I am going to explain the variety of important reasons why, and how, Stalin was able to hold onto his power in the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. These methods include: purges, show trials, propaganda and economic policies.

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The following were equally important reasons why Stalin was able to hold onto power in the Soviet Union

o The Purges and Show Trials

o The Secret Police

o Propaganda and the cult of personality

o Stalin's economic policies

Explain how far you agree with this statement

In this essay I am going to explain the variety of important reasons why, and how, Stalin was able to hold onto his power in the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. These methods include: purges, show trials, propaganda and economic policies.

The purges were used as a reason to dispose of Stalin's potential enemies, or 'independent thinkers'. These people were put on trial and then shot, therefore this period became known as the 'Great Terror' because of the millions of people imprisoned and the thousands that were tortured or killed. This helped Stalin hold onto his power because the Russian people became very afraid of saying the wrong thing about Stalin. He was very paranoid about the things people may, or may not, be plotting about him. The purges were a way of ridding Russia of anyone Stalin felt threatened by. As a consequence, people disappeared. The human cost was enormous, but that mattered little to him.

Furthermore, Stalin got rid of political enemies by putting on 'Show Trials'. These were trials where political men pled guilty to their charges as an example to others who might be opposing Stalin secretly. These people were tricked into confessing so they, or their families if they were being used for blackmail, wouldn't be killed as long as they pled guilty at the trials. However, the people on trial were either shot dead, or sent off to the gulags (Russian labour camps). This helped Stalin hold onto his power because the trials were used to illustrate that the opposition would be found out and killed. The opposition was also reduced to a minimum within the government and Stalin gained more support by turning people against the traitors and using fear to keep people on his side.
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Moreover, the secret police (NKVD) played a major role in helping Stalin keep his power in the Soviet Union. They were an army of unknown officers that arrested anyone found to be thinking 'independently'. They watched how people reacted to Stalin's enforcements and arrested the people that looked to be thinking against him. The NKVD army grew to around 700,000 men all around Russia. The gulags were run by the secret police so everyone had a hard time. This army helped Stalin hold onto his power more than the Red Army because they could go undercover and flush ...

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