Preview

How Did Joseph Stalin Come To Power

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
808 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Joseph Stalin Come To Power
World War II: Josef Stalin

In 1917, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicolas II until the Bolshevik party overthrew the Russian government by storming the palace in October commanded by Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky. The Tsar family, which had been crueling dictating for centuries, was finally overthrown which lead to the creation of U.S.S.R. or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1992, Stalin was became the general secretary of the Committee, but he isolated the other party members by betraying and manipulating them out of office including his arch-enemy Trotsky, who was eventually exiled in 1929, and became the uncontested leader of Soviet Union. This Union was founded on the protection of the working class and everyone worked together to make the country great. Stalin became very paranoid during his rule. He thought he was surrounded by Trotsky and Lenin
…show more content…
The total cost of Soviet lives, both civilian and military, reached over approximately 40,000,000 deaths at the end of world war II. One in four Soviets died during this period and 1,710 towns and 70,000 villages were destroyed during the war campaign. Stalin killed millions and buried them in mass graves, sent soldiers to die without choice, and held POWs after the war. In Berlin, Russian soldiers were ordered perform “scorched Earth” operations and burned everything to dust and soldiers raped 10,000-1,000,000 women in Berlin after it was conquered. Hitler and Germany receive lots of flak from world war II and their atrocities, but Stalin was worse in many ways, he just kept everything secret and no one could oppose him. Stalin changed Russian history forever and changed the balance of world war II with the might of the Red army and went on to have a cold war with America with nuclear weaponry and raced America to moon. Without Stalin, the Americans probably couldnt have stopped Nazi Germany without the “sacrifice” of the russian

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    During The Cold War, There was a total of 4 change in power. Joseph Stalin being the first dictator of The Soviet Union during The Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev being the second, Leonid Brezhnev the third, and Mikhail Gorbachev the final leader of The Soviet Union. “While this meant change the underlying political reality was that the Soviet system did not trust the people. Government was retained in the hand of Party apparatchiks which the public had no role in choosing. Economically there were improvements.” Despite the improvements, living conditions were poor for the citizens of The Soviet Union. “Agriculture remained a major weakness with poor yields”. Although The Soviet try to improve life for people, life was still poor. The economics…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1922, when Vladimir Lenin died, someone needed to step up and the Soviet Union. As he was slowly dying, a power struggle emerged between Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. Even though Trotsky “had been widely viewed as the heir of Lenin, it was relatively easy for Stalin to combine with the other Bolshevik leaders in order to head off this threat” (Paley 10). In Lenin’s “Final Testament”, Lenin could already see that Stalin was quickly and surreptitiously gaining power. Stalin’s position of General Secretary gave him the ability to appoint people to important positions. Lenin was also reluctant to see Stalin as his successor because he thought that Trotsky could do a much better job. Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best man in the central…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were two of the most evil men in history, responsible for countless atrocities. They had many similarities as well. Both men committed genocide to further their political agenda, massively improved the militaries of their respective countries, had their own different groups of secret police and spies, and finally they were both tyrannical totalitarian dictators. Despite sharing many similarities, their government structure and political philosophies were very different. Adolf Hitler was a Fascist who believed in a highly centralized government with himself at the top of the pyramid. Joseph Stalin was a communist who believed in collectivism and instilling fear into his political opposition. Although there are…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main reasons as to why Stalin came to power and not Trotsky, was that Trotsky did not attend Lenin’s funeral. This was due to the fact that Trotsky himself was sick and so he took a rest holiday in Sukhumi in the south of Russia. Stalin told Trotsky the wrong date for the funeral, so he thought he would not be able to make it back in time. However really Trotsky could have made it to the funeral but Stalin used this against him. He made Trotsky look like he had committed a cardinal sin, disrespecting Lenin’s death. Stalin made it look as if Trotsky was sun bathing in Sukhumi and could not be bothered to come to the funeral. This accusation seriously damaged Trotsky’s political reputation and was ultimately the beginning of Trotsky’s down fall. With Trotsky not at the funeral, Stalin was able to proclaim himself Lenin’s disciple saying he would carry on ruling for the sake of their once great leader. One of the ways Stalin paid his “respects” to Lenin was one of…

    • 1354 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Josephe Stalin DBQ

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Stalin presented himself as if he were greater and more powerful than everyone else (DOC 10.) Unfortunately for him the people of Russia didn’t see this characteristic; Stalin’s methods damaged the Russians. His act of collectivization was found to be extremely unfair and hurtful. Numerous actions were taken place…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stalin Dbq

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1917, Russia was crumbling into pieces. The World War I was draining all of Russia’s resources. There was shortage of food throughout the country, which left people starving. At the battlefront, millions of Russian soldiers were dying, they did not possess many of the powerful weapons that their opponents had. The government under Czar Nicholas II was disintegrating, and a provisional government had been set up. In November of 1917, Lenin and his communist followers known as the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and set a communist government in Russia. However, in 1924, Lenin died and Josef Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, which was the name for the communist Russia. Stalin was a ruthless leader who brought many changes to the Soviet Union. Stalin’s goal was to transform the Soviet Union into a modern superpower and spread communism throughout the world, and he was determined to sabotage anyone who stood in his way. He used many methods such as collectivization, totalitarianism and five year plan’s to achieve his goals. Stalin’s rule brought both harmful and beneficial consequences to the Soviet Union; however, the negative factors were so terrible, that they overwhelm the positive factors.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stalin - History

