Dictatorship: A Russian Tradition

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Before the word for the usual brutality of a leader came about, called Communism, Ivan IV was born on August 25,1530. His abnormal behavior started to show after the death of his parents; both deaths occured before he hit the early age of 9. Ivan bore witness to a lot of horrible things like murder and beatings of people who didn't comply to the Boyars requests. He was molested along with his deaf-mute brother, Yuri. Ivan took out his anger on animals by "ripping hair and feathers off, piercing the eyes, and slitting open their bodies. When he became ruler, he sent 100,000 troops to beseige the Tartar and not too long later he launches an attack on Novgorod. His Oprichniki rode around wearing black and on black horses abducting priests and even murdering them in front of their congregation. He turned on his daughter-in-law and attacked her because she was "immodestly dressed" and caused her to miscarry her baby. When his son stood up to protect her, Ivan killed him. His son was the heir to the throne and now Ivan didn't have an heir. Finally his reign of terror ended when he had a heart a attack while waiting to play chess. Similarly, the Russian Dictator from 1927-1953, Joseph Stalin, started out in a family where his mom wanted him to get a good education and his dad wanted him to take a job like farming. This took a toll on his family... But, little Joseph was already showing signs of intelligence. He joined a street gang as a teen and quickly escalated through the ranks to become the leader. His teachers started to notice a change in his intelligence direction when he took an interest in Karl Marx's works which influenced him to join a socialist party; the party was interested in over throwing Czar Nicholas II. He dropped ou... ... middle of paper ... ...operated with China on the Syrian Chemical Weapons crisis which saved attacks from happening. Putin seems to counteract each upset he causes with a good thing which may not last for long.. Works Cited McKinney, Stephanie. "Joseph Stalin." About.com. About.com. Web. 20 Jan 2014. . "Nikita Khrushchev." History Learning Site . HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. Web. 20 Jan 2014. . "Vladimir Putin." 2014. The Biography Channel website. Jan 20 2014, 05:07 http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807. "Ivan III of Russia ." Answers.com. Answers Co.. Web. 20 Jan 2014. . Haarman, Susan . "Absolute Terror: Ivan the Terrible." . N.p.. Web. 20 Jan 2014. .

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