Ambition is the driving force in many people’s lives; it is what motivates individuals to work hard and accomplish their goals. By definition, ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Without ambition, nobody would be motivated to excel in their lives or strive to be better, but ambition can drive individuals to do horrific things, just so that they can move up on the totem pole. Joseph Stalin was a highly ambitious person who often killed others that he deemed a “threat” so that he could remain in power; throughout the entirety of his dictatorship, he was plagued by the psychological effects of his ambition that drove him to commit these monstrous acts.
Joseph Stalin was
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Stalin’s ambition ultimately drove him to murder over twenty million people in the 24 years that he reigned. Francis Bacon also made his claim about highly ambitious people saying “as long as ambitious men go unchecked, they are busy rather than dangerous; but if they are held back, they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased, when things go backward” (Burton M.D.) As Stalin became threatened by more and more people, he continued to kill them so that there would be no chance of him being overthrown; he would diminish any chance of a rebellion before it could even surface. Stalin would block out any guilt that he might have felt. He did not care what happened to those people that he killed because he only cared about himself and how his life was. Due to his strong ambition, Stalin refused to fail.
Without ambition, nobody can be motivated to excel in their lives or strive to be better, but ambition can drive individuals to do horrific things, just so that they can move up on the totem pole. Joseph Stalin was a highly ambitious person who often killed others that he deemed a “threat” so that he could remain in power; throughout the entirety of his dictatorship, he was plagued by the psychological effects of his ambition that drove him to commit these monstrous
With the dawn of civilization soon thereafter followed the creation of authoritarian and totalitarian establishments. The history of man is inundated with instances of leaders rising to power over certain groups of people and through various means gaining formidable control to be used for good, evil, or an ambiguous mixture of both. However, it is an undeniable fact that once unchecked power is acquired, tyranny often ensues, and thus a dictatorial regime is born. Over the centuries, governmental establishments have risen and fallen, but as history and civilization progress, so does the potential for a larger and more powerful domination. The development of differing and contrasting theologies and structural philosophies leads not only to conflict, but perhaps more prominently to unification under one rule with a common belief, especially when that unifying belief provides a promising sense of belonging and structure to a weak society. This is what led to the rise of two of the most domineering totalitarian governments in history: Stalin’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich.
In retrospect, ambition is a common thread portrayed in both Macbeth and The Crucible that can be distinguished in a variety of similar and adverse ways such as ambition out of desperation, instilled ambition and ambition towards power. Miller and Shakespeare exhibit the costs of over ambition quite similarly. And although the consequences of the actions a person commits are often assayed before the action is executed, why do people pursue such kismet regardless?
He had an extreme thirst for power that drove him to completely reform Russia aware from its Tsar monarchy into a Communist empire. Unfortunately while he did have major influence and the devotion of his people, he was also extremely stubborn and paranoid. This paranoia caused him to crush his opposition in any means necessary, even using torture and death to get his way. Stalin’s stubborn and paranoid nature combined with conflicting political ideologies is what essentially drove the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet
Another reason was identity. Napoleon only represented Stalin, and that really brought out his characteristics. Since Napoleon was meant to represent Stalin, all of Stalin’s traits, most of his bad deeds, and events occurred in the book. For example, in Animal Farm, Orwell made Snowball seem smarter than Napoleon, but made Napoleon more powerful. This is true in real life because Lenin was a lot more educated than Stalin, but Stalin ended up with the power (Radinsky 97)
Ambition is frequently seen as desirable - it provides purpose, motivation to work hard, and a goal to strive towards. Yet it also has a dangerous side, when it becomes too great and out of control. Although ambition is often positive, excess of it can have detrimental effects. This unrestrained ambition is predominant in the tragedy of Macbeth. In this play, Shakespeare employs the use of hallucination, blood, and prophecy motifs to emphasize the theme of ambition, which, when goes unchecked by moral constraints, wreaks destruction upon an individual.
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.
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
The many men and women Joseph Stalin killed or had killed were because they either
"Analyse the methods used and the conditions which helped in the rise to power of Joseph Stalin“.
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
In the book The Red Scarf the dictator of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, said “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic,¨ (qtd. in Furnivall 1). Joseph Stalin did not care about the lives of his people, but instead focused on the industrial future for the Soviet Union. The monarchical Russia changed in 1918 into a communist country when the Bolsheviks become the ruling leaders (Mark, O'brien, Geary 813). During the 1930s Russia was falling behind the other nations, and the only way to catch up was through the brutal suffering of humans in industrial labor.
After Vladimir Lenin, a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist, died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals and won the control of the Communist Party. In the tardy 1920’s he became dictator of the Soviet Cumulation. Then he wanted to industrialize the country because at the time the economic was farming. Millions of farmers reluctant to be apart of Stalin’s orders and were killed as penalization. The civilization led a widespread famine across the Soviet Coalescence and killed millions of people. Stalin wanted to kill anyone who opposed him of his orders. He engendered an army of secret police, and inspirited citizens to spy on others which had many people killed or sent to a labor camp. Virtually everyone around Stalin was considered a threat to him, even the Communist Party, the military, and components of the Soviet Coalescence society, s...
At the start of the 20th century, Russia began to rapidly change. The Czarist autocracy that was previously in place was overthrown and the most influential family, the Romanovs, were no more. The Russian Revolution was soon in full swing and people were needed to take charge. One of the leader who emerges as a result of this is Joseph Stalin. Starting out as a simple countryside peasant, he quickly rose to a position of power. Eventually reaching the position of dictator, he implemented new policies that would further industrialize Russia as well as further progressing his goal of having total control over the Russian people. These policies include his 5-year plans as well as the creation of a totalitarian state. Joseph Stalin is, by many, considered one of the most ruthless leaders in the history of the world.
Ambition is a strong desire or drive to succeed or achieve something. It can help a person to strive at getting something they want. If someone wants something badly enough, their ambition will help them not give up until they achieve at getting what they want. But also, if a person has too much ambition, it could make that person do destructive things to get what they want and they will hurt anyone or anything that gets in their way.
(Catherwood 1). Clearly, Stalin wanted to achieve his goals of making the Soviet Union slowly become a superpower. In the process of achieving his goal, Stalin eliminated anyone that he considered might be a threat to him. Furthermore, Stalin was overly paranoid that he might be overthrown; in return, he sent millions of people to the gulag so he won’t be overthrown.