Joseph Stalin Persuasive Essay

In the power struggle that followed the death of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, one of Lenin’s lieutenants, seized power. According to the BBC article “Stalin - Purges and Praises,” Stalin began to murder or exile anyone in the government, military or Communist Party whom he suspected of disloyalty. Stalin’s first purge demonstrates his mounting paranoia and distrust toward his colleagues, and makes it clear that his concern was more on his own safety than the well-being of the Soviet people. In fact, Stalin’s purges were unexpectedly widespread; the sheer number of his victims is astonishing. After Stalin gained power, he was able to eliminate his Soviet rivals. According to “Stalin - Purges and Praises,” Stalin murdered two-thirds …show more content…
He and the NKVD would place several prominent rivals on trial. Those Communist leaders who were put on trial by Stalin were forced to admit to fabricated crimes in one-sided kangaroo courts (Hingley 1). The move to force high-ranking officials to admit to false crimes implies that Stalin still needed to tread lightly, and was not in a powerful enough position to execute anyone without a trial. In addition, it appears that Stalin was attempting to prevent potential rebels from rallying around a martyred leader by making the victims of his purges to appear as criminals. During Stalin’s purges, he murdered many people, but any martyrs that he created could become potential rivals, even in death. In the article “Stalin - Purges and Praises,” the BBC writes, “Photographs and history books were changed to eliminate even the memory of people who had been arrested.” Removing people from the historical record displays an enormous amount of focus that Stalin had on building up his personal following. By effectively removing people from existence, Stalin would have been able to twist history to serve his own purposes, while not allowing rivals or rebels to benefit from the