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To what extent was the success of Stalin in retaining power in the USSR through fear? Section A It is assumed by most from a Western prospective that Stalin was the sole creator of the Great Purges and his regime was held together by the constant and consistent fear he infiltrated through it. Many historians put Stalin forward as an evil tyrant so much so that he can seem superhuman. My investigation’s aim is to explore to what extent was the success of Stalin in retaining power in the USSR through fear.
This argument is still relevant today, as results from recent polls[1] included in my investigation demonstrate that although documents proving Stalin’s terror have been released and studied, a large percentage agree with the opinion that he was also great leader rather than just a tyrant. Through a variety of sources such as cultural references like poetry from different critics, as well as other primary items like propaganda exhibiting fear; and historians analysis of the period (i. e. Filippov, Getty), I will determine which of the methods of Stalin allowed him to remain as sole leader of the USSR.
However this investigation will not be focusing in detail on Stalin’s methods through industrialisation and collectivisation but instead will consider the effects of his Purges on society and whether fear was his primary method of control. Word count: 207 Section B Following the death of Lenin in 1924 the Politburo was left in “collective leadership,” however the period of the 1920s proved more of a power struggle between the leaders, which ended in Stalin’s rise as the sole leader of the Soviet Union.
The political battles and expulsions he went through in order to place himself in the highest position of power are echoed throughout the rest of his rule. In order to consolidate his power, Stalin made sure the Politburo was filled with members who idealized him and removed any of the Old Bolshevik party. His view was very much that in order to strengthen his party he would have to remove “opportunist elements” [2]which later came to describe anyone who criticized Stalin’s policies.
Stalin developed his cult of personality, putting himself forward as autonomous leader who was infallible and who put his country first. Through primary evidence gained by both prose and propaganda posters it is evident that Stalin was not only feared but loved[3][4]. The purges or Great Terror began in the 1930s, after allegedly Stalin ordered Sergei Kirov (a party leader who was becoming more popular) to be killed, this then was followed by a state of emergency purges need to protect the State.
Stalin’s Great Terror resulted in the executions and exiling of millions of “enemies of the people. ” Using the NKVD, his secret police force Stalin sanctioned the persecution of various peoples, who he believed to be a threat to his policies, or as scapegoats to policies of his that failed. He encouraged people to celebrate him, publishing poems and articles in Pravada, the communist newspaper, but for those who doubted or criticised him: interrogation by the NKVD, or exile to the labour-force camps in Siberia or gulags, was common.
The impact of the terror meant giving the slightest impression of being “bourgeois” or anti-Stalinist during this time would ultimately resolve in punishment. The pressure to denounce such state criminals meant parents could be condemned by their children, if they let slip any disapproval made[5]. Today the accepted western opinion of Stalin is that he was a sadistic madman who governed with an iron fist, using the fear of his power to overcome his rival and suppress his people.
However as proven by some prose as well as recent polls conducted in Russia, Stalin is still widely recognized as a strong leader in a positive light, who did what he had to with the USSR’s best interests at heart. As despite the terror Word Count: 415 Section C The Kremlin Highlander is a satirical poem of Stalin’s rule written by Osip Mandelstam in November 1933, a celebrated Acmeist poet. It was published in his wife’s, Nadezhda Mandelstam’s, memoirs after he was arrested in May 1994 and later died in a labour camp. O. Mandelstam had composed the poem and recited at gathering, before it became known to Stalin, who was offended.
The poem depicts Stalin in very unflattering descriptions, which was incredibly unusual at the time, as ridiculing Stalin was seen as form of suicide. The poem’s tone in the opening couplet of the climate of fear which existed in USSR during the purges sets the atmosphere for the rest of the poem. “We live deaf to the land beneath us, Ten steps away no one hears our speeches,” insinuating that the fear surrounding society led to the Russian people turning a blind eye to misery lying underneath the facade, so they in turn would not be condemned.
