Category: Joseph Stalin

The perception of Joseph Stalin’s figure is a controversial issue and an actual question for researchers in the modern world. On the one hand, there are people who idolize him and who were satisfied with the level of life during his reign. On the other hand, Stalin is famous for Gulag, severe and unfair repressions, violent decisions towards scientists and artistic people. He cultivated the regime where denunciations were often the only way to survive. What is more, it is necessary to point out that it is hard to examine the figure of the dictator outside his own image that he created being in power (Onaciu). Another problem is the question of the objectivity of the archives of this period as Stalin could destroy the files that were not beneficial for his profile. However, nowadays, there are academic works that are based on diverse sources of information, including secret materials and foreign documents. It helps to establish an objective overview of Stalin’s figure and his actions. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the correlation between the biographical facts of the dictator and his political regime.

Joseph Stalin was born in an ordinary Georgian family; he was a student of Theological Academy. He was one of the most brilliant children and was good at all disciplines presented in this educational institution. Nevertheless, Stalin did not like studying and preferred to spend time with friends interested in revolution. It is possible to assume that the resentment against Theological Academy led to the prohibition of religion in the USSR during his reign. Onaciu maintains that the sociological approach is significantly vital in case of analyzing the individual strategies of the dictator. For this reason, it is crucial to pay attention to the circumstances of life of people, the level of their comfort, and their attitudes in the period of this regime.

The geographical position affected the perception of current events by the population. For example, the remoteness from the center of the country, big cities, and railway stations played a notable role in the formation of the political views of the citizens (Zhukov and Talibova 268). Human beings living in distant and isolated regions were pleased with the living conditions (Zhukov and Talibova 267). In this case, it can be observed that the actual standard of living was even better than during the previous decades. The political engagement and understanding of Stalin’s methodology may be the reason for treating him as a tyrant but not the conditions of life.

In distant regions, life did not change in a crucial way except for the renaming of governmental departments. Nonetheless, the level of political engagement was significant: humans were ready to change the place of living according to their opinion about the authorities (Gugushvili et al. 365). This phenomenon is a reason to raise the question of the severity of repressions. It is claimed that people who were not satisfied with the existing regime spent the rest of their life in prison camps. However, the possibility to have diverse political views shows that there was a minimum level of freedom. Stalin was born in a poor family and in the period of tsarist authority. It is probable that he decided to increase the standards of living and the economic level, primarily for low-income households. That is why the citizens from distant regions were satisfied as they experienced the improvement but were not aware of the repressive methods of the government.

The poverty of his family had an impact on Stalin’s economic politics. The idea was to make people equal and pay them according to their abilities and engagement in the working process. Meyer (566) suggests that the anti-Stalin movement is a synonym to the anti-communism one: human beings did not like the system and blamed the government. However, many countries after World War II established and implemented the same methods as Stalin did. Among them are the nationalized economy, free medical care, social equity (Meyer 567). He was the first to introduce these innovations; that is why mistakes could not be avoided. According to Meyer (567), achieving such results in a short period of time was impossible without enforcement. On the one hand, the creation of the communist society required those types of actions. On the other hand, it is possible to assume that there was no need to do it in such a rapid way. If the process of changes was more balanced and gradual, violent decisions could be avoided.

During World War II, the performance of the USSR army is claimed to be a brilliant example of courage and bravery. In this case, the influence of Stalin’s methods cannot be underestimated. However, this issue is controversial as the cost of the victory was high. The prisoners were used as free manual labor that contradicts the understanding of human dignity. At the same time, the soldiers were motivated to fight to the end thanks to the system of encouragement implemented by Stalin. World War II is an example of the violence that was beneficial for the victory. The repressions have a long-term negative effect on the lives of people and the fate of the country (Zhukov and Talibova 268). However, it is impossible to imagine what could have happened if Stalin did not act in such a cruel and determined way.

