When did Stalin start to gain power?
Serving in the Russian Civil War before overseeing the Soviet Union's establishment in 1922, Stalin assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's death in 1924.
How did Stalin rise to power quizlet?
Stalin was the natural successor to Lenin because of the way the Party had become increasingly bureaucratised. Key Interpretations of Stalin's' Rise to power. Lenin created the single party dictatorship and system of terror, which Stalin continued. So Stalin was the heir to the Leninist tradition.
How did Stalin gain and maintain power in the USSR quizlet?
How did Stalin gain and maintain power in the USSR? he used his position as general secretary to gain control of the Communist party, he established programs that changed agriculture and industry and strengthened his control over the party by eliminating all opposition (labor camps, death lists, etc.)
How did the Soviet Union rise to power?
The Soviet Union had its origins in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Radical leftist revolutionaries overthrew Russia's Czar Nicholas II, ending centuries of Romanov rule. The Bolsheviks established a socialist state in the territory that was once the Russian Empire.
When did the Soviet Union rise to power?
In 1922, the White Army was defeated which spearheaded the creation of the Soviet Union and its Communist Party. Following Lenin's death and state funeral in 1924, Joseph Stalin assumed leadership over the party and country.
Who is Joseph Stalin quizlet?
Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953.
Which best describes the rise to power of Mao Zedong quizlet?
Which best describes the rise to power of Mao Zedong? Leading an army of rural peasants, he launched a communist revolution.
Why did Stalin rise to power?
Many believe Stalin’s rise to power began when he met Vladimir Lenin. In 1921 Stalin helped plan the invasion of Georgia which was the source for his negative policies towards the country. In 1922 he was appointed general secretary of the Bolshevik party with the help of Lenin. The main reason for this was to make life harder for Trotsky. When he first met Lenin he showed enormous support for his ideas and for the party. Lenin didn’t like the policies which Stalin had towards Georgia.
How did Stalin help Lenin?
Stalin went behind Lenin’s back and with the help of his new alliances with two men named Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev he was able to keep Lenin’s testament from getting to the Twelfth Party Congress in 1923. On the 21st of January 1924 Lenin died of a heart attack and, once again, Stalin’s thirst for power led to increasing conflicts with his former allies Lev and Grigory. Stalin wanted to focus on spreading communism in countries that are already controlled rather than spread the revolution. When Trotsky, Lev and Grigory began to disagree with his ideas Stalin kicked them out of the party.
Why did Stalin use Lenin?
He used Lenin to get a high place in the Bolshevik party and when the time came and Lenin began to die Stalin saw his chance to take control . Joseph Stalin is considered one of the most feared dictators in world history and he was responsible for millions upon millions of deaths, even more than Hitler.
How did Stalin use propaganda?
Stalin used propaganda and fear to accomplish his goals for Russia. Even his rise to power was done by force. He eliminated all who opposed him in the party until he was the only one left to control the USSR. He used Lenin to get a high place in the Bolshevik party and when the time came and Lenin began to die Stalin saw his chance to take control.
What did Lenin say about Stalin?
After noticing Stalin’s rude behavior, addiction to power and ambition Lenin stated in his testament that Stalin should be removed from his title as general secretary and that if Stalin should inherit leadership it would be disastrous.
What happened to Lenin when he met Stalin?
Lenin didn’t like the policies which Stalin had towards Georgia. In 1922 Lenin suffered a stroke and was forced to briefly retire to Gorki, although he was still in charge.
Who was exiled from the Soviet Union?
Later Lev and Grigory would be return but Trotsky was exiled from the Soviet Union. Stalin began to increase his power and he began to take control over most of the economy, completely opposing Lenin’s former policies on the economy. He became a supreme leader among the party and his power rapidly began to grow.
What did Stalin do in the Russian Revolution?
Stalin was one of the Bolsheviks' chief operatives in the Caucasus and grew close to leader Vladimir Lenin, who saw him as a tough character, and a loyal follower capable of getting things done behind the scenes. Stalin played a decisive role in engineering the 1921 Red Army invasion of Georgia, adopting a hardline approach to opposition. Stalin's connections helped him to gain influential positions behind the scenes in the Soviet-Russian government.
Why did Stalin use his new office?
After a brief disappointment of not being given a prestigious ministerial post, Stalin soon learned how to use his new office in order to gain advantages towards other key persons within the Communist Party. He prepared the agenda for the Politburo meetings, directing the course of meetings.
Why did Stalin help Zinoviev and Kamenev?
