How did Stalin's dictatorship develop? Stalin made his way into becoming dictator by a series of manipulative and clever tactics he would use to aid his influence. After Lenin and his party took over the election of the Provisional government which had been elected after the fall of the tsarist regime through a series of well-aimed political hits and armed threats; Stalin ascended the ranks of the government through extensive manipulation and threats as well as gaining the strong loyalty of some socialist idealists. In 1922 Stalin received the majority vote to become the General Secretary of the Communist party; a role that really no one else in the party really wanted as they deemed it unimportant and much like “House-chores”. What the other members of the soviet party such as Trotsky did not realize however; was that Stalin would use the position to gain a mass of followers for his socialist ideals and would use it as a stepping stone to achieve greater political influence and manipulate his way even further in the ranks.
During his rule as General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Stalin was able to create a highly totalitarian regime. This was achieved by the dictator’s notorious use of terror, by controlling information and mass media and Stalin’s prominent cult of personality. However, the extent of the totalitarian rule didn’t achieve similar levels throughout the whole state. Stalin’s use of terror as a method of eliminating opposition was a key factor in the establishment of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. In the early 1930’s Stalin felt threatened by his growing opposition and was determined to bring the party under his total control.
In 1924 Lenin dies leaving the role as leader of the communist open. Lenin did not want Stalin, but Trotsky to take over his position. But as Lenin’s strokes got worse, he lost the ability to participate in the CC (Central Committee). Lenin had information about Stalin that could have been very damaging if it was released in public. Stalin had many calculated methods to achieve the power of Russia.
His ideological dispute with Trotsky, another major contender to lead Russia was a key factor in his uprising as Trotsky was the leader of the ‘left-wing opposition’. Trotsky was the leader of the red-army and had excellent leadership but was very arrogant and had a lack of judgement. Stalin made sure that he exploited these characteristics of Trotsky and made it aware to the other Bolshevik members. Stalin took advantage of this and started to manoeuvre devious tactics such as giving
The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars, or worse, spreading communism across the world now that his one-state notion had been fulfilled. Admittedly, the first view of Stalin, as an imperialist leader, may be twisted. The Russians claim, and have always claimed, that Stalin's motives were purely defensive. Stalin wished to create a buffer zone of Communist states around him to protect Soviet Russia from the capitalist West. In this sense, his moves were not aggressive at all -- they were truly defensive moves to protect the Soviet system.
Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania all ended up with communist governments and had leaders who looked to Moscow for advice as opposed to the people of the country they governed. Then in September 1947, Stalin set up the Communist Information Bureau or Cominform to co-ordinate the work of the Communist Parties of Eastern Europe. Stalin controlled all the countries and if anybody as thinking about being independent, Stalin replaced them with an obedient person. They only person that was successful of becoming making their country independent was Josip Broz
Why did Stalin instigate the great purges? Stalin is a man known for the ruthless methods he adopted to counteract oppositions, the harsh plans he set in order to industrialize Russia and also the way he shamelessly consolidated his power to secure his position in USSR. He’s infamous for his manipulative behavior, his temperamental ways and historically, the reign of terror (also referenced to as the great purges) he had initiated and allowed to unfurled upon the USSR. Stalin endeavored to: Secure his position within the party as well as a prominent figure in the USSR; build a strong and independent Russia made so by the five year plans he had developed;to have complete and total control of Russia, its people and industries; And he believed that the relentless terror he descended upon russia was the perfect medium which would allow him to achieve his goals. Stalin was engulfed by a sort-of paranoia, which didn’t always work against him but it did generally mean he was constantly worried by the thought of being thrown out of power, especially by those within his party.
1953 saw the death of Soviet Russia’s greatest leader, in a never-ending atmosphere of anxiety, betrayal and paranoia. Stalin had become the state, not through the path of diplomacy, but through tumultuous bloodshed and trickery. He held absolute power and anyone foolish enough to protest against him and his path to the ultimate communist Utopia would find them selves dead or in a forced labor camp. The roots of this ultimate power lie in the years 1929-39, where Stalin employed the ‘Great Terror’, with the purges to secure political and economic control over the Soviet state. This essay will deduce how effective the ‘terror’ was employed to secure these corner stones.
He then intended for a mass increase in resource production to take place, which in fact did occur over the coming plans. Another political reason was that Stalin needed to develop a reputation that would supress that of Lenin. This was very important for Stalin as people viewed him as Lenin’s underdog, stating that Stalin lived in his shadow constantly referring to him whenever possible. This therefore retained Lenin’s god-like figure, which angered Stalin. He then decided to talk about Lenin’s mistakes to the Bolshevik Party, which came as a huge
Stalin not only stopped a negative opinion of him costing leadership, but he completely turned that opinion upside down, persuading the public that he was very close to the much loved Lenin. He did this by changing photographs to show him and Lenin together in different circumstances, as well as removing Trotsky from them, trying to create a backlash towards him, labeling Trotsky ‘an enemy of the people.’ He manipulated