It is important to take into consideration Stalin’s personal traits of character in the framework of analysis of his political ideology. It is known that he was a suspicious person that affected his decisions during his reign. The number of denunciations increased dramatically in the period of his power. The level of suspicion was exceptionally high that correlates with the personal perception of the world and relationships of the dictator (Meyer 567). What is more, the repressions towards the scientists and the artists also could be explained by the specificities of the biography. Stalin did not appreciate the educational institution where he was a student. It is probable that it influenced his mistrust of this layer of the population. Painful parts of childhood and personal particularities were also reflected in the political methodology of the authorities.

Stalin’s image is under discussion even in the 21^st century. His methods are claimed to be cruel and violent, especially during World War II. The impact of his education, family relationships, and personal traits of character have to be taken into account in order to establish an objective and detailed overview of his reign. Stalin’s desire to make everyone equal, provide free social goods, and build a community with respect to everyone turned into repressions and the creation of prison camps. The ideas of the dictators were implemented in the short term and caused severe problems to the citizens. However, many countries followed the path of communism introduced and partially implemented by Stalin, who wanted people to live a better life.

Works Cited

Gugushvili, Alexi, et al. “Cartographies of Stalin: Place, Scale, and Reputational Politics.” The Professional Geographer, vol. 68, no. 3, 2016, pp. 356–367.

Meyer, Gerald. “Joseph Stalin: Revisionist Biography.” Science & Society, vol. 81, no. 4, 2017, pp. 549–569.

Onaciu, Vlad. “The Writing and Re-writing of Joseph Stalin and His Regime: A Critical Comparison of Two Biographies.” LSE Review of Books, 2016, Web.

Zhukov, Yuri, and Roya Talibova. “Stalin’s Terror and the Long-Term Political Effects of Mass Repression.” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 55, no. 2, 2018, pp. 267–283.

The rise of Stalin can be attributed to various factors. Even though Stalin was an illiterate man who studied for the priesthood in the small village of Georgia, he managed to gain total control over one of the greatest nations in human history (Library of Congress). Historical documents, such as the comment of Trotsky about Stalin, revealed that the control over the Soviet Union was established through bureaucratic manipulations and violence (Library of Congress). However, the more direct explanation of Stalin’s influence is that he was helped by dedicated people and a fanatical secret police force (Library of Congress). This influence was exploited to establish a dictatorship which fueled his ambitions.

Stalin used the help of secret police for various means, which enforced his ideology and suppressed dissent. Initially, he used police repression on every figure within the Communist Party, which could threaten his power (Library of Congress). Consequently, prominent faces of Russian bureaucracy such as Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev, Grigorii Zinoviev, and Nikolai Bukharin were expelled, and Stalin attained absolute power (Library of Congress). Nevertheless, these expulsions and repressions later transformed into mass purges within the communist regime in the 1930s, which are now Called the Great Purges (Library of Congress). They continued for a long time and spread terror across the entire country as numerous arrests and executions followed the rule of Stalin. These purges were excessive and cannot be described as the logical solution for the future of the USSR. This leads to the question of the reasoning behind such atrocities.

Numerous scholars attribute the Great Purges to the paranoia and insatiable ambitions of Stalin. During the Cold War and after it, historians argued that Stalin was relatively insecure in a dysfunctional system despite his influence (Suny, 2018). His political rivals utilized the unleashed terror to fortify their political positions (Suny, 2018). At the same time, Stalin engaged in eradications within the Red Army. According to Peter Whitewood, they were the result of Stalin’s grave misperceptions about the gravity of security threats (Suny, 2018). Whitewood argued that Stalin acted following the conviction that foreign enemies infiltrated the Red Army ranks and organized a deep-rooted conspiracy (Suny, 2018). In the analysis of Whitewood, Marxist ideology plays a significant role because it led to the distortion of Stalin’s foreign and domestic level of threat (Suny, 2018). Marxist ideology led to the perception of the Red Army as the primary target for foreign agents and counterrevolutionaries between the 1920s and 1930s (Suny, 2018). Thus, feeling cornered and trapped, Stalin resolved to a single viable solution – purging and mass operations against former kulaks, criminals, and national minorities (Suny, 2018). This is the result of ungrounded paranoia built upon the insecurities and unstable political situation.

However, it is also possible to perceive the Purges to ensure Stalin’s prolonged and absolute dictatorship. The actions of Stalin are akin to the attempt to establish a nationalistic rule or dictatorship. He prioritized his allies and people with matching ideology which formed a tight community with common institutions, traditions, language, and customs. It is well known that communist rule in USSR operated on censorship and ideological oppression. Religion was banished, and people with liberal ideas were oppressed. The ideology was a distinguishing factor to identify those in favor of Stalin and against him. The purges are known to be enacted against possible threats and sometimes even fabricated to eliminate unwanted elements. Given the fact that the level of danger was high, purges are a solid although cruel solution. Hence, the oppression of national minorities and kulaks can be considered an attempt to eliminate the enemies whose ideology clashed with Stalin. National minorities searched for independence and liberation from the Soviet Union, and kulaks had the influence to facilitate the seeds of revolution. Therefore, the Great Purges can be attributed to both the massive paranoia and great ambitions of Joseph Stalin.

References

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Revelations from the Russian Archives Internal Workings of the Soviet Union. Library of Congress.

Suny, R. G. (2018). The Red Army and the Great Terror: Stalin’s Purge of the Soviet Military. By Peter Whitewood. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2015. Pp. vii, 360. $37.50.). The Historian, 80(1), 177–179.

Russia was an undeveloped and political weak country that wanted change. During the suffering of World War 1 Vladimir Lenin stepped up and tried to change this. Lenin, preaching the words of Karl Marx, promised that the country would be in the rule of the working class and would go under a great change with him in power. After he was elected to power he made many reforms to benefit Russia then called and make it more modern. When Lenin died in 1924, the USSR was still marginally unindustrialized and not close to its European counter-parts. This is when a man by the name of Joseph Stalin stepped out of Lenin’s shadow and claimed he was the next one to farther improve Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Stalin was a very direct but paranoid person and dictator. He killed many thousands innocent people and exiled hundreds more. Although he did these unspeakable acts, he made many idealistic and beneficial acts that improved Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the long and short term. Joseph Stalin was a vile and controlling dictator, but even through his dramatic experiences in life was able to make the USSR a modern and powerful communist country.

Joseph Stalin was a needed aspect in the USSR to make it grow. Joseph Stalin had a very grueling childhood and way into power. On Joseph’s way to power he went through a lot of difficult and testing times. When he got into power he made sure his visions of the USSR were going to come true. He took direct control over many projects so that his vision would be shaped to his expectations. When things did not go Stalin’s way he would be extremely malicious. Killing or exiling thousands of millions of people for simple mistakes, opposing him, or just hear-say. He had a dream to make the USSR change from a “…from a backward peasant society to a powerful industrialized nation…” (Arthur Schlersinger Jr., Stalin. P. 107) Stalin took major steps to make this happen and the USSR never looked back. Stalin helped made USSR powerful by joining the war and taking interest in European politics. “By the end of the war Stalin may have reckoned with a more or less rapid withdrawal of American power from the Continent and consequently with the further growth of Russian predominance.” (Isaac Deutscher, Stalin. P. 518) Joseph Stalin placed a lasting touch on the USSR which many can thank him for.

Joseph’s cruel and suspicious behavior could have been the cause of his childhood and the unfortunate events that happened to him on his way to power. Joseph Stalin was the child of Ekaterina and Vissarion Djugashvili. Stalin was the forth child of Ekaterina and was born healthy, tough, and determined boy in the city of Gori in Georgia. “At baptism he was given the name of Joseph; and so the local Greek Orthodox priest, who acted as registrar, recorded the appearance in the world of Joseph Visssanrionovich.

