Totalitarian Dictatorship Soviet Union

 After an assassination attempt in 1918, Lenin’s health continued to deteriorate.  He died in 1924 due to health complications.  Petrograd (St. Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad in his honour.  Lenin’ s death sparked a large scale debate on the next party leader.  Lenin himself spoke of the two candidates prior to his death.

StalinTrotsky -Referred to by Lenin as the “crafty Gregorian”. - Lenin felt that he had too much personal ambition. -Lenin preferred Trotsky over Stalin. -Lenin did not like Trotsky’s overwhelming self- confidence.

 Stalin had been a peasant since birth living under terrible conditions in the Russian Empire.  Landed in Siberia for his passion of the Bolsheviks  : Commissar of nationalities (he did very good work here).  1922: became the General Secretary of the Communist Party (he organized a loyal party with strong support for Lenin).

 Executive Figure in the Bolshevik revolution and victory (1917).  He successfully re- organized and led the Red Army to victory during the years of the Russian Civil War.

 Upon the death of Lenin (1924), Stalin began to assert his control of the political party.  He created a coalition between himself, Zinoviev and Kamenev and manipulated the Party to prevent Trotsky’s election.  At the same time, Stalin was developing support for his “Socialism in One Country” (his policy for making Russia self-sufficient and avoiding foreign conflict.  This was considered a safe approach according to most soviets.

 Stalin denounced Trotsky and his ideas:  “World Revolution” was Trotsky’s policy of bringing communism to a global front.  Stalin proclaimed Trotsky as a dreamer and said he should focus more on Russia, not the world.  Trotsky became quickly discredited and by 1927 Stalin had him expelled from the party.  In 1929, he was exiled and eventually landed in Mexico.  1940: assassinated in Mexico by Stalinist agents.

 In 1927, Stalin also denounced Zinoviev and Kamenev stating they were supporters of Trotsky.  In 1928, Stalin’s authority was supreme.  He took over the system of personal dictatorship that had been created by Lenin.

i.Controlled Participation a. Elections: Stalin held many elections while he was running the Soviet Union. b. He, like Hitler, used elections to promote his party and the state (Communist Party and the USSR) c. Before 1930, there was no secret ballot in the USSR d. After 1930, each person voting was given a ballot that was already filled out.

e.People would simply place the ballot in the box to signal their approval. f.The alternative was to mark your ballot but then everyone would know how you voted. g.The secret police would then take you to the Gulag (prison camp in Siberia)

Josef Stalin

iii.Propaganda: was used extensively by Stalin in the Soviet Union a.To make the Soviet Union look good b.To make himself look good c.It was important that the people of the Soviet Union bought into Stalin and what he would do for the USSR. d.Control of the media is essential

iv.Indoctrination: first used by Lenin in the USSR and later by Stalin v. Stalin also used schools in the Soviet Union to indoctrinate youth vi. Soviet Youth were taught the following: 1)discipline and loyalty to the communist party 2)Love of the mother land and the Red Army 3)Protection of the motherland 4)See the good of society as being above the needs of the individual (collectivism) 5)Rejection of all religions

c. The Komsomal was set up to teach communist values to the youth and teach them to work in a communist society 1)Young Pioneers years 2)Little Octoberists 7-10 years

a NKVD; KGB; Under Stalin, very ruthless b.Just like Hitler, Stalin used his secret police and control over the judicial branch to purge his party and dissidents.

vi.Control of Judiciary: The Soviet constitution established the communist party as being the “basis for the entire Soviet political system.” a.One party state -this basically means that the communists were in charge b.Article 58 - How Stalin placed himself above the law. In the Soviet Union people could have their civil liberties suspended on an individual basis whenever the communist party wanted it.

All Stalin had to do was convict someone under Article 58. People convicted under Article 58 were often sent away to GULAG camps in Siberia.

 Terms  Article 58  GULAG  Cheka  KGB  Josef Stalin  Soviet Union