Myths Surrounding Joseph Stalin

Plato’s account of a tyrant is close to that of the “great” Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin. In Book IX of the Republic, Glaucon notes that under a tyrannic rule, a city or state will be tragic and depressing; additionally, it is also stated that city will always experience more freedom and content under a king. (Bloom, 257). This account is a key factor in comparing Stalin with the Republic, as Stalin’s ambitions were similar with Plato’s descriptions. Using other descriptions from Plato’s Republic, it clear that Joseph Stalin fits Plato’s account of a tyrant. The Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin suffered greatly and the tyrant rule of Stalin was oppressive, restrictive, and produced great amounts of casualties. We are comparing how Plato’s account for a tyrant is accurate of the results of Joseph Stalin; that a city will experience freedom with kingship, as well as darkness and scrutiny under a tyranny.

The concept of Stalinism, being the ideologies and policies adopted by Stalin, including centralization, totalitarianism and communism, impacted, to an extent, on the soviet state until 1941. After competing with prominent Bolshevik party members Stalin emerged as the sole leader of the party in 1929. From this moment, Stalinism pervaded every level of society. Despite the hindrance caused by the bureaucracy, the impact of Stalinism was achieved through the implementation of collectivization and the 5-year plans, Stalin’s Political domination and Cultural influence, including the ‘Cult of the Personality’. This therefore depicts the influence of Stalinism over the Soviet State in the period up to 1941.

1Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1878. His given name is Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili or Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин in Russian. He was born in what would now be Georgia in a place called Gori, Tiflis Governerate, Russian Empire. Stalin’s family lived in poverty all throughout his childhood. His father worked as a cobbler mending shoes and his mother was a maid. He was very violent towards his son and was an avid alcoholic. The family’s home was a small shack off of a dirt road. They had a serious problem with the home constantly being wet with sewage. Stalin had many issues with disease as a child. First he caught smallpox at the age of seven. As a result of the smallpox, scars were left on his face. This would become an area of embarrassment for Stalin throughout his childhood. Stalin also caught blood poisoning as a child. This was a result of one of the brutal beatings his father gave him while drunk. Because of this one of his arms became deformed and stopped growing causing him to lose use of the hand. Because of the intense beatings Stalins father gave him, he began to hate him. One Stalin became old enough he tried to fight back so his father would not beat his mother. Stalin received education at his local church school because of Czar Alexander III’s educational

Joseph Stalin greatly influenced Russia in the years 1924 through 1932. His rise to this power can be explained by the Russian Revolutionary experience that allowed him to gain authority in Russia. Although historians often refer to Stalin as a ruthless, mindless dictator, he redirected the Russian Revolution to major economic development. Stalin’s character in Russia during the Revolution catalyzed the many events that took place during the time period. Because of Stalin’s ability to both appeal to the masses, and take advantage of events, like Lenin’s death, Stalin was able to rise to power. Essentially, the Russian Revolution fostered the development of Stalin’s dictatorship leading the country into a state of economic growth and influence. The Revolution fostered Stalin’s ability to maintain a central leadership, use violence to gain control, and regenerate a previously disconnected economy.

Khruschev 's speech helped the creation of myths that surrounded Stalin to become stronger. Khruschev uses Lenin in his speech to counter Stalins behaviour/methods, and exaggerate it to a certian extent. Khruschev said that Lenin only used extreme methods in the most 'neccesarry cases ', when the soviets were in harder times and 'struggling for survival ' although Lenin estblished, 'Apparatus of the repression that was of considerble size '(Mohan, book 1, 2009, pg 136-7), 'In the immediate aftermath of revoulution and it was frequently used in the 1920 's by Lenin against those he regardedas opponents - even those who supported the goals of the revolution and the construction of a socialist society ' (Mohan,

However the fear provoking methods of the show trials and the NKVD were not the only ways by which Stalin kept control over Russia- the cult of Stalin also helped this happen. The cult created the impression that Stalin was god-like and could never do wrong. Through propaganda, ralies, the press and paintings he was depicted as the ‘genius of the age’ making many people look up to him and follow his every word.The people were also told he was never wrong; this protected him from any challenges. Stalin always highlighted his successes, making people believe he was making Russia great despite everything they were going through. This created a lot of support for Stalin, solidifying his position as the leader.

