Joseph Stalin was the brutal leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 until his death in 1953. He was a Communist ruler, who was responsible for the deaths of millions of Russian people. He led the Soviet Union through World War II, in which he played a major role in defeating the German Nazi army. Stalin executed or imprisoned anyone who opposed his regime, making him an extremely tyrannical leader. “He took absolute control of nearly every aspect of Soviet life. He dictated where people lived, who held political office, which movies were made, what books and newspapers were published, and what education Soviet children received” (Márquez, 2004). Although Stalin protected Russia by fending off the Nazis, he was an extremely oppressive leader in Russia’s history in the sense that he killed three million Russian people and caused their suffering for many years, which is why Stalin was ultimately more harmful to Russia than beneficial.
Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1878 in Gori, Georgia. His parents, Vissarion and Ekaterina, were serfs when he was born. His father later became a cobbler, and was prosperous for a short time. Vissarion began to work at a shoe factory when his business as a cobbler had failed. Stalin was a young child when his father left his home, never to be seen again by his family. Ekaterina was forced to take small jobs in order to support her family of two. Stalin had been beaten by both his mother and his father, which could attribute to the way he chose to run his regime once he became ruler.
Stalin was the best student at his childhood school in Gori, but he would at times get into trouble. He graduated from school in 1894, and his mother urged him to become a priest. He entered the Tbilisi theological seminary at the wish of his mother. Stalin was extremely dedicated to his studies while in the seminary and received excellent grades. However, there were very strict rules in the seminary, and the things that Stalin could read were greatly limited. Stalin himself commented on his experience in the seminary saying, “The whole atmosphere round me was saturated with hatred of Tsarist oppression, and I threw myself whole-heartedly into revolutionary work” (Murphy, 1945). In order to act out against these rules, he created a secret socialist group within the seminary. Stalin’s grades began to fail at the seminary, and he began to act out more and more. He was eventually expelled from the seminary before his sixth and final year could begin because he failed to take the required exam that would advance him forward. This is when he first chose to become a Marxist. Stalin’s difficult early life and restrictive education are what led him to become the tyrannical leader that he was in the twentieth century.
In 1917, the Russian Revolution took place in which the Bolsheviks, a Russian revolutionary group, rose up against the Russian government. Stalin became a member of the committee for the Bolsheviks; they supported Lenin’s view of wanting to overthrow the government. The Bolsheviks rebelled against the government, and the government fought back. Lenin, being the leader, feared for his life during this time period. Stalin’s major role in the Russian Revolution was convincing Lenin to run away to Finland in order to avoid being killed. Stalin was portrayed, through books and pictures from that time period, as having a large and important role in the October and February Revolutions that made up the Russian Revolution; although he really did not even have a role.
In 1918, the Russian Civil War broke out between Lenin’s Red Army and the White Army, an alliance of anti-Bolsheviks. “The Civil War began in Russia. Stalin commanded the forces in Tsaritsyn and St. Petersburg” (Naik). Stalin killed thousands of people who opposed the revolution. He also killed innocent people by burning down villages in order to scare people into cooperating with him. Lenin was disappointed in Stalin for causing so many unnecessary deaths. The Bolsheviks won the civil war in 1919. “He [Stalin] dreamed of the electrification of all Russia, and began to make it come true in the midst of the famine and desolation of the years of civil war” (Murphy, 1945). Stalin was beginning to become more powerful throughout this time period. He still did not have a huge role in the Russian Civil War, but he was working his way up to the top.
The Polish-Soviet War took place in 1920. Stalin was determined to capture the Polish city of Lviv. He refused to assist anyone else with their battles, and would only work towards gaining Lviv. Stalin ended up losing the city of Lviv, and Trotsky lost the city of Warsaw because Stalin would not assist him in the battle. Stalin was blamed for both of these losses, and resigned from his military position. It was later agreed on by everyone involved that this war was a mistake, and it should have never happened.
Stalin quickly rose to power once Lenin had appointed him to be General Secretary in 1922. The Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute said:
On Lenin’s motion, the Plenum of the Central Committee, on April 3, 1922, elected Stalin, Lenin’s faithful disciple and associate, General Secretary of the Central Committee, a post at which he has remained ever since (Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute, 1947).
Stalin was now able to appoint his own allies to have government positions. In 1924, Lenin died, and Stalin could officially call himself the leader of the USSR. Before Lenin died, he had a falling out with Stalin, and he criticized him in a letter to Congress saying, “Stalin, having become General Secretary, consolidated his immense power, and I’m not sure whether he will always care enough to use that power” (Lenin, 1924). Stalin continued to gain more and more power throughout his time as leader, and before Lenin died, he feared that Stalin would not be able to handle such a great deal of responsibility.
Joseph Stalin continued to rise in power, and “had eliminated all likely potential opposition to his leadership by late 1934” (Repression and Terror). Stalin actually expelled people, such as Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev, who he thought threatened him, from the Communist party. Stalin was the “unchallenged leader of both party and state” (Repression and Terror). By 1939, Stalin had brought the public and the party to a state that was submissive to his rule. The Soviet people were so fearful of Stalin that he no longer had to threaten them with mass arrests; he was the absolute dictator. This was all that Stalin had ever wanted, and this was the highest point in Stalin’s long and oppressive rule over the Soviet Union.
Stalin’s reign over the Soviet Union was comprised numerous major changes to Soviet society. One of the largest changes to society was the tremendous increase in secret police throughout the Soviet Union. The secret police group was in charge of arresting and executing all those who opposed Stalin’s regime. They were also used to spy on the other members of the Communist party and oust those who went against Stalin’s reign of the Soviet Union. According to the article, “Secret Police,” from the Library of Congress Web Site stated:
Under party leader Joseph Stalin, the secret police again acquired vast punitive powers and in 1934 was renamed the People’s Comissariat for Internal Affairs, or NKVD. No longer subject to party control or restricted law, the NKVD became a direct instrument of Stalin for use against the party and the country during the Great Terror of the 1930s (Secret Police).
The secret police was the most powerful and the most feared change that Stalin had brought to society. The NKVD led to the creation of the KGB, the secret police group after Stalin’s time of rule. The secret police is the main example of the changes Stalin made to society and the way that he took his power to the extreme.
Another one of the major changes that Stalin made to the society of the Soviet Union was his cult of personality. Stalin was surrounded by people who promoted him and made him seem like such a great person. In the book, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Squealer was the assistant to the leader Napoleon. Squealer was constantly speaking to the people and persuading them into believing that Napoleon was a strong and powerful leader, when he really was not. Squealer was Napoleon’s cult of personality. Without these people surrounding Stalin, people would have seen his weaknesses and not treated him with the respect that they gave him at the beginning of his reign. Anna Louise Strong said:
Stalin’s own personality began to be more widely known. His picture and slogans became so prominent in the Soviet Union that foreigners found this “idolatry” forced and insincere. Most Soviet folk of my acquaintance really do feel tremendous devotion to Stalin as the man who has built their country and led it to success. I have even known people to make a temporary change of residence just before election day in order to have the chance to vote for Stalin directly in the district where he was running, instead of for the less exciting candidate from their own district.
Stalin was portrayed as this exciting new leader who would bring the country to greatness. This was the job of his cult of personality. Stalin used this to gain the support of the people and rise in power. He then became the worst nightmare of the people as an absolute dictator, who controlled everything that went on in Soviet society.
