Why was Stalin such a great power in Russia in the 1930's?

Authors Avatar

E. Fry 5V

Why was Stalin such a great power in Russia in the 1930’s?

Stalin’s power was based on two key things. Firstly he made much of the fact that he was the heir to Lenin, and to this end, many paintings and photos were made or altered in order to show him as Lenin’s right hand man. As heir to Lenin, he portrayed himself as protector of the revolution, and that the great act of freedom of the Revolution, overthrowing Tsarist corruption and tyranny had to be defended.

He used the modernisation Russia through collectivisation and industrialisation to ensure his remaining in power. He claimed that this modernisation was the only possible way to safeguard communism and prevent being overrun and defeated by the West.

 This stance as Protector was incredibly powerful. By using it he could simply claim that any dissent or opposition was not personal opposition to him, but was instead opposition to the Revolution, and those opposing him were therefore enemies of the Revolution and enemies of Russia itself. His policy of industrialisation was a huge success. Workers made enormous sacrifices because they believed his message that they were building a modern state and working towards a fairer society.

To ensure his power, Stalin operated a totalitarian state. Under his direction, Russia became a closed society, and the Government (controlled by Stalin) was the only source of information, thus shaping the populace’s opinions into those that were deemed “correct”.

Join now!

In 1936, Stalin drew up a democratic Constitution, which he proclaimed as the freest in the world. Bukharin, its author, was shot shortly afterwards following a show trial. In theory it was a fair democratic system. There were two ruling bodies, the Soviet of the Union, which members were elected to, and the Soviet of Nationalities, which was to represent the various national groups. All over the age of 18 were allowed to vote, and there was a secret ballot. However, crucially for Stalin, there was only one party and one list of candidates!

Stalin’s control over his own party ...

This is a preview of the whole essay