Djugashvili, later to become famous under the name of Joseph Stalin.” (Deutscher, P. 22) Joseph’s family was poverty stricken, and this made it hard for Stalin to climb up the ranks. Stalin had a very troublesome childhood. His father frequently beat him and his mom, he almost died of small pox, he had many facial scars and pits, he suffered blood poisoning which made his left arm was shorter then his right, and he was only five foot four. His dad died when Stalin was eleven. Considering all of the misfortune Stalin had he still enjoyed reading, classic literature, outside activities, and even had great physical strength considering his small stature and his short arm. Stalin’s birth language was not Russian and he did not learn Russian until he was nine years old. His mom was determined to make Stalin’s life a success and get him out of the lower class destiny. She enrolled him in school at nine, when other lower class children would be learning how to be a shoe maker or carpenter.

Joseph had an extraordinary memory, which allowed him to learn with ease. He finished school in five years and was considered far more intelligent then the other students. Ekaterina then applied Stalin for a small scholarship to Tiflis Theological Seminary, which he won and then enrolled in. The life at the seminary was strict and harsh. Stalin fit in at first, but inevitability revolted and started his revolutionary career. Joseph joined a Marxist group in Tiflis then started reading about Karl Marx and read the Communist Manifesto. Joseph eventually got kicked out of the seminary, but continued to be with the other Marxists. (McCauley, 27) He then met a member from the Social Democratic Party and he joined them. Stalin sooner or later got caught for causing and planning a violent riot against the police, and he was sent to prison for a year and exiled to Siberia for three years.

The Social Democratic Party then spilt up into two different factions within the party. One of the factions was the Mensheviks, which were more traditional ideals. The other faction was the Bolsheviks, who espoused the revolutionary course. Stalin escaped from Siberia and went back to Tifils where who joined the Bolsheviks, which was run by Vladimir Lenin. Many revolts and revolutions aroused after Russia lost to Japan. This is when Stalin met his first real enemy Trotsky. Trotsky was a Menshevik that was just as active and outspoken as Stalin. During this time Stalin married a woman named Catherine Svanidze. He meant the world to him and when she died at an early age he always seemed different. He later married Nadya Allilueva. Nadya was a dearly and wholly loved by Stalin and he was heart broken when she committed suicide after they had a disagreement. While Stalin was doing a revolutionary movement for Lenin, he was again caught by the czar’s police. Stalin spent eight more years in Siberia. “But his patience was rewarded. Unexpected events would send Stalin on the path to ultimate power.” (Schlersinger Jr., P. 30).

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was severely behind European countries in agriculture and industry. Lenin knew this and he applied the New Economic Policy. This was only a scratch to the surface of what Stalin wanted. When Joseph got full power of USSR he wanted to make a “commanding economy” by forcing industries and farmers to industrialize no matter what. Stalin firmly believed that USSR was hundred years behind Europe and this could be fatal. (Rothnie, 251) To kick start the industrial and agriculture revolution he made the Five Year Plan. The goal of the Five Year Plan was to make USSR a modern agriculture and industrial country. To achieve this Stalin took control of the farms and industry. This caused organization and a more centralized goal, which means there would be many more factories and farms. “The new factories and steel works were to be paid for by the efforts of the peasants and were in many instances to be manned by them also. Links between peasants and workers would forge, and the way ahead to a classless Communist society opened up.” (John Laver, Joseph Stalin: from Revolutionary to Despot. P. 37) Factories and businesses were all given goals to meet every year for a five year period. To check and make the goals for each year was run by a Gosplan.

