Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili, born on December 18th, 1878, would come to be known as the communist dictator, Josef Stalin. Stalin came from a poor town in Georgia. He first studied for the priesthood where he came across the works of Karl Marx. Stalin later became interested in the revolutionary movement occurring in the USSR during that time and became a part of the Bolshevik group. Stalin gained power of the party after he outmaneuvered his opponents through shifting alliances. After obtaining power, Stalin impacted the world by developing Russia and Eastern Europe, promoting communism and helping to develop the Cold War. (Khlevniuk) When Stalin took power in the late 1920s, the Soviet Union was lagging behind the rest of the world. …show more content…
Those who follow the belief of communism believe in equality for all. No-one is above another. They also believe in no private property; everything is shared by the population. He spread this belief through the Soviet Union by the use of propaganda. Within the Soviet Union he created a “cult of personality”. He used propaganda and mass media to present himself in a flattering light, where he could do no wrong. The people followed him, and did not believe he was responsible for many of the hardships he faced. But with this following, he strengthened communism. …show more content…
The war created a competition between the two countries. One one succeeded, the other needed to. Because of this, new technologies and discoveries were made, the first being space. The Cold War created the Space Race. While the USSR was first to reach space, the US was not far behind, ultimately placing the first man on the moon. The Cold War also led to the age of nuclear warfare. The US showed the world what technology it had created when it dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the USSR was not far behind. They developed their own atomic weapons, creating an arms race between the two countries. While the war was mainly between the US and USSR, it inspired other countries to start developing these weapons, or become allies with someone who had. Therefore, while Stalin was not alive for most of the Cold War, his previous actions and beliefs about communism helped cultivate this war. The tension he was partial responsible for creating with the US, led to both countries developing new technologies. He also led to the arms race, creating a new type of warfare throughout the entire world. This war helped change the path of the world. (Arms
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raised the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
When Stalin became leader of the USSR the quality of life and standard of living dropped considerably. For instance the people had no personal freedom. Meaning that they had to worship Stalin as all other religions had been abolished and most churches had been demolished. The people who went into those churches that were left standing were arrested or punished otherwise. Soon there were food shortages. Somewhere between 1932 and 1933 over 6 million people died of starvation. This was the greatest man made famine in history. The famine came as a result of Stalin’s unrealistic goals . Also, people had poor family lives. Abortions came a dime a dozen as did divorces. Wedding rings were banned. There was insufficient housing, as some people had to live in tents. This may be because of workers not working hard enough. Maybe if the workers worked harder they could have received better housing.
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
He implemented a tremendous amount of forced labor camps, called the GULAG. These camps were where citizens would go to serve time for their crimes. If a peasant was caught stealing anything, arriving late to work three times, or making jokes about high ranking Communist officials, they would be sent off to the concentration camps to serve as punishment (“Gulag”). These camps and strict policies were a large part of the reason that Stalin was considered to be so feared. No one every opposed him or tried to revolt because of his reputation for being so
Fear and uncertainty surrounded the Cold War, however thanks to these technological advancements during the Cold War it helped to keep offensive weapons from being fired and destroying the world.
Some countries were well behind others in industrialization, such as Russia. Rapid industrialization was necessary in Russia, and Joseph Stalin tried to change their circumstances, he introduced two five-year plans, which increased Russia’s industrial production, their heavy industry improved, the output of iron, steel, electricity, oil, and coal rapidly increased, opportunities were given to women and they could start working as doctors and scientists etc. Although Stalin did industrialize Russia, he did it forcefully and through terror. Millions of people died from famine, others were sent to camps, which were horrific, he took away the lands and farms that were given to the peasants by Lenin. Anyone who did not 100% support Stalin was considered an enemy, and anyone who was a potential enemy, such as Trotsky, was exiled. Trotsky was a member of the central committee just like Stalin, he was another candidate for Lenin’s replacement, and he was well suited for that position, but Stalin rose to power quicker and gained power by
In the late 1920’s, living in Lenin’s shadow, Stalin decided that the New Economic Policy would introduce the Five-Year Plan.
In the beginning Josef Stalin was a worshiper of his beloved Vladimir Lenin. He followed his every move and did as he said to help establish and lead the Bolshevik party. Much of the early part of his political career was lost due to his exile to Siberia for most of World War I. It wasn’t until 1928, when he assumed complete control of the country were he made most of his success. After Lenin’s death in January 1924, Stalin promoted his own cult followings along with the cult followings of the deceased leader. He took over the majority of the Socialists now, and immediately began to change agriculture and industry. He believed that the Soviet Union was one hundred years behind the West and had to catch up as quickly as possible. First though he had to seal up complete alliance to himself and his cause.
The Development of Totalitarianism Under Stalin By 1928, Stalin had become the undisputed successor to Lenin, and leader of the CPSU. Stalin’s power of appointment had filled the aisles of the Party Congress and Politburo with Stalinist supporters. Political discussion slowly faded away from the Party, and this led to the development of the totalitarian state of the USSR. Stalin, through.
Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1879. His was born with the name Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (bbc.co.uk). The mom of Stalin was a washerwomen and his dad was a cobbler. He grew up in a world of poverty and illness. At the age of seven he had caught small pox. The small pox left a huge impact on him because he was left with a pockmarked face and his left arm noticeably deformed. He was constantly bullied by his peers and felt he needed to prove himself. Stalin was an only child who had to also endure the beatings of his alcoholic father (History.com). He earned a scholarship to study priesthood in the city of Tblisi. It was in studying priesthood that he started to read the work of Karl Marx, a German social philosopher. He then
The Effects of Stalin on Russia Much like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and despised people in the recorded history of the world. Stalin, though, found it fit to abuse his people in any way he saw fit. This man started what history now calls "The Great Purge. " Through the late 1920's when the rest of the world was living it up as the roaring 20's came to an end, Joseph Stalin was setting the stage for gaining absolute power by employing secret police repression against opposing political and social elements within his own Communist Party and throughout society.
One of Lenin's ideas was 'International Socialism,' it was under this idea that he set up the Comintern with the purpose of spreading communism throughout the world. His successor, Josef Stalin, took a different approach in his ideas of 'Socialism in one country." Josef Stalin led the U.S.S.R. from the death of Lenin to his own in 1953. Stalin led the Soviets through the betrayal of the Germans in the Nazi-Soviet Pact, he turned back the Nazis on the Eastern front, and brought the U.S.S.R. out of the Second World War as one of the only two superpowers in the world. After the end of the World War Two Stalin spread the Soviet sphere of influence to include East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
The Effects of Stalin's Economic and Social Policies. One of Russia's most prominent political leaders of all time, was a. man named Joseph Dzhugashvili. A man, who at one time was being trained to become a priest, and would one day become a major. revolutionary in the history of the USSR.
Before Stalin came to power, Russia. had many problems with the sym Low level of industry No Education [ IMAGE ] [ IMAGE ] Low food supply [ IMAGE] Water & sewage control [ IMAGE] [IMAGE]Text Box: Problems in the USSR in 1920Roads and railway So when Stalin came to power he felt the country needed a revolution.
He saw communism as a way for all people to be truly free and equal. There would be no more class discrimination and everyone would have resourced based on what is needed. He exclaimed that communism would give individuals the freedoms that the bourgeoisie denied them. While this is what Karl Marx predicted and believed would be successful, the reality over time has taken a much different path proving that Marx’s ideas cannot be accurately applied