Introduction
Hook: Those in power become corrupt, but without the force that drives fear into the people, they couldn’t have achieved such power.
Thesis: The nine dogs that were raised by Napoleon were trained to protect him, do his dirty work, and allow him to keep the farm under his control; similarly, the Secret Russian Police, the KGB and the NKVD, were employed by the government to allow Stalin to stay in power.
Historical Background
Topic Sentence: The KGB, otherwise known as the Committee of State Security, was the world's largest spy and state-security group; the NKVD, or People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, was involved in almost all aspects of life of everyday people in the Soviet Union.
The KGB was often involved in numerable
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external affairs, and they became more powerful after Stalin employed them and gave them certain tasks to carry out. 1. The main responsibilities and duties of the KGB consisted of “foreign and domestic espionage, intelligence gathering and analysis, counterintelligence, political control over the population, protecting borders, and covert activities and disinformation” (KGB ABC Clio). 2. The KGB was able to carry out all their responsibilities and duties, and they were almost, internationally, everywhere as spies for Stalin. B. The NKVD focused on the internal affairs and helped Stalin by exiling or executing everyone who were perceived as a threat. 1.
The NKVD was an “instrument of terror as Joseph Stalin used it to promote his political and social objectives” (NKVD ABC Clio).
2. Since the NKVD was feared by the people, Stalin believed that they would be helpful by getting rid of his political and social opponents, such as Trotsky.
C. The Secret Russian Police, the KGB and NKVD, was the main reason why Stalin was feared by his people, and because of the fear that was driven into the people, Stalin was able to keep his powerful position for a period of time.
Animal Farm Connection
Topic Sentence: In Animal Farm, Napoleon takes the nine dogs with him everywhere as power enforcers to make sure that he and his pigs prevail.
Napoleon wanted to make sure that the dogs were not influenced by the other animals.
1. “Napoleon took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education,” and “kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence” (Orwell 35).
2. He knew that the young animals were easier to brainwash, so that’s why he seized them and reared them to protect him and kill those who opposed the pigs.
B. The dogs intimidate the other animals to help Napoleon and the other pigs gain
power. 1. “When the terror caused by the executions had died down, some of the animals remembered– or thought they remembered– that the Sixth Commandment decreed ‘No animal shall kill any other animal.’ And though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs" (Orwell 91). 2.The animals have become so frightened by the dogs that even though they knew how corrupt the farm and Napoleon has become, not one of them dared to mention it. C. Even though the animals knew something was wrong, the dogs were used as a way to intimidate the animals into staying subservient to Napoleon and the pigs. IV. Conclusion- George Orwell did an excellent job in showing the allegory of the historical person/event in Animal Farm. Such as when the nine dogs helped Napoleon chase away Snowball, it showed how Trotsky was gotten rid of by the Russian Secret Police and Stalin. During the purges, the Secret Russian Police helped Stalin gather the people who posed as threat and then carried out their exiles or executions. Likewise, the nine dogs in Animal Farm were the violent force that allowed Napoleon to remain in power.
In conclusion, many soviets citizens appeared to believe that Stalin’s positive contributions to the U.S.S.R. far outweigh his monstrous acts. These crimes have been down played by many of Stalin’s successors as they stress his achievements as collectivizer, industrializer, and war leader. Among those citizens who harbor feelings of nostalgia, Stalin’s strength, authority , and achievement contrast sharply with the pain and suffering of post-revolutionary Russia.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Originally platformed by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took control of the communist party in 1924 when Lenin died of a stroke. Communist ideals were heavily in opposition to classical liberal values; Whereas Liberalism stressed the importance of the individual, Communism sought to better the greater good of society by stripping many of the individual rights and freedoms of citizens. Communism revoked the class structure of society and created a universal equality for all. This equality came with a price however. Any who opposed the communist rule were assassinated in order to keep order within society. Joseph Stalin took this matter to the extreme during an event known as the Great Purge. The Great Purge, also known as The Great Terror, began in 1936 and concluded in 1938. During these two years, millions of people were murdered and sent to labour camps in Siberia for opposing the Communist party and the ultimate dictator, Stalin himself. In some cases, even those who did not oppose the regime were killed. Sergey Kirov was a very popular member of the communist party and Stalin saw this as a possible threat to his ultimate power. As a result, Stalin order Kirov to be executed. Stalin furthered his violation of individual rights by introducing the NKVD who worked closely with the russian secret police force. One of the primary goals of the secret police was to search out dissidents who were not entirely faithful to the communist regime. This violation of privacy caused histeria en mass in the Soviet Union and millions were killed as a result. The Soviet union resisted liberalism to such an extreme that it resulted in the deaths of millions of people, leading to some of the darkest days in russian
In this situation, Joseph Stalin killed Sergey Kirov only to eliminate a political rival that opposed his idea of government. Joseph Stalin did not want to give people even an option to join or support another political party other than his. Joseph Stalin was cruel and represented a totalitarian government because of the killing of millions that included Sergei Kirov. Joseph Stalin also had created a massacre that unfortunately caused a lot of lost lives. This act of terror is also known as the great purge and according to, “The Purges in the USSR,” Stalin asked the Politburo for its support and to give itself cover to purge the party of threatening elements to the Stalin regime. The policy was used to give legitimacy to the killing of millions of Russians during his rule and eventually the great purge took place, “the first people rounded up were labelled ‘Trotskyites’. They were put in prisons run by the People’s Commisirariat for Internal affairs or NKVD who, according to the very few that survived this experience, used both physical and psychological torture to gain information about other ‘traitors’ to the cause.” Stalin sent his enemies to prison often sending them to hard
