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.
(Esler et al. 729) which created this invincible and loving leader who was here for the people but just like Hitler their motives were more selfish and hateful than what was perceived by their people. There was no room for debate or disagreement, it would be met with violence. “To ensure Obedience, Stalin’s Communist party used secret police, censorship, and terror. Police spies did not hesitate to open private letters or plant listening devices. Nothing appeared in print without official approval.
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.
The Articles of Confederation are very similar to the US Constitution; I always thought they were drastically different. Some of the wording of the Articles of Confederation was complicated – not so much the vocabulary, but the way certain phrases were worded. The Constitution is also much more detailed than the Articles of Confederation, but I guess that was necessary because the national government needed more power and the states needed to be more unified. I know that separation of powers exists to make all branches of government relatively equal, but it seems like Congress has a lot more power than the other branches or at least Congress is mentioned more times than the other branches.
Stalin didn’t just use the secret police to crush the hopes and dreams of his people. He also banned religion. This was done because he believed in science and he didn’t want people to focus on life without communism. (Document Four) Stalin’s political actions can be seen as completely tyrannical but he did impact society as
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
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.
Like Napoleon, Stalin would get rid of anyone who would rebel against his rules or disagree with what he was doing... According to the article "Stalin Banishes Trotsky" by the Editors of History.com, “He ordered someone to kill Trotsky.” This evidence
Stalin went on a spree of execution, imprisoning and firing many officials (especially the officials with higher level) “The Great Purge 1934-1940.”(H-Headlines). Stalin would do whatever it takes to upset any building power bases or alliances who he thought might work against him to take his leadership status.
Stalin decided that by eliminating any competition, he would have a clear path to success, ensuring him a lifetime of authority, which was the biggest thing that
He begins with the statement on how many people are happy with the achievements of socialism has achieved, but one class was not happy (Fordham University). This class was known as the gentry, Stalin described them as follows, "These gentry were guided in their evaluation of the achievements of the workers and collective farmers not by the interests of the people, who applauded every such achievement, but by the interests of their own wretched and putrid faction, which had lost all contact with the realities of life” (Fordham University). Next speeches by the gentry were analyzed, Fordham University States, “At the Seventeenth Party Congress, Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky made repentant speeches, praising the Party and extolling its achievements to the skies. But the congress detected a ring of insincerity and duplicity in their speeches” “Speeches were also made at the Seventeenth Congress by the Trotskyites, Zinoviev and Kamenev, who lashed themselves extravagantly for their mistakes, and eulogized the Party no less extravagantly for its achievements.” By the writing of Stalin, it seemed that this group of individuals were plain
Stalin rose to power in Soviet Russia after developing his Socialism in One Country theory, which was more appealing among the communists than Trotsky’s permanent revolution. After Stalin became dictator of Soviet Russia, he killed anyone who he thought would be a threat to his power, including Trotsky. However, there was one group that Stalin was especially concerned about: the peasants. He believed that they held a legitimate political threat, so he had to figure out ways to remove them immediately. First, Stalin forced them to give up all of their land; then, he sent them off the collectivization farms, where they would work for Stalin.
Stalin would launched these purges annually in order to instill his position. Stalin had gulags where he sent anybody who defined the ideals of the Communist Party. He created a culture climate of fear within the country . People who spoke of being unhappy with the political party were endangered of being exposed of their political beliefs by neighbors. Dissidence was not tolerated under Stalin’s government.
Stalin had a wide variety of political opposition mainly because of his urges against political parties and the rumours of his killing some of his own party members. Stalin launched the ‘Great Purge’ campaign in 1937 and removed political opponents such as Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin and Trotsky. Additionally he removed experienced Red Army officers as they were loyal to Trotsky and replaced them with inexperienced younger officers who would ensure their loyalty to him. Anyone who was against Stalin would be arrested by the secret police, questioned and if found guilty would be executed or forced into a labour camp. [Historians view on Stalin’s involvement on the assassination?].
Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.
