Who Was the Man Behind Communism?

Who was the man behind communism?

Who was the man behind communism? Second only to Lenin, Joseph Stalin is the face most often associated with communism. He was the leader of the USSR during World War II, siding with the Allies against Germany. Stalin also participated in the Cold War, and was the leader of the USSR until the mid-seventies. ("World War 2"- 2)
Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia on December 21,1879. As a young man he won a scholarship to the Tiflis Theological Seminary. While attending there, he joined the ‘Messame Dassy ', a secret organization that supported Georgian independence from Russia, and Stalin believed in the theories of Karl Marx. Due to his disrespect towards those in authority and reading forbidden books, Stalin was expelled May of 1899. Stalin claimed that the true reason of expulsion was due to his trying to convert his fellow students to Marxism. In 1901 Stalin joined the Social Democratic Labor Party and on April 18,1902 he was arrested for coordinating a strike in Batum. Stalin was deported and spent the next eighteen months of his life in Siberia.
Stalin later escaped from Siberia in 1904 and only a few short months he began organizing demonstrations and strikes. Impressing Vladimir Lenin with his achievements, he soon got an invitation to meet him in Finland. Once Stalin returned to Russian he spent the next eight years in and out of jail, escaping every time. In 1911 he moved to the city of St. Petersburg and was hired as the editor of Pravda. Once again Stalin was arrested in 1913 and was exiled to North Siberia for life.
Soon the overthrow of Nicholas II occurred and Alexander Kerensky allowed all who were exiled permission to return to their homes. Stalin once again returned to St. Petersburg and was editor of Pravda. In November of 1917, Lenin appointed Stalin as ‘Commissar of Nationalities ' due to Stalin 's support of the October Revolution. A couple of years later the Civil War took place in Russia and Stalin played an important administrative role in matters of the military and took credit of defeating the White Army, the Non-Communist Russian Army. In April of 1922 Lenin suggested that a ‘new post of General Secretary ' should be created. Lenin 's choice for this position was Joseph Stalin. Many Referred to Stalin as "Lenin 's mouthpiece". Soon following this event one of Lenin 's blood vessels had a breakage, which paralyzed his right side and impaired his speaking abilities. All of a suddenly Stalin became extremely important. During this time Stalin made full use of his powers and even expelled "unsatisfactory" party members. Vladimir Lenin soon saw that Stalin was abusing his power, but unfortunately died before any action could be taken. Now with Lenin out of his way Stalin became the core power of the Soviet Union.
The first action Stalin took with his new power was continuing Lenin 's ‘New Economic Policy '. In 1928 the first Five Year Plan was introduced and concentrated on the development of iron and steel, which later influenced the Communistic Symbol. It also included the development of machine tools, electric power and transport.
In September of 1936 Stalin appointed Nikolai Yezhov as head of the NKVD (the Communist Secret Police). The Secret Police arrested and executed members of prisoners ' families and traitors if they did not confess. Soon Stalin decided to eliminate the Red Army. ("Joseph Stalin"-1-9) An approximate eight to thirteen million people were killed. In 1939, Stalin firmly established a totalitarian government that tried to exert complete control over the citizens of the Soviet Union.
With tension rising in Poland, Stalin became very concerned that the Germans would invade the Soviet Union. Stalin decided that the best way to deal with Hitler, the leader of Germany, was to establish an anti-fascist alliance with countries in the west. With this event occurring, Stalin knew that Hitler would eventually attack and to have a chance of victory he needed time build up his armed forces. On August 23,1939, Stalin persuaded Hitler to sign the "Nonaggression Pact" that committed never to attack each other and to divide Poland in half. This point marks the beginning of World War II. (Danzer –539)
The Red Army was ordered by Stalin to reclaim the land lost in the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in 1919. Stalin knew that the Germans would not invade the Soviet Union until Western Europe was conquered. Stalin also knew that Hitler would not attack in the horrifying winter due to the cold climate and harsh weather conditions. Hitler 's plan was to attack on May 15,1941 but due to the unexpected stubborn resistance of Yugoslavia in April it pushed the date back to June 21,1941.
The German forces attacked in three groups. One headed north for Leningrad, one towards the direct east to Moscow and one south towards the Ukraine. Minsk was captured within the first six days. The first few months of the war were catastrophic for the Soviet Union. Leningrad was surrounded, and progress was made towards Moscow, and the Germans made steady progress into the Ukraine. Most of the Soviet people were terrified of both Stalin and Hitler. The invasion soon changed once September came with winter around the corner. The supply lines became longer, and the Red Army was destroying all resources needed by the German troops before they can get to them. In November of 1941, Stalin called for his first counter-attack, which happened on December 4th. By January the German troops had been pushed back 200 miles. This became one winter that would not be forgotten.
Stalin believed that the enemy should be attacked as often as possible and that the invincible Blitzkrieg could be counteracted. Stalingrad was Stalin 's city, a city named after him during the Russian Civil War. Stalin knew that if Stalingrad were defeated, Moscow would become an easy target. General Georgi Zhukov was put in charge of the defense of Stalingrad. Luckily the Germans lost at Stalingrad and began to retreat.
In June of 1944, D-Day created a second front giving time for Stalin to repair his country to take on H itler. Once World War II was over, Stalin attacked Germany, now having its "friendly states" as a cushion. This then began the Cold War.
Now in the 1950 's, Stalin 's health began to deteriorate. He had very high blood pressure and received a letter from a Dr. Timashuck claiming that a group of seven doctors were plotting to murder Stalin. All seven of the doctors were arrested and tortured. By 1953, Stalin 's health declined and he fell into coma. It took him four days to regain consciousness and he finally ending his suffering and past away while being fed by a spoon by his nurse, pointing at a picture of his daughter at a younger age, and took his last breath. ("Joseph Stalin"- 9-19) As the blood throughout his body became cold he was then finally dead just like the people his red army had killed before.

Works Cited

Danzer,Gerald A., Krieger, Larry S., Wilson, Louis E., and Woloch, Nay. The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston,IL: McDougal Littell, © 2005: Pages 529,539,603

"Joseph Stalin" 6 December 2005.

Simmonds, Gerorge W., "GI- World War II Commemoration" University of Detroit. 6 December 2005.

"World War 2- Important People" 5 December 2005.

Cited: Danzer,Gerald A., Krieger, Larry S., Wilson, Louis E., and Woloch, Nay. The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston,IL: McDougal Littell, © 2005: Pages 529,539,603 "Joseph Stalin" 6 December 2005. Simmonds, Gerorge W., "GI- World War II Commemoration" University of Detroit. 6 December 2005. "World War 2- Important People" 5 December 2005.