Stalin Case Study : Modern History

Stalin and his Totalitarianism I

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A. Early Phase Rus. Revol. of 1917 1. Feb Revol. of 1917 i) Years of discontent from peasants and workers allowed final overthrow of Tsar N. II and along with this the overthrowing of system that remained for 370 years. ii) This revolutions raised demands for new systems of government, and the fight for who will take control of new Rus. iii) Dual Power (Mar 1917) (a) Set up provisional government (made up of Duma) an emergence due to the fall of existing government along with the Petrograd Sov. (Made of worker councils) (b) Released all political prisoners including Stalin (c) Caused divisions in public and army whether to trust the prov. government or Petrograd Soviet (d) Battle of parties to gain power began 2. Oct Revol. 1917 i) The arrival and lead of Lenin (a) Raised Bolshevik activity to further strengthen their penetration in public and in their party (b) Sparked public interest in communism and involvement, creating a system for the future government to reside in th ii) On Nov 17 1917 the Bolshevik govt. (along with Stalin in the trail) overthrew the ineffective Prov. government and seized power. The Red army (in Trotsky’s command) took over all key and strategic points in the city of Petrograd. Civil War 1918-1921 1. Civil War i) Bolshevik vs. anti-Bolsheviks

(a) The “White” army consisting of anticommunist fought against “Red” army consisting of Bolshevik forces. (b) The White army led by former generals, socialists, landowners and less radical international governments such as The Americans, British, French and the Japanese (c) The Red Army consisted of soldiers, workers and peasants trained by Trotsky in the name of the revolution. (d) Civil war by Lenin was made to disband and silence opposition groups. iii) The Civil war forced Bolsheviks to make structure of the party rigid and greatly centralised for future united progress. This allowed them to win this civil war.

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War Communism i) Seized economy and forced whole population to work for the sole purpose of keeping the army supplied with food, clothing and weapons. (a) Most businesses taken over by the Communist government B. Stalin’s rise to power Stalin’s Position 1. Victory and One Party rules the state i) The Bolsheviks (or the communist party) had won the civil war, and declared the old Rus. to the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (a) Lenin dictated the policy and controlled the whole (b) Trotsky commanded the Red Army ii) Stalin was appointed General Secretary 1922 (a) This allowed tremendous power in Stalin’s hands, as he “hired and fired” people to his liking. Without anyone’s knowledge, Stalin had already started to shape the party with his likings. “Everything depends on ‘Personnel’” 1 (b) Stalin belonged to virtually everything in the party. He was in the Central Committee, in the Politburo, now in the Secretariat and shortly in the Orgburo. Stalin’s Rise 1. Early Power and Position i) Stalin’s early power (a) With links made with the party, state and country, there was certain amount of influence already for Stalin. However, Leon Trotsky was the roadblock, who had almost opposite views towards socialism in Rus. (b) Stalin allied with Kamenev and Zinoviev (in centre) to attack Trotsky and his “left opposition”. Also with the use of Stalin’s ‘hiring and firing’ powers, he reallocated many of the party members to other parts to further deprive Trotsky of his power. 2. Lenin’s Death and final rise i) Lenin’s death in Jan 1924 (a) raised an ultimate goal to reach to the top of the party and hence rule socialist Rus.. (b) Stalin had to take steps to defeat his rivals and hence become undisputed ruler of Rus.. ii) Rivalry (Stalin vs. Trotsky) (a) Stalin had recognised Trotsky as his enemy and help was taken from Kamenev and Zinoviev. (b) The elimination of him was necessary from the party as Trotsky was the only power capable of counter attack.

(c) The elimination was done through propaganda and hence excluding him from the party with hatred/opposition. (d) Trotsky was expelled from the party on Oct 1926 ending his most powerful rival. iii) After elim. of Trotsky and focusing Stalin as the shadow of Lenin, Stalin allied with Bukharin and with help turned on former supporters, abolishing them and wiping the past to his advtg. (a) Bukharin was also betrayed by Stalin as soon he had been successful. iv) By the end of 1929, Stalin was the ruler of party and the country. No member had extreme close memory or relation to Stalin and his past, therefore allowing more power. “Stalin is the Lenin of Today” 2

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C. Stalin’s USSR Stalin’s Revol. 1. Socialism in 1 country i) Stalin proposed socialism in one country as it would encourage more internal growth while disregarding the Marx view of “world revol.” (a) It would encourage faster growth and allow an easier transition to communism (b) It would also allow faster results which all of Rus. desperately needed to see 2. Collectivisation i) During 1928 collective agricult. was chosen in order to revolutionise agricult. which would support the growing pop. and industrialisation ii) It involved the collection of many farms to form a single farm which would be operated and controlled by the soviet union (a) The aim was to solve problems in agricult. distribution (b) It would end private ownership and profit yet assumingly increase efficiency. (c) there were state farms (sovkoz) and collective farms (kolkoz) iii) The peasants were reluctant to join such farms at first which caused massive loss in livestock and disturbance in the overall structure 3. Industrialisation i) Stalin’s main aim became the industrialising of Rus. (a) The aim was to advance Rus. industry and modernise many of its aspects (b) It was to be done through set economic plans which would outline the steps and requirements 4. Five Year Plans i) 1st 5 Year plan (5YP) was introduced during 1928/29 and set targets to increase industrial production along with the expanding of what Rus. produced (a) The main characteristics of this plan was to develop oil wells, electricity and to basically work as hard as one could to meet the requirements

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(b) The 1st 5YP was completed in 4 yrs and with high (yet not matched with requirements) results such as 1500 new industrial plants and a hydro-electricity plant. nd st ii) The 2 5YP was similar to the 1 and increased the growth of USSR and its standards were at world-level. It included scientific research and technological advance Stalin’s Totalitarianism 1. Dekulakisation i) The kulaks (or the rich peasants) were used as scapegoats in Stalin’s progress. (a) Whenever something went wrong, the rich kulaks would be blamed, due to their slightly richer nature and associating that with greed and selfishness. ii) Stalin decided wiped out the kulaks (a) The labelled kulaks were seized of their property and food while being sent away to work camps or shot dead. 2. Great Purges i) Throughout the 1930’s a series of trails took place for crimes against the state. The purge (or cleansing) was of older party members/people, and through this the past was forgotten and Stalin’s power strengthened. (a) First was the assassination of Kirov, a popular leader (b) Following this was the trail of Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin. They were charged with many irrelevant crimes in the supporting the enemies of the people (c) All who held some previous memory (around Oct. revol.) were wiped. One million party members were executed along with people in the army and other leaders 3. Enemies of the people i) Anyone who opposed to Stalin ordered their death, and every supporter or anyone with some prior past knowledge/memory of Stalin was wiped out. ii) Trotsky was a main example of the application in enemies of the people. Stalin raised hatred towards him, condoning him to be a traitor and familiarising the people with people of such existence. ii) The secret police (NKVD) carried the arrests of mills. of people who had some thought opposed to Stalin’s revol. The people were made to confess following the nature of torture iii) The Moscow trials were held to show execution of enemies, sparking hate and fear towards all. 4. Art i) Propaganda was a device used by Stalin to steer emotions towards the fatherly figure of him. It continually told people how better they were than other countries ii) Ultimate power of art and knowledge meant Stalin could change records, manipulate images and types of art to show something relevant and beneficial to Stalin. Photos were edited to show less presence of party leaders and show a more of Stalin in previous events.

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Stalin’s status at the end of the 1930’s i) By the end of the 1930’s Stalin was in hold of countless power; over people’s minds, the nation’s actions and power itself. (a) The great purges had ended (b) The expansion of Rus. had been achieved with further to come

1 – Caulkins, Janet Joseph Stalin pg 61 2 – Hayes, David and others Joseph Stalin pg 49