The penalties for not reaching a goal set up by the Gosplan were extremely merciless. Managers and workers would get executed, exiled, or work all day and all night almost. While the industries were thriving the agriculture would be collectivized. This basically meant that all farming land would be taken over and made more efficient and better ran. Each year you would have to hand over a certain amount of grain to the government which would then which you would get paid for. This would have worked flawlessly except the rich farms, “kulaks”, were extremely stubborn. To comprehend this Stalin had a plan. “Stalin sent to the countryside industrial workers, party leaders, army units, and the secret police.” (Schlersinger Jr., P. 54).

Those who rebelled against this were killed or sent to labor camps in Siberia. By improving machinery and agriculture Stalin could fight off millions of deaths caused by famine. Another great part of the Five Year Plan was that everyone in USSR was employed. Although Stalin was extremely ruthless and killed thousands and thousands of peasants and workers, after the three Five Year Plans were complete USSR’s industry rivaled Germany’s and improved by four hundred percent. (Hoobler, 147).

Stalin showed USSR’s true power, influence, and ability to come over adversity during the long trials of World War Two. The balance of power for World War Two depended on USSR. Stalin still believing USSR needed to still improve within itself signed the, Nazi-Soviet Pact. (Deutscher, 129) Even thought USSR and Germany were on peace terms, he knew that an attack was inevitable. He was building up his army, but still was totally surprised when Germany invaded in 1941. Stalin joined with the Grand Alliance and was ready to fight to his death. Stalin then took personal control of the army to improve USSR’s morale and sense of hope. Stalin made the country believe they had to fight through a lot of propaganda and inspiring acts. One inspiring act was orders Stalin wrote to the solders. One soldier wrote “All my life I will remember what Stalin’s Order meant… Not the letter, but the spirit and the content of this document made possible the moral and psychological breakthrough in the hearts and minds of all who it was read.” (Laver, P.59).

Stalin was not like other generals and other leaders in war as he learnt from his mistakes and electing staff by military status rather then political. Electing more top western generals he eventually ran Germany back. Stalin’s greatest general wrote, “At the beginning of the War he (Stalin) mastered strategic questions poorly, but his mind, the logic of his thought, his general knowledge and his grasp all served him well. In the second period of the War, after Stalingrad, he was entirely the right person as Supreme Commander… he comprehensively studied in advance an issue to be discussed or the plane of a future operation. Having carefully examined the information, he summoned people, military specialists, and came to the meetings fully equipped.” (Laver, P. 57).

The victory of the Grand alliance could of not of been achieved without the patriotism and fortitude of the USSR’s people, which is why many people consider Stalin ‘the man who won the War’. Not only was Stalin fighting a winning war it was the first time USSR played a vital and serious role in the way the war and world would turn out. USSR was finally recognized as a great and powerful country and gained the influence it deserved. (Radzinsky, 208) In 1934 USSR joined the League of Nations which was the first thing Stalin did to impact the influence and diplomatic affairs with other countries. After the war USSR joined the United Nations to further boost its influence. He also took part in the conferences of Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam, which meant he took political and military control in postwar liberated countries in Eastern and Central Europe. This not only made USSR’s sphere of influence larger but it made more communist countries to overthrow capitalism.

Joseph Stalin was able to prevail through many hard times in his life, although he was a controlling and vile dictator, he was needed to make the USSR a modern and industrial country. Joseph Stalin grew from the depths of the gutter into one of the most powerful leaders of his time. He had a strict vision of what he wanted in the USSR and no one could change his view. He killed millions of people who stepped in his way. Although, Stalin was very wicked, he was the only ruler at the time who thought of the people after he died. He saved millions of people’s lives by making both the Industrial and Agriculture contemporary and organized. Not only did he do that but he changed the whole world’s perception of the USSR. For the first time in history, Russia was getting influence in Europe and was incorporated with a lot of European events. He might have been vile leader, but he made USSR what it is today. “We believe that a strong full-blooded movement is unthinkable without controversy- only in a cemetery can total identity of opinions be achieved” – Joseph Stalin. Stalin was truly the ‘Father of the USSR’ because he guided his awkward and weak child into a strong and powerful man.