Although Zinoviev and Kamenev were disconcerted by Stalin's power and some of his policies, they needed Stalin's help in opposing Trotsky's faction and to prevent Trotsky's possible succession to Lenin in a power struggle. Lenin died on 21 January 1924. Stalin was given the honour of organizing his funeral.
Why did Lenin retire?
Only a few weeks after his appointment, Lenin was forced into semi-retirement because of a stroke. Lenin never fully recovered and died in January 1924. He spent most of his remaining life resting in a countryside Dacha. But he received messages and political visitors, and between the autumn of 1922 and spring of 1923, he resumed his party leadership in Moscow. As late as in October 1922, Lenin expressed his "unreserved support" for Stalin as General Secretary and for his work with a new constitution. (Adopted in December 1924, it shaped the Soviet Union.) Lenin was disturbed by a report on violent atrocities committed in Georgia, reported by the head of the security police OGPU, Felix Dzerzhinsky. He attributed the atrocities to Sergo Ordzhonikidze and associated people. Lenin also disapproved of Dzerzhinsky.
When did Lenin resume his party leadership?
But he received messages and political visitors, and between the autumn of 1922 and spring of 1923, he resumed his party leadership in Moscow. As late as in October 1922, Lenin expressed his "unreserved support" for Stalin as General Secretary and for his work with a new constitution.
What was Stalin's idea of Socialism in One Country vs Trotsky's Permanent Revolution?
There are multiple theories on the hostility between Stalin and Trotsky, and when it began. But a huge political divider became Stalin's idea of " Socialism in One Country " vs Trotsky's " Permanent Revolution ". Stalin's idea, in the mid-1920s, was actually revolutionary in itself.
How did Stalin's wife die?
Death of his wife. On the night of 9 November 1932, Stalin's wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, committed suicide and shot herself in her bedroom. As Stalin was sleeping in another room, her death was not discovered until the next morning. To prevent a scandal, Pravda reported the cause of death as appendicitis.
Why did Stalin rise to power?
He rose to this unprecedented level of power due to his capabilities and understanding of the workings of the Communist Party. Stalin translated these strengths into total control of the Soviet Union after the Russian Civil War (1917-1920).
How did Stalin Consolidate His Power in the Soviet Union?
Increasingly, Stalin appointed his loyalists to the Politburo. Many of Lenin’s former lieutenants realized that Stalin was making himself a de-facto dictator. Bukharin was something of a darling in the Party. He was handsome, charismatic, and a favorite of Lenin. He led the opposition to Stalin in the Politburo. He opposed Stalin’s policy of the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union and called for the gradual introduction of industrialization .
What was Stalin's role during the October Revolution and Russian Civil War?
This city was the revolutionary government's capital that had seized power from the Tsar and his government in February 1917. The Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky was becoming unpopular despite ending the rule of the Romanov’s. They had failed to end the war and to redistributed land to the Russian peasants. The Bolsheviks skillfully adopted a policy of promising peace and land to the war-weary and starving population. Their message made them very popular, and in October 1917, they stormed the Winter Place and declared that the Russian Empire was now the Soviet Union. Stalin's role in the Bolshevik Revolution is unknown. Stalin was presented in posters and other images in later propaganda as being by Lenin’s side during the Revolution. Still, Stalin appears to have played only a minor role in the Revolution.
How did Stalin become General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party after the Russian Revolution?
Historians have often argued that the Russian Civil War was won for the Bolsheviks by the revolutionary Leo Trotsky. This interpretation is now believed to be an exaggeration of Trotsky's role. However, Trotsky did play a significant role in the Soviet's victory over the White's in the Civil War and was a significant figure in the Communist PARTY and rivaled Lenin in prestige. Lenin was worried about Trotsky's influence, and he employed Stalin to build up a base of support for him. Stalin did this but also, at the same time, built up a body of supporters that were loyal to him in the Party.
How did Stalin become Lenin's potential heir?
After the Revolution, Lenin held power in the new country. However, in 1922, after surgery, he had a stroke, and he was never the same. The stroke weakened Lenin, and many feared that he would not have long to live. Lenin was largely confined to a country retreat and cut off from politics. The ruling council of the Bolshevik Party, the Politburo, ordered Lenin to avoid and concentrate on his recovery.
When did Stalin come to Power as the Ruler of the Soviet Union?
