Joseph Stalin Dbq

Q7. Joseph Stalin began his rise to power as the general secretary of the Communist Party. Joseph Stalin literally meant "man of steel". Jospeh Stalin began at the very bottom and worked his way up all the way to the top. He had grown up in poverty in a southern region in Russia. Many people said he was rough, crude, and heartless. He had very little power in the current position he held, however that would all change shortly. In fact, V.I. Lenin the current dictator did not like, or trust Jospeh Stalin. With the death of V.I. Lenin, there was a power struggle in Russia. It was assumed that the leader of the Red Army, Leon Trotsky, who was previously V.I. Lenin's right hand man would step up and take control. However, this did not happen, instead there was a major fight over power. Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, and a couple other men all fought for the power of the government. It will take three years, but in the end Jospeh Stalin will rise to power.

After the power struggle, Joseph Stalin would come out on top for two reasons. One, he was a master at "divide and conquer". Secondly, he was "the most ruthless man to ever live". Stalin would rule the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic with an iron

A purge meant the elimination of something. It was Stalin's paranoia and ruthlessness that lead to three great purges. During his reign millions, even billions of people would die. His first purge occurred during the power struggle that had previously happened. The second purge occurred when he had killed millions of workers off the prison camps while other were executed. He had done so because many of them refused to work, therefore, he eliminated the source of the problem. The third purge had occurred when Stalin was informed by the KGB that his own army generals were planning to assassinate him. Henceforth, the Purge of the Red Army, Stalin had killed all of the military officers. He had left his own army