Question: Evaluate the rule of Stalin in the Soviet Union, taking into consideration the changes made and the methods used.
Russia’s turbulent start in the 20th century was characterized by their involvement in the first world war, being the critical factor in the Bolsheviks seize for power in the October Revolution in 1917. Vladimir Lenin rose into power and lead Russia toward a communist nation with extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism but the Kronstadt Rebellion of March 1921 forced Vladimir Lenin to begin the New Economic Party in order to stay in power. The policy allowed private ownership and management of agriculture, trade, and small businesses. However, upon Lenin’s death in 1924, rose Joseph Stalin as the leader of
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As seen in document 8, this poster of Joseph Stalin makes him appear as a dignified leader with the people of Russia in peace and order. However this is clearly synthesized to make him appear like a good leader because the truth of his rule can been seen in the high death toll and immediately after his death began the de-Stalinization process throughout Soviet society showing that Russia wished to be rid of his presence in history. The Great Purge was to remove dissenters from Stalin's rule and the public trails show that Stalin wished to be viewed as a justified leader. In document 7, a French ambassador to the Soviet Union describing the public trails states, “ I personally attended the second and third Moscow trials, those of 1937 and 1938…. Pyatakov arose… confessed to a number of crimes. Did these “confessions” carry any share of truth? It is possible that the accused were hostile to Stalin’s regime… But the lessons they recited must have been forced from them…. It is also probable that the accused gave in to some form of pressure…” This document describes the trails that occurred may have been fabricated so that the accused stood guilty of something which justified his execution by Stalin’s secret police. By justifying his killing, Stalin isn’t viewed as a murderous leader. This description is fairly credible because it is written by a French Ambassador so his job is to develop a good relationship between the two nations but it can also be unreliable since the French and the Soviet Union are at
Did these ‘confessions’ carry any share of truth? It is possible that the accused were hostile to Stalin’s regime..” All of Stalin’s cruel and harsh methods may have overshadowed his great
The best way to answer any question is to be clear about what is being asked and to look only for the facts of that question. We are not being asked whether Joseph Stalin was a good person. The question is, what are the accomplishments of Joseph Stalin that improved his country and made it great? From this point, we can clearly identify what he did, as seen in the articles. Was Stalin beneficial to the USSR?
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.
Joseph Stalin embarked absolute power over the USSR upon the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. Stalin’s primary goal as ruler of the nation was to launch a revolution from above. In order to achieve this, Stalin emphasised on rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. With the growth of these two economic factors, Stalin hoped for the USSR to gain superiority amongst the world. Joseph Stalin and the Five Year Plan developed a beneficial impact to the USSR due to the industrial advancements and collectivization of agriculture, the nation obtained throughout Stalin's position in power.
Back in the 20th century, Russia was a country known as the Soviet Union. On December 25, 1991, however, the Soviet Union came to an end. When the Soviet Union ended, the country was then renamed to Russia. In this essay, we will compare and contrast the Soviet Union with the current U.S and Russian governments. There are many differences between the Soviet Union and The Russian and U.S governments.
After the Second World War, America and the Soviet Union were involved in a political war, although no actual combat took place, there was always impending war hanging over the Americans and Soviets. The growing power within the Soviet Union stirred both government and citizen awareness of the increasing threat to the cultural well-being of the United States. When reviewing the powers of the Soviet Union George Kennan stated, “The Soviet Union is a political force committed to the belief that there is no way to get along with the United States, and they believe it is desirable and necessary that the internal harmony of our society be disrupted…” (Kennan Document 1). The Soviets wanted to destroy the balance of the United States government
Research question: "Was Stalin's Great Terror in the late 1930s driven by a fear of foreign infiltration?" This investigation focuses on the late 1930s when the state-orchestrated purges were most intense. This investigation studies the purge of foreign elements who might betray the state during war. The purge of the Red Army and the intelligence apparatus is analysed in relation to the threat of these organisations being penetrated by foreign countries. The Kulak Operation is analysed in relation to the threat of foreign countries encouraging rebellion amongst kulaks.
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.
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.
After World War I had ended in November 11, 1918 with the victory of the Allies, the people of many nations were in distraught. They had sought the leader they hoped would bring back their nations glory and prosperity. Some even hoped for even better than before the World War. Through all this chaos and distraught even more had been produced as few stepped up to lead the people of the nations. These few people had held all the power through a totalitarian government which centralizes all the government’s power to one person known as a dictator.
The Soviet Union has been an enigma, but still, a very significant contributor to the history of the world. There have been many rulers in Soviet Union history. The Soviet Union has been through economic successes and downfalls, ages of terror, a world war, was once an ally of the United States, today is an enemy of the US. If we were to add the history from the Soviet Union to our textbooks , what information should be emphasized? There are many important areas about the Soviet Union, three of them are: cultural achievements, military strength and political repression.
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.
However, this only scratches the surface of what Stalin put the Soviet Union through. Stalin was a very persuasive man, his writings make it seem as if he is in the right and is innocent. To support this statement, two pieces of Stalin's writings were
Validity: This source is relevant to my research question because it shows that Stalin’s rule in agriculture did not benefit the Soviet Union socially which forms part of my argument. People were “left to die” in order to allow the Five-Year Plan to continue and become successful economically. Usefulness: The source is useful because it provides a view of someone who is not from the Soviet Union and has not been raised based on values and principles of the country. It shows that not all people working in government were in favour of Stalin’s agricultural rule.