Trotsky and Stalin began to vie against each other for control of the Soviet Union in 1925. By 1927, Stalin would emerge as the unquestioned leader of the Soviet, but first, he had to eliminate Trotsky from the competition. The rivalry between Trotsky and Stalin was personal because both men had radically different views on Communism's nature. More importantly, they held antithetical ideas on the future of the worldwide Communist revolt. Influenced by Marx, the Bolsheviks believed that there was going to be a world-wide Communist Revolution.
What did Stalin do after he left school?
After leaving school, Stalin went to a seminary. Instead of studying theology and the Bible, he embraced Marxism and became a follower of Vladimir Lenin, the revolutionary Bolshevik Party leader. Stalin soon joined the Bolshevik movement and was very active in violent attacks on the Tsarist government.
How did Stalin come to power?
Joseph Stalin came to power through a combination of ruthlessness and cunning. Though Lenin had notably failed to endorse Stalin as his successor, Stalin nonetheless built upon the power base he'd established within the Communist Party's Secretariat to facilitate his rise to absolute power when Lenin passed away. Download PDF.
What was Stalin's role in the Soviet Union?
He was also able to outmaneuver his opponents in the Communist Party and take the reins of power. Once established as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union, Stalin then systematically set about destroying his rivals for power, such as Kamenev, Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Trotsky. With all his enemies wiped out, Stalin was now absolute ruler of the USSR, and would remain so until his death in 1953.
What was Stalin's power base?
Over the years, he'd built a large and growing power-base within the Secretariat, the body charged with responsibility for administering the Party. In his position as General-Secretary, Stalin had amassed enormous power, which he used to control many of the crucial organs of the Soviet state.
Who was Stalin's rival?
Once established as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union, Stalin then systematically set about destroying his rivals for power, such as Kamenev, Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Trotsky.
Who was the leader of the Communist Party when Lenin died?
One such figure was Stalin.
What was the role of Stalin in the Soviet Union?
During the quarter of a century preceding his death, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin probably exercised greater political power than any other figure in history. Stalin industrialized the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, forcibly collectivized its agriculture, consolidated his position by intensive police terror, helped to defeat Germany in 1941–45, and extended Soviet controls to include a belt of eastern European states. Chief architect of Soviet totalitarianism and a skilled but phenomenally ruthless organizer, he destroyed the remnants of individual freedom and failed to promote individual prosperity, yet he created a mighty military-industrial complex and led the Soviet Union into the nuclear age.
What was Stalin's role in the Civil War?
Active as a politico-military leader on various fronts during the Civil War of 1918–20, Stalin also held two ministerial posts in the new Bolshevik government, being commissar for nationalities (1917–23) and for state control (or workers’ and peasants’ inspection; 1919–23).
What was Dzhugashvili's first political career?
Dzhugashvili made slow progress in the party hierarchy. He attended three policy-making conclaves of the Russian Social Democrats—in Tammerfors (now Tampere, Finland; 1905), Stockholm (1906), and London (1907)—without making much impression. But he was active behind the scenes, helping to plot a spectacular holdup in Tiflis (now Tbilisi) on June 25 (June 12, Old Style), 1907, in order to “expropriate” funds for the party. His first big political promotion came in February (January, Old Style) 1912, when Lenin—now in emigration—co-opted him to serve on the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, which had finally broken with the other Social Democrats. In the following year, Dzhugashvili published, at Lenin’s behest, an important article on Marxism and the national question. By now he had adopted the name Stalin, deriving from Russian stal (“steel”); he also briefly edited the newly founded Bolshevik newspaper Pravda before undergoing his longest period of exile: in Siberia from July 1913 to March 1917.
What is the only paid employment that Dzhugashvili has taken outside of politics?
Subscribe Now. In December 1899, Dzhugashvili became, briefly, a clerk in the Tiflis Observatory, the only paid employment that he is recorded as having taken outside politics; there is no record of his ever having done manual labour.
Why did Karl Marx leave the seminary?
He then moved to the Tiflis Theological Seminary, where he secretly read Karl Marx, the chief theoretician of international Communism, and other forbidden texts, being expelled in 1899 for revolutionary activity, according to the “legend”—or leaving because of ill health, according to his doting mother.
When did Stalin resume his editorship?
Reaching Petrograd from Siberia on March 25 (March 12, Old Style), 1917 , Stalin resumed editorship of Pravda. He briefly advocated Bolshevik cooperation with the provisional government of middle-class liberals that had succeeded to uneasy power on the last tsar ’s abdication during the February Revolution.
Where did Stalin get his name from?
