Was Joseph Stalin A Tyrant

1553 Words7 Pages

A leader is someone that leads others. Sincerity and optimism are only two of many characteristics that that can get leaders followers. When people think of Joseph Stalin, they think of him as the villain,a dictator,a tyrant. Tyranny is the oppressive use of power. So according to that definition, many leaders throughout history that we respect can be regarded as tyrants. Although some people would not view Joseph Stalin as a tyrant, others believe his reign was that of poor policies,unethical treatment of people,overbearing, and at times unreasonable.
Collectivization
World War I hurt Russia in physically and economically, so recovery was needed. However, the majority of the country was agricultural. In this, Stalin saw an opportunity to strengthen …show more content…

When most people hear ‘forced labor camps’, they think of the Holocaust’s concentration camps. What was Stalin’s purpose for the Gulag Camps? His purpose in utilizing the Gulag was to further industrialization; having the prisoners mine for coal,copper,and other resources . The residents of the Gulag camps were normal and political prisoners,and specific social classes..
Some political prisoners were political rivals that opposed Stalin. Though they were not the only ones that could have been classified as such. This also referred to innocent people that were only arrested to fulfill a quota.Surprisingly,others were just people that made an honest mistake of joking about or making light of Stalin. A social class that were in Gulag camps were the kulaks. Sent to the camps for being an obstacle to collectivization, and in doing so, supposedly interfering with the country’s …show more content…

By 1922, Stalin was already a member of the Russian Communist Party. On April 3rd,upon Lenin’s suggestion, Stalin was given the position of General Secretary of the party.The role of the General Secretary was to lead party operations. This allowed him to have a foothold of influence in the party.
Stalin and Lenin may have been on good terms within the party,if not friends,but the possibility of power can change that. On May 25,1922, Lenin got hit by a stroke when recovering from surgery to take out a bullet (Service 191). Lenin soon showed distrust towards Stalin probably because he feared that he would take over the party. Of course, he already made Stalin the General Secretary, raising the possibility of him leading the party. When Lenin died on January 14,1924, the only obstacle to Stalin path was Leon Trotsky,another possible successor of Lenin. Stalin got him out of the way by having an assassin kill him in Mexico City, Leaving him the leader of the