stalin part 2:totalitarianism and stalin

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Totalitarianism and Stalin Anthony Barragan, Keyla Melgar, Sophia Viteri

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Page 1: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Totalitarianism and StalinAnthony Barragan, Keyla Melgar, Sophia Viteri

Page 2: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Methods Stalin Used to Impose Totalitarianism● One of the methods Stalin used to impose totalitarianism was terror through the Great Purges, which was the

execution or imprisonment of many of Russian people, including Stalin’s political opponents, half of the army’s high ranking officers, and chruch members

○ These Purges allowed him to eliminate his political enemies and install fear in the Russian population, giving him control over the government and the masses.

● Stalin’s cult of personality also helped impose totalitarianism, however in order to impose totalitarianism it is necessary to censor all media which would depict stalin a negative life.

○ This can be seen in Russian history books which altered photographs to remove those Stalin persecuted and depict Stalin as the hero of the revolution

○ Propaganda was also used to make Stalin seem almost like a god, with art praising Stalin being plastered throughout Russia.

○ This cult of personality allowed Stalin to seem like a “guide” to the nation and allowed him to pass radical new laws and ideas with little resistance.

Page 3: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Methods Stalin Used to Impose Totalitarianism

● Stalin also had complete control over the economy through his five year plans○ With each five year plan having Stalin comanding factories to create whatever goods Stalin

demanded, which were almost always industrial goods like steel or later in WWII weapons.

○ This allowed Stalin to have comple control over the Russian economy to reach his goal of industrializing Rusiia.

"Oil Workers! More Oil for the Motherland! Let's Fulfill the 5-Year Plan in 4 Years!"

Page 4: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Comparison to other totalitarian regimes● Lenin’s Russia also used similar methods with Lenin having a cult of personality with cities with his name like

Leningrad and his corspe being preserved, however not as extreme as Stalin’s, his secret police the Cheka eliminating Lenin’s enemies, though never killed as many as Stalin, and he also controlled the economy during war communism, but allowed more economic free afterwards with the NEP.

● Hitler also had a cult of personality with propaganda shedding him in a positive light, a secret police, the Gestapo, which attacked those Hitler viewed as political enemies, and those he viewed as inferior most notably Jews, and had a command economy where he would set prices for goods.

● Mussolini also had a cult of personality, a secret the OVRA, which was made to attack those who were anti-fascist, and his policy of economic fascism had private ownership but state control of the government.

Page 5: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Effect of totalitarianism on the Russian people

● Stalin’s command economy included the collectivization of agricultural goods, this caused the kulaks to become enraged and not give their goods to the government, this was one of the causes of the soviet famine of 1932-33, killing millions of Russians.

● The five year plan and its focus on industrialization, caused many of the Russian people to stop farming and begin working in factories, with by 1940 12.6 million people working in factories, opposed to the 4.6 million in 1928.

Page 6: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

Opposition to Stalin’s totalitarian regime

● There was initial opposition to Stalin’s regime with kulaks burning their crops, and many writers reciting anti-Stalin works. However, after the great purge the russian people both in and out of the party being too afraid to oppose Stalin and his policies.

Page 7: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

What best explains why Stalin was able to impose such a degree of totalitarianism on the USSR?The Purges

● Stalin used the murder of Kirov, who was the leader of the Leningrad Communist Party, to clear out his opponents in the party.

● Kamenev, Bukharin, and Zinoviev were purged while the other party members were arrested on anti-Soviet crimes and were executed or sent to gulags. Many people disappeared or were also sent to labor camps.

● Stalin became more powerful than before as since he got rid of his political rivals. He was able to take control over the citizens the way he wanted to since there was no one standing in his way. His aggressiveness resulted in people living in fear and anxiety because no one wanted to challenge his authority.

● The citizens had no choice but to follow Stalin’s rules as they were afraid of ending up in labor camps or getting killed like the rest. The widespread use of terror in the Purges helped Stalin gain total control over the society in the Soviet Union.

Page 8: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

What best explains why Stalin was able to impose such a degree of totalitarianism on the USSR?A new constitution in 1936

● It was seen as an “illusion of democracy” because Stalin’s views were the only one being expressed. Although people were given the freedom of speech and free elections, there still was not a democracy in place.

● Stalin was given even more power as he was able to exercise absolute authority and dominate the government. The citizens of the Soviet Union could not criticize Stalin or else they would be immediately ‘purged’. So he still denied basic liberties as the people still had limitations in what they could say. Stalin gained more power in the political aspect of the society with the new constitution.

Page 9: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

What best explains why Stalin was able to impose such a degree of totalitarianism on the USSR?Culture and Art Control

● Stalin had control over the cultural and artistic life, which influenced the way people think. Stalin forced writers, musicians, and artists to make works of realism glorifying soviet accomplishments, which must satisfy him or else they would be persecuted.

● For education, secret police would watch and ensure the teachers were only teaching about Communist ideology. Schoolchildren were expected to join the Young Pioneers. He took advantage of all forms of art and the education system, and used it as a propaganda. He got rid of independent thinking and had artists glorify him only to make him look good and help elevate himself to a Godlike rank.

● He created restrictions for art when it should be a freedom of expression, thus he constricted people to focus on one idea. The citizens were forced to think the same way Stalin did so they were only limited to focus on communism. Stalin had total control over the cultural and artistic life as he was able to have all citizens have the same mindset.

Page 10: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

How Totalitarian Was Russia under Stalin?● In 1928, Stalin's plans called for a command economy, or a system in which the government makes all decisions

involving the economy of a country. Joseph Stalin outlined a Five-Year Plan for the economic development of Russia.

● In 1928, also, the government began to seize over 25 million privately-owned farms in the USSR to combine them into large, government-owned farms, called collective farms.Peasants fought the government's attempt at taking their land, however by 1938 more than 90 percent of the farmers lived on collective farms

● Stalin had a "secret police" which used tanks and armored cars to stop riots.● He was also in total control of newspapers, motion pictures, radios, and other sources of information, as well as all

that was learned in schools and universities. ● He enforced the ban of religious teachings and exchanged them for the teachings of communism. ● Women had rights in which they were declared equal to men

and were allowed to vote and work.● This demonstrates totalitarian control because they taught

the kids to turn on their parents and to report to officials if their parents said anything negative against Stalin.

Page 11: STALIN PART 2:Totalitarianism and stalin

How Totalitarian Was Russia under Stalin?COMPLETELY!

He used the police to terrorize citizens into following the rules, by spying, using brutal force, or even murder. He controlled education by indoctrination, making a false image on the minds of children, so they will believe that it is all done for the welfare of the citizens, which would also get children spying and betraying their own parents. He controlled all newspapers, and radios, so no one could say anything bad about the government. Also read letters to see if anyone spoke of treason. Creativity was not allowed, it was used only for propaganda. He also wished to eliminate religious bonding. They did this by using propaganda against religious groups, displaying exhibits showing religion as superstitions. The police destroyed churches, killed church leaders, or sent them to labor camps. Stalin’s total control of Russia made the people lose rights such as freedom for their state to gain power.