He would show pictures of him with kids in order to make himself friendlier to the public. Stalin also established youth groups in order for them to be in a way his personal cheerleaders where they spread the ideas of communism, and spread the love for Stalin. Stalin made these children his walking propaganda by filling their brains with messed up ideas and views at a very young age, shaping them into perfect cheerleaders. In the end, Stalin’s ruling diminished when he died in 1953 and Russia began to rebuild

Stalin’s cult of personality, derived through propaganda, censorship and education, was an essential element of Stalinism which had a significant impact on the society and culture of the Soviet State between until 1941. Stalin’s 50th birthday on 21 December 1929 initiated the moment in Stalin’s dictatorship in which the leader became an object of worship. Millions of party member came to compare Stalin to Lenin, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Eventually the cult of Stalin saw him as a political, military, scientific and philosophical genius. While the people feared Stalin, they were still drawn to his patriotism and love for the Motherland.

War, bloodshed, and he ruled a country with an iron fist. Who could this man possibly be. No other than Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin was a remarkable leader who was feared and loved by his people of Russia. Stalin he has gone through many challenging times, during his upbringing, adolescence, and adulthood. By using the cognitive perspective and the theory of Piaget’s four cognitive stages, and also applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to Joseph Stalin, it can help us as a community better understand Joseph Stalin as the ruler and man

Instead of communism, USSR was under Stalinism.Stalinism was extremely repressive and nationalistic. Stalin was viewed as a :Monster” because of his selfish acts, this was relevant in an review by Roy Hattersly for the book “Inside a Monster's Mind.” . Hattersly stated in his review that Stalin and his henchmen were all clinically insane. Throughout the review by Hattersly, he talks about how Stalin was nothing but a monster. Stalin was not only viewed as a monster, others believed Stalin had a brilliant mind. In a review by Richard Pipes for the book “The Fourth Greatest”, Pipes states that “the man inside was a super intelligent and gifted politician whom his own historic role was paramount”. Pipes saw Stalin for more than just a “monster” , he viewed stalin as a brilliant politician who had intellectual aspirations. There are many different interpretations of Joseph Stalin, some were good and others were not so

"In conclusion, although Stalin died on 5th March 1953 at Kuntsevo Dacha near Moscow, Russia, but also, Stalin's reputation as a ruthless master of deception remains intact. Also, he is consider as one of the first western historians to document the violence perpetrated by the brutal leader describes how his demise saved citizens of the Soviet Union from greater

Joseph Stalin, from the time that he was a low level revolutionary to the years that he spent as the dictator of the Soviet Union, always knew what he needed to do to achieve his goals. His organized rise to power allowed him to gain a steady flow of followers who would support him for decades to come. Stalin received a minor government position in 1917, but by the time a new leader was needed in 1924, he “had turned the largely routine post of Party general secretary into the most powerful office in the Soviet Union” (“Joseph Stalin) and “had built a personal empire for himself through his control over committee appointments at all levels . . . expand[ing] the leading Party organs with his supporters, who then voted against his rivals”

Stalin had an incredibly similar attitude to Vissorian as a child. He had a very cold personality and lacked a sense of empathy, especially towards his peers. One of his classmates reported that he had never seen him cry and that he greeted his peers with a snide chuckle instead of showing sympathy or compassion when he saw they were suffering. He was top and center in his school portrait. (This bared an unusual similarity to Adolf Hitler who took the same position in his school portrait). Stalin was born into poverty and suffered a series of health complications growing up. He suffered from small pox at a young age and his face was left permanently marked, resulting in nicknames like ‘pocky’ and ‘pock-marked-joe’. He was born with his second and third toe conjoined and due to blood poisoning; his right arm was made shortened and stiff. Stalin was abused by both his parents, his father in particular, although his mother claimed he had a wonderful childhood and home life.

At the age of 10, Joseph “Stalin” Djugashvili attended Gori’s religious elementary school. His mother, Yekaterina, wanted him to be a priest and would usually beat her son if he son whenever he misbehaved. These beatings were never as bad as those

Joseph Stalin was the most controversial person in Russia who has come into power. This has come from his 5 year plan that he has assembled when Russia was in shambles, due to the civil war, the economy failing, and no industrial equipment. His job now was to restore Russia and make it into an industrial powerhouse.