Joseph Stalin

Who was Joseph Stalin?

Joseph Stalin was a communist revolutionary from Georgia who was a member of the Communist Party and became the leader of the Soviet Union.

When did Stalin join the Communist Party?

Stalin joined the Communist Party in 1903. He was the leader of the USSR from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.

What was Stalin's role in the Communist Party?

Stalin had 3 main positions in the Communist Party:

• ❖ In January 1912, Stalin was a member of the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party.
• ❖ He became the Commissar for Nationalities between 1917 and 1923 and was appointed the Commissar for State Control from 1919 to 1923.
• ❖ In 1922, Stalin was appointed the general secretary of the party's Central Committee.

Why was Stalin able to become the leader of the USSR?

There were 5 main reasons why Stalin became the leader of the USSR:

• ❖ He was a very clever politician who exploited the weaknesses of his rivals.
• ❖ His policies, such as socialism in one country, were more popular than Trotsky's policies.
• ❖ He used his power within the Communist Party as general secretary to put his own supporters into important posts to build his own power base.
• ❖ He turned circumstances to his advantage, such as using Lenin's funeral to undermine Trotsky.
• ❖ He played his rivals against one another so they undermined each other.

What happened during the purges under Stalin?

Stalin initiated 3 main purges at different times:

• ❖ The Great Purge occurred between 1936 and 1938. Old Bolsheviks and all those suspected of being an 'enemy of the people' were targeted. Essentially, this meant anyone who posed a threat to Stalin, real or imagined.
• ❖ During the Second World War, different nationalities were targeted, such as the Volga Germans and ethnic Finns, as their loyalty was considered suspect.
• ❖ After the Second World War, different groups such as Jews, Russian soldiers who had been German prisoners of war and the Leningrad Communist Party were purged.

What was Stalin's influence on education?

Stalin influenced education in three specific ways:

• ❖ The government decided what the school curriculum would be and what subjects would be taught. All schools taught sciences, Russian and communist ideology.
• ❖ The textbooks had to be approved by the government and must contain the 'correct' facts.
• ❖ The new textbooks rewrote history and praised Stalin as Lenin's loyal follower. The core curriculum was shaped according to Stalin's world view with the aim of creating new 'Soviet men' and 'Soviet women'.

How did art and culture in the Soviet Union develop under Stalin's rule?

Art and culture was controlled by the Soviet government in 3 key ways:

• ❖ The government had complete control over information and propaganda through the Commissariat of Enlightenment. This included all art and culture.
• ❖ Socialist realism was the regime's official art form. Its artists included Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Isaak Brodsky, Alexander Samokhvalov and Yuri Pimenov.
• ❖ Socialist realist art work was easy to understand and focused on workers in everyday situations. These workers were depicted as the heroes of Soviet society. The same rules applied to novels and music.

What was Stalin's view on Christianity?

The communists, as atheists, opposed the Russian Orthodox Church. Many churches were shut down and their priests imprisoned and even shot. Only 500 churches remained open by 1941, a reduction of almost 50,000 since the beginning of the First World War.

How did Stalin's regime treat Muslims?

Stalin oppressed Muslims using 4 main strategies:

• ❖ The use of Arabic writing was frowned upon and many non-Russian speakers were 're-educated' to speak Russian.
• ❖ Muslim schools and places of worship were closed down.
• ❖ Participating in the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca was forbidden.
• ❖ The Soviet government organised unveiling of women campaigns.

How did Stalin's regime treat Judaism?

With regard to Judaism, anti-Semitism was illegal but many religious Jews were discriminated against. Stalin wanted to move all Jews to a designated region in the east called the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, but this idea failed.

Was the media censored under Stalin's regime?

The media had to be supportive of Stalin and the Communist Party. Works written by those who had been purged were banned, including Trotsky's. Economic data was also censored, which meant no one could check the claims of the government about the economy.

What were Joseph Stalin's beliefs?

Stalin believed in one-party rule. He was also convinced that the West wanted to destroy communism.

What conferences did Stalin attend?

Stalin attended the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, which were discussions on Nazi Germany and how to end the war.

What was Stalin's involvement in the Cold War?

Stalin did not trust the West. His poor relationship with President Truman especially led to a deterioration in US-Soviet relations.

When did Stalin die?

Stalin died of a stroke on 5th March, 1953.