How Did Stalin Influence The Soviet Union

In the words of John C. Maxwell, “Leadership is influence”. Stalin was a strict dictator who ruled the Soviet Union for over two decades. He was able to obtain more power by gaining popular support from the citizens of the Soviet Union. Although Stalin forced industrialization on the Soviet Union and caused the worst man-made famine in history, he gained many supporters throughout his time as dictator. Stalin won the support of the Soviets through relentless propaganda, strict censorship, and the imposition of Russian culture unto the Soviet Union.

Stalin was able to gain the support of the citizens of the Soviet Union through constant propaganda. He used propaganda to make himself “a god-like figure (Ellis and Esler 2052)” in order to boost morale and faith in Stalin and the communist government. Propaganda was a tool used to build up a “cult of personality” around Stalin, which created him as an ideal leader and hero. With the use of technology, “the party bombarded the public with relentless propaganda (2052)”. The government used several types of propaganda to spread Stalin’s message and beliefs. Radios

blared into factories and villages, and posters and billboards urged factory workers to exceed their quotas and work arduously. Newspaper headlines were full of connections between home enemies and foreign agents who sought to overthrow the Communist regime. Citizens were forced to hear about communist success and the evils of capitalism everywhere from movie theaters to schools.
Another way Stalin gained support was through censoring ideas that opposed his own.

He controlled what art was seen, what music was heard, and what books were accessible. Artists in the Soviet Union were required to create their work in a specific style, called social realism. Social realism is an artistic style whose goal was to promote socialism by showing Soviet life in a positive light. Writers were also required to write in the style of social realism, which usually included a hero battling against obstacles to accomplish a goal. Despite the restrictions put on their work, several Soviet writers were able to produce magnificent works. Composers were constantly compromised by Stalin and the idea of socialist realism. Artists, writers, and composers who refused to conform to the government’s rules faced harsh government persecution and lived in

fear.
In addition to propaganda and censorship, Stalin controlled the cultural life of the Soviet Union by promoting russification. Russification is making a nationality’s culture to make it more ethnically Russian. The Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic was composed of the old Russian heartland, which was the most dominant and massive republic. The other fourteen SSRs were homelands of various nationalities and possessed their own languages, historical traditions, and cultures. But Stalin was able to completely change this policy in order to promote russification. He appointed Russians to high-ranking positions in non-Russian SSRs to promote russification. Stalin also required that the Russian language was used in schools and businesses.
Through the use of propaganda, censorship, and Russification, Stalin was able to obtain popular support and keep power in the Soviet Union. Propaganda was a part of everyday life and was used to promote the Stalin’s ideas. Stalin also had full control over what art was seen, what music was heard, and even what books were read. Russia came to dominate the whole USSR as a result of Stalin imposing Russian culture on minorities. In conclusion, Stalin used these terror tactics in order to control the minds and heart of the Soviet citizens.