Stalin had built a totalitarian state in Russia, which employed all of the devised methods of control and persuasion. Stalin’s Soviet Union spreaded mass communication through propaganda and tricked his citizens into believing the lies the government had told. The social life of the soviet citizens were greatly improved as many citizens got a better education and many other developments. Although the new modifications helped the citizens it came at a price. Education was controlled by the Soviet Union and books were strictly censored by the state. The Soviet Union taught atheism at school while beginning to attack churches and destroyed them. (Which was ironic considering that Stalin was raised in the greek orthodox church.) Stalin then persecuted
Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the national government takes control of all aspects of both public and private life. During the 20th century, when Stalin took power, he transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. To dominate an entire nation, totalitarian leaders devise methods of control and persuasion like propaganda and censorship. From nursery schools to universities, Stalin controlled all education to mold people’s minds. Stalin aimed to replace religious teachings with the ideals of communism. Stalin worked to establish total control of all aspects of life in the Soviet Union by building a police state to maintain his power.These were some of the strategies he took to establish a totalitarian country.
In the 1915s the Western countries had advanced technologies, a better economy and were managed successfully. However, Russia was trying something new, Communism. Lenin believed that Communism would make the country better. Shortly after his death, the man of steal, otherwise known as Stalin took control. He claimed to have the same ambitions; create a strong army, build up the industrial strength in a socialist society (Kreis, 2012). Despite their similar goals the actions they took to achieve them were completely different; Lenin is known to be on of the greatest leaders of Russia and Stalin the worst.
The Totalitarian Governments of WWII: How Nationalism, Fascism, and Communism Were Significant to the War
Thus, the “Cult of Personality” was flourishing. Propaganda glorifying Stalin and Soviet ideals brainwashed the minds of Russian people. Stalin successfully impressed his socialist philosophies on millions of workers and peasants. Over time, socialism transformed into Stalinism, and it took hold. Stalin was able to hypnotize people towards one belief, the love of Stalin. When they saw Stalin being portrayed heroically everyday in the news or on posters, they began to idolize him. Stalin is like Big Brother; he was the main focus and had total power over the people and their actions.
Overall, Stalin did not create a totalitarian state, the very definition of which suggests the state’s complete control and authority over every aspect of society; the economy, politics, religion and culture; as, despite all of the action Stalin took to gain this, he was constantly facing opposition.
Two men named Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were the faces of totalitarian dictatorship in the early to mid 20th century. These two wanted to have control of everyone and everything and they did their job to accomplish it. Although Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin ruled two totally different nations, they had the same thoughts on how to rule their countries, which were using killing tactics, propaganda, and wanting their country to be the biggest and strongest there is.
Stalin like Hitler “used propaganda, censorship, and terror to force his will on the Soviet people. Government newspapers glorified work and Stalin himself. Secret police spied on citizens, and anyone who refused to praise Stalin and the state faced severe punishment, even death” (“The Soviet”, n.d.).
Change in itself is defined as neither positive nor negative. Rather it is defined as making the, “form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it [would have been had it been] left alone.” Thus, although General Secretary of the Communist Party, Joseph Stalin, did a relentless amount of damage during his reign over the USSR, he did make change, and alter the future of many individuals both in the USSR and internationally. Although most famous for his ruthless slaughter of over twenty million Russian citizens due to religious and political beliefs, Stalin also created a lot of positive and beneficial change for the citizens of the USSR. He modernized and urbanized a country still using early
A totalitarian state gave the government all of the power over society and seeks control over every aspect in regard of it citizens whether public or private which originated in the year of 1923. Germany, Italy, Soviet Union, and Spain all were totalitarian states at once upon time. Totalitarian states all begun with the most powerful, crucial leaders to date. All of the leaders have something in common, they all wanted power. They all realized that with power comes great responsibility, they gave themselves too much responsibility. Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union created fascism. Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany created the Nazi Party. Benito Mussolini, the leader of the Italy was a part of the communist party. Francisco
The downfall of a system that covered much of Russia with for well over a decade arrived after the death of its creator, Joseph Stalin. The Gulag Era reaped percussions well past its first end in 1958, its ideas evolving and continuing into the 1980’s when Gorbachev finalized its end. Despite Stalin’s belief that the gulags provided economic growth, his political successors objected, arguing that it created an economic decline and stating it was a distorted investment. Khrushchev disavowed the tyrannical government that had been in place before him in “secret speeches,” beginning a dismantling of the gulags. However, during the mid 1970s, the system began to evolve once again in redesigned prisons. They would hold democratic activists, anti-soviet
The Yalta Conference on February 4th, 1945, in Crimea, Russia. Discussed plans of Allied nations and what to do with the Axis Powers. All 3 countries had some different views onto what to do. United States and Great Britain gave up a sphere of influence in Manchuria for Soviet Union’s help with war with Japan. Allies Agreed to make United Nations of 5 countries, including France, with each having a veto and vote on world decisions. Forced Germany to pay all war reparations. Also took any liberated territory from Germany and allowed a vote on power. Stalin spreads communism into Poland and agrees to mark any territory around Soviets friendly.
The first victims of Stalin’s repressions towards non-Russians, were the Soviet Koreans in 1937. The first Koreans to arrive in Russia were traders in the early 1850s but the first Koreans to settle in the far eastern territory were thirteen families in 1863. Koreans did not begin to arrive en masse to the Far East until 1866. As a result of poor conditions and crop yields in the Hamgyong region, a severe famine forced Korean families to cross the border into Russia where there were better conditions for agriculture. Entire villages moved into the Russian territory and another 500 Koreans crossed the Russian-Korean border in 1867. Most of those who arrived were peasants with barely any possessions. As the arrived, the Russian government offered them
Since the revolution propaganda in the USSR was based around Communism but Stalin adapted his campaigns to be anti-German and heavily nationalistic, playing on Russian peoples patriotism and fear of National Socialism. The propaganda ensured that the Soviet citizens knew their country and livelihoods were at risk - this drew mass hatred of not only Germans but the whole outside world, which would go on to start another war, and huge nationalistic pride. Stalin’s adoption of propaganda to even include imperial Russian heroes and increased acceptation of the Church showed his ability to change his policies to ensure that he didn't lead his country to destruction - a skill that he also demonstrated with his military
However, in Eastern Europe, Stalin’s communism was more or less enforced, although sometimes there was collaboration within the states. Their economies were gradually reassembled, but they suffered from the same complications as that of the Soviet Union. Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia also each had periods of revolts where they tried to at least reduce Soviet influence. In each case, the U.S. and Western Europe chose to stay out of the Soviet sphere of influence. The fate of Germany, one might say, is somewhat representative of what happened on a larger scale across Europe and represented the divide between the East and West more generally. By the end of World War II, diplomacy between the Soviet Union and its Western counterparts had weakened,
Joseph Stalin is now remembered as one of the most ruthless and powerful dictators of all time. His regime was one of terror and oppression, and resulted in the deaths of millions of Soviets.