By now he had adopted the name Stalin, deriving from Russian stal (“ steel”); he also briefly edited the newly founded Bolshevik newspaper Pravda before undergoing his longest period of exile: in Siberia from July 1913 to March 1917. In about 1904 Stalin had married a pious Georgian girl, Ekaterina Svanidze.
What was Stalin involved in?
Born into poverty, Stalin became involved in revolutionary politics, as well as criminal activities, as a young man. After Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals for control of the party.
How long did Stalin rule?
How Did Joseph Stalin Die? Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower.
How Did Joseph Stalin Die?
Stalin, who grew increasingly paranoid in his later years, died on March 5, 1953, at age 74, after suffering a stroke. His body was embalmed and preserved in Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square until 1961, when it was removed and buried near the Kremlin walls as part of the de-Stalinization process initiated by Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971).
Why were Soviet history books rewritten?
Cities were renamed in his honor. Soviet history books were rewritten to give him a more prominent role in the revolution and mythologize other aspects of his life.
How many times was Stalin arrested?
He was arrested multiple times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to imprisonment and exile in Siberia.
Why was Stalin expelled from the seminary?
In 1899, Stalin was expelled from the seminary for missing exams, although he claimed it was for Marxist propaganda. After leaving school, Stalin became an underground political agitator, taking part in labor demonstrations and strikes.
Why did Stalin censor his pictures?
He censored photographs in an attempt to rewrite history, removing former associates executed during his many purges. His government also controlled the Soviet media.
Overview
Joseph Stalin started his career as a student radical, becoming an influential member and eventually the leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He served as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953.
In the years following the death of Vladimir Lenin he became the political leader of the Soviet Uni…
Background
Before his 1913-1917 exile in Siberia, Stalin was one of the Bolshevik operatives in the Caucasus, organizing cells, spreading propaganda, and raising money through criminal activities. Stalin eventually earned a place in Lenin's inner circle and the highest echelons of the Bolshevik hierarchy. His pseudonym, Stalin, means "man of the steel hand". The October Revolution took place in the Russian capital of Petrograd on 7 November 1917 (O.S. 25 October 1917), which saw …
Invasion of Georgia and General Secretary
In late 1920, with the crises in society following the Russian Civil War, Trotsky argued for the trade unions to be incorporated more and more into the workers' state, and for the workers' state to completely control the industrial sectors. Lenin's position was one where the trade unions were subordinate to the workers' state, but separate, with Lenin accusing Trotsky of "bureaucratically nagging the trade unions". Fearing a backlash from the trade unions, Lenin asked Stalin to build …
Lenin's retirement and death
On 25 May 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke while recovering from surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck since a failed assassination attempt in August 1918. Severely debilitated, he went into semi-retirement and moved to his dacha in Gorki. After this, prominent Bolsheviks were concerned about who would take over if Lenin actually died. Lenin and Trotsky had more of a person…
Downfall of Trotsky
In the months following Lenin's death, Stalin's disputes with Zinoviev and Kamenev intensified. While the triumvirate remained intact throughout 1924 and the early months of 1925, Zinoviev and Kamenev did not regard Stalin highly as a revolutionary theorist, and often disparaged him in private even as they had aided him publicly against Trotsky and the Left Opposition. For his part, Stalin …
Stalin turns on the Right
After the United Opposition was prohibited in December 1927, the Kulaks and NEPmen were emboldened and exerted much greater economic pressure on the Soviet government in the months afterwards. In January 1928, Stalin personally travelled to Siberia where he oversaw the seizure of grain stockpiles from kulak farmers. Many in the Communist Party supported the seizures, but Bukharin and Premier Rykov were outraged. Bukharin criticized Stalin's plans for rapi…
Death of his wife
On the night of 9 November 1932, Stalin's wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, committed suicide and shot herself in her bedroom. As Stalin was sleeping in another room, her death was not discovered until the next morning. To prevent a scandal, Pravda reported the cause of death as appendicitis. Stalin did not tell his children the truth, to prevent them from revealing it accidentally.
The Great Terror
On 1 December 1934, Sergei Kirov was murdered by Leonid Nikolaev. The death of this popular, high-profile politician shocked Russia, and Stalin used this murder to begin The Great Terror. Within hours of Kirov's death, Stalin declared Grigory Zinoviev and his supporters to be responsible for Kirov's murder. Lev Kamenev and Zinoviev were arrested and, to escape long prison sentences, confessed to political and moral responsibility for Kirov's murder. In January 1935, Zinoviev was …