Michael Mulholland, Hunter Mikson, Avery Fields
Mrs. Schrimsher
AICE International History Period 7
16 December 2014
Josef Stalin: A Totalitarian Tyrant Joseph Vissarionovitch Stalin, notoriously known as one of the most ruthless and inhumane tyrants, startlingly was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize because of his efforts to end Second World War. Yet Stalin was not flaccid in his rise to power from an irrelevant position to the dictator of the Soviet Union from 1941-1953. Joseph Stalin is ubiquitously considered a totalitarian due to his economic, social, a political policies of government. Joseph Stalin’s youth began in December 18, 1879, when he was born as the son of Besarion Jughashivili in Georgia. His youth was plagued by his
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Stalin began his replacement of the NEP with the first of the Five Year Plans. The First Five Year Plan concentrated on heavy industry, such as coal, iron, steel, oil, and machine production in order to improve the nation’s industrialization by 300% (Marshi). Also, to insure that sufficient electricity is maintained, electricity production was planned to increase by 600% (Marshi). After the First Five Year Plan failed, the Second Five Year Plan was put into place. Its intention was to create a fully socialist economy with the disappearance of money within 1933-1937 (Marshi). The Second Plan was mainly built upon the achievements of the First Plan, ultimately realizing the successes of the First Plan. While the Second Five Year Plan did not fail, Stalin still set even higher goals initiating the Third Five Year Plan which lasted up until 1941. The Third Five Year Plan was focused on huge increases of production, and completing the process the first two plans laid the foundation for, enabling the USSR to begin the transition to communism (Oxbridge). Stalin’s propensity to increase production was also found in his want to increase agricultural productivity, evidenced by collectivization. Collectivization was put into place in order to finance the industrial development of the USSR as it could not do this with the old fashioned methods of strip farming, which used antiquated technology (Rudbeck).
At the age of 10, Joseph “Stalin” Djugashvili attended Gori’s religious elementary school. His mother, Yekaterina, wanted him to be a priest and would usually beat her son if he son whenever he misbehaved. These beatings were never as bad as those
His first five year plan was during 1928-1933 and this was the heavy industry plan which was making industries, transportation, and power supplies. The first of his methods was to use collectivization. Collectivization was the making of small farms into one big farm, and this would help increase the amount of products they make, and that would increase the amount of profit. Afterwards the people who were working on the farms would go into the city and be forced to work in the factories. The money then would be used to buy more more equipment which is industrial products which can help boost their profits yet again. Stalin was shown to be a heavy thinker, and to get his plans through, he made propaganda signs and speeches. He would focuses on telling his people the consequences if they didn’t work hard enough as a country, as they would be “falling behind... and those who fall behind are beaten”(Document 1). The propaganda speeches did work most of the time, but they felt hesitant as the goal for his five year plan was averaging to double the amount of, and “tripling in electricity (milliard kWh) from 5.05 to 17.0 in the end of 1933” (Document 2). Stalin
Joseph Stalin, from the time that he was a low level revolutionary to the years that he spent as the dictator of the Soviet Union, always knew what he needed to do to achieve his goals. His organized rise to power allowed him to gain a steady flow of followers who would support him for decades to come. Stalin received a minor government position in 1917, but by the time a new leader was needed in 1924, he “had turned the largely routine post of Party general secretary into the most powerful office in the Soviet Union” (“Joseph Stalin) and “had built a personal empire for himself through his control over committee appointments at all levels . . . expand[ing] the leading Party organs with his supporters, who then voted against his rivals”
Prior to his rise to power, Joseph Stalin’s early life had a large impact on his future as a leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin was born into a dysfunctional family in Gori, Georgia on December 21, 1879 (Joseph Stalin pbs.org). His real name however, was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Then changed his last name to Stalin because he combined the Russian word stal, which means steel, and Lenin, the name of the Soviet Union leader at the time (jewishvituallibrary.org). In keeping with his strong name, Stalin contracted and even survived smallpox at a young age, but with the only remaining evidence being a facial scar from where the smallpox where it had formed at. Stalin was sent to a seminary in Tiflis, now known as Tbilisi, to become a priest. However, Stalin never completed his education and soon became involved in the city’s active revolutionary circle ,
Joseph Stalin was the leader of Russia from the mid 1920's until his death in 1953. In the early stages of his life Stalin suffered a difficult childhood. During his early adulthood he was a criminal, and as an adult he was a strong dictator that oppressed the people of Russia. He wanted to transform the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial superpower. This lead to the famine of millions, and the death or exile of any that opposed him.
