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Political Impacts of Stalin’s Rule - Coggle Diagram
Political Impacts of Stalin’s Rule
The Great Terror
Point
One Political Impact of Stalin’s rule was the Great Terror
Story
Kirov Affair was the Secretary of the Leningrad party in 1926, and had a close bond with Stalin
However, he was assassinated on 1 December 1934
Stalin then used this as an opportunity to get rid of all his political opponents and all those whose loyalty to him was not absolute
Purges and Show trials
Point
One way Stalin spread the Great Terror was through Purges and Show trials
Story
Within the first few weeks of Kirov’s murder, there was a purge of the Leningrad Party. Thousands were identified and accused of being Trotsky’s supporters who were involved in the plot to assassinate Kirov and other communist leaders
Political rivals like Kamenev and Zinoviev were accused of conspiring with Trotsky to overthrow the government, tried in public show trials, and executed.
Those who tried confessed to crimes they did not commit after being tortured or having their families threatened
High-ranking commanders and tens of thousands of Red Army officers were accused of treason, tortured into confession, and shot
After the Red Army purge the Secret Police was purged too, with many individuals like Nikolai Yezhov, whom Stalin put in charge of the secret police to carry out the purges, was himself arrested in 1938 and executed
As a replacement, Stalin promoted younger, more inexperienced but loyal members of the Party
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This allowed Stalin to ensure that the army was loyal to him and him only, so the commanders and officers would not rise up against
him
Arrests and interrogations
Point
Another way Stalin spread the Great Terror was through arrests and interrogations
Story
The secret police arrested, questioned and forced people to inform against their friends and family who voiced opposition against Stalin.
Anyone could be arrested as an opposer. Peasants, factory workers, scientists, Teachers were all arrested to prevent them from organising opposition to Stalin’s rule
Many were killed on the spot or sent to forced labour camps
In the labour camps, many died from overwork, poor living conditions, and ill treatment
While official reports stated that 39 million were executed and 3 million imprisoned in the forced labour camps, the unofficial numebr of deaths was much higher
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This made Stalin extremely powerful as nobody dared to oppose or challenge him due to the prevailing atmosphere of fear
Loss of intellectuals, skilled workers, and officers
Point
One impact the Great Terror had was the loss of intellectuals, skilled workers, and officers
Story
The mass execution of intellectuals and skilled workers due to the purges greatly affected the strength of the country
The execution of numerous engineers, scientists, and skilled workers meant that Stalin’s workforce for Industralisation shrank
The loss of administrators, engineers and teacher resulted in less effective management within the government
The purging of the Red Army commanders and officers meant that there was no strong leadership for the inexperienced soldiers, affecting the ability to prepare for World War 2
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This affected Stalin’s plans for Russia, delaying them as new staff needed to be trained in order to replace the old staff that had been killed
Propaganda: cult of the leader
Point
One impact of Stalin’s rule was the propaganda
Story
Stalin used extensive propaganda to build his own profile as the rightful successor to Lenin
Loyal or intimidated artists praised the leader in films, books, posters, paintings and musicals, giving rise to a new style of art called ‘Soviet Realism’
Stalin also carefully policed how he was represented, wearing ordinary clothes and retaining the modest title of Secretary-General
All offices, factories, and classrooms were required to have a picture of Stalin
All achievements and successes of the Soviet Union were credited to Stalin’s leadership
Large portions of Soviet history was rewritten to boost Stalin’s status and discredit his rivals as disloyal counter-revolutionaries
Even photographs were edited to remove unwanted people, like Trotsky being removed from photos of Lenin leading the revolution
Those whom Stalin saw as a threat to his rule like Yezhov were also edited out
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These measures boosted his authority and status, within the Party and among the people, as the undisputable leader of the Soviet Union, making opposition against him even harder