Joseph Stalin
It is difficult to count how many millions of deaths Joseph Stalin was responsible for, but the fact that this figure is in the millions is not in doubt (Cavendish, 2003). Up until the twilight of his life, when he was in his seventies and approaching his own death, his subordinates continued to carry out his murderous orders.
Stalin was paranoid and in his later years he suffered from arteriosclerosis. There is a theory that this may have aggravated his temper, which became worse as he grew older. His doctor, Vladimir Vinogradov, noticed a significant decline in Stalin's health early in 1952. When he suggested that the dictator start to relax, the patient flew into a furious rage and had him arrested.
Several other doctors were arrested in 1952 (Cavendish, 2003). Some of them were Jewish and newspaper tirades against "murderers in white gowns" provoked widespread rumors about a medical conspiracy. There were whispers of babies killed in maternity wards and patients being killed with poisoned medicines. In January 1953, the Tass press agency reported the arrest of nine members of 'a criminal group of murderous doctors, accused of killing prominent Soviet figures. Six of the nine were Jews. More doctors were arrested and although many of them were not Jewish, there was an outbreak of anti-Semitism and Jews were hassled in the streets. During this time, Stalin was considering a plan to deport all Soviet Jews to Siberia.
Stalin was driven by one overpowering fear; future attack of his western border. His collection of Eastern European states served as a barrier and became known as the Iron Curtain (Hyde, 1971). This isolationist behavior and expansion of Communist control are believed by most, to have started the Cold War. Stalin displaced about 1.5 million non-Russian occupants of the new Soviet republics. Most were Muslims labeled as Nazi sympathizers and, as a result, were a direct threat to the Soviet Union. Many perceived minorities from the Crimea, Caucasus, Bulgaria, Armenia and so on, were gathered and hauled off to Siberia....
They intended to turn the country into a great political and economical power that would match and, eventually, pass the Western countries that at the time dominated the world. Their competition was not only with the rest of Europe but with the United States as well. In order to achieve this Stalin needed extra devoted work from his people. He created new strategies to improve the industrial development of
In his rule, Stalin murdered thousands of his own people, as well as the obvious groups who opposed him like the Kulaks. Stalin also went to purge many people within his own party and in Russian institutions in order to strengthen his grip over the country. Stalin used his secret police, known as the NKVD, to assassinate, imprison and exile thousands of Russian people (Jones, 2002). He went after people
He advanced the NEP as the new economic strategy. (Tucker 1990) Means for achieving power Stalin used propaganda as the main tool for reaching out to the population. Therefore, he tried through every means possible to convince the people to follow his political ideas and to worship his personality. He used manipulation to induce the population a completely new mentality and to erase any possible reminiscence of the old regime. This in
The czar had absolute power over the country and denied people's freedom to express themselves or oppose the government. Communism functioned considerably in the same way. Stalin's power was almost as absolute as the czar's. He alone had had complete power to make decisions, and denied people's freedom to express themselves or openly speak their opinions about the way the politics were conducted. Stalin made the people worship his image
Domestically, Novosti disseminated information on life in other countries and on life in the Soviet Union. All of these institutional structures fell under the authority of the Party. The television system in the Soviet Union was centrally controlled through the State Committee for Tele- vision and Radio (Gostelradio), which coordinated the communication of the ideological message sent down from above. The reorganization and elevation of this committee to the all-union
He decided to develop industrial progress to help improve agriculture and make the people work harder, as he knew this was the only way to make socialism work. He leaned on the Red Brigade as a tool to control and dominate the people and made concentration camps where opposers where arrested and sentenced to hard work. He used fear and threat to dominate the people, setting very hard laws
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