...To begin, Joseph Stalin had begun his rise to power in 1912 when Lenin had appointed him to serve on the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Three years later, the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia, and founded the Soviet Union with Lenin as its first leader. From 1929 when Stalin had gained power, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. Hitler’s rise to power had started in September of 1919 when Hitler joined the political party, “The German Workers’ Party”, commonly known as the Nazi Party. The president of Germany at the time, Paul Von Hindenburg, had appointed Adolf Hitler to Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933 after a series of parliamentary elections and “associated...
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...Logan 1 Emily Logan Mr. Sgrignoli CHY 4U1 6 June 2014 TITLE Although Adolf Hitler is often credited as the Twentieth Centuries most evil man, there are others who could easily be seen as equally sharing this assumption. Undoubtedly, Hitler was an extremely evil man and was responsible for the deaths of millions of people during his time in power in World War Two, however there are other past world leaders who were responsible for the deaths of many more people. Through examining Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1929-1953, and Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1945-1976, it is clear that Hitler cannot accurately hold the title of being the most evil man in history. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20 in the small Austrian town of Braunau. In his early years Hitler excelled at school and was admired for his leadership qualities (history.com), however when he reached high school he found the work to be much more difficult. When Hitler was fifteen years old he failed his exams and was informed he would need to repeat that school year. Stubbornly, Hitler refused to continue with his education and dropped out of school. When he was eighteen years old his father, Alois Hitler, passed away. Hitler used the money he Logan 2 inherited from his later father to move to Vienna in hopes of pursuing a career in the arts. He applied to the Vienna Academy of Art and the School of Architecture, to which he was both...
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...Niccolo Machiavelli played certain roles during the Renaissance Era. Machiavelli was known for his novel titled, The Prince. The novel explained the regulations and actions of how a prince should become a good ruler. Machiavelli’s novel concentrated it attention on knowing when to use your morals and when they should be put aside so you can keep your position intact. As Machiavelli had the mindset of what a ruler should be like, one particular ruler that comes to mind such as Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin epitomizes the ideas put forward by Machiavelli by depicting that being neutral is never an option, going to war, and having discipline. Joseph Stalin is a certain individual who made the Soviet Union a world superpower. Joseph Stalin is commonly known for his harsh ways and his leadership skills. At a tender age, Joseph Stalin felt he has been treated unfairly his entire life, as a result it led to the desire for greatness and respect in his future. In 1922 Joseph Stalin was appointed as the General Secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Stalin utilized this new position to overpower the less fortunate. Stalin’s tenure as dictator was so harsh that when Nikita Khrushchev took over in 1953 he started a policy of “de-Stalinization.” Stalin, having the utmost fear of being overthrown he executed some of his best medium ranked leaders. Machiavelli was noticed for Realpolitik, a political and judicial action that fits the circumstances but is not moral and...
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...the world was relatively violent in various practices, activities, and beliefs pertaining to how people lived back then. However, where it was once a lack of understanding or discipline in how we should behave, act, or resolve conflicts, moving into the modern day the act of cruelty against humanity and evil displayed by individuals are not done due to a lack of understanding, but more so done with knowing or having a negligence to what we are doing, which make the issue concerning. In Steven Pinker’s TED talk, he argues that today we live in a better world and we are much more peaceful to which he is partially correct in stating, however, an argument can be made that the ways in how during the 20th...
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...That is correct that Stalin ordered the burning of these books in order to erase Jewish culture in the Soviet Union. Although unlike Hitler, Stalin did not target the Jews as a race, he embraced anti-Semitic stereotypes at times, such as in the infamous doctor's plot. See http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Human_Rights/plot.html We learn from our text, that "Stalin forced writers and artists to use the techniques of approved 'socialist realism' for artistic and literary expression" (235). Do you think that this is comparable to the Nazi book burnings? I think Stalin, like Mark mentioned, enforced only areas of education which benefited his plans for the government and its people. There was a big change in the way that classes of people were treated; Stalin cared much less about women than the previous leader and he aimed to increase profits through industry for the already wealthy elite and the military (Goff, 2008). During this time he promoted education which would reinforce the values of hard work and discipline, but did very little for the people who worked just as hard as others, the farmers. They were living in poverty. I think that the only difference between Stalin and Hitler here is that Stalin's goals were centered around earning more wealth and making people more productive, though at the expense of certain classes' qualities of life. Hitler sought to "extinguish" an entire race of people, based on superior beliefs of a duty to cleanse the world...
