In 1910 Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili renamed himself 'Josef Stalin', the man of steel, a foreshadowing of the iron hand he would rule the Soviet Union with a mere 15 years later. Lenin knew that Stalin was dangerous and sought to get rid of him: " I propose to find a way to remove Stalin" (Stalinism Chronology), but died before accomplishing this, leaving Stalin free to ascend to absolute power in both the Communist Party and the country. This absolute power enabled Stalin to unleash a reign of terror and death on his country unprecedented at the time.…
In 1924, the Soviet Union faced a power struggle when it’s leader and creator Vladimir Lenin died. His successor however, came into power and immediately began to make changes. This man knew exactly what he wanted to keep and more importantly what he wanted to change. His birth name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, but who could possibly rule and leave a legacy with that name? He then adopted the name Joseph Stalin, (which means man of steel.) and began to rule the Soviet Union. At this time, the Soviet Union was well behind all the other countries; Stalin made many changes to the soviet society, employing many methods to achieve his aims.…
During The Cold War, There was a total of 4 change in power. Joseph Stalin being the first dictator of The Soviet Union during The Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev being the second, Leonid Brezhnev the third, and Mikhail Gorbachev the final leader of The Soviet Union. “While this meant change the underlying political reality was that the Soviet system did not trust the people. Government was retained in the hand of Party apparatchiks which the public had no role in choosing. Economically there were improvements.” Despite the improvements, living conditions were poor for the citizens of The Soviet Union. “Agriculture remained a major weakness with poor yields”. Although The Soviet try to improve life for people, life was still poor. The economics…
In 1922, when Vladimir Lenin died, someone needed to step up and the Soviet Union. As he was slowly dying, a power struggle emerged between Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. Even though Trotsky “had been widely viewed as the heir of Lenin, it was relatively easy for Stalin to combine with the other Bolshevik leaders in order to head off this threat” (Paley 10). In Lenin’s “Final Testament”, Lenin could already see that Stalin was quickly and surreptitiously gaining power. Stalin’s position of General Secretary gave him the ability to appoint people to important positions. Lenin was also reluctant to see Stalin as his successor because he thought that Trotsky could do a much better job. Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best man in the central…
Like Hitler, Stalin first became active in politics when he joined a militant political party. The party Stalin joined was known as the Russian Social Democratic Party. Stalin was arrested in 1902 and was deported to Siberia but escaped and was back in Georgia two year later. Stalin first met Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Social Democratic Party, when he returned to Georgia. Lenin was a political mentor to Stalin and had great respect for him. In 1912, Lenin nominated Stalin to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party. However, Stalin was arrested once again and exiled to Siberia in 1917 where he would remain until the Czar was overthrown. After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, Lenin became the new ruler of Russia and named Stalin the Commissar of Nationalities. Over the years, however, Lenin’s health began to deteriorate. In 1924, Lenin died and the party now known as the All-Union Communist Party was headed collectively by several of Lenin’s cabinet members. Like Hitler, Stalin was a very clever manipulator and was able to turn the members against each other. After successfully obtaining more power, Stalin had the few political enemies he had left shot and he assumed power of the Soviet Union (“Joseph Stalin”,…
Donald Filtzer – during Stalin’s years: real power in the Soviet Union resided in the upper echelons of the party, not within government…
A domestic political power struggle immediately ensued following the death of Stalin on March 5, 1953. Nikita Khrushchev was engaged in the battle for dictatorial control of the Soviet Union against Vyacheslov Molotov and Georgy Malenkov. Both Molotov and Malenkov were proud advocates of Stalinism and their affiliation with the former dictator. Khrushchev decided to make a political maneuver that would forever change the course of the Soviet Union. “Stalin’s successors could not rule by terror and had to win support of party officials, the military, the secret police, and other state bureaucracies.” Khrushchev understood this political climate and decided to act upon it. He decided to distance himself from Stalin and his reign of terror by vilifying him. This in turn would greatly reduce the political appeal of Molotov and Malenkov.…
One of the most controversial leaders in world history was Joseph Stalin. He transformed the Soviet Union into a modern superpower between the years of 1928 and 1941. His ruling could be characterized as rapid industrialization, collectivized agriculture, great purges, and the extermination of opposition. Stalin’s rule could be proven both positively and negatively towards Russia. He powered the Russians military force but his methods negatively affected Russians.…
DeJonge Alex. Stalin and the shaping of the Soviet Union. Glasgow: William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd., 1984.…
Joseph Stalin, the unrivalled dictator of the Soviet Union, ruled from 1928 until his death in 1953. He came to power by a brand of totalitarianism that relied on widespread propaganda and a secret police force to eliminate opposition. He modernized the country through “Five Year Plans,” which consisted of forced collectivization and industrialization. Farmers were denied private property, and food was exported for foreign industrial technology. The resulting food shortages became a planned famine known as the “Holodomor” in the Ukraine, where farmers had actively opposed his attempts at collectivization. Despite Stalin’s harsh rule, the Soviet Union under his leadership became a world power and even acquired a brief technological lead in space exploration.…
Khrushchev’s vilification of Stalin in his address to the Twentieth Party Congress was meticulous in detailing precise failures of his predecessor’s rule. Above all, Khrushchev strongly elaborated on Stalin’s extremities, especially the cult of personality that he had built up over the years. The speech also in turn attacked ‘Stalinist repressions, arrests, terror and murders…[and] for bungling foreign affairs and mishandling the war’. Despite this, Khrushchev was cautious in limiting his other criticisms of Stalin, and it was this focus on him as an individual rather than of the overall Soviet system that defined the boundaries of acceptable criticism. As such, the speech sought to condemn Stalin without endangering the party’s validity or the system that had indeed allowed Khrushchev to rise to power.…
the successor to the late Joseph Stalin, stood at the helm of the Kremlin for a majority of the Cold War, from 1953-1964. Khrushchev spent a great part of his time in power solidifying foreign relations and working toward the domestic unification of the Soviet Union, which Stalin had shredded. During his time devoted to the outer parts of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev dealt with many people wanting a life with the western virtues which were infringing upon other parts of the USSR. To counter this issue, Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall and dropped the Iron Curtain to box out the West. One significant enemy that Khrushchev felt threatened Soviet dominance was the United States.…
Through the show trials and ‘The Terror’, Stalin shaped the Communist Party and Soviet society to a significant extent from 1934 to 1941 through the use of fear and control to assume total power with no opposition. The Great Terror aimed to target individuals who undermined Stalin’s regime, and was catalysed by the assassination of Sergei Kirov, a Bolshevik revolutionary working below Stalin who would often challenge him. Through the use of political purges, Stalin shaped the Communist party to a significant extent, eliminating and denouncing any possible rivals while also creating fear within his government. Similarly, through the show trials and the purges, Stalin significantly restructured society, creating a need for obedience through the use of terror within soviet society. However, Stalin…
Joseph Stalin is one of the most well known dictators. He is known to be the savior of Russia. He was also known to be a cruel leader that didn’t let anyone get in his way. This lead Stalin to be feared by many people in Russia. Stalin was the dictator that ruled over communist Russia in 1928. In his time of leading this totalitarian country, he accomplished many good and terrible things.…
Cited: "BBC - History - Historic Figures: Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)." BBC - Homepage. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. .…