Power Of Joseph Stalin

For his role in leading the Soviet Union through WWII, one of the worst crises that the country has ever faced, Joseph Stalin is remembered as a leader who held his nation together. Stalin however, is also responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviet Union citizens, ranging in ethnicity from Polish to Russian to Ukrainian. Abuses of power such as the Great Famine of 1932-1933 resulted in the deaths of 7-8 million people, due to Stalin implementing policies of collectivism that fitted his view of an ideal communist society (Midlarsky 265). Many similar instances of massive abuses of power, from executing and exiling political opponents to ethnic cleansing to prevent nationalistic uprisings, mar the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. His extremist ideology that advocated violent revolution, as well as a childhood filled with abuse and violence and a chaotic environment influenced him, creating the man that would terrorize and murder millions of people. He would not however, been able to abuse his power without first obtaining the authority and capability to do as such. Stalin’s political manipulation and shrewdness were peerless, and they granted him positioning to take over and consolidate power within the communist party, as well as establish himself as the legitimate heir to Lenin. Stalin’s establishment of a cult of personality around his past actions helped to eliminated future opposition to his power, and provided stability against potential overthrowing of his

“…the Bolsheviks, cherishing an imagined class community yet inheriting a shattered and fragmented class structure in Russia after the revolution, found themselves obliged to invent classes on the basis of Marxist theory... in that most obvious and yet least expected place, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” (Suny 172)

Following the death of Vladimir Lenin, Stalin utilized the political divisions within the Russian government to gain power. Firstly, Stalin was given the position of Commissar of Nationalities, which entitled the power of patronage. After Lenin died, Stalin competed with other members of the Politburo for power, however he was able to use the power of patronage to extend privileges to his supporters and isolate his competitors. This power allowed him support himself within politics and attributed to his own rise in leadership. Also, Stalin utilized the political divisions between his fellow members of the Politburo, as seen by the triumvirate that he formed. This bloc within the Politburo consisted of Stalin, Kamenev, and Zinoviev and had the

Stalin’s policy priorities were not building a ‘worker’s paradise’ or a classless society, but protecting Russia from war and invasion. In 1928, Stalin launched the first of two ambitious five-year plans to modernize and industrialize the Soviet economy. These programs brought rapid progress – but also significant death and suffering. Stalin’s decision to nationalize agricultural production dispossessed millions of peasants, forcing them from their land to labor on gigantic state-run collective farms. Grain was sold abroad to finance Soviet industrial projects, leading to food shortages and disastrous famines in the mid-1930s. Soviet Russia was dragged into the 20th century, transforming from a backward agrarian empire into a modern industrial superpower – but this came at extraordinary human cost.

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.

Under Stalin existed a totalitarian state. Totalitarianism is define as a state that has an official ideology, mass party rule, terroristic police control, monopoly control of the means of communication, central direction of the whole economy, and monopolistic control of the military by the party . Under Stalin every part of this definition fit, Stalin and the Bolsheviks controlled every part of the state. This totalitarian control prevented anyone from taking Stalin’s role in the government until he died.

Throughout the 1920's and 30's Joseph Stalin was able to rise to power and build a totalitarian state. After Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, Stalin was able to maneuver his way to the top. Stalin was able to rise to power, build a totalitarian state, and was able to disrupt and transform soviet society by using propaganda.

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.

When our founding father gathered in the warm summer months of 1787 in the city of Philadelphia they penned words that created a government that puts the power in the hands of the people. Our constitution clearly defines the separate powers of our government. Three separate operating branches, executive, legislative and judicial to ensure that with a system of checks and balances, no one branch is allowed too much power. That power was placed into the hands of the people and must remain with an educated nation to ensure that the nation survives as it was intended, “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for common defense, promote general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our