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...despite overwhelming amounts of minerals, rich soil, forests, and several other natural resources. Struggling nations in the world, such as many African nations, are often plagued with a great deal of political turmoil and frequently lack the kind of leadership that exists in thriving states like Japan. A nation’s downfall or rise to power is due to a ruling body’s decision-making rather than resource availability, domestic lifestyles, or even luck. World leaders, as result, are under constant scrutiny from average citizens to pundits. Critics evaluating a leader’s strength do not think that strong leaders are people who simply have a lot of state power; an autocrat is not necessarily “strong.” Effective, strong leaders are considered “strong” because of their resourcefulness. Turmoil is inevitable, and a leader must be prepared for the worst. If French and American colonial leaders were unprepared to respond to the oppression they felt respectively from the French and British monarchies, neither the United States nor the French Republic, two very powerful states, would have ever been formed. Similarly, the decline of the French and British monarchy’s power can be attributed to poor defense preparation for the Revolutions they each faced. Renaissance politician, Niccolo Machiavelli, explains that traits of a strong leader primarily revolve around cunning diplomacy and militaristic success in his political essay, “The Qualities of a Prince.” Machiavelli notes that several prosperous...
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...Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953) was not the major player of the October Revolution of 1917, however, he later grew through the ranks of the Bolshevik party and became one of the most powerful dictators that the world had ever encountered. His path to the dictator of the Soviet Union began when he was appointed to the position of the general secretary of the Communist Party in 1922. A lot of Bolsheviks criticize Stalin in the 1920s, but this did not prevent him from getting the power. Lenin was the first Bolshevik’s leader who foreshadowed Stalin’s dictatorship inclination by writing in his “Testament”: “Comrade Stalin … has concentrated an enormous power in his hand; and I am not sure that he always know how to use that power with sufficient caution.” (CP I, 64) Further in the testament Lenin suggested to remove Stalin from the post: “I propose to the comrades to find the way to remove Stalin from that position and appoint to it another man…”(CP I, 64) After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin started to destroy his opponents. Stalin was very skillful in maneuvering around situation to make his opponents look bad. Also, he was constantly changing his theory depends on whom he needed to destroy. The first Stalin’s target was Trotsky who wrote “theory of permanent revolution” where he elaborated on his concerns that the Soviet regime, being unsupported by international revolution, was in threat of losing its social qualities. Stalin criticized Trotsky’s publication and accused...
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...is a kind of economy that controls how much was made and where it goes by the government. Demand economy is what the people choose and how much is made, the law of supply and demand which is also known as the free market. The Great Depression contributed to totalitarianism and the rise of dictatorships such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. After the Great War, the world economy went down. This caused...
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...The man who said this managed to commit mass genocide, the death count amassing to about 20 million. But how did he do it, and why? Joseph Stalin was a genius for sure, but a brute dictator. He transformed Russia from a from a powerless country into a superpower- at the cost of 20 million lives. Stalin was born on December 18, 1878, although he later went on to say it was 1879. His real name was Ioseb Vissarionovich Jugahishivili, but took up the name Stalin in his mid 30’s. His father, Besarion Jugahishivili was a failed cobbler and an an alcoholic. He regularly beat and abused his son and also his wife, Ekaterina Gabriels Asuli Jugahshivili, or as her friends knew her, Keke Geladze. Keke sent her son to a church school, where Stalin joined classes like choir. Since Stalin...
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...Within this essay question I’m going to be discussing four different factors that aided Joseph Stalin in becoming leader of the USSR by 1929. These four factors are Trotsky’s errors, errors of others, powerbases and Stalin’s own skills. Personally I believe, based on my current knowledge of all four factors, that the powerbases is going to be a highly significant factor in terms of why Stalin’s opponents were unable to prevent him becoming leader. However, the other three factors are still very important and also played a role in helping Stalin. Therefore, I will be discussing all four of the factors and what effects they had. Errors made by Leon Trotsky were some of the main reasons why Stalin was able to become leader of the USSR by 1929. After Lenin’s death in 1924 there was wide speculation that Trotsky, head of the red army would succeed Lenin. Lenin wrote a testament outlining his opinions on the head Bolsheviks, and Stalin was described as being very dangerous and should be dismissed from the party immediately. However despite this, Stalin eventually became the leader of the USSR. The reason why Trotsky was the most likely candidate to succeed Lenin was because he was very popular among young communists, this was due to his revolutionary heroism in 1905, 1917 and during the civil war, coupled with his stirring speeches. However, despite the fact that Trotsky was clearly more suitable, Stalin still managed to outmanouver him into becoming leader of the USSR. This was because...
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...and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an ally with Germany for 2 years when they signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact; “this led the west to believe Stalin was cynical, opportunistic, power hungry, expansionist” (lecture, 1/8/16). It also took the allies a while to open up a western front, and this angered Stalin as the Soviet unions causalities kept on mounting. The conference was attended by the big three, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The leaders agreed to Germanys surrender and to set up spheres in occupied Germany that the three nations plus France would control (lecture 1/8/16). Stalin also agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe, however he fell short on his promise. Berlin Blockade/Airlift The Berlin Blockade was the first physical confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West (lecture 1/8/16). The blockade started on June 1948 to May 1949. The whole idea behind the Blockade was to force the western allies out of “Berlin by blocking all ground access to the city” (lecture, 1/8/16). This was possible because getting into Berlin you had to travel through Soviet occupied East Germany. The allies were able to get around the blockade by airlifting massive amounts of supplies to Berlin (lecture, 1/8/16). This was significant because it showed how the relations between the Soviet Union and the Allies have deteriorated. It also showed the Allies logistical capabilities to keep the city of...