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).
Through his Five Year Plans and forced collectivization, Stalin was able to improve industry and agriculture. He did this while also using propaganda to brainwash his people into viewing him as a strong and great leader, despite some of the nasty things he did to them. The first Five Year Plan was announced in 1929. The goal of this plan was to increase Stalin’s resources by causing rapid industrialization.
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))"
The 3 5-year plans focused on heavy industry, as well as an emphasis on electricity, coal, oil and steel. The latter sections of industry greatly increased including coal (million tons) rising to 128 in 1937. Although during this time period, famine and forced labour occured, the 5-year plans were a success. Through the implementation of Collectivization and the 5-year plans, it can be seen how Stalinism impacted upon the economy, and thus the Soviet State.
December 21, 1879 in Georgia, Joseph Stalin is born. Around the time of Stalin’s birth Georgia was not the best place to be. They were at a miserable level of poverty, there was no industry, and they had a 75% illiteracy rate and an increasing crime rate. Stalin was born to peasants. Both of his parents were illiterate and were born as serfs. His father was a rough, violent drunk who beat his wife and child, and found it hard to make a living. He
“Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.” This is a direct quote from one of the most notorious men in history, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid 1920’s until his death. The period in which he ruled over the Soviet Union was known as the Reign of Terror because he was a malicious leader who was ready to do anything to maintain the level of power he achieved. He will forever be remembered as a cold blooded and heartless leader, who took the lives of millions without remorse. This research paper will cover this notorious and deceitful dictator and his early life, rise to power, his reign of terror, and the aftermath of his actions.
After the experiment with the New Economic Policy was tested for almost seven years, it was decided that it would be ended, due to the ever growing need for faster and better development of the Soviet economy, technology and industrialization. The NEP was primarily used to bring the nation out of a deep economic and social trough, which had killed millions of people, because of famines and revolts. While the Marxist-Communist idea was indeed kept throughout the entire endeavor, capitalism was brought back into the economic side of Russia; it was felt that the NEP would be "Building Socialism with Capitalist Hands" , though the idea of using any form of capitalist ideas or practices would explicitly go against the Marxist, communist and socialist policies, that was the main feeling behind many of the leading Soviets at the time.
He began with state control of Industry and Agriculture. This led to Stalin adopting his 'Five Year Plans for Industry' and 'Collectivisation of Agriculture'. An organisation called GOSPLAN was created to plan everything out. The first five-year plan was created to improve heavy industries production such as coal, oil, iron, steel and electricity. The second continued to emphasise on heavy industry but also made a commitment to communication systems such as railways.
Adding to the deplorable oppression borne by the proletariat during the Five Year Plans, Stalin introduced a collectivisation campaign which not only sparked a persecution of kulaks, but also induced a widespread famine. The Stalin government’s compulsory agricultural policy was largely a failure with regard to its goals. Beginning in 1929, all farms were to be collectivised, with the aim of improving agricultural output and hence, industrialisation. The USSR’s initial system of farming was inefficient, but the introduction of fertilisation and tractors modernised agricultural techniques, increasing the nation’s capacity for production, supporting Historian Jamieson’s statement. However, the policy was catastrophic due to the mass movement of peasant resistance that saw farmers defiantly burning crops and slaughtering livestock, regarding the campaign as a violation of their freedom. By 1933, agricultural production fell dramatically; grain by 17 million tonnes and cows and pigs by a total of 23 million, to below what it was in 1913 (Downey, 1989, p. 19). This
Due to the extreme focus on heavy industry, there were shortages of consumer goods, and subsequently, inflation grew. To satisfy the state’s increasing need for food supplies, the First Five Year Plan introduced the concept of collectivization. Collectivization entailed compounding peasants’ land and animals, and state farms to provide food to the growing industrial sector. The collectivization movement was not received well by the peasants, and as a result, Stalin altered his plan of action. In 1933, he introduced the Second Five-Year Plan. With this plan, he set more realistic goals, and increased the focus on producing consumer goods and increasing industrial output in general. By 1940, after a Third Five-Year Plan was implemented, the Soviet economy was completely industrialized.