Question 3
The following are equally important reasons why Stalin was able to hold on to power in the Soviet Union:
-The purges
-The secret police
-Propaganda and the cult of personality
-Stalin?s economic policies
Explain how far you agree with this statement.
Stalin ruled Russia from the late 1920s until his death in 1953. There were a number of reasons why he was able to hold on to power. These reasons include Purges, Secret Police, Stalin?s economic policies and Propaganda and cult of the personality.
One important reason was the great purges, which lasted from 1934-38. To purge means to cleanse, to get rid of. During this period many Russians- in the Communist part, the army, the arts and sciences, and many other walks of life-were arrested and mainly shot or sent to labour camps. He used the purges to get rid of anyone who was against him in the communist party. Zinoviev and Kamenev were killed and so were many others. He believed that getting rid of them gave him a much better chance of being able to keep hold of power. Stalin once said: "Death solves all problems. No man, no problem." They were all put on trial and the whole world listened to what they called as a show trial on the radio. Lots of people were put on public show trials at which they pleaded guilty to incredible crimes they could never have done. Getting confessions were important because it showed to the world that the state and Stalin were right. Stalin believed that Russia had to be united ? with him as leader ? if it was to be strong.
The purges wouldn?t be possible without the secret police. The secret police were used to mainly scare people, so that they would never think anything bad about Stalin. If someone said one thing bad about him, then you could be guaranteed that the secret police would take you to one of the labour camps. The secret police were called the NKVD. The use of the secret police was so that everyone would be scared of saying anything bad about Stalin. That way it seemed as though everyone liked him, he would be able to keep control of the Soviet Union for much longer.
Propaganda is a joined set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviours of large numbers of people. Stalin?s propaganda was used to make people see that he was the only right person for the leader of the USSR.
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.
death in 1953. But how is it that Stalin emerged as the new leader of
In this situation, Joseph Stalin killed Sergey Kirov only to eliminate a political rival that opposed his idea of government. Joseph Stalin did not want to give people even an option to join or support another political party other than his. Joseph Stalin was cruel and represented a totalitarian government because of the killing of millions that included Sergei Kirov. Joseph Stalin also had created a massacre that unfortunately caused a lot of lost lives. This act of terror is also known as the great purge and according to, “The Purges in the USSR,” Stalin asked the Politburo for its support and to give itself cover to purge the party of threatening elements to the Stalin regime. The policy was used to give legitimacy to the killing of millions of Russians during his rule and eventually the great purge took place, “the first people rounded up were labelled ‘Trotskyites’. They were put in prisons run by the People’s Commisirariat for Internal affairs or NKVD who, according to the very few that survived this experience, used both physical and psychological torture to gain information about other ‘traitors’ to the cause.” Stalin sent his enemies to prison often sending them to hard
2. Since the NKVD was feared by the people, Stalin believed that they would be helpful by getting rid of his political and social opponents, such as Trotsky.
Originally platformed by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took control of the communist party in 1924 when Lenin died of a stroke. Communist ideals were heavily in opposition to classical liberal values; Whereas Liberalism stressed the importance of the individual, Communism sought to better the greater good of society by stripping many of the individual rights and freedoms of citizens. Communism revoked the class structure of society and created a universal equality for all. This equality came with a price however. Any who opposed the communist rule were assassinated in order to keep order within society. Joseph Stalin took this matter to the extreme during an event known as the Great Purge. The Great Purge, also known as The Great Terror, began in 1936 and concluded in 1938. During these two years, millions of people were murdered and sent to labour camps in Siberia for opposing the Communist party and the ultimate dictator, Stalin himself. In some cases, even those who did not oppose the regime were killed. Sergey Kirov was a very popular member of the communist party and Stalin saw this as a possible threat to his ultimate power. As a result, Stalin order Kirov to be executed. Stalin furthered his violation of individual rights by introducing the NKVD who worked closely with the russian secret police force. One of the primary goals of the secret police was to search out dissidents who were not entirely faithful to the communist regime. This violation of privacy caused histeria en mass in the Soviet Union and millions were killed as a result. The Soviet union resisted liberalism to such an extreme that it resulted in the deaths of millions of people, leading to some of the darkest days in russian
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.
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
Joseph Stalin is known to be “one of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history” (bbc.co.uk). Stalin became general secretary of the Communist Party, which had given him the control that he had been looking for (bbc.co.uk). Soon after, he was granted dictatorship of the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin had died (historyplace.com). Many people did not like the way that Stalin was ruling. People wanted their own independence from Stalin and he did not take that very well. In 1929, Stalin had believed that many Ukrainian scholars, scientists, religious leaders, etc. were planning a riot against him. Without even being listened to during a trial, they were killed or deported immediately to prison camps (blogspot.com).
A power struggle for control of the Bolshevik party began after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. Among the several contenders, two of the most important names in this struggle were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Ultimately, Stalin was able to secure power and vote out Trotsky. In the following essay I will discuss the reasons why Stalin rather than Trotsky emerged as the leader of the USSR in 1929.
Stalin became the Leader of the USSR in 1929. To do so he competed against his political opponents to gain the position after Lenin’s death. Of those attempting to take power after Lenin’s death many considered Trotsky as the natural successor. Stalin, however, achieved victory over his adversaries. The extent to which this was caused by the political weakness of Stalin’s rivals is debatable as Stalin outmanoeuvred them for a multitude of reasons. Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev all failed to win against Stalin even though they had done more for the party. The reasons for this are not limited to merely weakness but also Stalin’s
.... “This ambitious plan brought hardship and met resistance as he purged the kulaks (wealthy peasant farmers) (Stalin: The Man and His Era).” This was followed in 1932 by the second, equally ambitious Five-Year Plan. In 1936, Stalin developed a new Soviet constitution, which was seen as a democratic document. “However, the following elections were marred by purge trials from 1934 to 1938 in which Stalin systematically eliminated his opposition(Stalin: The Man and His Era).” Stalin further hurt his international image when he signed a nonaggression pact with Adolf Hitler in 1939. The Nazi leader soon broke this agreement and invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
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.
Under the rule of Joseph Stalin, millions of people were killed. They were also tortured in cells called the GULAG and they were brainwashed to kill others. Stalin also killed many high-ranking officials and rivaling army members during his purges. Stalin struck fear in everyone around him and could not be trusted, but was so powerful that everyone respected him. They knew what he could do to them and they did their best to listen to all of his commands. With all the deaths that Stalin caused and how he governed his people actually alerted followers to implement this type of
Over the next few years, Russia went through a traumatic time of civil war and turmoil. The Bolsheviks’ Red Army fought the white army of farmers, etc. against Lenin and his ways. Lenin and the Bolsheviks won and began to wean Russia of non-conforming parties eventually banning all non-communist as well as removing an assembly elected shortly after the Bolshevik’s gain of power. Lenin’s strict government, however, was about to get a lot stricter with his death in 1924.
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)"