A man who killed roughly thirty million people, sent thousands to labor camps, eliminated all threats to his power and left millions starving during his reign is the same man who ultimately led to the destruction of Communism . He is the man who properly depicts the “1984” image of Big Brother and ruled with the iron fist of terror. This man is Joseph Stalin. His time of reign lasted from 1924 to 1953 and initially helped create one of the most powerful nations of his time. Although Stalin had contributed positively to the Soviet Union in many ways, he ultimately played a part in the downfall of the Soviet Union and the reign of the communist power. Stalin was so detrimental that after his death the soviet union had a destalinization process. Stalin’s copious mistakes had affected not only the people during his reign but rather all of Soviet Communism until it’s downfall.
Before one can understand how Stalin tore apart the fabrics of communism one needs to understand what communism is all about. Communism is the political theory derived from Karl Marx theology, which went against social classes and advocated equal distribution of wealth. The politics behind the theory derived from the The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Stalin, however, did not seem to follow the precedents set and ruled by dictatorship. Although he did technically obliterate social classes, he did not follow the rules set by the policies of communism. He was a brutal leader who followed a totalitarian like rule instead of a socialist type. Instead of having a society that controls and regulates wealth evenly, Stalin and his society worried about controlling the people and the power for themselves.
One of Stalin’s initial mistake was siding with the infamous axis powers. By siding with Germany, Japan, and Italy they became the victims of a surprise attack. Germany had betrayed them and thousands of russian soldier died in result and millions of Russian civilians were affected. If Stalin had sided with the allies he would have been much better off strategically. Stalin did however manage to eventually ward off the Germans and defeat them. This was only accomplished however after the loss of many soldiers and families.
If Karl Marx were to be the epitome of communism then Stalin is the complete opposite of it. Stalin reverted to the pre civilized error of dictatorship. Although Stalin cannot be compared to the equivalent of Hitler, they seem to share striking resemblances. “The patterns of complicity and resistance, terror and consensus, social organization and social ambition bear clear resemblances… (Overy).” They were both ruthless rulers, who seemed to have risen to power and helped the nation prevail but ultimately helped lead the nation to its demise.
The peasants, who supported the Bolshevik revolution and who were promised their land, had it confiscated from them and collectivized into kalhozi - collective farms, in which the peasants no longer received pay. This directly contradicted the “worker’s paradise” ideal of communism. This collective system resulted in many famines, even after Stalin’s death, as there was no way to reform it. Stalinism was based on the idea that the government would be the universal employer, thus guaranteeing virtual slavery for the peasants. In addition to this, Stalin’s snitching policies created a culture of corruption in the Soviet Union. If you wanted to get rid of someone, snitch that they were an enemy of the state, and they would disappear overnight. This is what George Orwell based his 1984 on. Just like Big Brother, Stalin was this all knowing, all seeing, and powerful being in control of everything. Stalin’s posters hung in practically every household. He was big brother. “On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move” (Orwell pg2). Both big brother and Stalin had controlled and brainwashed the nation. The problem was that no one was safe. Stalin focused on eliminating enemies and maintaining power. Labor camps were an essential part of his rule, helping him obliterate his enemies. During Stalin's purges, at least 39 million Soviet citizens were sentenced to prison, where many of them died (Encyclopedia and intelligence). Stalin did not seem to focus on society and progressing it forward. Education had become more strict as well as art more restricted. In Stalin’s era “for those who identified with the project of “building socialism,” the militant wistfulness that flooded Russian newspapers signified faith in achievement as well as a denial of any evidence of adversity” (Brooks). In other words, brainwash and total power over the media gave Stalin complete control over the nation’s mindset.
Stalin had created a Big Brother World where everything is deprived and society flourishing is at a minimum. Stalin slowed down the progression of time and will not allow his to properly follow the correct communistic society. He proved to have destroyed the true basis of communism and showed that the concept is not practical. He had indirectly led to the downfall of communism in the soviet union.
Work Cited
"Stalin, Josef." Encyclopedia of Intelligence & Counterintelligence. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2005.
Credo Reference. Web. 15 November 2013
Boobbyer, Phillip (2000). The Stalin Era. Routledge..
Tucker, Robert C. (1992). Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1928–1941. W. W.
Norton & Company.
Overy, R. J. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. Penguin Books: London, 2005.
Print
Brooks, Jeffrey. Thank You, Comrade Stalin!: Soviet Public Culture from Revolution to Cold
War. N.p
By Pavel Shalumov
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