Machiavelli's The Prince

World leaders are leaders with high governmental power in the world. Every leader, not just world leaders, is either great or corrupt; they are rarely both. Most of Russia’s history is filled with corrupt leaders. Joseph was one of those leaders. Stalin killed millions of people during his rule. But Stalin also led the Soviet Union almost to the top in world power. Stalin had many influences that led him to his Soviet Leadership in which gave him many admirers but even more non-supporters.

Joseph Stalin used his intellect, and power, to outmanoeuvre his rivals to become leader of the Soviet Union. Using carefully planned propaganda including, painting, statues, and a series of cultivated posters Stalin immortalised and glorified his leadership. These state-manufactured images created a ‘cult of personality' around him, subsequently, creating an image of a heroic worshipped figure, who was associated with every aspect of soviet society. Stalin controlled the media and according to the historian Moshe Lewin, Stalin single handily, ‘become the system,’ (Lewin in Pittaway, 2008, p.137.)

Part of what helped Stalin attain so much power and therefore get so corrupt was all of this taking advantage of not completely set rules. But why did he want to take advantage of this for power? He did this because of his power-hungry personality.

He discusses that the prince have military knowledge, love and fear, trustworthiness, and good and bad reputations. He deeply believes in the art of war. "...a prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordering and discipline; because it is the only art that pertains to him who commands. And it is of such virtue that not only does it maintain those who were born princes, but many times makes men rise to that rank from private station; and conversely one sees that when princes have thought more of delicacies than of arms, they have lost their state." He also writes about whether it is better to be loved or feared, stating that it is best to be feared, but not hated. Love can change in an instant, and it is better to always have control, even if the prince must be feared. Patriotism and dedication to the state was also a very important aspect. In conclusion, Machiavelli strived for power and strength by any means possible. Through violence and fear, the end result would be worth it to him.

The man chosen for this paper will be no one than Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli was a many things during this life such as a politician, humanist, a writer, but most important he was the founder of modern ideas on who we look at politics and day to day situations. Machiavelli was born May 3 1469 in Italy. He was born during a important era in Europe called the Renaissance era were art, and humanism began to flourish. Machiavelli had other idea as giving in depth look how rulers and states must take control of their people in order to maintain power. He would go on to write one of the most important book still use today by many business, law schools, universities, politicians , rebels, and even criminals known as The Prince. Machiavellianism was a term to describe to be immoral behavior and can be seen as a negative in cases. He laid out the blue print in The Prince for future rulers and governments how he thought once have to act in other to be set part from being a ruler to being a great ruler.

Soso Djugashvili, more commonly known as Joseph Stalin, ‘man of steel’, dictator of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Russia, can be considered a ‘Red Tsar’ to an extent when features of Stalinism are compared to those of Tsarism and Russia ruled by Nicholas II’s autocratic regime from 1894 to 1917. A ‘Red Tsar’ is a communist leader whom follows similar principles followed under the leadership of a Tsar, that were influenced by few opinions allowing sole leadership and little opposition from others. Stalin can be considered a ‘Red Tsar’ to an extent as he ruled Communist Russia as a somewhat totalitarian state and was considered a ‘God-like’ figure sent to Earth to lead the nation and its people. From Stalin’s reign of terror from 1929 to 1953 there can be similarities seen in his regime to features of Tsarism as well as differences, this is why there are alternative interpretations for Stalin being considered a ‘Red Tsar’.

Between 1924 and 1945, Joseph Stalin was able to emerge as the leader of the USSR and maintain what Kruchev described as “the accumulation of immense and limitless power”. Stalin's rise to power was a combination of his ability to manipulate situations and the failure of others to prevent him from taking power, especially Leon Trotsky. Stalin ruled the USSR from 1929 until his death in 1953. His rule was one of tyranny, a great change from the society that his predecessor, Lenin, had envisioned. During his time of reign, Stalin put into effect two self-proclaimed "five-year

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 greatly influenced Russia in the years 1924 through 1932. His rise to this power can be explained by the Russian Revolutionary experience that allowed him to gain authority in Russia. Although historians often refer to Stalin as a ruthless, mindless dictator, he redirected the Russian Revolution to major economic development. Stalin’s character in Russia during the Revolution catalyzed the many events that took place during the time period. Because of Stalin’s ability to both appeal to the masses, and take advantage of events, like Lenin’s death, Stalin was able to rise to power. Essentially, the Russian Revolution fostered the development of Stalin’s dictatorship leading the country into a state of economic growth and influence. The Revolution fostered Stalin’s ability to maintain a central leadership, use violence to gain control, and regenerate a previously disconnected economy.

