Stalin Terror and Political View

Running head: STALIN TERROR AND POLITICAL VIEW
Stalin Terror and Political View
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
STALIN TERROR AND POLITICAL VIEW
Introduction
The Russian society is one of the largest in the world people from around the globe as its
residents. It makes the reign of the country is a position of great authority and power. The
Russians have one of the largest landmass in their control and a country spanning two continents.
The break off of United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) greatly dwindled the size of the
country but at its prime it was a behemoth to be meddled with. Nevertheless, the Great war
affected the economy of the country greatly as it did with all the other countries which
participated in the war. This was the time when Stalin came to reign the country and greatly
consolidated himself as the leader supreme of this superpower. He became the secretary of the
communist party of the Soviet in 1922 and held his post till his death in 19531. His position in
the post was greatly consolidated due to the strategies he had employed during his rule. Stalin
took the help of all the possible measure to have an unopposed control over the country.
The want for the unopposed reign forced him to shift to a number of different strategies
to control the country. The strategies using which he succeeded were tyrannical to say the least.
He used all possible measures to get rid of any opposition that he might face while consolidating
his position, bet it political or civil. His habit of making an example out of the people he
punished also greatly dwindled the number of people who would choose to take a stand against
his reign. In the essay, the strategies used by Stalin for political economic and social gain are
studied. it is known that for each of the problems he took a method to harsh but it proved
effective for saving his political supremacy. The regime of Stalin was one of political
strategizing and tyranny and he greatly followed the ideal of it.
1 Rappaport, Helen. Joseph Stalin: a biographical companion. Abc-Clio, 1999.

2
STALIN TERROR AND POLITICAL VIEW
Political Scenario
The rule of Stalin was an era of change in the Russian society marked with oppression
and most of it was to establish the rule of Stalin formidably in the Russian Society. The rule of
Stalin was an era of extreme oppression as far as political opposition was concerned. In his
ideology the ideal government could only run in the absence of opposition to criticize his
policies. the rule of the Stalin focused on setting up a political order without a voice of dissent.
To achieve this, during the 1930s the ‘Great Purge’ took place during which most of the party
workers of the Communist Party who had a Marxist ideology were forced to leave the party2.
According to Stalin this was not enough to consolidate his position in the party and he further
forced a number od the workers with fake charges of treason and conspiracy, further aggravating
the political aggression he had. The political scenario of Russia in 1930s was greatly changed
due to the economic crisis and the political instability the country was facing during this period.
The political situation during this period was greatly affected by the great war or the world war
1, which forced the country in a state of economic crunch3. The socio-political instability during
this period helped Stalin in becoming the supreme ruling power in the Soviet Union during this
period. During the purge many people who did not agree to the ideology of Joseph Stalin were
prosecuted and charged with a number of political crimes.
2 Harris, James, ed. The anatomy of terror: political violence under Stalin. OUP Oxford, 2013.
3 Svolik, Milan W. The politics of authoritarian rule. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

3
STALIN TERROR AND POLITICAL VIEW
The Great Purge received much attention from the International media as the world was
astonished that Stalin was prosecuting his closest confidantes during this period4. The trials held
for the prosecution and the punishment of the political competitors of Stalin were known as the
Moscow Trials. The Moscow show trials launched in the year 1934 was greatly used to prosecute
the political competitors of Stalin based on forced confessions. Stalin used the death of Sergey
Kirov to launch the great purge and get rid of any political opposition5. The whole act focused
more on consolidating the rule of Stalin in Russia rather than working for the overall welfare of
the country. in the first trial the previous prominent leaders of the communist party were charged
with the murder of Kirov and plotting of killing Stalin. They were executed for their crimes. The
whole act was more of a process to counter any opposition that Stalin might have faced in
becoming a party stronghold. The second trial convicted another 17 communist party workers
and they were charged with plotting with Germany against Russia. After the trial 13 were
executed by shooting while the rest were sent to labor camps where they later died. Labor camps
and concentration camps were greatly used by Stalin during this period to establish his political
supremacy and put down the voices of dissent. It is his example that gave birth to the leaders like
Adolf Hitler and Kim Jong Il who reigned with an iron hand.
According to historian Alec Nove, the terror in the reign of Stalin was majorly politically
motivated and was fueled by his desire of absolute power6. This suggested that the main subject
4 Schedler, Andreas. The politics of uncertainty: Sustaining and subverting electoral authoritarianism. OUP Oxford,
2013.
5 Gregory, Paul R., Philipp JH Schröder, and Konstantin Sonin. "Rational dictators and the killing of innocents:
Data from Stalin’s archives." Journal of Comparative Economics 39.1 (2011): 34-42.
6 Nove, Alec. "Some Thoughts on the End of NEP." Economy and Society in Russia and the Soviet Union, 1860–
1930. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1992. 234-243.