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.
Student Number: 27048382 Modern History Essay ‘With reference to the quote and your own knowledge, assess the impact of the Terror on Soviet society in the late 1930’s. In the late 1930’s, the purges and show trials which comprised the Terror, had a significant impact on Soviet society. The Communist party was coerced in powerlessness, the working class suffered considerably, both physically and psychologically, and copious members of the intelligentsia were exiled or killed as a direct result of the Terror. Furthermore the military was damaged, as many of the leaders of the Party’s formerly powerful Red Army were purged. The purges and show trials aimed to terrorise Soviet society into compliance with Stalin’s regime, and ‘remove potential enemies,’ to allow Stalin to found an almost entirely ‘new’ Communist party, which comprised of ‘more dependable’ members.
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.
Causes of the Great Terror In 1918, the Bolshevik party, through means of insurrection, seized control of the government in Russia and, in so doing, forever changed the lives of the Russian people and their society. Promising to bring an end to repression and tyranny by the rich and powerful, the new Soviet government quickly transformed itself into one of the most cruel and repressive regimes that human beings have ever been forced to endure under. While the terror and repression was something that continually waxed and waned from 1918 until the death of Stalin in 1955, there occurred a most vicious and peculiar period of violence at the end of the 1930’s that has forever been remembered since as the “Great Terror”. What makes this period of violence so noteworthy is that during this time the Bolsheviks launched their campaign of carnage against members of their own party. Indeed, those caught up in this nightmare thought that Stalin’s only perceivable motive was to destroy the best people in the party.
‘How far do you agree with the view that the most important cause of the Great Terror was the murder of Kirov in 1934?’ Sergey Kirov’s murder in 1934 was undoubtedly a decisive factor in the outbreak of the Great Terror in 1936. Stalin’s claim that Kirov’s murder was part of a widespread conspiracy against the government gave him a convenient excuse to begin arresting and executing several enemies within the Communist Party whom he deemed ‘suspicious’, despite several people believing Stalin himself was responsible due to the threat that Kirov posed to his leadership. There are however other factors, such as Stalin’s paranoia, Stalin’s personal ambitions, and the ever-increasing likelihood of war between the USSR and Nazi Germany, that can also be considered potential decisive factors in Stalin’s decision to implement the Purges. This essay shall explore the aforementioned factors and attempt to evaluate their significance. It shall eventually be concluded that Kirov’s murder was a significant, but not a solely responsible, cause of the Great Terror.
While he was careful to protect the spirit of Lenin, Khrushchev attacked the crimes committed by Stalin and his closest associates. Throughout the four hours, Khrushchev accused Stalin of creating a regime based on "suspicion, fear, and terror." Khrushchev added that he wanted to break the cult of Stalin, who had died three years before. He condemned the mass repressions that took place between 1936 and 1938, lashed out at Stalin's foreign policy during World War II, and accused him of nationalism and anti-Semitism (rferl.org). In the speech Khrushchev denounced Stalin and Stalinism, and stated the Stalin was wrong.
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
l 6-1 Reading Haugen, Brenda. Joseph Stalin Dictator of the Soviet Union. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Compass Point Books, 2006 Chapter 1: “A Ruthless Dictator” Joseph was a cruel and heartless man. A. He killed his rivals if they posed a threat to him.
Khrushchev shocked the world by delivering his famous speech in 1956 in which he brought down the “cult of the personality” of Stalin. The First Secretary revealed a hidden letter written by Lenin containing criticism against Stalin. Khrushchev denounced the Father of Communism by talking of his violent rules and practices and especially the purges that Stalin used to get rid of his political enemies("Khrushchev's "Secret Speech,"). According to the speech Stalin had established “dictatorship and terror,” and Khrushchev accused him of “violations of the Socialist legality.” The effects of the de-Stalinization showed that the people from the Soviet Camp were not ready
Despite all that it is fair to say that Lenin was a successful leader without whom November revolution and hence the crucial change in Russia would not be possible. He played a significant role in the Russian history that Stalin wanted to inherit. To successfully revive the economy and stay in power he often used all possible means such as approval of the cold-blooded execution of the entire Imperial family, including women and children, usage of the "Cheka," to take innocent hostages at random–and shoot them, if necessary–to secure the grain supply, institutionalisation of terror as a method of state policy, establishment of both the system of deportation to concentration camps and the practice of political