Have you ever wondered who killed over twenty million people? He was a ruthless dictator with a reputation to kill people. Many of you would guess Adolf Hitler, but it was actually Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin was a Soviet Union dictator from 1924 to 1953. Joseph Stalin acted tyrannically towards civilians of the USSR and made dreadful decisions that negatively affected many.
Stalin’s paranoia was the root of the negative decisions he made. Joseph Stalin’s childhood contains: “violent outbursts following alcohol intoxication, generally from the father and aimed at both mother and child [...] it is plausible to argue that Stalin’s violent tendencies developed as a result of his father’s behavior; paranoia is said to oftentimes enter within a maladaptive relationship with the father” (Marina 4). With Joseph Stalin’s father being so violent to him and his mother,
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Joseph Stalin killed many by, “starvation in 1932 and 1933. Democide, government mass murder or death by government, was carried out on these people by Joseph Stalin” (Warren 1). It is unfortunate that Stalin led a genocide on Ukrainians for no reason in particular, considering that it is out of line to even attempt genocide at all. This genocide Stalin led, also known as, “Holodomor, [or] murder by hunger left 10 million dead. Some historians said 14.5 million were left dead” (Warren 1). It is unreasonable that he killed at least ten million people in this one incident. Even some say that he left over fourteen million dead, which is jaw-dropping fact that he did nothing to prevent this. Innocent civilians “[cried], ‘There is no bread. We are dying.’ This cry came from every part of Russia, from the Volga, Siberia, White Russia, the North Caucasus, and central Asia” (Warren 7). Not only did Stalin attack the Ukranians, but he also starved innocent civilians all over the Soviet Union. Stalin starved most of the Soviet Union out of
Stalin did not tolerate anyone who opposed him, and this is where his cruel methods come into play. He utilized a harsh forced famine in Ukraine, with 4.5 to 7 million victimes. “Stalin used the forced famine as part of a political strategy..” to oppress his people. Another cruel method of his were public trials of his “great purges”, purging anyone opposing him. In these trials, “[defendants] confessed...to a number of crimes.
Stalin was indeed good for the USSR, because he improved the economy by using collectivization farms, which led to an increase in quality of life. Although he did good for the country, he wanted prosperity and recognition more than anything, so he was willing to sacrifice his own citizens’ lives. Stalin was good for the USSR, because he changed the USSR’s economy positively by using sets of goals, called the “Five Year Plan”. The objective of this was to multiply production in manufacturing, like coal, oil, pig iron, and steel.
Although Russia won, many Russian civilians and soldiers died (“Joseph Stalin – Powerful Communist Ruler”). After World War 2, Stalin continued to dictate. Various examples of this were the initiation of purges, executions and exiles to labour camps to rid him of any opposition or other influences (“Joseph
Throughout Russia’s history, there have been many rulers that tried to manage their country in different ways. Even though, all of these rulers had their own unique ways of ruling, all of them were seen as terrible by the people. This eventually led to a tipping point for the Russian citizens and the Russian Revolution took place. The goal for these people was to gain freedom from their oppressive czar but instead, they got an even worse leader. Joseph Stalin was a leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953 and he was known for his ability to strike fear into people.
The denial of human rights in Ukraine and Cambodia has had huge impacts on regional and international communities. Ukraine was very independent, and Stalin wanted to remove the threat that the Ukrainians were becoming. In Cambodia, Pol Pot attempted to create a utopian Communist agrarian society. When Stalin came into power after Lenin’s death in 1924, the government was struggling to control and unwieldy empire.
Dictator Stalin ordered to execute anyone that opposed him. Him and his secret police raided houses and killed and tortured many who were being accused of going against him. Many had to confess for crimes they did not commit due to torture. He eve executed his own party officials and leaders which lead to fear across the country. People were dying for simply not agreeing or not acting a certain way.
