The Rise and Rule of Stalin

Joseph (Josef) Stalin Succeeded Lenin Leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1924 -1953.

Early Life He organized bank robberies, arms deals, and assassination attempts and put in prison in 1908. He was again arrested in 1911 and exiled. He had another son April 1912. He created Pravda in 1912. It was a Bolshevik newspaper. He was caught and again exiled.

Early Career During the Russian Civil War, Stalin was put in the Politburo (the executive committee for the Communist Party). He opposed many of Leon Trotsky’s policies (Trotsky was a Bolshevik Revolutionary and Marxist Theorist). Ordered the killings of former tsarist military leaders and counter- revolutionaries and burned villages to intimidate peasants. In 1919, to fight against mass desertions on the Western front, he had deserters and renegades publicly executed.

Lenin’s Death With Lenin’s death, (January 21, 1924) a power struggle ensued. Stalin seized power.

Joseph Stalin’s Rise to Power Head of both the Communist party and Soviet government from 1924 to 1953. Most interested in power and not ideology. By 1928, established himself as absolute dictator. Increasingly paranoid & dangerous.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 1. Cult of the leader/Cult of Personality - the all- knowing and all-seeing Father of the People.

The Cult of Personality After Lenin’s death (and very much against his wishes) a personality cult was created around his memory, using methods such as: Embalming his body and putting it on public display in Red Square Lenin’s image appeared everywhere in posters, film, statues Petrograd was renamed Leningrad (St. Petersburg- Petrograd (1914)-Leningrad (1924)-St. Petersburg (1991)) Stalin was an active promoter of this cult so as to link his name with Lenin The Lenin personality cult made it easier for Stalin to create one around himself.

Stalin’s Cult of Personality Stalin also had a city named in his honour – in 1923 Tsaritsyn became Stalingrad The slogan: ‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’ was officially encouraged Stalin was portrayed in various ways: Stalin with peasants, Stalin with workers – all designed to show him as an ordinary man of the people. Stalin liked to be portrayed as the friend of the workers, discussing the latest project

Stalin’s Cult of Personality He accepted grand titles ("Father of Nations," "Brilliant Genius of Humanity," "Great Architect of Communism," "Gardener of Human Happiness," and others) He helped rewrite Soviet history to provide himself a more significant role in the revolution of 1917

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 2. Young People and Education

Youth Organizations Party youth organisations were: The Pioneers for those under 14 Komsomol for those between 14- 18; membership shot up from 2.3m in 1929 to 10.2m in 1940. Young people were encouraged to report members of their own families to the authorities for ‘anti-Soviet’ views

Education The 1935 Education Law undid most of the revolutionary ideas introduced in the early 1920s; it reasserted discipline by restoring the authority of teachers Schools could only use texts prescribed by the state The Short Course history of the Communist Party became the standard text; it presented Stalin’s view of the party and the Revolution. By 1939 94% of those town-dwellers under 49 were literate; 86% in the countryside. A poster from 1920: ‘You may as well be blind as illiterate’. The Bolsheviks believed that illiteracy had been a key factor in maintaining the power of the tsars.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 3. Radical ideology Marxism-Leninism was Stalin’s driving ideology but Stalin he altered it to serve his personal nationalist ambitions. “Stalinism” refers to a brand of communism that is both extremely repressive and nationalistic.

Altering Photographs to fit the cause… An example of how the picture was altered again and again after each person fell out of favor with the regime of Joseph Stalin.

This image taken by the Moscow Canal was taken when Nikolai Yezhov was water commissar. After he fell from power, he was arrested, shot, and his image removed by the censors.

The background of the original image includes a store that says in Russian, "Watches, gold and silver". The image was then changed to read, "Struggle for your rights", and flag that was a solid color before was changed to read, "Down with the monarchy - long live the Republic!"

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 4. Organization The Soviet communist party solidified Stalin’s power. Party cells operated in every workplace & classroom, with party members reporting on anyone who was not loyal enough.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements Control Pervaded ALL aspects of life… Religion/culture Media Family life Economy (industrialization, collectivization)

Command Economy Heavily centralized “command economy.” Stalin’s 1st goal to create an advanced industrial economy. Command economy - where supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces. Five Year Plans – Stalin’s plan for industrial and agricultural production Peasants resisted; killings; exile. Severe agricultural losses & famine. After a decade, millions dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_8e_OUUA2s

Collective Farms Under Stalin, the Government seized ALL farm land OR The Government allowed Peasants to stay on their land if they gave it (and all resources) to a “collective” The state controlled all supplies

Kulaks Term for the “wealthy” peasants “...rich peasants who exploit the labour of others, either hiring them for work, or lending money at interest, and so forth. This group supports the landowners and capitalists, the enemies of the Soviet power.” (V.I. Lenin Collected Works, Vol. 36, pp. 500-503.) Term for the “wealthy” peasants Stalin “purged” kulaks when he believed they weren’t cooperating with his plan Over 5 million kulaks deported to Siberia “In order to oust the kulaks as a class, the resistance of this class must be smashed in open battle and it must be deprived of the productive sources of its existence and development (free use of land, instruments of production, land-renting, right to hire labour, etc.).” (J. V. Stalin Works, Vol. 12 pp. 184-189.)

The Media All media controlled by the government Pravda was the paper of the Communist Party Izvestiya was the paper of the Soviets Radio stations conveyed the official party view

Police Force - NKVD Cheka disbanded after Civil War New Secret Police force under Stalin – NKVD “People's Comissariat for Internal Affairs” Direct instrument for Stalin for use in the Great Terror

Anti-Religion Atheism was the official religion under Stalin Russian Orthodox Churches were seized and turned into offices and museums or destroyed Priests and Religious leaders were killed Jewish Synagogues were seized Hebrew language was banned

Art and Popular Culture The experimental art of the early 1920s was abandoned and replaced by ‘Socialist realism’; this was seen in all forms of culture – art, cinema, literature. Socialist realism was much more conventional, traditional but it was designed to convey pro- Soviet messages to inspire the population to work harder, love the leader etc. A typical painting in the style of ‘socialist realism’. Stalin is shown amongst the workers, urging them to meet their production targets. The workers look on, impressed.

Stalin’s totalitarian elements 6. Violence & Terror. Brutality on massive scale. Targets: political opponents & party rivals.

The Great Purge/The Great Terror The Great Purge/Terror - series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin Show trials, with coerced confessions and summary executions, from 1934 to 1938. During his rule, one million direct killings & 12 million deaths in Soviet prisons & slave labor camps.

The Great Purge/The Great Terror Fueled by Stalin’s paranoia that people were trying to overtake power It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and Government officials, repression of peasants Characterized by widespread police surveillance, imprisonment, and executions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIzApqzlP3Q Start @ 58:00

The assassination of Sergei Kirov was the spark of the Great Purge "In sharp contrast to Stalin, Kirov was a much younger man and an eloquent speaker, who was able to sway his listeners; above all, he possessed a charismatic personality. Unlike Stalin who was a Georgian, Kirov was also an ethnic Russian, which stood in his favor.“ Edward P. Gazur

The GULag Soviet system of forced labor camps “Corrective labor camps” Several million inmates