Genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. By definition, Joseph Stalin accomplished this goal. Stalin led a period of extreme persecution and oppression in the 1930s. This period of time became known as the Great Purge. The purge “officially” lasted between 1936 and 1938.
In 1922, Stalin became the General Secretary of the Communist Party, granting him control over all cabinet appointments. Stalin, a shrewd opportunist, ensured to appoint members who supported him and could serve as a solid political base during any of his future ambitious power plays. Stalin made these decisions in order to centralize power and structure a dynamic in which nearly all members of the central command were indebted to him. Suffering a stroke the same year, Lenin, although expressing private disapproval of Stalin, could not stop Stalin’s power abuse. Lenin died on 21 January 1924, clearing the path for Stalin’s rise to
Research shows that “the NKVD had its eyes on the rich peasants, academics, artists, and scientists. The purge was also directed against national minorities” (Budanovic 7). This explains who was targeted by Stalin’s agents - anyone who could have the knowledge of how to, or the idea, take control of the country from him. By targeting Russia’s critical thinkers, he was eliminating ‘threats’ to his power, and removing dangerous people with dangerous minds from the public eye. Placing the blame on foreigners, by taking the minories residing in Russia, turned the loyal Stalinists against other nationalities, keeping the facts of the arrests relatively contained.
In USSR, Joseph Stalin is also much more knowledgeable than the average citizen because of information control. Consequently, in both cases, we can see that if a large part of society starts losing knowledge, then those who have more knowledge will become unopposed leaders. Also in both scenarios, to ensure total power both Stalin and the government of Fahrenheit 451 brainwashed their own people by starving them of proper information and
Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union. According to Wikipedia Stalin ruled from the 1920s – 1950s. He made Russia into a communist country. Although they both wanted to address corruption in their communities, Peggy and Stalin ruled very differently because of the way they treated their people, and how they made decisions for them. One of the ways that Peggy and
By the end of his dictatorship, Stalin is estimated to have killed an estimated 20 million, all while expanding Soviet Russia’s sphere of influence. Later on, the expanding power of Communist Russia would agitate foreign powers, leading to the Civil
Not only did Hitler's rule hurt the European Jews, but it also greatly harmed other countries weaker than Germany. Germany tried taking many countries which resulted in the death of many soldiers and civilians. Hitler was a villain of peace in the world, but allying with Stalin was not the best option for the United States as it did not guarantee that the people of Europe and the US would have been safe. Stalin was not a man who kept his promises and who cared for his
To rise to power he tricked Trotsky, who was at the time Stalin’s opponent. He wanted to USSR to spread communism across the world. The ruthless Stalin told Trotsky that Lenin’s funerals, Lenin was the leader of the party at the time, were 26th January which were actually the 27th.Trotky that was in south of Russia could not make it in time for 26th and in result to this decided to stay where he was. After all this people did not want Trotsky to be leader of the party they though he was a bad person. In the end Stalin became leader.
Who is to blame for this persecution of the Ukrainian people? The group responsible was the Soviet Union, which was headed by one man - Joseph Stalin. Though the Ukrainians suffered a great deal under the rule of Stalin, they never gave up their fight for independence; Stalin may have killed their men, but he was never able to kill their determination. While the genocide specifically did not start until 1932, the very beginnings of persecution can be traced all the way back to 1917. This was the year the Bolsheviks took power in
People that supported him were moved to places of power and like all the others carefully supervised. Anyone who seemed like trouble or possible competition was gotten rid of. One of them was Leon Trotsky who Stalin forced into exile. Stalin like many totalitarian leaders was very persuasive in order to keep people at bay. He exerted total control which he achieved mainly by forceful actions, intimidation and brainwashed youth and above all fear.