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Stalin political economic social effects on Russia
Stalin economic policies
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Joseph Stalin. The second most infamous dictator named after Hitler during the era of World War 2. History and the international community have judged Stalin as a villain for all the horrible crimes he had committed. There has also been some debate whether he was really a villain or a hero. So, is this judgement fair? I am going to be inspecting, history’s judgement of Stalin and his actions. The key idea is that Stalin was not always a villain as he had too brought many great benefits for the country of Soviet Union. I will use the accurate historical sources which I have collated from my research to test the credibility whether Stalin was indeed more of a villain than a hero in the eyes of history. This would then help us to learn more about the hidden secrets of Stalin which people are oblivious of and hopefully to provide a balanced view on this issue. In this essay, I will discuss the impact of what Stalin’s policies had on the country of Soviet Union, both good and bad, weighing them to give the true judgement. This essay will also show what Stalin had promised the poor peasants for the elimination of kulaks and how Stalin managed to help end the gruesome World War 2 by being victorious at the last battle of Berlin in 1945.
The Political Climate in the USSR
A lot has been written about Stalin's human rights abuses under his dictatorship. There is a wealth of literature out there with very strong evidence that the people of the USSR - and also other Soviet nations supported or controlled by the USSR - had suffered greatly while Stalin was in power. This essay will systematically examine the negative side of Stalin's rule, first within Russia, and then in the broader Soviet international community. The essay will also give su...
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Conclusion/Closing argument:
Therefore, I can conclude that history has judged Stalin fairly as a villain. Even though it can be debated that Stalin helped to end World War 2 and with his Five-Year Plans he industrialized the Soviet Union via centralized administration and collectivisation. But the Five-Year Plans, despite its lofty aims, turned out to be disastrous in its execution. Labour camps were set up, where millions died. The process of ‘collectivization’ destroyed millions of acres of land and livestock. The poor farmers, who were supposed to be the beneficiaries of the Five-Year Plans, suffered and died from starvation. Stalin’s economic policies had benefitted the government, at the expense of the lives of his citizens. It was an atrocious abuse of human rights, and history is right in condemning Stalin as one of the world’s worst dictators.
In order to establish whether Lenin did, indeed lay the foundation for Stalinism, two questions need to be answered; what were Lenin’s plans for the future of Russia and what exactly gave rise to Stalinism? Official Soviet historians of the time at which Stalin was in power would have argued that each one answers the other. Similarly, Western historians saw Lenin as an important figure in the establishment of Stalin’s socialist state. This can be partly attributed to the prevailing current of pro-Stalin anti-Hitler sentiments amongst westerners until the outbreak of the cold war.
As a dictator Stalin was very strict about his policies, especially working. For instance. Stalin had set quotas very high , as they were very unrealistic. The workers had very long days, and under the rule of Stalin most people worked many hours in overtime, and resulting in no pay. Stalin treated workers very, very harshly. Those who did not work were exiled to Siberia or killed. Some may say you got what you deserved in Stalin’s time. Those who worked very hard for Stalin sometimes got bonuses such as trips, or goods likes televisions and refrigerators. The workers had to conform to Stalin’s policies . Stalin’s harsh treatment of workers received a very unwelcoming response, but in fact the liberal amount of goods that the workers had made, had in fact
Initially, the first human right that Stalin violated during his reign as dictator of the Soviet Union was everyone is entitled to fair and public hearing by an impartial tribunal. Natasha Petrovskaya was tried three times and still convicted guilty. The judges were biased and were not at all interested. Mikhail Belov was tried by a court of three pro-Bolshevik judges, a troika, and it took 10 minutes to figure out his sentence. Olga Andreyeva was treated unfairly as she did not even get a trial she was simply given 10 years in the G...
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.
Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold 199). The main aspects of his worldview was “socialism
Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union can be best described as a period of terror and censorship. In other words, he was very strict, considering the fact that he created the totalitarian government. In order to create this type of government, Stalin used fear and propaganda. He took part in The Great Purge, which was a campaign of terror that was supposed to eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power. He also relied on secret police, who would arrest and execute any traitors. The online blog, “The Reasons For the Failure of The Russian Revolution”, brings up information on how Stalin planned to rule as dictator of Russia. It has been noted, “This ‘reshaping’ had three main aspects: the elimination of all dissent; the liquidation of all forms of democracy and of working class organisation; the slashing of the living standards of the working class and the physical annihilation of millions of peasants” (Text 5). This quote explains how Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia, which includes the deaths of several peasants of Russia. The Russians did not just die from The Great Purge, but also from Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan was an attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union. It was also a plan for increasing the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. He had control over economic resources, including farms and
Life is the most precious thing on Earth, but what if it was taken just at the snap of a finger? Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, took millions of lives under his totalitarian rule. He was the most fierce and vicious leader in comparison to all the other rulers that enforced totalitarian rule. Due to governing and how many people were killed under Stalin’s rule, this is what makes the Soviet Union during the 1920s to the 1950s the worst totalitarian state ever in existence. THE SOVIET UNION’S EXISTENCE Stalin believed that there needed to be a dictatorship that regulated every aspect of its citizens’ lives in order to industrialize the Soviet Union.
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.
One can argue that Stalin was a great leader of the 20th century. After all, he took an undeveloped country and molded it into one of the world’s greatest industrial and military forces. But, this transformation did not come at a small cost. Stalin was so paranoid that his Communist regime would be ‘crushed’ by one of the dominating Capitalist countries of the West that he became obsessed with the mass production of industrial and agricultural machinery, neglecting the production of basic goods needed to sustain human survival. In his mind, getting Russia’s industrial sector up to par was more important than producing adequate clothing and household goods. Setting completely absurd targets for increased production in agriculture, and of coal, pig iron, oil, and steel products in his three five-year plans did work well for Stalin, and other countries began to take notice. But, in history, very few leaders have forced their own people to make the kinds of sacrifices Stalin imposed on them.
Son of a poverty-stricken shoemaker, raised in a backward province, Joseph Stalin had only a minimum of education. However, he had a burning faith in the destiny of social revolution and an iron determination to play a prominent role in it. His rise to power was bloody and bold, yet under his leadership, in an unexplainable twenty-nine years, Russia because a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a despotic ruler who more than any other individual molded the features that characterized the Soviet regime and shaped the direction of Europe after World War II ended in 1945. From a young revolutionist to an absolute master of Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin cast his shadow over the entire globe through his provocative affair in Domestic and Foreign policy.
During Stalin’s regime, the individual Russian was the center of his grand plan for better or worse. Stalin wanted all of his people to be treated the same. In the factory the top producer and the worst producer made the same pay. He wanted everyone to be treated as equals. His goal to bring the Soviet Union into the industrial age put tremendous pressure on his people. Through violence and oppression Stalin tried to maintain an absurd vision that he saw for the Soviet Union. Even as individuals were looked at as being equals, they also were viewed as equals in other ways. There was no one who could be exempt when the system wanted someone imprisoned, killed, or vanished. From the poorest of the poor, to the riches of the rich, everyone was at the mercy of the regime. Millions of individuals had fake trumped up charges brought upon them, either by the government or by others who had called them o...
Joseph Stalin’s rise to General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1918-1928 was due largely due to his cunning manipulation. The timing of other events that catapulted him into power was a significant event in the life of the Soviet Union, although less significant were still a factor in his rise. Joseph Stalin was a man who could easily manipulate those surrounding him, specifically those with a great deal of power. THis manipulation was exercised throughout his rise, namingly when he would supply Lenin with a personalised newspaper during his weakened state. Stalin’s ruthlessness was also a major factor in his rise. The mistakes committed and death of important figures such as Lenin were a large contributor to Stalin’s ability to reach the height of power in which he did.
Joseph Stalin is a polarizing figure. Decades after his death his legacy still continues to create debate about his tumultuous years as the leader of the Soviet Union. This is evident throughout the four documents while some praise Stalin as impeccable others criticize his policies and lack of political, economic, and social progress during his regime. Even though Stalin was behind various violations of human rights he was able to maintain the Soviet Union during a time of turmoil both domestically and internationally as a result he has earned notoriety as a great leader and advocate for Marxist ideology.
Stalin’s policies were both a success and a failure whether as a result of his direct orders or as a result of his policies. Nethertheless, the success they achieved came at a huge price with nearly 20 million death’s during his reign; It was seen as a small price to pay as Stalin achevied what he set out to do, turning an undeveloped nation into an industrial super power, it was due to his policy’s that Russia became one of the most powerful nations in the world.