Impact Of Stalin's Cult Of Personality

Great Essays
Contrary to Vladimir Lenin, who was quite modest and refused any kind of public praise, Stalin relied on constant worship in what became known as Stalin’s cult of personality. In this sense, Stalin’s personality cult went against traditional Bolshevik practice. This cult allowed Stalin to have a stronger support system for his policies as he lacked the same prestige as Lenin, especially in the 1930s when the famine of 1932-1933 increased opposition and he started to rely on drastic measures such as the Great Purge, in which he eradicated any people he perceived to be a threat to his authority. Thus, Stalin’s cult also grew as his absolute power and dictatorial leadership style also grew in the 1930s. Interestingly, however, Stalin was significantly …show more content…
But Stalin found that I was in the wood
And Stalin spied, heard I was in deadly danger
So he sent a tank out for me,
And I rolled off down the forest path” The image with which Stalin presented himself to the children was arguably equally as—or even more so—significant as how he portrayed himself to the rest of the population, as they would be the future of the state and he needed to ensure absolute power over the Soviet Union until his death.

Overview of Stalin’s reforms of the History
…show more content…
The Bolshevik primary education system was centered around interdisciplinary concepts, instead of instruction being structured into traditional, separate subjects, with a central theme on human labour in preparation for the labour workforce that the students would partake in upon graduation. Accordingly, history, geography, economics, political economy and sociology where all fused together into social science courses, in which their interdisciplinary nature could be discussed more easily. Stalin, however, was very critical of this multidisciplinary approach, reasoning that “[t]he textbooks and the instruction [of history] itself is done in such a way that sociology is substituted for history…” and that “we must give an impression of this epoch, about the events which took place at that time, who ruled, what sort of government there was, what sort of policies were carried out, and how events transpired. Without this, we won’t have any sort of civil history”. He argued that Bolshevik instruction of history was too fluid and did not focus sufficiently on dates of events or significant historical figures, causing their representation of history to be very muddled, and in Stalin’s extremes, insignificant. Thus, Stalin sought to reform the education system, particularly the history curriculum to make it more rigid and focused on more

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Conveniently for Stalin, a reform of the history curriculum would not only improve the student’s education about their mother country, it would also allow Stalin to impose his ideology and his heroic character on the students so that they would become passionate and supportive of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union as a whole. One of the primary methods of reforming the Soviet History curriculum was through the development of a new history textbook that would replace the old one, as this was one the sources of Stalin’s primary criticism of the Bolshevik textbooks. Thus, with the mission of developing a new history textbook to be used in Soviet schools, the Politburo, which was the executive committee for the Central Committee of the Communist…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The most dominant factor in Stalin’s acquisition of power was his political skills. Stalin's first major success over the other contenders, though they did not realize it, was the power he gained from his position as General Secretary of the party. This gave Stalin the ability to appoint new members as well as have access to information on other party members. He was able to build up a base of support by promoting his supporters into higher party positions. No one else in the party wanted this position so it Stalin took it and seen as a bureaucratic burden.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Joseph Stalin Dbq

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the 30 years of Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship, the estimated death toll ranged from 28 to 40 million people, whom died from a variety of things, such as famine, executions, and a very large war. Stalin assumed autocratic rule of the Soviet Union in 1924 following the death of Lenin. Stalin made a variety of reforms, but his main focus was on the economic issues that was occurring in the communist country at the time. Stalin made his economic reforms solely to make the most amount of money possibly, even if millions of people had to die. I completely contest to Stalin’s beliefs and ideas during this very controversial time in the USSR.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He, along with other classmates, yearned for schooling opportunities that were just not available. In order to get around the censorship of the priests, Service discusses how the seminaries would frequently visit editorial offices and bookshops to read and discuss forbidden material including Georgian literature and language (37). Aside from his experiences in education, Stalin was very drawn to socialism, “joining the revolutionary movement when fifteen years old” (Boobbyer 100) demonstrating his affinity for politics even at a young age. However, Stalin’s ideology could be seen as being physically molded due to beatings he received as a child, allowing him to build up aggression to later exert on his country as a whole. According to his mother, expressed by Kuromiya, the reason Stalin turned out so well was because of his beatings (2).…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    • Joseph Stalin's rise started after the October revolution when the tsar was taken out • of power and the Bolsheviks took over • He was appointed the general secretary of the communist party; this role seemed minor but played an important role in his rise to power • His position allowed him to appoint his supporters to high ranking positions, thereby setting up a foundation for his rise to power • Vladimir Lenin the leader of the USSR and the revolution grew scared of the growing power of Stalin but had a stroke that forced him into an early retirement making any direct actions against • Stalin impossible although he did write a letter suggesting his dismissal from the party. Stalin managed to down play the letter without much harm to his…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were unarguably the two most powerful leaders to ever rule Russia and Germany. The pair spread terror across the Europe as they took power and aimed to consolidate it. Stalin was born in Georgia, which was then part of the Russian empire, and was the son of a cobbler. During his time as a student he began reading Marxist literature and it inspired him to devote his time to the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy. He would often get arrested and exiled to Siberia during his time as an activist, however when the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 he rose through the ranks of the party.…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With each opportunity that presented to exert himself as a leader, Stalin greedily seized it. He shouldered every responsibility no matter the weight and carried it with great pride. “Stalin was a law unto himself. When transferred to Petrograd on the Western Front in mid-1919, he showed macabre…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The introduction of collectivisation and industrialisation also referred to as the Five Year Plans, had both positive impacts and negative impacts on Soviet society and the economy. Following the rise to power of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s, the country had apparent prosperity and stability, with the party securely in power and the new economic policy recovering the economy. However, Stalin was in a similar position to that of his predecessors, as the Russian economy was still in shambles and on the verge of an economic crisis, due to the inefficiency and lack of development of industry. Stalin’s plan to solve these fundamental problems was to transform Russia into a modern, industrial powerhouse. Stalin was able to attain…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    How Did Stalin Change

