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.
With a feeling of distrust towards the educated and raised by a dysfunctional family, Joseph Stalin released his anger over all of Russia with mass amounts of power. Joseph Stalin, the leader of Russia from 1924 until his death, is remembered as a murderous dictators, creating the largest man-made famine in history, all as leader of the communist party of Russia. Born into a poor, dysfunctional family, Stalin had a feeling of distrust and anger toward those around him instilled in him from a young age. He quit his education as a priest, as he was drawn towards revolutionaries and the Bolshevik movement. His actions, however, were unlike Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party; Stalin was reckless, and his actions drew Lenin’s attention, allowing
He did very well and was offered many scholarships. But, Stalin was getting involved with Messame Dassy. Messame Dassy is a “secret organization that supported Georgian influence from Russia.” He joined Messame Dassy in 1898. Even though Stalin did very well in school, he eventually left after 5 years. He then put effort into the revolutionary movement that was going on in Russia at the time. Joseph joined the Social Democratic Labor Party in 1901. Stalin was so dedicated to this movement, that he got arrested for creating a labor strike and was held in Siberia. After escaping from Siberia, he was known as a outlaw, and was hiding from the Okhranka (biography.com). In 1922, Stalin became the General Secretary of the Communist Party. This means that he was the leader of the communist party. Stalin became so powerful that he could not be stopped. He controlled the soviet union by terror. If you disagreed with him, or you didn’t like what he was doing, he would kill you, have you killed, or put you in a labor camp. Joseph Stalin was the cause of many deaths in Russia, from actually killing people, or to all of the people who died from starvation. Stalin was a ruthless leader who influenced his followers by threat
His plan involved full government control over all businesses and resources to make sure there would be fair and equal distribution. Anyone who had opposed the reformation in place was either exiled, imprisoned or executed. Forcing collectivization eventually caused a crisis of widespread famine that was responsible for the death of millions. Cities were renamed to show off his glory, history books were changed to incorporate false or exaggerated claims of Stalin’s rise to power and life to make him seem more masterful to the youth of the nation. He was the focal point of most artwork, as well as literature, music, eventually he was incorporated into the Soviet national anthem. Stalin had full control of the media, which he used to sway positive public opinion from his effective and massive propaganda skills. This is what gave him the ability to carry out his plans and execute anyone he wished without opposition. He saw himself as the all-powerful leader who could save his country. He would blame democracy, fascism, and Marxism for causing problems in other countries and that communism was the only way to go. His communist party
The definition of a dictator is a ruler with complete and absolute power over a country that is usually received forcefully. Adolf Hitler and Rafael Trujillo are two examples of powerful dictators that impacted their country immensely. During their reins of power, German and Dominican people were abused, manipulated, and many were killed. Hitler and Trujillo have several similarities on how they dictated; although, the ways in which they chose to use their power differed. There are numerous similarities and differences on the two dictators’ effect of the culture, people, and country, but the question is: which dictator was the worst?
Undoubtedly, Joseph Stalin was the most influential ruler in Europe because of his ruling prowess and iron fist. For one, he had complete rule over his people, thus making him an extremely powerful leader. Second, he was a propaganda master who could manipulate even the strongest people. Finally, he was a smart man who could leverage his spot in the government any time he wanted, making him a dangerous foe for most of his political opponents.
1. How could the Russian Revolution have been avoided? What factors could have been changed that might have stemmed the call for revolution? Or, was the Russian Revolution inevitable? Why?
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.
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. According to Doc. 4, the USSR produced 35.4 million tons of coal, 11.7 million tons of oil, 3.3 million tons of iron, and 4 million tons of steel in 1927. With Stalin in office, these numbers increased greatly in 1932. According to the Background Doc., “Stalin implemented collectivization which combined all of the agricultural farms into large state-owned farms and forced the peasants to work on them,
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.
During the 1930s the Soviet Union went through several changes economically and socially. Some historians see what happened in the Soviet Union at this time as a Second Revolution. However, this is an understatement as the Soviet Union actually went through more than one revolution at this time. This period saw rapid political, social, industrial and agricultural change that shaped the future of the Soviet Union and arguably the 20th century as a whole. All four of these changes worked together to form a rapid socioeconomic revolution. Moreover, a revolution from the government against its people made this socioeconomic revolution possible. This revolution was implemented through the use of terror. Historian Robert C. Tucker saw this as a revolution
By the late 1920s to early 1930s, he began seizing land that had been given earlier to peasants and started to organize farms. Stalin was under the impression that collective farming would increase the production of food, but the people resented being forced to work for the state.
Lenin even states in his directive to the Communist Party Leadership that, “Stalin has concentrated enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution… Stalin is too rude and this fault becomes unbearable in the office of General Secretary. Therefore I propose to find a way to remove Stalin from that position and appoint to it a man who is… more patient, more loyal, more polite, and more attentive to comrades”(Doc 7). This states the basic personality of Stalin and how many did not feel he would rule well because of the carelessness he had with the power of running a country of that size and the ignorance he shows political-wise. Another method of his terrible reign was the famine that had occurred amongst the people. He had let many people go into starvation and it didn't seem to affect him at all. As stated in the Famine Testimony of Tatiana Pawlichka, “...the communists would arrest them and shoot at them, and send them to Siberia.That summer, the vegetables couldn't even ripen… People ate leaves, nettles, milkweed. By autumn, no one had any chickens or cattle. .. There was cannibalism in our village. … The air was filled with odor of decomposing bodies. The wind carried this odor far and wide. It was thus all over Ukraine”(Doc 9). This
After World War I and during the interwar years, countries such as Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union had to pay for their loss in war. This sent all these countries into poverty and their countries were looking for answers. In a desperate time, the people from these three nations put totalitarian leaders into power in hope for fast change. When in power these leaders became dictators and did everything they could to ensure stability and loyalty to their leadership. During the interwar years, leaders rose and maintained power through the use of force and manipulation to eliminate all opposing options.