In 1932-3, Stalin's communist policies pushed Ukraine into a horrific famine. This famine, which is now known as the Ukrainian Famine, has been a question in people's mind whether it can be categorized as Genocide as defined by the United Nations (UN). The UN definition states that if certain acts are committed with the intent of destruction, to a specific group including national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The acts include “Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children
Introduction Joseph Stalin is perhaps one of the most important and discussed people in Russian history. He was arguably a feared tyrant cursed and despised by many. At the same time, one finds sufficient evidence for the adoration and worship of Stalin that used to exist in the minds of the citizens of the Soviet Union. One reason for this worship was the existence of the so called ‘Cult of Personality’ where Stalin was celebrated as a wise leader, father of all people, and the architect of victory of the Second World War. In his book, The Stalin Cult: A Study in the Alchemy of Power, Jan Plamper states that Stalin’s cult of personality was largely a visual phenomenon.
Post WWl, Russia was still not industrialized, suffering economically and politically and in no doubt in need of a leader after Lenin’s death. “His successor, Joseph Stalin, a ruthless dictator, seized power and turned Russia into a totalitarian state where the government controls all aspects of private and public life.” Stalin showed these traits by using methods of enforcement, state control of individuals and state control of society. The journey of Stalin begins now.
In a repressive regime, many people cannot conclude whether it was the fault of the people or the fault of the ruler. Without taking the people into consideration, new rulers come into the government, knowing how they want things to go, regardless of how the people feel. Stalin used his power, and fear to be sure that they were going to do what he wanted. Although while Stalin was getting power, the people were not aware of what was going on. The people were at fault because they sat back and watched the events unfold.
Process of Findings The first part of this report will discuss the evidence pertaining to the “genuinely concerned, pragmatic” side to Joseph Stalin’s leadership. Stalin was a leader who was honoured and praised by many of his people in the USSR for various reasons. He was portrayed on propaganda posters as a kind, caring and genuinely concerned leader particularly towards children who were the future of the USSR (Source A). By Stalin being portrayed as a leader who shows genuine concern and care for the children of his country, it propagates the message that children and the entire population of the USSR will have an “enlightened future” under his leadership13 (Source A), and would in turn help Stalin gain more support for himself.
Stalin and Hitler: Similarities and Differences Stalin and Hitler emerged at the time when political and economic instability had crippled the USSR and Germany. They began making improvements which encouraged their people to believe that prosperous times await them. This notion would unfortunately turn out as an illusion. Both figures would eventually rule by decree. Despite treading on different paths of ruling, both figures still find some commonalities.
HItler VS. Stalin Many events that happened in World War II were the direct cause from leaders that took control of their country and asked no questions and were relentless leaders. Stalin killed more than 40 Million people while in power in World War II, Hitler approximately killed 11 million people including 6 million Jewish people that were in camps and executed by the Nazis.
Through the folds of history, the phrase “the end justifies the means” has appeared often in an attempt for leaders to degrade their terrible acts and exaggerate their achievements that resulted. In the late 1800s, during the repressive and absolute rule of Stalin, many Russian citizens argued however, that Stalin did not justify his end with his means. The death of tens of thousands of Russian citizens from both execution and starvation, which were a direct result from his goals of a perfect communist utopian society, is not an act that can be ignored when considering his ultimately ‘good’ goals of pulling Russia out of poverty and stagnant economic and political growth. Joseph Stalin was able to greatly boost the Soviet Unions economy by instituting the 5-year plans with a resulting goal of rapid industrialization, and by instituting collectivization. Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron fist.
Joseph Stalin was and still is universally known for his harsh leadership in the Soviet Union. To examine the extent of his cruelness, World Civilization II: The Rise and Fall of Empires© 1500-present stated, "Stalin was not a communist; he was a sociopath. He enjoyed hurting people and ordering their deaths. In his time as dictator of the Soviet Union, he was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his people, and the cruel torture and imprisonment of millions more" (Sattler, 71).