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Stalins effect on russia
Stalin and his effects on Russia History Paper 1 Essay àbout it
Stalins effect on russia
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The Soviet Union has had numerous leaders throughout it’s existence as a country. However, there are a few leaders that will forever be in Russian history books and lectures. Among those leaders who have had the largest influence on the Soviet Union are; Vladimir Lenin, Peter the Great, Alexander Kerensky, and Joseph Stalin to name a few. While all of the leaders are interesting and have influence on Russia, this research paper will specifically focus on Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin lead the Soviet Union for over 20 years and he certainly had a unique way of doing so. While Stalin did contribute to turning Russia into a world superpower, he was a murderous dictator who is among many things, responsible for millions of innocent lives, genocides, and famines.
While Stalin’s birthday is printed in different places as two different dates, Iosiph Vissarionovich Djugashvili was born on December 21, 1879 in Gori, Georgia (Montefiore 2004). Stalin was born to “illiterate peasant parents”, Vissarion and Ekaterina, and his father is said to be the cause of his ruthless soul. According to the Jewish Library, he was undeservingly beaten by his father and this was reason for him to have revengeful feelings towards everyone who had power over him (Jewish Virtual Library 2011). He eventually would chang his name to Joseph Stalin, which means “Man of Steel”. Some sources say that Lenin is referenced in his name change (stal + Lenin = Stalin) (Jewish Virtual Library 2011). When Stalin was just seven years old his face was permanently scared after he acquired a case of smallpox. Iosiph attended church school when he was young and would also do so later under the preference of his mother (Radzinsky 1996). Stalin was involved in two ac...
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... of tyrant reign, millions of innocent Soviet people were enduring murders, false imprisonments, famines, brainwashing, and terror. They feared constantly that they be subjected to unjustified arrest or execution. They feared for the lives of their friends and family and also for the future of their children and the future of Russia. Stalin died on March 19, 1962 in Kazan where he was banished to. It is thought that he had help, like his father, in dying. I’m sure that the Soviet people breathed a sigh of relief, they no longer had to live in such an intense fear and anxiety. However terrible he was many Russians still believed him to be a great leader. Stalin was a murderous dictator who is among many things, responsible for millions of innocent lives, genocides, and famines however, Russia has Stalin to thank for turning the country into a world superpower.
In order to establish whether Lenin did, indeed lay the foundation for Stalinism, two questions need to be answered; what were Lenin’s plans for the future of Russia and what exactly gave rise to Stalinism? Official Soviet historians of the time at which Stalin was in power would have argued that each one answers the other. Similarly, Western historians saw Lenin as an important figure in the establishment of Stalin’s socialist state. This can be partly attributed to the prevailing current of pro-Stalin anti-Hitler sentiments amongst westerners until the outbreak of the cold war.
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.
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.
The Russian revolution of February 1917 was a momentous event in the course of Russian history. The causes of the revolution were very critical and even today historians debate on what was the primary cause of the revolution. The revolution began in Petrograd as “a workers’ revolt” in response to bread shortages. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, replacing Russia’s monarchy with the world’s first Communist state. The revolution opened the door for Russia to fully enter the industrial age. Before 1917, Russia was a mostly agrarian nation. The Russian working class had been for many years fed up with the ways they had to live and work and it was only a matter of time before they had to take a stand. Peasants worked many hours for low wages and no land, which caused many families to lose their lives. Some would argue that World War I led to the intense downfall of Russia, while others believe that the main cause was the peasant unrest because of harsh living conditions. Although World War I cost Russia many resources and much land, the primary cause of the Russian Revolution was the peasant unrest due to living conditions because even before the war began in Russia there were outbreaks from peasants due to the lack of food and land that were only going to get worse with time.
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.
During Stalin’s regime, the individual Russian was the center of his grand plan for better or worse. Stalin wanted all of his people to be treated the same. In the factory the top producer and the worst producer made the same pay. He wanted everyone to be treated as equals. His goal to bring the Soviet Union into the industrial age put tremendous pressure on his people. Through violence and oppression Stalin tried to maintain an absurd vision that he saw for the Soviet Union. Even as individuals were looked at as being equals, they also were viewed as equals in other ways. There was no one who could be exempt when the system wanted someone imprisoned, killed, or vanished. From the poorest of the poor, to the riches of the rich, everyone was at the mercy of the regime. Millions of individuals had fake trumped up charges brought upon them, either by the government or by others who had called them o...
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.
In western society, one of the greatest misconceptions about Vladimir Lenin is that he was a ruthless killer that wanted to exploit his people and ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist. He is often compared to the infamous Joseph Stalin, his successor. While Stalin was a killer who cared little for his people, Lenin wanted to liberate the people that he claimed were being oppressed; the Proletariat or the working class people. He sought to demolish the Bourgeoisie who were the rich factory owners and spread the wealth out amongst the masses. Due to the fact that he died in 1924 three years after the establishment of the USSR, his legacy has been greatly twisted into that of a murderer. It was twisted even further in the post World War 2 years in the west as the war time alliance between the USA and the USSR soured. Whether he is perceived as good or bad, the revolution he commanded in the former Russian Empire had a profound effect on the rest of the world.
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.
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
to a conclusion about whether there is justification in what he did to achieve his goals and goals. During his time in power he dictated many new policies and several of the policies created by Lenin, were thrown. out. Then the snares are gone. He was ruthless and cold-heartedly showed no one mercy during his reign, but because of him and some of the cruel policies that he enforced, Russia became a super power.
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
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.
One impact of Stalin’s autocratic style was his ability to use violence and to create fear within the people to show everyone that he will do anything to rule as long as he can. For instance, Stalin created a young savage military group known as the Red Army. The purpose of the Red Army was to patrol neighborhoods and to see if anyone was planning against Stalin. If they were the individuals were shot dead and executed. They, however, also fought wars with the other western countries. Furthermore, “The Red Army was successful in perpetuating a brutal totalitarian system at home and in Eastern Europe” (“Red Army” 1). Clearly, Stalin became obsessed with power and wanted to rule as long as he could; anyone who tried to overthrow him was shot dead immediately because he did not want a revolution to happen and cause another civil war. Additionally, Stalin achieved that by creating the Red Army he could kill anyone who even thinks about overthrowing him and the government. By creating the Red Army, Stalin was able to become a brutal dictator that ruled for so long, and he was also able to completely suppress the people so he can carry on the communist ideology. The concept of the Soviet Gulag was another effect of Stalin’s leadership style. It was consisted of systems of labor camps, to which millions of people during Stalin’s reign were exiled to. “Approximately, 50 million people from all over the Soviet Union perished in the gulag during Stalin’s reign, succumbing to starvation, exposure, execution, and mistreatment. Anyone who Stalin considered to be a threat or potentially subversive was sent to Siberia” (Catherwood 1). Clearly, Stalin wanted to achieve his goals of making the Soviet Union to slowly become a superpower. In process of achieving his goal, Stalin eliminated anyone that he considered might be a threat to him. Furthermore, Stalin