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Why Did Joseph Stalin's Use Of Terror

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Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union from mid-1920s to his death in 1953. He held a dictatorial rule in the newly formed Soviet Union, which had a political system controlled solely by the communist party until its disintegration in 1991. His reign was truly controversial in that although the country saw great modernisation and development in the period, the human rights of the Soviet citizens were seriously belittled. Stalin used a variety of methods to successfully strengthen his control over the Soviet Union, often with the use of violence in a period of political turbulence. The use of terror is definitely vital in helping Stalin to obliterate his political opponents in the communist party and ensure that his grandeur five-year plans to modernise …show more content…

Stalin ordered that his opponents be removed from pictures in the textbooks immediately after they fell out of power. In response to this, students were taught to remove or hide pictures of fallen political figures in the book in their history class. For example, source GG shows a comparison between two pictures before and after Nikolai Yezhov, a prominent member of the Communist Party, fell from power and was arrested and shot. This sheds light on the larger picture of Soviet censorship - all the materials in publications were carefully examined by officials to make sure that the general public follow and support the ‘right’ leader. Stalin’s opponents were defamed and gradually forgotten after they fell out of power. Source HH shows even more clearly how Stalin rewrote history. The source contains four pictures which show important political figures standing beside Stalin disappear from the picture one by one. The implication is quite unnerving - anyone opposed to Stalin, despite the high position he stands in the party, will be removed from power and forgotten. By re-writing history hence, Stalin managed to manipulate the young generation of Soviet citizens believe that Stalin was the true leader of the

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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.

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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.

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Following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1914, Joseph Stalin took up his position as leader of the Soviet Union. After rising to power, Stalin made drastic changes to Russia that was still torn from war at the time. With his power, Stalin aimed to bring Russia to the top of the world. In the end, while he pushed the Soviet Union’s economy to new heights, his methods were cruel and had negative impacts. After the war, Stalin was determined to turn Russia into a great industrial power.

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Joseph Stalin came into power as leader of the USSR in 1929, after the death of the late Communist Party leader and leader of the USSR, Vladimir Lenin in 1924 (1). He was a close, committed ally of Lenin’s in the Party and a staunch Communist, who helped played a part in the success of the October Revolution by using his skills as a criminal to assist in stealing money for the Party and ensuring that the Bolsheviks’ revolution plans could be executed without hindrance (1 & 2). However, before Lenin died, he stated in his “Last Testament” that he was secretly sceptical of Stalin becoming leader of the Communist Party and the USSR due to his uneducated background, arrogance, rudeness towards other Party members, particularly Leon Trotsky, and

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Citizens of the Soviet Union were so petrified of being sent to gulags that they did not show any opposition to his rule. With almost all the intellectuals out of the way, Stalin could brainwash the rest of the population. These are scenarios similar to Montag’s world in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

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As seen in document 8, this poster of Joseph Stalin makes him appear as a dignified leader with the people of Russia in peace and order. However this is clearly synthesized to make him appear like a good leader because the truth of his rule can been seen in the high death toll and immediately after his death began the de-Stalinization process throughout Soviet society showing that Russia wished to be rid of his presence in history. The Great Purge was to remove dissenters from Stalin's rule and the public trails show that Stalin wished to be viewed as a justified leader. In document 7, a French ambassador to the Soviet Union describing the public trails states, “ I personally attended the second and third Moscow trials, those of 1937 and 1938…. Pyatakov arose… confessed to a number of crimes.

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Throughout Russia’s history, there have been many rulers that tried to manage their country in different ways. Even though, all of these rulers had their own unique ways of ruling, all of them were seen as terrible by the people. This eventually led to a tipping point for the Russian citizens and the Russian Revolution took place. The goal for these people was to gain freedom from their oppressive czar but instead, they got an even worse leader. Joseph Stalin was a leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953 and he was known for his ability to strike fear into people.

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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

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Process of Findings The first part of this report will discuss the evidence pertaining to the “genuinely concerned, pragmatic” side to Joseph Stalin’s leadership. Stalin was a leader who was honoured and praised by many of his people in the USSR for various reasons. He was portrayed on propaganda posters as a kind, caring and genuinely concerned leader particularly towards children who were the future of the USSR (Source A). By Stalin being portrayed as a leader who shows genuine concern and care for the children of his country, it propagates the message that children and the entire population of the USSR will have an “enlightened future” under his leadership13 (Source A), and would in turn help Stalin gain more support for himself.

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“Stalin also purged his own military because he lived in fear of a coup attempt and reportedly never trusted a single branch of the military… Before Stalin's purges were over, he had been responsible for the deaths of at least 50,000 Soviets… During Stalin's purges, at least 39 million Soviet citizens were sentenced to prison, where many of them died.” (“Stalin, Josef”). Stalin’s purges were a cruel act of power and a devastating tragedy that did not end until several years later.

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Introduction 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.

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990 Words | 4 Pages

Through the folds of history, the phrase “the end justifies the means” has appeared often in an attempt for leaders to degrade their terrible acts and exaggerate their achievements that resulted. In the late 1800s, during the repressive and absolute rule of Stalin, many Russian citizens argued however, that Stalin did not justify his end with his means. The death of tens of thousands of Russian citizens from both execution and starvation, which were a direct result from his goals of a perfect communist utopian society, is not an act that can be ignored when considering his ultimately ‘good’ goals of pulling Russia out of poverty and stagnant economic and political growth. Joseph Stalin was able to greatly boost the Soviet Unions economy by instituting the 5-year plans with a resulting goal of rapid industrialization, and by instituting collectivization. Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron fist.

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1553 Words | 7 Pages

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

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840 Words | 4 Pages

Joseph Stalin is one of the most controversial leaders in world history. He transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian regime and an industrial and political power. Stalin was born in 1878, in Georgia, a Southern region in Russia. He became general secretary of the communist party in 1922 after Lenin’s stroke, and climbed up to the head of the government. Stalin’s goal was to have a perfect communist state through totalitarian rule.

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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

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