Stalin Primary ambition was to turn what he believed to be the industrial backwater that was the Soviet Union into an economic a world superpower. His goal was to make up decades or even years of time in just a single decade. By the definition of his goal he succeed he had turned a mostly agricultural country into an industrial super power, but it did not come without a cost. Those cost fell on the soviet working class in two ways the first was their atrocious living conditions and the second was their personal freedoms.
He yearned for greatness, to be on top of everyone and everything. His economic policy was created to make Russia an industrial powerhouse. His 5-year plan would enable rapid industrialization by coordinate investments and production to collectivize agriculture and build heavy industry. Stalin bragged about to booming economy, seeing that much of the capitalist economy in the West was struggling through economic depression post-World War 1. This success, though, came at the cost of human life, with millions dead from man-made famine and cheap labor in gulags. Stalin though little of the deaths, and focused on his competition. When war threats arrived in 1939, Stalin quickly ignored them, citing his non-aggression pact with Hitler to divide Poland and leave each other alone. When the attacks came, the army was unprepared and suffered horrible losses. Stalin had previously purged much of the military after many reports possible attacks, so the recovery process took time before the country could make a credible defense. The Red Army, Russia’s defense military, liberated many Eastern European countries well before any US threats. The army consisted of many prisoners who were liberated from the
One of the biggest questions people ask is how can one person influence hundreds of people to kill. Many people think of Joseph stalin, Adolf HItler, and Jim Jones. According to ibtimes.com, Joseph Stalin killed about 35-49 million people. Adolf HItler killed roughly 11 million people (historyrocket.com). And lastly, Jim Jones killed around 900 people (jonestown.sdsu.edu). But the real question is, how did they do it? Jim Jones influenced people through trust, Joseph Stalin influenced people through threat, and Adolf Hitler influenced people through manipulation.
On June 22nd, 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union under the codename, “Operation Barbarossa”. Operation Barbarossa is the second largest military conflict in the military history. In 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union’s dictator, in which they would have no military action for the next ten years. However not even two years later, Hitler ordered to invade the Soviet Union. This invasion was only suppose to last three to six months; instead it lasted for about three years. It was one of the most prudent choices Hitler has made in World War II.
Before Stalin become an ally to the U.S. and U.K., he was an ally to Nazi Germany. Stalin sought to achieve only what he felt was in his best interest. Stalin wen so far as to break promises that he made at the conference of Yalta to organize free elections, and inserted a puppet government. Stalin believed that the communist political, social, and economic ideology was what he could spread throughout the world. Just as President Wilson wished to spread democracy far and wide, Stalin desired to spread communism far and wide. Almost immediately after the war, Stalin began to taunt the United States. His Red Army quickly moved in on Europe and many diplomats including Churchill feared that Stalin would attempt to take over the continent. The most notable incident of Stalin’s attempt at expansionism was after WWII when Stalin made territorial demands against Turkey and requested Soviet bases in the Turkish Straits. Stalin knew that Great Britain supported Greece and Turkey economically and militarily; yet, Stalin continued to intervene in Greece and
In world war II the two dictators Joseph Stalin and adolf hitler both murdered many people and did tragic things with their country. Joseph Stalin was the most brutal dictator of the two. Joseph Stalin “during this time, nearly 40 million russians died during the second world war that were linked
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). 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
Hitler and Stalin both gained their positions when both of their countries were in need of leadership . Both of their policies demonstrate their dictatorship, and each made a negative impact on certain populations. Stalin’s policy led to the death of many peasants and Hitler’s policy caused the near extinction of the Jewish population. Although they brought negative consequences, these policies played a role in moving Russia and Germany away from dictatorship, to their present style of government today. Therefore, both countries learned from the past errors of their former dictators, and didn't want to repeat them. In reality, without Joseph Stalin or Adolf Hitler, the current government of these two countries would be completely
Although Stalin turned the USSR into a prosperous, productive society; he is known for ruling by terror. The History Channel site asserts, “Stalin ruled by terror and with a totalitarian grip in order to eliminate anyone who might oppose him. He expanded the powers of the secret police, encouraged citizens to spy on one another and had millions of people killed or sent to the Gulag system of forced labor camps.” (Joseph Stalin). The USSR declared war against the Axis powers after Germany invaded the Soviet Union and broke their Non Aggression Pact. The USSR had a major advantage in this war; their ability to quickly produce war materials and large amount of manpower. In November 1943, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt met in Iran to discuss Stalin’s demand of opening a second front in Europe. Stalin feared the pressure the Red Army was under would create an attack opportunity for the Axis powers. Churchill and Roosevelt argued with Stalin that dropping troops behind enemy lines in West Europe would be too great of a risk. Joseph Stalin was ready to leave the Allies, but word of Operation Overlord convinced him to stay, hoping it would give him the second front he desired for his troops. Although most of Stalin’s army did not attack at the beaches of Normandy, they played a massive role in the victory. According to Pravada, “What many in the west fail to acknowledge is the
Stalin used gulags and labor camps to scare the people. The people were afraid of being sent to the gulags so they did not do anything about it. Gulags are “systems of labor camps maintained in the former Soviet Union from
Joseph Stalin, 1878-1953, established totalitarianism in Russia, and forever changed the nation. He used police force to gain power, and instilled fear in all of his followers. This reign of terror was known as the Blood Purges or the Great Terror. During the Blood Purges, Stalin blamed Russian citizens for crimes he committed, and imposed the worst of punishments on them. Death or being sent to a labor camp, such as Gulag, was the fate of most. From 1936 to 1938, people were being killed over paranoia and no actual evidence. The purges were aimed to efface the threat of political retaliation.
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.
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.
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. This statement formed the basis of this essay, which seeks to explore “To
To achieve his aims, he exploited the gulag prisoners, he arrested thousands of kulaks and people who showed signs of capitalism support and public trials were held to humiliate the punished ones and to give an example to the rest of the population. Moreover “purges” were created, the first ones recorded starting from 1930 until 1933. The most important mass murders and imprisonments of this kind were held from 1934 until 1939 and were called “The Great Purges”. They were led by the Communist Secret Police (NKVD) and aimed the country’s traitors, the dictator’s opponents, religious leaders, Army generals, commanders and admirals, but also civilians. Stalin explained and justified by saying that “death is the solution to all problems; no man-no problem” and that “the death of one man is a tragedy, [while] the death of millions is a statistic”, which show that the ruler would not have stopped anywhere to maintain control over the USSR, even if it meant death of innocent