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...Communism in the Soviet Union and why it FailedCommunism is defined as "a system of political and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need." In 1917 the rise of power in the Marxist-inspired Bolsheviks in Russia along with the consolidation of power by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, the word communism came to mean a totalitarian system controlled by a single political party. This came to justify that the means of production is controlled and the wealth is distributed with the goal of producing a classless or possibly a stateless society. The ideological meaning of communism arose in 1848 with the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They believed that communism is inevitable and is an outcome of the historical process. They believed that the "struggle between an exploiting class, the capatalists at present age, and an exploited class, the workers, would enter a crucial stage in the period of capitalism where industrialization occurs and that the effects of industrialization is to heighten and intensify the internal contradictions in capitalism." To put it bluntly they believed that the ownership of industry would be in fewer and fewer hands where the workers would plunge into a state of ever-increasing misery. These impoverished workers grow in numbers and organize themselves into a political party which would lead...
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...Le-Tone Wei Why did Stalin emerge as leader of USSR in 1929? In 1924 the USSR’s leader Vladimir Lenin died after continuous strokes. His death triggered the leadership struggle, and Russia urgently needed a successor to continue in guiding the country and proposing policies to run the country. Candidates such as Trotsky and Bukharin were highly regarded and party members believed they were to take over Lenin’s position; Joseph Stalin on the other hand, was perceived as a mediocre and uninteresting party member, he was not thought as a suitable candidate to replace Lenin’s former status. Yet Stalin succeeded in taking power and control over the Soviet party and emerged as the leader of USSR in 1929. This led historians questioning: how and why did he emerge as the leader so unexpectedly? Many people believe that it was his personal skills that gave other factors an advantage. I believe his personal skills is the secondary factor that assisted his emergence; from my perspective, the reason why he became leader is primarily due to luck. Without luck there would less likely be a power struggle, Lenin could have appointed his successor and Stalin would never have become the leader of USSR. However the main cause of his success is still considered to be an exceedingly disputable topic, and I will be examining the different factors behind this topic while suggesting my personal opinions and beliefs. As mentioned before, many people believe that Stalin became the leader of USSR...
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...the Russian Revolution | | The growth of nationalism and imperialism increased the national pride/power of many European countries. | | I. War and Revolution | What is Nationalism, and | a. Nationalism was powerful in Serbia | How did it affect Europe? | b. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia | | c. More destructive weapons were created in light of WWI | | II. Revolution | | a. By 1922, Soviet Union was created | | III. Peace and a “new Europe” | | a. League of Nations-world organization that would maintain peace | | b. Treaty of Versailles was created | | c. 59 nations became a league, while the U.S. refused to join | | | What economic event | 2. The Great Depression and the Rise of Totalitarianism | Marked the starting point of | The loss of life ushered in a new era | The Great Depression? | I. Economic Crisis | | a. The stock market crash marked the beginning of the depression | | b. The U.S. government became involved with reviving the economy | | II. Political Tensions | | a. Both economic and political tensions arose in Europe | | b. Hitler became der Fuhrer of the Third Reich | | c. Joseph Stalin ended the NEP and created the Five-Year Plan | | | | 3. Nationalist Movements Around the World | | Extreme changes occurred in Europe | How did the nationalists | I. Turkey, Persia, and Africa | Affect Turkey, Persia, and | a. Greek troops...
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...Persian Gulf Crisis, 1990-1991: How Saddam Hussein's Greed and Totalitarian Quest for Power Led to the Invasion of Kuwait, World Conflicts and the Degredation of Iraq Joseph Stalin. Fidel Castro. Adolf Hitler. Saddam Hussein. These names are all those of leaders who have used a totalitarian approach to leading a nation. Stalin and Hitler ruled in the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. Like Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein is now. Saddam Hussein belongs to the Baath Party of Iraq. This party adopts many techniques similar to those used by Stalin and Hitler. Saddam Hussein conceived a plan to invade Kuwait. It was, perhaps, one of the worst mistakes he could have made for his own reputation and for his country. The invasion of Kuwait as well as the world's response to it, the environmental disaster it caused, and the degradation of Iraq were completely the fault one man and his government: Saddam Hussein and his Baath Government. One of Hussein's weaknesses is negotiating. Negotiating in his terms is to fight it out with as much carnage as possible until his side comes out "victoriously". Repeatedly, Saddam and his government break international convention laws. During his war fought with Iran, the Iraqi army used chemical weapons on the Iranian troops and even on their own Iraqi population. This was seemingly overlooked by the rest of the world because most nations didn't want to see the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution rise. Iraq often obtained foreign arms ...
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