Why Is Joseph Stalin Bad

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Joseph Stalin: A Cruel Comrade

Joseph Stalin was a brutal dictator who committed some of the worst atrocities in history. Many people wonder just how one man could become such an evil human being. Animal Farm is a novel that conveys the message that no matter what someone’s race, ethnicity, ideology, gender, or even species, when one is given such a large amount of power, corruption is soon to follow. Joseph Stalin was a cruel leader that played a key role as a propagandist in the Russian Revolution and made numerous achievements during his ruling, such as the KGB; George Orwell portrays Stalin through his character Napoleon, is was a manipulative and cunning leader that cares much less about the general well-being and happiness of his citizens …show more content…

Stalin was the successor to Vladimir Lenin, who had actually preferred Leon Trotsky. Lenin thought that Stalin was too “rude” or “coarse” to be “an effective leader of the party”, and that Leon Trotsky’s leadership skills would make him a more capable leader (“Joseph Stalin” World History: The Modern Era). Lenin wrote about this and those writings eventually became known as his testament. Stalin was able to avoid having those writings be put against him. Once Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, Stalin was then able to assume leadership and take action in Russia. Soviet Russia was a communist county and because of Joseph Stalin, communism was much different in Soviet Russia than theoretical communism. Theoretical communism consists of the idea of a society based on common ownership. Stalin “[transformed Marxism-Leninism] into an inflexible dogma, Stalin also changed it from a revolutionary system of ideas into a conservative and authoritarian theory of state,” and focused mainly on discipline and obedience (“Joseph Stalin” Encyclopedia of World Biography). While ruling over Russia, Joseph Stalin created a secret police force; also known as the KGB. The secret police’s main duty was to enforce Joseph Stalin’s policies throughout the country and to arrest or kill people that were suspected of treason against the communist party and the Soviet Union. The secret police force mercilessly killed thousands of …show more content…

He leads Animal Farm after Old Major had died, although he does not receive full power until after he forces Snowball off of the farm. Napoleon slowly and subtly changes the original idea of Animalism. He believes that in Animalism, “The truest happiness, he said, lay in working hard and living frugally” (Orwell 107). Animal Farm describes Napoleon as “a large, rather fierce looking Berkshire Boar… not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way”(Orwell 16). Stalin’s speech was considered by many to be quite “ponderous and graceless” (“Joseph Stalin” Encyclopedia of World Biography). Regardless of this Stalin was extremely convincing and manipulative, and often got his way. Joseph Stalin and Napoleon have similar leadership styles in which they are both very brutal and they generally refrained from caring for their

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