Joseph Stalin : Unethical Visionary Leader

Joseph Stalin was the most controversial person in Russia who has come into power. This has come from his 5 year plan that he has assembled when Russia was in shambles, due to the civil war, the economy failing, and no industrial equipment. His job now was to restore Russia and make it into an industrial powerhouse.

"I believe in one thing only, the power of human will" said Stalin once. He certainly did have cause to believe in the power of a human's will as he experienced it in himself firsthand, having had extraordinary willpower and perseverance (He didn't call himself "Man of Steel" for nothing, folks), rising up from the lowly station of alcoholic's son in Georgia to one of the biggest monsters in human history, supposedly killing more than Hitler. Exactly how did he do this? Why? And how did his corruption reach such extents as to do all this for power?

How does a leader gain and maintain the love of his people when he is killing them in mass numbers? Joseph Stalin was successful in this by following the political tactic of using fear to gain love. A tactic that was highly valued by Nicolo Machiavelli in his work The Prince. “In Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon, the main character, and Old Bolshevik, Nikolaiz Rubashov, declares that “Number one” (Stalin) kept Machiavelli’s The Prince as his favorite night-table book” (Tisemanean). Stalin’s strategy of leadership can be closely compared to the strategies that Machiavelli describes in The Prince. A work that received much controversy over the lessons it preached to political leaders. It coined the phrase “the end justify the means” which follows as a consequence of considering vice a virtue. Stalin used many vices to gain and maintain his state till the day he died. Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn work, The First Circle, showcased how even on death’s door Stalin still used traits treasured in a Machiavellian prince. This paper will assess how Stalin follows Machiavelli’s guidelines for a prince in the areas of war, fear, crime, and in dealing with the people.

Throughout the millennia that humans have been forming societies with leaders, there have been many different kinds of leaders, some effective and others not. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar shows examples of leaders who prevailed over time and leaders who didn’t. This information combined with knowledge of other past leaders can be used to establish common traits among effective leaders and common traits among ineffective leaders. Although Joseph Stalin is primarily considered a cruel tyrant, he also exhibits several of the leadership traits deemed most effective. While most can agree that his practices were immoral, it is often forgotten that due to his organization, practicality, and determination, Stalin was a decidedly effective leader.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II. The Soviet Union would successfully protect one of its major industrial cities from German siege. The battle would have a lasting impact on the remainder of the war, as Germany struggled to recover from the loss. The defeat and many subsequent effects of it were due large in part to the mistakes of Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler. The statement that Hitler’s biggest mistake was how he conducted the Battle of Stalingrad is true due to his refusal to surrender despite facing dire circumstances, the lack of preparation his army had, and the effect his ego had on his decision making, even in the most crucial situations.

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.

Joseph Stalin is known to be “one of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history” (bbc.co.uk). Stalin became general secretary of the Communist Party, which had given him the control that he had been looking for (bbc.co.uk). Soon after, he was granted dictatorship of the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin had died (historyplace.com). Many people did not like the way that Stalin was ruling. People wanted their own independence from Stalin and he did not take that very well. In 1929, Stalin had believed that many Ukrainian scholars, scientists, religious leaders, etc. were planning a riot against him. Without even being listened to during a trial, they were killed or deported immediately to prison camps (blogspot.com).

Plato’s account of a tyrant is close to that of the “great” Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin. In Book IX of the Republic, Glaucon notes that under a tyrannic rule, a city or state will be tragic and depressing; additionally, it is also stated that city will always experience more freedom and content under a king. (Bloom, 257). This account is a key factor in comparing Stalin with the Republic, as Stalin’s ambitions were similar with Plato’s descriptions. Using other descriptions from Plato’s Republic, it clear that Joseph Stalin fits Plato’s account of a tyrant. The Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin suffered greatly and the tyrant rule of Stalin was oppressive, restrictive, and produced great amounts of casualties. We are comparing how Plato’s account for a tyrant is accurate of the results of Joseph Stalin; that a city will experience freedom with kingship, as well as darkness and scrutiny under a tyranny.

The 20th century was marked by many unforgettable events such as World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Some of these events occurred because of the birth of a government system called totalitarianism. A totalitarian regime is gained either through legal or illegal means and transforms the entire society into a single party regime with the sole purpose of conquering society (Zani, 2003). One of the founding fathers of totalitarianism, Joseph Stalin, ruined the lives of many by taking complete control over their lives through brainwashing techniques and destroying their rights to express their opinion.

“Stalin’s leadership was unbelievably poor and wholly amateurish” (Rubinstein 2012). While Joseph Stalin and his followers were the ones who ended up on top at the end of World War II, Many believe that had Hitler not decided to delegate needed soldiers and weapons to the threats coming from the western allies than he would have had a much greater chance of winning over Stalin. “…arguing that Nazi Germany almost won its war with the Soviet Union. Hitler might well have won. Germany consistently suffered a tiny fraction of

Hitler and Stalin will probably go down in history as two of the greatest known evil leaders of the 20th Century. You might ask what could bring two men to become the menaces they were. What kind of upbringing would cause someone to turnout the way they did?

This paper will discuss how Stalin’s background helped build the qualities of a ruthless leader and how he displayed them

The Great Purge arose due to Stalin’s dynamic and to some extent cold-blooded leadership style. But on a personal note I have identified a few distinctive and motivational traits of Joseph Stalin.

From January of 1933 to April of 1945, Adolf Hitler ruled over the German people and became known as one of the most notorious dictators the world has ever seen. Several studies done by scholars and historians show that Hitler “displayed substantial initiative, toughness of mind, self-confidence, and ruthlessness” (Housden 188). Using coercion techniques and his understanding of the human psyche, Hitler was able to bully and lie to his European neighbors in order to achieve his objectives. He fooled nations into believing his “peaceful” intentions, but his mission for World War II came to an ultimate failure leading to his suicide in April of 1945 (Housden 200). Adolf Hitler faced eventual failure as a military leader as a result of his misunderstandings of the “rules” of warfare. Hitler’s lack of experience and his inadequate knowledge of warfare were two of the key points that proved to be fatal.

During 1937 to 1939, several trials were held where many of the Old Bolsheviks were found guilty of treason. These trials became a means to exterminate potential political rivals and critics of Stalin. Those found guilty were executed. These publically held trials were accompanied by a widespread “purge”, that sent millions to prison camps. Among the purged were several of the Soviet Army’s military headships. A lack of experienced leadership played a significant role in the Soviet Union’s poor performance during the Second World War.