Joseph Stalin was a Russian that controlled the Soviet Union, and was also a world communist leader for nearly 30 years. Stalin was voted up as a member of the Tbilisi committee in 1901.  This committee was the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party.  In 1902, Stalin was arrested and sent to a prison in Siberia.  After Stalin escaped from prison, he started robbing banks and raided money transports during the revolution.  Later on, Stalin was an avid participator in the congresses of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party.  Stalin made a particular political system that worked for his people.  This political system included, "unprecedented severity in police control, bureaucratic centralization, and personal dictatorship" ("Joseph Stalin").   In 1929, Joseph Stalin took over the Soviet Union as the new leader of the Communist Party.  Stalin built a personal empire that was just for him.  This personal empire was established through his control over all levels of committee appointments.  Stalin then turned the people of the Soviet Union on his side so he could get them to vote against his rivals. In the 1930s and up, Stalin started to take charge of the political system he made, but took over as official leader of it in May of 1941.   During his dictatorship, one of his policies included having the Party maintain control over supplies so the Soviets could have a source of capital for industrialization.  Stalin then demanded that peasants should be executed, or killed off, so he could control the farms even more.  When the peasants resisted, tons of livestock were killed and tons of grain were burned so they wouldn't have to surrender their livestock or grain.  Stalin succeeded this by collecting 89.6% of the grain and having killed off 10 million peasants (“Ukrainian Famine”). Later on in his dictatorship, central planning was instituted, secret police carried out mass arrests, executions, and deportations.

Almost everyone knows what a monster Adolf Hitler was, but most people do not know that one of the great ally leader of World War II, Joseph Stalin, had committed even greater atrocities than Hitler. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless and yet diligent dictator of the Soviet Union, whose rise to power influenced a multitude of major events in his country’s history. Due to Stalin’s impactful reign, he made the Soviet Union become a global superpower, underwent difficult hardships such as the Great Famine in the Soviet Union, and after his death, caused the Soviet Union to go through a process known as de-Stalinization.

The role of the Politburo also helped Stalin achiever total power in the USSR by the 1920’s. This is because when Lenin was bed-ridden, power was passed onto the Politburo which consisted of Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Tomsky, Rykov and Bukharin. The Politburo had decided that Stalin should be the only person allowed to see Lenin, this was to reduce the pressure put on Lenin. However rather than this helping Stalin’s career, it almost ended it, this was because Lenin had grown to hate Stalin. As a result of Stalin having a disagreement with Lenin’s wife, Lenin had written a Political Testament which portrayed Stalin as too rude, someone who would abuse his power and someone who should be removed from his post. The real concern of the Politburo was not actually Stalin, it was Trostky. Kamenev and Zinoviev never wanted Trotsky to take power and so they formed an alliance called the Troika with Stalin. The Politburo had decided not to make Lenin’s testament public as it not only had criticisms of Stalin but of the rest of the leading communists. Also it is highly unlikely that Stalin would have remained General Secretary of the Communist Party if Lenin’s views had become common knowledge.

""As known as there is no one can save from criticism? Stalin was actually super self-conscious about the way he looked, having a shorter left arm and mark. So, Stalin was responsible for the death of at least 20 million people. He said it himself: “One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic,” and Stalin sure left one. But in another side, his policies greatly improved the industry in Russia. He forced people for collectivism on the people, and many Russians considered collectivism as a bad thing, but it helped the Russian economy and industry too much. Stalin and most party leaders supported the NEP, believing it necessary to strengthen the Soviet Union and protect the revolution"."

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”

Once eliminating Trotsky, Stalin’s idea of, “socialism in our country,” inevitably meant that Russia needed strength. The productions in the USSR had almost reached pre-war levels by the mid-1920s, but the population of Russia had also increased by 20 million people. No matter, Stalin assured that maximum efforts and resources would be given to the expansion and strengthening of Russia herself rather than an effort to start a revolution elsewhere. This is explained in his famous 1931 speech, gaining power for himself. The people had nowhere else to turn to and needed a leader. Stalin was there and knew what to do to make the people interested in his ideas, thus acquired their trust and control. From these ideas, he created his first