How Did Stalin Impact The Soviet Union

Communism in the Soviet Union was greatly feared throughout the rest of Europe. From its beginnings in Lenin to the end of it when the Soviet Union fell and Boris Yeltsin became the government leader in Russia, the Red Scare ran throughout not only Europe but the whole world. Lenin was the first to come up with the Communist party, and it was enhanced by Stalin. Stalin became a totalitarian dictator of Russia, and used fear and terror in the Communist Party to enforce their ophilisoihpies. After Stalin’s death, many leaders of the Soviet Union followed, and a few made a great impact to the fall of the Soviet Union and communism. First after Stalin was Nikita Khrushchev, who had followed Stalin and supported some of his actions. Once he became the leader of the Soviet Union, he made an anti-Stalin speech, and stressed that when twerror is taken out of the system, the people will push back. Following Khrushchev was Brezhnev, and he focused on building up Russia to compete with the United States. After Brezhnev’s death, Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in the Soviet Union, and he focused on Glasnost, Perestroika, democratization. After Gorbachev resigned from being the president of the Soviet Union in 1991, the SOviet Union collapsed, along with Communism. Boris Yeltsin then took over as the new President of Russia. Throughout these years, the Soviet Union also faced problems with Eastern European countries, like Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany. Through the many leaders of the Soviet Union, as well as issues with East European countries, the SOviet Union fell, and soon after Communism did too. Once Stalin died in the mid 1900’s, Nikita Khrushchev took over as the leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. Khrushchev was “a tough and hardened party stalwart who had enforced Stalin’s purges in Ukraine and had long been a member of the Central Committee and Politburo, but he was shrewd enough to recognize the need for change” (Palmer 903). Khrushchev had a de-Stalinization campaign, and through this there were many changes. “Cities named in Stalin’s honor were renamed… Stalin’s body was removed from the mausoleum on Red Square, where it had lain next to Lenin’s, and buried outside Kremlin Wall” (Palmer 903). Khrushchev also helped the economy in Russia and the Soviet Union. He focused on decentralization, and wanted to create regional economic councils. Under Khrushchev, the Soviet Union also worked on hydrogen bombs and launching their first space satellite. Khrushchev helped the SOviet Union, and “within a decade, he (Khrushchev) boasted in the early 1960s, the Soviet economy would surpass the American” (Palmer 903). He also focused on agricultural and foreign policy. His foreign policy in Russia was to have “peaceful coexistence, and relations for a time improved” (Palmer 904) with the United States. Yet, his …show more content…
Gorbachev focused on the policies of Glasnost, Perestroika, democratization. Gorbachev started a new era in Russia of Soviet government as well as life. His main two slogans were Glasnost, which meant openness, and Perestroika, which meant restructuring. In a speech explaining Perestroika, he said “we have a sound material foundation, a wealth of experience and a broad world outlook with which to perfect our society…” (Packet 8). Both policies of Glasnost and Perestroika were able to be applied to everyday life, and helped Gorbachev rise to an even greater power in the Soviet Union. In a document written by William Mandel, he explains Glasnost in action and writes “our conscious as citizens will not permit this anymore” (Packet 12). The document goes on to explain a conversation between organizers, explaining how they are open to many things, and expresses Glasnost under Gorbachev. Secondly, Gorbachev “called for new political thinking, setting new perspectives for his country’s role in global politics’ (Packet 8). Through this, he also explained his foreign policy. He established friendly relationships with other western leaders, which made his policy greatly successful. He had some issues with domestic problems through. He began to stir up tensions in the Soviet Party, and public opinion soon began to divide. The Soviet state was threatened by national minorities, and Gorbachev saw that. He resigned from his leadership in the Soviet Union oi 1991, and it soon destroyed itself. Once the Soviet Union fell, a new leader needed to take out