The poem continues to describe Stalin’s words as final as “lead weights” falling from his lips, with his leaders from his party described as “half-men, for him to play with. ” This further strengthens the position that Stalin contained his power by fear, raising himself as an infallible with anyone who disputes this being purged as the poem goes on to say “killing is a treat” proclaiming him as a ruthless killer rather than deity. However as the secret police got hold of this composition, it was not repeated until his wife wrote it down.
Limitations to this source are as his wife was too afraid to write it on paper; she did not until Stalin died, so some phrases are noted differently however from Stalin’s reaction we can assume the mood was the same in the original. O. Mandelstam also wrote the poem whilst travelling around Russia where he saw the troubles of the Great Famine and purges, thus allowing us to conclude the poem as valuable source of evidence to Stalin’s fearful society. However a Speech made to VIIth Congress of Soviets, in February 1935 made by writer A.
O Avdienko and later in August 1935 consolidated into his own poem on Stalin printed in Pravada, suggested a different outlook on Stalin. His celebration of the leadership raises Stalin up as a God. With the language emphasizing the happiness and joy experienced under his rule, with Stalin titled as the “Great Stalin,” “great educator” “Man who never had an equal in world history. ” In Avdienko’s poem, Stalin is said to have brought man up from birth, restored centauries, inspired music and bloomed spring.
The final line “Sun reflected by millions of hearts…” does suggest that Avdienko is not the only one who celebrates Stalin but that he is shared in the hearts of many. Limitations for the source are that although it is evident that Stalin’s cult of personality was determined to make the Russian people love him, it is also likely that extreme pressure was placed on Avdienko especially as his poem was written after the condemnation of O. Mandelstam that served as a warning to even writers who held a high position. Word count: 524
Section D It is often judged that in order to consolidate his power Stalin used fear, but there are alternative opinions of his popularity at the time in evidence which has continued from 1930 to the present day and suggests his power did not solely come from fear. Even before Stalin came into power, he felt a strong communist party must purge itself of all “opportunist elements. ” [6]His propositions that it should rid itself of these members appear as justifications for his later purges and forebode the fear he used.
An order signed by Stalin in the 1930s during the height of the purges shows his approval to kill a large mass of people on the basis they were “enemies to the people,”[7] it also extends to killing the innocent wives of the enemies, which would infiltrate fear into society, so that the Russian public would avoid those disliked by Stalin in society in order to ensure their own survival. The propaganda used by Stalin and the NKVD further expresses the threat to opponents, so he could induce compliance as given by the message in the poster translated “We will eradicate Spies, Diversionists, Agents of the Trotskyvite-Bukharinite Fascists! [8] A piece of poetry from the period critiquing Stalin by O. Mandelstam theorized Stalin felt “every killing is a treat”[9] painting him as madman or ogre who simply pointed his finger at his victims and as documented by his wife, O. Mandelstam was imprisoned in severe circumstances under torture[10]. She also suggests the use of Stalin’s fear society being abused by those who would denounce anyone they disliked. However, there are also documents that suggest Stalin’s omnipresence and omnipotence “lit up” the lives of the people during the darker periods. 11] As in conjunction to the threatening propaganda used, specifically social realists’ art was used to paint Stalin as someone more concerned for the “People’s Happiness”[12] and develop the cult of personality. Although biased the social realist art displays how Stalin wanted to be perceived as a man for the people and loved rather than feared. Stalin liked to put himself forward as altruistic as self-described in his own book, where he wrote about a moral story which proved how he believed more in man than material ———————– [1] http://www. oreorless. au. com/killers/stalin. html and http://www. reuters. com/article/worldNews/idUSL2559010520070725 [2] J. Stalin [47], pp. 97-109 [3] Pravada, 1st February 1935, 28th August 1936, Rigby [43], pp. 111-12 [4] http://maof. rjews. net/pictures/placts/stalin. jpg [5] N. Mandelstam [37], pp. 304-5 [6] J. Stalin [47], pp. 97-109 [7] Jahrbuch [109], p. 234 [8]NKVD, 1937 [9] N. Mandelstam [37], p 13. 1933 [10] N. Mandelstam [37] pp. 75-6. [11] McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism 2nd edition. p. 84 [12] http://maof. rjews. net/pictures/placts/stalin. jpg