Question

How Joseph Stalin(1879-1953) affect the world? How he was able to increase his power and keep his leadership. Why did he want to increase the power of government?

Answer 1

Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union. He replaced Vladimir Lenin in 1922 and remained the leader until his death. He was a dictator who terrorized the world and his brutal rule killed millions of his own citizens. During his reign, the Soviet Union turned from a peasant society into an industrial state.

· In the late 1920s, Stalin aimed to transform the Soviet Union into a modernized industrialized country rapidly.

· He developed three five-year plans in between 1928 and 1938. Coal, steel, oil, and electricity production massively increased. Workers who failed attain the targets of production where either executed or sent to exile.

· He also introduced collectivization of farms to increase food production. This refers to acquiring land from land owners and merging them into large farms which is to be run by the government. But collectivization did not work as expected, as millions of farmers refused to obey the rules put forth by Stalin. They were killed or exiled as a means of punishment. This also resulted in famine which killed millions of Soviet Union citizens.

· He also created a cult of personality through culture by which an idealized hero worship is created about him through excessive praise and flattery.

· During the 1930s several officials of the red army were executed under his leadership. Around 20 million citizens of the Soviet Union were sent to exile or executed. He put forth the theory of “socialism in one country”.

· Aggravation of the class struggle was also introduced by him during this time. This stressed in the creation of a Utopian egalitarian Communist society.

Stalin increased his power by

· Instilling fear in the citizens.

· Creating cult of personality

· Forming youth groups which stressed on encouraging communist views, cooperation, and teamwork.

· Providing education about his reforms.

· Propaganda by providing misinformation or half truths

· Purges or eliminating those who failed to obey his regulations

· Through force and compulsion of collectivization and five year plans

Stalin’s plan was to gain government control of the economy. He wanted to modernize Soviet Union and wanted a communist economy which controlled all the aspects of business, agriculture, and people’s lives. He wanted to build socialism in the Soviet Union through his power.