How Stalin maintained his control over the Russian people

Stalin maintained leadership in the USSR in many ways. The events of the 1930s left Stalin as the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin had destroyed all opponents or political opponents in the 'Great Terror' or anybody who was a possible threat to him.He maintained control, by holding complete power of Work practices.Firstly he controlled the agricultural society by introducing collectivisation ( which I had already talked about in the second essay.

) Collectivisation also gained control for Stalin, because he was able to gain control of the agricultural produce and sell it for the hard currency he desperately needed. However his plans were opposed by some. These were the Kulaks, so in 1929 he started eliminating all the Kulaks this was called 'The liquidation of the kulaks'. HE then controlled the Industrial society by introducing the five-plans which was a blueprint for the development of industry, agriculture, railways, canals, trade, energy, housing education and all the public services.Another way that Stalin held onto power was partly making examples of people when they had committed a crime. Stalin had a backup control of punishment, this was a rigid society.

He would either hang them if their crime was bad enough and people who did not get executed were taken to some of the most inhospitable and remote areas of the USSR these were called 'Labour Camps'.Stalin set up a special department of the secret police (NKVD) in 1930 to run the labour. Its name was Gulag, the chief administration of camps. The prisoners were used as slave labour on many of the prestige projects of the five-year plans. Inside the camps, conditions were brutal.

Camp guards had complete power over the inmates and used violence against them to create that complete power.Stalin had different successes and failures;Successes* Despite the fact large numbers were killed, the rapid industrialisation to catch up with the rest. This helped because Nazi Germany in particular and the west in general hated communism and wanted to do away with of it.* There was no unemployment and at the time Europe was in depression; this made communism look good.* People felt that they were part of a very strong community or at least something like Nazi Germany.

* Pulling the USSR into the 20th Century. The five year plans were partly to responsible for this.Failures* Unnecessary to have purges which crippled his army.* People were ruled by fear.* Secret Police (NKVD).* Freedom was restricted to a low level.

The effect of propaganda in the Soviet union was tremendous. People were not allowed to think for themselves. Education served the purposes of the communist party. Pupils were taught the communist version of history even communist theories about science and evolution. Propaganda influenced almost every aspect of life, the radio, films newspapers and media everything was censored it all had to be approved by the state.

These messages were everywhere in the streets and walls, the message that communism was the best and only way of life was hammered home repetitively. They were only allowed to produce material that showed the glorious achievements of communism. Stalin was also give the role of a 'God like figure' and that he is all mighty all powerful and all knowing.Stalin also maintained leadership by using purges to get rid of his rivals and to scare the scarred of. He started by getting rid of a member of the Politburo who was the important Leningrad branch of the Communist party, Kirov. Kirov was getting to popular and all the evidence had suggested that the NKVD, the secret police, was acting on Stalin's orders.

Stalin claimed that Kirov's murder was a conspiracy against himself and the communist party. He also claimed that Nikolayev had acted on orders from a 'Leningrad Opposition Centre' which had connections with the left opposition especially Trotsky. As a result Stalin arrested Zinoviev, Kamenev and seventeen other in the left opposition were arrested and given long prison sentences.This was now the start of a major purge of the party. Stalin was going to get rid of anyone in one way or another, where a threat to him, or unreliable.

The party central committee sent letters to branches all over the USSR, ordering them to check the reliability of members and to find old supporters of Trotsky. At special meeting party members were denounced and accused each other of being 'Trotskyites', or 'Zinovievites', or 'counter-revolutionaries' and so on. When party members were purged they were likely to be sacked from their jobs as well. Friends and neighbours then cut of contact with them for fear of being accused of same crimes.And, in most cases, arrest by the NKVD came soon after.' When some of the most important Party members were arrested they were given maximum publicity.

Those among the arrested were given 'show trials'. The first of these were 16 people including Zinoviev, Kamenev all of the defendants confessed to every accusation made against them because they had been promised before the trial that they would not be executed if they confessed. They were found guilty, and shot the day after. In other cases they were tortured into confessing or out of loyalty to the party.

The purge of the party spread and became to be know as the Great Terror, it came to involve more than just the party. It spread to the army and many famous generals were shot dead, accused for spying. It soon spread to citizens and they were constantly denouncing each other. Civilians and neighbours soon found that they could settle old quarrels by denouncing them. By 1938 virtually the entire population was living in a state of terror; nobody knew whom it was safe to talk to.