This strategy disposed Stalin of any political opposition, which helped him sustain his power. Another major method that Stalin used to maintain his power was the use of propaganda to portray himself as a benevolent father figure. While at the same time he was committing mass murder. In Ukraine alone he killed ten million people in only two years! Many historians agree that Stalin killed over sixty million people. Why did he kill so much people? This can be traced back to Machiavelli’s The Prince. As discussed before, The Prince teaches that a ruler should have the fear of the people. Stalin slaughtered so many people to prevent any opposition to his reign. He eliminated all the strong people, both the intellectual and physical; therefore the few left would be too afraid and too weak, physically and mentally, to resist. Stalin did exactly what Machiavelli stated in the Prince, which was also stated above, “ And here it has to be noted that men must be either pampered or crushed, because they can get revenge fore small injuries but not fore grievous ones.” Stalin stated “ Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.”, “ Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.”, and “ I trust no one, not even myself.” As it can be clearly seen, Joseph Stalin epitomises most of Machiavelli’s beliefs that are stated in The Prince. Therefore, Stalin can be consider Machiavelli’s ideal prince.

Why was Joseph Stalin a dictator? If he wasn't a dictator, nobody has ever been. He had total control of the country, where people worked, where they lived, even what crops were planted and what was sold, and anybody who spoke out against the Communist party, or Stalin could be imprisoned or killed. Millions were killed under Stalin, some say even more than under Hitler, mainly because the Soviet Union was such a vast country. So, Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. Born into poverty, Stalin became involved in revolutionary politics, as well as criminal activities, as a young man."( Robert Service, A History of 20th Century Russia (1997))"

There were a lot of bad things Stalin did that was bad but it got worse later on. How do we know that Stalin’s Russia was communist? The country controlled the media, culture, public life, limited human rights and persecuted its enemies. These are signs of a totalitarian state with a totalitarian regime. It was also censorship. Censorship is when a state controls all aspects of human lives and covers the truth and bad sides of the state to make it look good and “the best”. In censorship, the country rewrites the newspapers, radio is corrupted and children in schools are taught wrong and are lied to. As in other totalitarian systems, nobody was allowed to have his own opinion. If you said something about Stalin that was bad or didn’t reflect him in a good way, then you were sent to his labor camps or Gulags in Siberia. Basically, you were not allowed to think with your own brain. In communism, like in other totalitarian regimes, order was kept through the army and more effectively, the police. Stalin had his own secret police, the KGB. Order was also kept through murder, exile and arrests. Stalin’s regime lasted from 1924 – 1953. Stalin, like other leaders, used propaganda to brainwash his population. There were posters on streets, statues etc. He also used cult of personality which is the excessive glorification of a single person which is stimulated by the government and does not exist. It is said that 20 million people lost their lives during Stalin’s rule. Arguably

It is undeniable that Stalin had a profound impact on the Soviet Union following Lenin’s death. His rise to power within the Soviet Union has provided historians with a hotbed of political intrigue for many years. He was an opportunist, coming to dominance by manipulating party politics and influential figures in the politburo to eliminate his opposition by recognising and exploiting their weaknesses thus becoming the dominant leader of the Soviet Union. He was severely underestimated by other members of the Politburo about his potential within the party, leading to missed opportunities to ally and stand against him- a mistake that Stalin never made. He gained support from the public by exploiting the idea of ‘the Cult of Lenin’ in 1924 at Lenin’s funeral, and then adopting this concept for himself, thereby likening himself to Lenin; and, more importantly, gained support from other party members by following the wishes of Lenin, for example, initially supporting the continuation of the NEP and supporting the idea of factionalism. This essay will also argue that he was ideologically flexible as he was able to change his ideas for the party according to who he needed as an ally, in order to achieve dominant status in the party. He sought out which individual was the biggest threat, and eliminated them before they could stand against him.

Machiavelli believed wicked means were to be used to achieve a virtuous outcome. In his eyes, a successful ruler was able to balance ethical virtue with harsh, sometimes even merciless pragmatism.11 If this meant partaking in the most ruthless acts of murder, brutalizing,

In The Prince, Machiavelli explains what a good and successful prince should be like. He advocates a strong, cutthroat authority figure and encourages the winning of power by any means necessary. The main theme in The Prince is that mob rule is dangerous, for people know only what is good for themselves and not what is good for the whole. The common people, in Machiavelli’s view, “are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours”. He believes that these commoners should be