First of all, Napoleon and the pigs used propaganda to tell lies the animals would
“When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon’s orders. They, too, were slaughtered” (pg 93). Napoleon like other authoritarian dictators throughout history is executing all of his political rivals in order to prevent a revolution or uprising to occur and further cementing his regime in the Animal Farm society. In this passage as he is directly violating one of the laws that Animal Farm created (No animal shall ever kill any other animal). This law was created by the Animal Farm society in order to prevent chaos and corruptness in the Animal Farm government, which in turn means that the abolishment of this law causes corruptness to reach a new height. “the winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was even shorter. Once again all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism” (115). Napoleon’s regime has reduced rations on all of the citizens of Animal Farm except for the pigs and the dogs thus further amplifying the fact that everyone who isn’t a pig or a dog is a second class citizen who can’t vote, can’t sleep in the barn, and can’t eat as much. As Napoleon reached its most powerful state, it also reached its most corrupt state having inequality as a common recurring theme in the Animal Farm society and enemies of the state being publicly
In order to conclude the extent to which the Great Terror strengthened or weakened the USSR, the question is essentially whether totalitarianism strengthened or weakened the Soviet Union? Perhaps under the circumstances of the 1930s in the approach to war a dictatorship may have benefited the country in some way through strong leadership, the unifying effect of reintroducing Russian nationalism and increased party obedience. The effects of the purges on the political structure and community of the USSR can be described (as Peter Kenez asserts) as an overall change from a party led dictatorship to the dictatorship of a single individual; Stalin. Overall power was centred on Stalin, under whom an increasingly bureaucratic hierarchy of party officials worked. During the purges Stalin's personal power can be seen to increase at the cost of the party.
When most people hear the name Joseph Stalin, they usually associate the name with a man who was part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. He was willingly to do anything to improve the power of the Soviet Union’s economy and military, even if it meant executing tens of millions of innocent people (Frankforter, A. Daniel., and W. M. Spellman 655). In chapter three of Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book, Everyday Stalinism, she argues that since citizens believed the propaganda of “a radiant future” (67), they were able to be manipulated by the Party in the transformation of the Soviet Union. This allowed the Soviet government to expand its power, which ultimately was very disastrous for the people.
The Party believed that if the problem was not openly discussed the analogy “out of sight, out of mind” would apply. Stalin, through the coercive machinery, helped mute out all opposition. and purge all his personal opponents. The OGPU later became the OGPU. NKVD] were used to purge the political dissidents in the USSR.
Joseph Stalin and Napoleon are both communist with the demand for power. Both had similar ways of ruling but one main reason is that they ruled with an iron fist, and ruled by terror. If anybody opposed their word on something that most likely meant that person was going to be exterminated. “Stalin ruled by terror and with a totalitarian grip in order to eliminate anyone who might oppose him. Stalin expanded th...
Throughout the years most country's governments have established some sort of secret police. No matter what the government called it, whether it is the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or her Majesty's secret service (MI6), whatever name the government used, the international term of "secret police" could always be applied. Many agencies of secret police have had their success and failures, some more than others. The KGB, which in English means "the Committee of Public Safety," has had their share of both successes and failures. Most secret police agencies have been used primarily to obtain information from other countries. This was also a primary goal for the KGB, but one of their other goals, which was just as important, was to keep unwanted outside information from the Russian people. This was only one out of many the KGB's objectives. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to prove that the actions of the KGB were, all in all, a success.
Stalin had a viciously suspicious man who coined the concept of “enemy of the people.” (Khrushchev’s Secret speech, cold war documents, 87) Khrushchev in his speech bring up the effects of Stalin’s personality had on the progression of the Soviet Union like the falsification of cases in the provinces of innocent Communists, the empty information of spies everywhere, and to the doctor-plotters that Stalin has tortured confessions out of eminent Soviet Medical practitioners. (Khrushchev’s Secret speech, cold war documents, 87-89) Khrushchev’s secret speech for the 20th Party Congress did not stay secret for long, manuscripts were sent out to communist countries and even found its way into America. This speech was the fuel for anti-Soviet uprisings and resentment which led to the uprising in Poland and in Hungary in 1956. In order to lead the Soviet Union on a peaceful path that coexisted with the western world the image of Stalin needed to be squished to allow diplomatic relations with countries that were alike and not alike in the
Animalism is betrayed when Napoleon orders to manipulate the commandments to expedient himself, and the superior pigs. Subsequently the inequality is increased, the animals are treated with vindictiveness they had not experienced with Mr. Jones, yet they believe they live in freedom for their trust in Napoleon and the founded customs of Animalism.
They could arrest anyone on suspicion of being an enemy of the state without any evidence. But Stalin used the NKVD as a central control to a bigger extent than the Tsar. During the purges (1934-38) the NKVD were vital. They arrested twenty million people in 1937 and created fear amongst communist workers, which became their biggest motivator.
Stalin’s purges and show trials gained him complete control over the three components necessary in order to secure his position as a totalitarian dictator: the military, the masses, and the government, making them a political necessity when considering the precarious power struggle in the Soviet Union. By the mid-1930s, Stalin had rose to the highest position of power in the Soviet Union, and had an understanding of the efficacy of purges from his period of dekulakization earlier in the decade, which not only killed the kulaks who were most dangerous to him, but intimidated others into submission. However, he still needed to contend with internal dissent from politicians, artists, and peasants. This led to the undertaking of the Great Purge