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Even though Stalin’s victory in the power struggle was partly due to his popular policies, it was not just this that allowed Stalin also because of the mistakes made by other rivals and factors that played into his hands. For example Trotsky was a former menshevik which helped Stalin accuse him of not been a true Bolshevik.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How important was the fear of Trotsky becoming leader in explaining Stalin’s victory in the power struggle in the years 1924-1929? (24 marks)…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nikita Khrushchev became party leader after the death of Stalin in 1953, and rose above his opponents. Khrushchev distanced himself from his predecessor by presenting new policy reforms and denouncing the "cult of personality" that surrounded Stalin. This famous Secret speech was presented to the delegates of the 20th Party Congress on February 25, 1956 and accused Stalin of crimes and the use of terror as an instrument of policy. This effectively distanced Khrushchev from Stalin's close associates, Molotov, Malenkov, and Lazar Kaganovich and the more conservative elements of the Party. In 1958, Bulganin resigned making Khrushchev prime minister and later established himself as the undisputed leader of both state and party. He became Premier…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russia’s Political Structure and government began under the rule of Peter the 1st after procuring the lands from the Mongol’s and establishing the country as The Russian Empire. In 1904 a war broke out with the Japanese ending in 1905. As a result of this a revolution began in 1905 which resulted in a Change in regime and the establishment of a parliament and reforms in the ruling body. After World War 1 rioting began and the current empire was overthrown and Vladimir Lenin took power and created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). For 74 years the USSR continued its Communist rule under several leaders, such as Stalin and Gorbachev. Under Stalin’s rule communism grew substantially however the economic growth of the country was…

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Soviet Union was a capitalist state that was damaged due to the lack of resources and necessities after World War I. Economically they were incapable to grow due to the poor leadership, mostly towards the middle class, with socialist ideals. The Bolsheviks were capable to sight the flaw and wanted to gain the power of the Soviet Union under the power of Lenin. Unfortunately the Bolsheviks were a socialist group during this upheaval leading to the failed attempt. Few social mobility was allowed after World War I, canceling the effects. The Soviet Union decided to populate the communism into the parties through socialism first, for it was much easier than capitalism to communism. Communism did not succeed due to not disrupting the power but they did allow the upper classed elite to have more power. This all shows how the USSRs communism differed from that of the ideals of Marx in the communist manifesto. The selfish upper class ruined the plan of distributing equality and resources, leading to the downfall of the supreme Soviet…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leading up to and following Lenin’s death in 1924, Leon Trotsky, the logical successor to Lenin, was outwitted from becoming leader of the Communist Party. Trotsky had been second only to Lenin since the Revolution he masterminded, yet it seemed Joseph Stalin was better suited from 1924 to assume the role because he was more politically adept and had more success in out manoeuvring and taking any opportunity to usurp Trotsky. His success, therefore, was based not only upon his ability for manipulating hierarchies of power which had been developed inside the party to further his own cause, but also in Trotsky’s failure to also exploit these channels.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Economic Systems

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This economic system had numerous features, both good and bad. Following the end of czarist rule, Vladimir Lenin, and later Joseph Stalin, came into power as leader of the Bolsheviks, or the Communists, those who deeply desired communist ideas for a government. Vladimir Lenin and his Communist Party established the Soviet Union, which by Joseph Stalin, was made into a communist and totalitarian state, which is ruled by one dictator. A factor of communism in Russia set by Stalin was the Great Purge. During this enforcement, those who resisted the government, going against their ideals, were executed or exiled from society. If any were even accused of opposition towards the government, they would be brutalized, murdered or removed from their country. This action sparked great fear in the people of the Soviet Union, as they were forced to be harshly subordinate to Stalin.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Right after the Russian Revolution happened it forced Russia out of World War I. They were many casualties and people were still not satisfied with how things turned out and that is how Joseph Stalin forced his power among the people and made their lives worse than they already were. According to the History Channel , Stalin was responsible for over twenty million deaths in his time of rule! It eventually forced them into another World War which they just didn't have the right strive in the people to win it. People were afraid and did not work together as people hoped it…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Soviet Union was founded in 1917, when the Russian peasantry got fed up with the monarchy, presided over by the uncharismatic Czar Nicholas II. The Soviet Union was founded by a revolution led by the Bolshevik party, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. After five years of unrest and purges between 1917 and 1922, it finally unified, and was recognized by other nations around the world. The country was ruled by one party, the Communist Party. When Lenin died in 1924, he was replaced by Josef Stalin, who later became known as one of the most brutal mass murderers in history.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays