Great Purge

the world. From Russia to China, from Iraq to Germany, these leaders control their countries with absolute power. Because of how powerful these leaders control is, their power must be constantly maintained and in order to do so, the leaders go to great lengths to ensure their unlimited power. Through dehumanization of their population and extreme intimidation, these twentieth and twenty first century totalitarian leaders maintained complete and total control over their countries. These…

in Gulags, the Soviet government 's complete control of individuals and society lead to the deaths of millions of Ukrainian peasants, and the use of police and military terror was responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians during the Great Purge of Stalin. Persecution was a key trait of totalitarianism that lead to millions of deaths in the Soviet Gulags during the World War II era. Persecution happens when perceived enemies of the state are mistreated and/or eliminated for ethnic,…

Revolution. However, the Russian Industrial Revolution was one of the most impactful and controversial industrial transformation to this day. As World War I came to a conclusion, many nations were left in the Great Depression, where many European countries’ economies fell to ruins. In addition of to the Great Depression, prior to the war, Russia was extremely weak in terms of economy due to its lack of industrialization. The communist party in Russia was able to gain control and set up a…

of the idea behind Stalinism: the state must have enough power to protect and foster socialism before it can be broken down. The danger in Stalinism lies in this concentration of power. In the 1930s, Stalin was able to use state power in order to purge the Communist party and the Soviets of anyone who he thought could pose a threat to him, including those who had opposed him in the past. Stalinist policies rarely showed mercy to alleged anti-Soviets as the Stalin became the undisputed leader of…

two years, due to the Ryutin Affair, nearly a million party members were removed after they were accused of being “Ryutinties”. This marked the beginning of the Great Purge as Stalin continued to expel, arrest and even execute party members after being accused of treason. Sooner or later, the Great Purge began to transform into the Great Terror as it began to use show trials as another technique to instill fear throughout the nation as prominent leaders were put on public trials to be executed.…

Public transcripts are characterized by the state sanctioning of certain idealized forms of action that citizens should take, and are demonstrated in social norms of politeness, parades, and holidays. Hidden transcripts are characterized by the private critiques of the official transcripts and are put into action through rumors, gossip, ritualistic aggression and the creation of autonomous space form the oppressed population. Coded transcripts are the attempts of people to ascertain how…

weren’t glorified only in the textbook; throughout the Communist propaganda system, Stalin ensured that Ivan IV and Peter the Great were portrayed exclusively in a very positive light, despite Soviet historian’s, Militsa Nechkina, critique that honouring Ivan the Terrible as such was reminiscent of ‘bourgeois historiography’. However, Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great were very significant for Stalin. Robert Tucker, Stalin’s biographer, believed that Stalin modeled his leadership style and…

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…

Contemporary historians tend to dismiss the economic policies of Stalin as being illogical and overly fantastical. While their beliefs may have some basis, it is important to understand the political atmosphere during Stalin’s time in order to further comprehend the Stalinist rationality. When Stalin rose to power, he deviated from Lenin through his desire to achieve socialism in one country; he believed that the Soviets had to be capable of being self-reliant before being able to help other…

The Russian Communist Party from 1921 despite having no titular leader held Lenin up as the sole party head having emerged from the civil war as the controlling power of the Russian empire. Following Lenin’s death in 1924 a six year struggle for power followed, Lenin having left no real guidance as to who should succeed him as leader. Stalin’s rise to power, in 1924 was far from inevitable as he was one of six politburo members and had only been appointed as General Secretary, viewed by…