Works Cited

Deutscher, Isaac. Stalin. New York: Penguin Books, 1966.

Hoobler, Dorothy. Joseph Stalin. New York: Chealsea House Publishers, 1987.

Laver, John. Joseph Stalin: from Revolutionary to Despot. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1993.

McCauley, M.: Stalin and Stalinism (Harlow 1983).

Radzinsky, Edvard. Stalin. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing, 1996.

Rothnie, N: Stalin and Russia 1924-1953 (London 1991).

Tucker, Robert. Stalin as Revolutionary. New York: Norton and Company Inc, 1973.

Sentence Outline

• Introduction: Looks at the events just before Stalin assumed power immediately after Lenin’s death
• Body: Looks at how Stalin came to power and how he tightened his grip using government machinery as well as how he eliminated his opponents all the way through the World War and how he managed to secure Victory over Germany after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union without warning.
• Conclusion: This part looks at the final major events before the untimely death of Stalin and the different theories that explain how he died.

Introduction

Until he died in 1953, Joseph Stalin was the communist party of the Soviet Union’s Central committee General Secretary since 1922. After the death of Lenin in 1924 Stalin ascended to the top most position of the Soviet Union authoritatively. He had a hard-line stand against the opposition and Lenin didn’t particularly like his strategy towards Georgia. Lenin’s association with Stalin went to an all time low after Lenin had to go into semi-retirement after he suffered a severe stroke. This paper looks at Stalin’s rise to power between the years 1924 to 1929.

On January 21, 1924, Lenin died due to a heart attack. Immediately after his death, Stalin’s disagreement against Kamenev and Zinoviev got even worse prompting him to closely associate himself with Nikolai Bukharin. Instead of extending the revolution as Zinoviev, Kamenev as well as Trosky had always opined, Stalin reasoned that the Bolsheviks should concentrate more on building communism in countries under their control. The trio, Zinoviev, Kamenev as well as Trosky eventually got evicted from the Central Committee due to their views then eventually got driven out of the party.

Trosky ultimately got banished from the Soviet Union while Kamenev and Zinoviev got readmitted into the party once again. In total disregard to the then Lenin’s New Economic Policy, Stalin advocated for central management of the economy as well as a much faster industrialization process of the Union. Since factionalism was totally prohibited then in the Soviet Union, Stalin exploited it to his advantage. Stalin was the Supreme leader by the first year of the Five-year plan in 1928 leading to the banishment of Trotsky in the Soviet Union the following year, (p,33).

After the death of Lenin due to a heart attack on the 21^st of January 1924, his funeral arrangements were bestowed upon none other than Stalin. Against his wishes, Lenin’s body was embalmed and put out for public display in a lavish funeral organized by Stalin. Because the immense power and influence Zinoviev and Kamenev enjoyed in the central committee, they made sure Lenin’s critical testament written about Stalin was never made public.. Finally Lenin’s testament was made public to the provincial leaders only during a party congress meeting. This was one rare opportunity Trotsky could have seized to ask for Stalin’s Removal from his powerful position but he didn’t, (p,45).

Stalin’s difference of opinion with both Zinoviev and Kamenev several months after Lenin’s death deepened facilitating Stalin to closely associate himself with Nikolai Bukharin whom in the thirteenth party congress got elevated to the Politburo. In December 1925, Stalin launched an open attack on both Zinoviev and Kamenev at the Fourteenth Party Congress acknowledging openly how both of them requested for his assistance to get rid of Trotsky from the part,. (p,58).

Rather than stretching the revolution to other territories under the Soviet Union, Stalin was in favor of Bolsheviks promoting communism in countries under his control. Like-minded members of the party were drawn to Stalin’s side while on the other hand Zinoviev, Kamenev and now Trotsky were all ideologically opposed to Stalin’s approach. This led the three forming an opposition that was against everything Stalin proposed. This led to Stalin denting the image of his new found enemies by stating that both Zinoviev and Kamenev voted against the revolution while Trotsky was not a Bolshevik before the revolution, (p,59-62).

Many party members were in agreement with Stalin’s policy of central economy control as well as swift industrialization unlike Lenin’s previous economic policy that was not very popular with the party members. In 1927, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trosky were expelled from the party after their sustained opposition to Stalin’s policies. However after tendering open apology letters after six months of expulsion, both Kamenev and Zinoviev got accepted back as party members with the exception of Trotsky, (p,68-69).

Stalin had to act swiftly to implement collectivization of agriculture after a crucial deficit in grain supplies towards the end of 1927. This led to Stalin personally going to Siberia to supervise the forceful seizure of hoards of grain from helpless kulak farmers. Despite strong condemnation of the act from both premier Rykov as well as Bukharin, majority of the party members applauded the seizures. Bukharin was against Stalin’s idea of using kulak farmers’ money to implement his swift industrialization policy. With the support of other Politburo members, Bukharin was eventually evicted from the politburo after Stalin blamed him of capitalist tendencies as well as factionalism towards the end of 1929, (p,79).

Widely looked at as a positive antidote to war, Stalin embraced and focused on building “Socialism in One Country” which eventually earned Stalin a popular appeal from the less privileged section of the society as a ‘man of the people’ as majority of the Russians were indeed worn out from both the civil war as well as the world war, (p,83-85).

Stalin imposed a ban on factionalism and turned it into law getting rid of anyone who could dare oppose him or his policies. In 1928, Stalin had become a very powerful leader and eventually sent Trosky into exile due to his opposition against his policies. Stalin was in control of both party as well as the country after having outsmarted Bukharin’s Right Opposition and firmly pushing for his policy of collectivization as well as industrialization, (p,86).

As other leaders like Sergei Kirov as well as the Ryutin Affair gained popularity, it was until the Great Purge of 1936 till 1938 that Stalin did achieve supreme power. Stalin guided a very powerful secret police as well as intelligence agencies that would be his ears and eyes on the ground. Stalin’s intelligence network were strategically positioned in all major countries around the world and was referred to as Rote Kappelle spy ring (p, 157)

Stalin never differentiated between propaganda, espionage nor state-sanctioned violence and incorporated all of them into NKVD. To make sure that all foreign communist parties stayed loyal to both the Soviet as well Pro Stalin, he infiltrated agents by exploiting the Communist International Movement. Just to test how well his secret police and foreign espionage could work together, Stalin gave an order to have Trotsky killed in Mexico by the secret police in 1040.

Sergei Kirov’s increasing popularity in the 1930s became a cause of worry for Stalin after Kirov got only 3 nay votes that turned out to be the least for any candidate against 1,108 Stalin’s nay votes. It’s widely believed that Stalin was involved in the killing of Kirov due to his increasing popularity and then implicated Trotsky, Kamenev and Zioviev who were then opposition leaders. During the investigation into Kirov’s death, Stalin further put antiterrorist laws in place that had left no room for defense lawyers, prosecution or appeals but punctuated with swift with executions, (p,99).

After these new laws were firmly put in place throughout the country, several military leaders, high ranking officers as well as Red Army officers were accused of treason and quickly executed under Stalin’s orders. All these atrocities led to Trotsky to say that “river of blood” is what separated Lenin’s era to that of Stalin’s. Stalin eventually got rid of his final opponent from the previous party leadership Trosky who was living in exile in Mexico in 1940. The killing went on with the NKVD undertaking several operations that targeted mainly foreign nationals such as Koreans, Ethnic Germans as well as Poles who were eventually incarcerated and swiftly executed in their thousands.

As the executions went on, no effort was spared to rewrite the textbooks of the Soviet history that gradually ended up focusing on only two individuals, Lenin and Stalin. The prominent people executed by the NKVD were erased from the history books as though they never existed. nearly 700,000 people had been brutally killed at the end of the execution terror with many of them who were just simply ordinary citizens doing ordinary jobs. It’s believed that the actual figure of the victims is twice as much. (p,106).

A cult of personality was created in the Soviet Union by Stalin that revolved around himself as well as Lenin by renaming most of the cities, villages as well as towns after his name. Stalin Prize and Stalin Peace prize were also started in his honor. He also offered himself a prominent role in the revolution in an effort to rewrite the Soviet history. Despite Stalin being between 5 ft 5in and 5 ft 6 in, he had statues created to portray him at Alexander the 3^rd’s size as well as height, (p,183).

The cult of personality reached unbelievable proportions and even harshly criticized by Trotsky when Stalin’s name was integrated into the new Soviet national anthem. It became over emphasized so much so that films, paintings, music, poetry as well as literature entirely concentrated on Stalin that almost equated him to god-like stature especially when he implied he single handedly won the Second World War. Stalin simply couldn’t get enough of the cult that encircled him.

After the death of over 160,000 citizens of Lithuania, Latvia as well as Estonia, the three states were incorporated into the Soviet Union by June 1940 when Stalin asserted that he will “solve the Baltic problem”, however, the Soviet Union was granted 10% of the Finnish territory (eastern region of Karelia after entering an interim peace when Soviet Union faced a solid resistance when it tried to invade Finland. After the failed invasion of Finland, Stalin had to strengthen his military by improving its propaganda methods as well as modifying its training, (p,81).

Despite having received tip offs from his generals as well as spies, Stalin still believed that the Soviet Union cannot be attacked by Germany until they had defeated Britain. After the initial stages of the German attack, Stalin hesitated and retreated to his dacha thinking it was a rogue General who must have authorized the attack but not Hitler since they had an agreement. It turns out it was Hitler who authorized the attack and at the end of 1941, the Soviet military not only had 4.3 million casualties but the Germen forces were 1,050 miles inside the Soviet Union. (Lynch)

To be able to counter the Germans, Stalin had to talk to the British diplomats who partly agreed to Stalin’s agreement of mutual assistance and aid pact. With the British assistance, Stalin was able to push back the German troops that were 20 miles within of the Kremlin to 40-50 miles from the Kremlin resulting in German’s major defeat since the invasion. The Soviets had regained half of its territory that the Germans taken by the end of 1943. The final victory for the Soviet Union was achieved when the Red Army along with the allied forces outnumbered Hitler and his German forces with Hitler eventually committing suicide while German soldiers surrendered shortly thereafter, (p,168).

After the war, Stalin was out to have political power in Eastern Europe in 1945 at the conference at Yalta; however Churchill and Roosevelt convinced Stalin not to split Germany. Apart from asking for political power in Eastern Europe, Stalin also wanted to keep Poland which again both Churchill and Roosevelt resisted and eventually Stalin opted to re-organize the existing communist puppet government on a wider democratic basis.

Conclusion

In an effort to dominate Central Europe under Stalin, the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia as well as Bulgaria founded the Comecon in 1949. On suspicion that the Soviets were behind the Greek Communists, Britain and the United States backed the anti-communists in the Greek Civil War, however the suspicion was not valid since Stalin was not involved in Greece as he thought the movement was still premature. Stalin’s one major last foreign policy he made before his death was his wish for German reunification and disengagement of superpower from central Europe but unfortunately the US, Britain and France turned his wish down due to apprehensions they had about Stalin’s intentions.

After an all-night dinner at his Kuntsevo home on 1^st march 1953 along with his interior minister Lavrentiy Beria as well as his future premiers, it’s said Stalin suffered a stroke that could have paralyzed his body on the right side since Stalin never emerged from his room. On the other hand, the other theory suggests that Stalin was assassinated by Beria who bragged of taking him out after poisoning him.

Works Cited

Lynch, Michael. Access to History Stalin’s Russia 1924-53. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.