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Pages

    As for women under Lenin’s rule it was easier to get a divorce and an abortion but Stalin changed all this by making divorce illegal in 1936 to protect motherhood and childhood. Despite this he still opened up more opportunities for women by allowing them to work in factories and he actually made it easier for women to work as he opened up child-care centres. As for the education system which had a major impact on the modernisation of Russia, Stalin made education compulsory as every child was allowed to have at least 9 years of free education which increased literacy rates. This was because Stalin wanted to be valued as the ‘father of the people’ and although he was feared he wanted to gain the loyalty of the youth and to do so he emphasised…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throught Stalin’s childhood his father beat him mercilessly and he once described his childhood as being “raised in a poor, priest-ridden household”. Many people think this contributed to his decision to become a key Marxist revolutionary. His father abandoned his family when Stalin was 9 and this provided a lot of relief to Stalin. He began to take his studies very seriously and excelled academically.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Orwell 1984 Essay

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Stalin, once in power, demonstrated a more complete power of the lives of the inhabitants of the USSR than Hitler did. “The state’s control of the media was total. Those who attempted to listen, read etc. anything else were severely punished” (Life in the USSR). For those who disobeyed, the labor camps they would face.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Joseph Stalin was a man with huge power that came with consequences for the people of the Soviet Union. Although he didn’t always have a remarkable childhood, things had changed for him later on his life. Looking back, Stalin climbed to his success in his near future because of one decision that was made by another in his life, which lead him to rule. Many events that fell through from his leadership had impacted the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as not every decision Stalin made was wise since the events that followed afterwards ended up having consequences. Joseph Stalin didn’t always have a pleasant lifestyle when he was growing up.…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Soviet Union Dbq Analysis

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Stalin had incredibly vast powers allowing him to enforce his own belief system in punishment, Roy Medvedev’s article in Moscow News specifies “The Great Terror was a matter of] the most cruel tortures, interrogations, [and] the fearful abuse of human dignity” (Doc C). Joseph Stalin’s powers in the Soviet government took control of all forms of discipline and if he were to think a punishment was necessary no matter how little a crime to no crime at all, it would be taken into action. While these forms of mass torcher were being carried out, cultural achievements and military strength gave the world something else to focus on. By grabbing the attention of the world to see the public side of the Soviet Union, no one would see the Great Terror or the secret police force of Stalin harming their own people. The government wanted control of the votes even when people could individually vote, Reg Manning’s article in Time magazine states “To this end it went to great lengths organizing its elections, including sending hundreds of thousands of political workers to visit every Soviet home to encourage voting” (Doc D).…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Stalin was the dictator of the soviet union (1878- 1953). Under the control of Stalin the soviet union went from a weak and peasant society to a military superpower. He would send his enemies to labor camps, or he would have them executed. He had millions of people killed and some were sent to labor camps. While he was under control his name became part of the soviet anthem.…

    • 79 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stalin's Personality

    • 1318 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The death of Stalin was an emotional and chaotic time for those living in the Soviet Union. Stalin’s true “cult of personality” showed itself when tens of thousands of Soviet citizens travelled to Moscow in order to see and pay respects to Stalin’s body. Soviet citizens wept in the streets and left roses and wreaths for the deceased dictator. After Stalin’s the party had to decide what their next actions were going to be. Post-Stalin leadership was very nervous of Soviet people and did not want Stalin’s death to send them into mass hysteria.…

    • 1318 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays