Stalin s Influence On The Soviet Union - 1423 Words

This quote, in my opinion, does hold truth and historical context to it. Joseph Stalin indeed was a despot; a man who held complete control of the Soviet Union after Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924. While I would have to agree that his paranoid, tyrannical, and cruel demeanor of ruling the country played a large role in the rise of a term named for him, Stalinism, I do not think that was the only reason of why he managed to keep such an iron grip on the USSR for a period of almost thirty years. Another major of reason of why terror, violence, and oppression became so widespread and prevalent in Russia was because Stalin was so gifted in using the â€Å"cult of personality.† While Stalin may have truly been as this quote described; angry, vengeful, and power-hungry, that was not the image that many people in the Soviet Union had in their heads at the time. Stalin had totalitarian control of mass-media, propaganda, and news outlets, he established himself to appear in a ce rtain way to the people, as a means to keep control of them. The State presented Stalin as the â€Å"father† or â€Å"uncle† of the USSR, who was devoted to the working class and to the Communist Party. Kind, benevolent and powerful, propaganda was a powerful weapon that represented him as their ideal and perfect leader, which people began to believe wholeheartedly, even with the events that would transpire later on in his leadership; such as the Great Terror. While Stalin’s actual personality may have been oppressive andShow MoreRelatedStalins Rise To Power984 Words   |  4 Pages Comrade General Secretary Joseph Stalin’s rise to power in the former Soviet Union was born in the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1917. His association and friendship with Vladimir Lenin also played an integral part in the dictator’s power grab. Stalin participated in the December 1904 oil worker strike in Baku, Georgia, which ended successfully later that month. It was the first time in Russian history that a collective bargaining agreement was signed between oil company owners and oil workersRead MoreTruman Was The Biggest Catalyst For Igniting The Cold War With The Soviet Union1045 Words   |  5 PagesHarry S. Truman was the biggest catalyst for igniting and sustaining the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Truman began his attempts to intimidate Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union as early as the end of World War II, by dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to display his nuclear power. He continued to use nuclear weapons to intimidate his opponent by aut horizing the construction of the hydrogen bomb in 1950. During the same year, Truman signed the National Security Council Paper Number 68Read MoreThe Cold War During World War II854 Words   |  4 Pagesand Soviet Union’s history. The main reason that these two countries entered into the Cold War after World War II was power. The USSR and United States had two very different perspectives on power coming out of World War II. This disagreement ultimately caused the Cold War. Russia’s perspective after World War II was influenced by Joseph Stalin. Stalin, the leader of the USSR at the time, was a merciless dictator. His main concern was maintaining power and assuring the Soviet Union’s influence worldwideRead MoreJoseph Stalin : The Dictator Of The Soviet Union Essay1265 Words   |  6 PagesJoseph Stalin was a former general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist party of the Soviet Union. Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1929 to 1953. His Red Army helped defeat Nazi Germany during WWII. On December 18th, 1879, in the Russian peasant village of Gori, Georgia, Joseph Stalin was born. His full birthname was Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili. He died on March 5th, 1953 in Kuntsevo Dacha. Joseph was buried in the Kremlin Wall NecropolisRead MoreWho Was to Blame for the Cold War? Essay1625 Words   |  7 Pagesthat existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalins policy of Soviet expansion. It is necessary, therefore, to examine the role of Stalin as a catalyst to the Cold War. Stalins foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post- war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories inRead MoreEssay Impact of Stalanism on the Soviet State1041 Words   |  5 PagesThe concept of Stalinism, being the ideologies and policies adopted by Stalin, including centralization, totalitarianism and communism, impacted, to an extent, on the soviet state until 1941. After competing with prominent Bolshevik party members Stalin emerged as the sole leader of the party in 1929. From this moment, Stalinism pervaded every level of society. Despite the hindrance caused by the bureaucracy, the impact of Stalinism was achieved through the implementation of collectivization andRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War1508 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1945, the United States and Soviet Union joined up as allies in World War II, which resulted with total victory for United States and Soviet forces over Hitler’s Nazi domain in Europe. After just a few years, allies from war turned into complete enemies, becoming sealed in a military, political, global and economic struggle. But the q uestion is, what led to the Cold War? Was it the Soviets, who revoked their agreements to allow the people of Eastern Europe to determine their own fates by imposingRead MoreCentral Planning Of The Soviet Union785 Words   |  4 Pageswas introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev when he was elected as the Soviet Union General Secretary of the Soviet Union. This concept had a significant effect on Soviet Union during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. In employing glasnost, Gorbachev attempted to rid the Soviet Union of the lies that had been established as a result of The Leninist system that was previously in place. Ultimately, he wanted to bring transparency to the Soviet Government. Additionally, Gorbachev wanted to enable greater freedomRead MoreGeorge Kennan s Long Telegram1417 Words   |  6 Pageslimit any geographical expansion of the Soviet Union further into Europe and to keep the identity of each European country their own. Because Kennan knew that the Soviets would not want to engage in any battle to risky he said that the best thing to do would be to have the United states, as another super power, threaten the Soviets to not to expand any further. The document was released 1946, one year before the start of the cold war where both the Soviet Union and the United states engaged in threatsRead MoreInevitable Cold War On The United States And The Soviet War1683 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Second World War. The Soviet Union was in fact a serious competitor to the United States in terms of the international prestige and as one of the most influential superpowers of the world at that time. Instead, the partnership between the victor countries soon turned into an indirect, cold war. Despite the scale and actuality, this subject is studied a little, and is not quite fully covered in the historical literature. Cold War was unavoidable because of Stalin s mistrust after U.S. intervention