmers wouldn’t listen to what Stalin was saying he had them shot or exiled. Also the forced collective farming led to a widespread famine across the Soviet Union and killed millions of people (BBC History 4). Since the Soviet Union was allied with the United States and Great Britain they did not pay much attention to Stalin and what was happening under his control. The whole world was so focused on what Hitler was doing and his labor camps that Stalin’s labor camps completely flew u...

... middle of paper ...

...cret negotiations with German officers, and the opening of a second front in the west (U.S.-Soviet Alliance). The most important disagreement of all these issues was the opening of the second front in the west. Stalin was already struggling to hold off the Nazi troops in the east. Although the alliance was rough between the two nations, in the end the defeat of Nazi Germany could not have been defeated without the Soviet Union and the United States working together. The Soviets and the U.S. were able to fight Germany on both sides of the country. By opening a two front war with Germany it was easier to defeat them because in almost any case where a two front war occurs it is very hard to win. The United States made the right choice to ally with the Soviet Union because it would have taken more than the United States to take out powerful Germany and the Nazi forces.

Show More
Related

  • Stalin's Emergence as Leader

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    death in 1953. But how is it that Stalin emerged as the new leader of

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Joseph Stalin's Reign Of Terror

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    For most people that know who Joseph Stalin was, they can agree on one thing: Stalin was one of the most brutal and ruthless leaders that mankind has ever seen. He is known as the instigator and leader of the Reign of Terror, which incorporated extremely horrifying purges. These purges have been estimated to have killed five times as many people as the Holocaust. The purges also helped him establish his power base, which allowed him to build one of the most powerful countries in its day and age. But he was not born evil, in fact, when he was a child, family and friends said he was shy. This does not mean he didn’t have a bad childhood, which happened quite often in rural Georgia. The pain of his childhood built as the years went by. Growing up admiring people like Karl Marx, Machiavelli, and Ivan the Terrible only stoked the fire even more. I believe that Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror can be traced directly back to his brutal childhood and complete belief in Marxist principles.

    Read More

  • Joseph Stalin

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Similarities And Differences Between Lenin And Stalin

    2265 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stalin continued even once he was successful in accomplishing those goals, as he did not stop hurting people, but if anything it gave him more power to hurt people even more. But, at the end of the day, although Lenin ruled for only a very short time, he did raise the standard of living, though there maintained a large amount of hardship. Stalin, however, transformed the USSR from a peasantry to an industrialized nation in less than a decade, he did it on the backs of his millions of victims, who died because of his harsh policies and many purges. Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx.

    Read More

  • Stalin Vs. Hitler

    2651 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the beginning Josef Stalin was a worshiper of his beloved Vladimir Lenin. He followed his every move and did as he said to help establish and lead the Bolshevik party. Much of the early part of his political career was lost due to his exile to Siberia for most of World War I. It wasn’t until 1928, when he assumed complete control of the country were he made most of his success. After Lenin’s death in January 1924, Stalin promoted his own cult followings along with the cult followings of the deceased leader. He took over the majority of the Socialists now, and immediately began to change agriculture and industry. He believed that the Soviet Union was one hundred years behind the West and had to catch up as quickly as possible. First though he had to seal up complete alliance to himself and his cause.

    Read More

  • The Great Terror in Russia

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Fdr And Stalin

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1929-1953. Stalin rose to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party, becoming a Soviet dictator after

    Read More

  • Stalin DBQ

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Around the early 1920’s, Stalin took power and became leader of Russia. As a result Russians either became fond of Stalin’s policies or absolutely despised them. Stalin’s five-year plans lured many into focusing on the thriving economy rather than the fact that the five year plan hurt the military. The experience of many lives lost, forced labor camps, little supply of food, influenced the Russians negative opinion about Stalin. Having different classes in society, many Russians had different points of views. For the Peasants, times were rough mainly because of the famine, so they were not in favor of Stalin and his policies; where as the upper classes had a more optimistic view of everything that was occurring. Stalin’s policies affected the Russian people and the Soviet Union positively and also had a negative affect causing famine for the Russian people.

    Read More

  • Reasons For The Failure Of The Russian Revolution

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union can be best described as a period of terror and censorship. In other words, he was very strict, considering the fact that he created the totalitarian government. In order to create this type of government, Stalin used fear and propaganda. He took part in The Great Purge, which was a campaign of terror that was supposed to eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power. He also relied on secret police, who would arrest and execute any traitors. The online blog, “The Reasons For the Failure of The Russian Revolution”, brings up information on how Stalin planned to rule as dictator of Russia. It has been noted, “This ‘reshaping’ had three main aspects: the elimination of all dissent; the liquidation of all forms of democracy and of working class organisation; the slashing of the living standards of the working class and the physical annihilation of millions of peasants” (Text 5). This quote explains how Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia, which includes the deaths of several peasants of Russia. The Russians did not just die from The Great Purge, but also from Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan was an attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union. It was also a plan for increasing the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. He had control over economic resources, including farms and

    Read More

  • How Did The Great Terror Lead To Joseph Stalin's Death

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    His reign was during the peak of the Soviet Union 's power. Stalin was a cruel and harsh leader who was fascinated by power. He had incredible power and great influential skills. Many of Joseph 's associates and comrades said that he was magnificent because of his crazed way of leading, and even they tended to fear him. He was always determined to stay in control, and he came up with schemes and plans to eliminate anything he disliked. He would always try to stay one step ahead of other countries and try to begin new projects which seemed to fail. Joseph Stalin had many people suffering and killed when he was

    Read More

  • Joseph Stalin Research Paper

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Stalin on Russia

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Effects of Stalin on Russia Much like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and despised people in the recorded history of the world. Stalin, though, found it fit to abuse his people in any way he saw fit. This man started what history now calls "The Great Purge. " Through the late 1920's when the rest of the world was living it up as the roaring 20's came to an end, Joseph Stalin was setting the stage for gaining absolute power by employing secret police repression against opposing political and social elements within his own Communist Party and throughout society.

    Read More

  • How Did Joseph Stalin Represent A Totalitarian Government

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Stalin killed many people in order to provoke a government of fascism.With his obsession in changing the USSR from a backward, peasant-centered, agrarian nation to an industrial superpower, Stalin developed a totalitarian government that ruled over individual lives, striking fear in the converted and threatening death or hard labor camps for the unconverted. The totalitarian rule under Joseph

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Matalo And Stalin

    1866 Words  | 4 Pages

    Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold 199). The main aspects of his worldview was “socialism

    Read More

  • Destalinization

    2948 Words  | 6 Pages

    Joseph Stalin ruled the USSR from 1929 until his death in 1953. His rule was one of tyranny, and great change from the society that his predecessor, Lenin, had envisioned (Seton, 34). Stalin put into effect two self proclaimed "five-year plans" over the course of his rule. Both were very similar in that they were intended to improve production in the nation. The first of these plans began collectivization, in which harvests and industrial products were seized by the government and distributed as needed. The government eliminated most private businesses and the state became the leader in commerce. Stalin also initiated a process called "Russification". (Great Events, 119)"

    Read More

More about Biography of Joseph Stalin and the Revolutionary Movement

Open Document