The death of the creator of the Soviet Communist Party and founder of the USSR, Vladimir Lenin, left the young Soviet Union craving the leadership from a man of the same stature. At first, the brilliant leader of the Red Army and also the appointed candidate by Lenin, Trotsky, seemed to be the one to take control of the USSR. Instead, Joseph Stalin took control of the Soviet Union, using many vindictive political moves and his position as General Secretary. As the leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin strengthened and stabilized the structure of the nation to become a world superpower and industrial colossus. In many ways, Stalin transformed himself to replicate Lenin by adopting his ideas and goals, although the way in which he met these goals are highly controversial by historians.
Stalin used factionalism , bonapartism and Trotskyism to his advantage . Moreover , I believe that Stalin undercutting Trotsky’s influence was a contributing factor to him being able to emerge as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. Stalin’s ideological methods was central to his success of emerging as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. As his presence on many senior committees secured him a position at the highest level of government, Stalin had enormous personal authority . He used ideological methods such as making accusations of Bonapartism.
Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin were both powerful, ambitious leaders that worked their way into positions of power. Stalin took over after Lenin died to lead the USSR after the Russian Revolution. Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party and gained the people’s support with promises of a strong leader that resisted western powers. On their rise to power, both Stalin and Hitler became leaders of political parties, eliminated opposing parties, and promised a better future for the people and country, but Stalin used the people’s support as leverage in his power struggle with Trotsky while Hitler used his passion and the economic situation in Germany to become leader of the Nazi party and gain support over the socialists. Both Hitler and Stalin started their journey towards power by joining political parties.
Practice Essay – Development of Totalitarianism Account for the development of totalitarianism in the USSR between 1928 and 1945 The development of a totalitarian society in the USSR between 1928 and 1945 can be greatly attributed to the increasingly centralized control and actions of Stalin and the Communist Party. Stalin’s actions resulted in this growth of totalitarianism according to the Friedrich-Brzezinski model as they completely reformed public opinion and increasingly centralized control over soviet life and economy. This establishment of a totalitarian state can be accounted for by three clear aspects of Stalin’s rule: his Cult of Personality, his use of Purges and terror and his increasing control over the population. Stalin’s Cult of Personality was crucial to the growth of totalitarianism in the USSR as they enabled him to indoctrinate the population in order to ensured that their views aligned with his and the Party’s. This was in accordance to the Friedrich-Brzezinski model of totalitarianism as it resulted in public adherence of an official ideology and evidences a state monopoly over effective mass communication.
This propaganda continued even once they had won the election. Furthermore, once the Nazi’s had gained power, they began to push anti-Jew and other very racist and fascist propaganda on the people of Germany. Hitler was shown in newspapers and presented on the radio as a strong and just leader; with the Jews being represented as evil. Propaganda was therefore crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as it meant when they began their attack on the Jews, they had the support of their people. Furthermore, it can be argued that propaganda was crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as they portrayed Hitler as powerful and showed him to be good for the country, making sure people continued to show support for the Nazis and it portrayed Hitler as above all party politicking and as a figure for national focus and loyalty.
Firstly, he capitalised on the ‘Cult of Lenin’ by painting himself as a natural successor to Lenin. The ‘Cult of Lenin’ was the elevation of Lenin; his ideologies and his life. For instance, Lenin’s face could be found on many everyday objects including light bulbs. This was an intelligent creation; if Stalin could depict that he was closely aligned to an almost divine figure such as Lenin, then he would able to win the popularity of ordinary Russians who were, to an extent, indoctrinated via this method. Thus, Stalin was able to consolidate his power by being depicted as Lenin’s natural successor.
Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist though, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.”(Rand 21) With the repetition of these actions daily, they are able to brainwash almost all of society into thinking that they are living in a perfect world. The most effective form of propaganda that the government uses is the use of the word we.
How important was Stalin’s use of the Lenin legacy in gaining power? Stalin’s use of the Lenin Legacy helped him gain support during the years 1924-1929, eventually resulting in him winning the power struggle and gaining power in Russia. Even though in Lenin’s final testament he made it clear that Stalin was trouble and he should be got rid of, Stalin’s political cunning and his use of the Lenin legacy meant that he was able to gain people’s support and become leader of the Communist party. One of the most noticeable was at Lenin’s funeral. Firstly, Stalin had told Trotsky (who was a major rival to Stalin at this time) the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral.
In 1919, Stalin became Liaison Officer between the Politburo and the Orgburo, which allowed him to control the resources available to put into effect the decisions made by the Politburo. In 1921, Stalin used his position as Commissar for Nationalities to purge the government of Georgia, and filled it up with his own supporters. Crucially, Lenin appointed Stalin General Secretary in 1922, allowing to increase his power base by promoting and dismissing influential Party officials, particularly local Party secretaries. Unlike his opponents, Stalin realised that the key to power lay in control over the Party organisation, rather than within state institutions. Stalin was also fortunate to benefit from the ‘Lenin Enrolment’, causing the Party to grow rapidly, numbering 800,000 by 1925 and over 1.5 million by 1929.
Goebbels used many means in order to create the personality cult which is credited for keeping Hitlers third reich united. Goebbels knew the power of controlling a nation laid with keeping a step ahead, therefore he knew technological advances were essential to gripping peoples attention. By ensuring that radios were incredibly cheap he could make sure that they were in everyones home thus entering the personal life of all germans. He also knew that film could grip Hitlers Germany and hence he enlisted the help of Leni Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl In a state where where women played a secondary role to men, Riefenstahl thrived becoming the one of the most if not the most successful film maker of the time.