Stalin Souurces Questions

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Rob Griffin                        

Russia GCSE Coursework

There are many people in Russia who don’t agree with Stalin or his policies.  This upset the leader and he wanted to crush the opposition the only way he knew how was called terror.  Terror:  began was called “The Great Purge”.  He even formed a secret police.

        These actions spread fear throughout Russia.  He eliminated anyone who was a threat to his power.  These people, most innocent, were sent to camps and then killed or died.  The victims included thousands of old communist who supported the opposition.  

        If we take source A it states at the bottom that it was published in the 1930's in Paris. It illustrates three pyramids of skulls and vultures flying above them. The skulls are most likely the victims of his purges and policies. He seems to be pointing at the skulls as if he is proud of them, as some sort of achievement. The vultures flying above the pyramids seem to be there to indicate death or the vultures could indicate the NKVD (secret police) that is what this cartoon seems to be trying to project about Stalin. It is trying to condemn the Russian leader for his ridiculous policies and criticise the way in which he keeps control of his country.

        The source seems to be putting forward a tourism theme. It uses the pyramids of Egypt to carry this out. The French writing in the illustration translates to,

                                "Visit the Pyramids of Russia".

Overall this source seems to give a fairly negative impression of Stalin, but we have to recognise that it was published by a outsider, a French cartoonist such a person was not under any of Stalin's control. A non- Russian would probably see Stalin's extreme methods as ruthless and murderous. A Russian citizen may not. We also have to recognise that it was at the time when the purges where being carried out and many people were being killed.                                                We can most certainly see that this source gives a very negative view of Stalin and it totally anti communist.                                                Now if we look at source B we see Stalin once again, but this time it seems to be in a more positive atmosphere.                                                         The cartoon is an official Soviet painting so is bound to bias for the communist party and it was published in the 1930's also.                                It shows Stalin standing with workers at the opening of a new hydroelectric power station. The first thing that is noticeable about this cartoon is the clothes the workers are wearing and the clothes Stalin is wearing. Stalin wearing white seems to stick out in the picture possibly showing his importance and white shows religion, so could show that Stalin is an angel.        The fact that he is standing beside this new power station indicated that the artist maybe be trying to show how successful Stalin has been in bringing Russia up to the same level as the rest of the worlds technology. Also shows that his five-year plan has worked.                                                                                        If you look at the part of the painting that shows Stalin is standing with the workers we can see again that Stalin again is standing out, he is right in the middle of the picture showing his importance yet again. We can also say that Russia's important leader is standing with ordinary, working class people showing he regards himself as an equal and that he is a man of the people. He is standing joking and talking to these men indicating that the whole atmosphere of the scene is very relaxed. This is strange in a way because in Stalin's time people had to be careful of what they said or they may have faced death. Conversation . This indicates the bias that exists through Stalin's control over the media and art (propaganda). This source very much gives us a positive impression of the man.        Finally taking source C, we can see by looking at it that it has no date or situation attached. With these problems we have no idea when the photograph may have been taken or where. However by looking at the photograph alone we can see that it is very much positive. In it Stalin is shaking the hands of the wives of army officers, congratulating them. He is smiling and the women want to shake his hand indicating that the women do not see him as some sort of evil person. This photo again arouses suspicion. We have to remember that Stalin eliminated Generals and part of the Red Army during his purges. This would tell us that it is most likely that it was before this or the photograph was stage. Under Stalin's control of the media he held the point that only correct photographs were to be published.                                                                                 We have to realise also that photographs are not a very reliable source of information.  They are all propaganda, so communism would spread. Photographs can also be altered and edited completely changing the impression of it.                 Overall these sources give mixed views on Stalin. 'A' giving a very negative impression and 'B' and 'C' giving positive impressions. However they are not one hundred per cent reliable. Stalin was very clever and knew how to manipulate the media to show his views to Russia. He often stage-m photos had complete control over artists and had media control. Through these sources we can see differences in views of him in his own country and the views of people foreign to Russia.

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2. There are a number of points about Stalin in this piece. This was one of his memoirs about his time in exile in Siberia. Stalin himself wrote it. The date given for it’s writing was 1945 a point at which Stalin was the all-powerful leader of Russia.                                                                                        The basic story of the passage is told around his job at a lumberyard. He tells us that one day they were pulling timber out of the river, which had been carried away. When they returned he noticed that there was one comrade missing. He asked where he was and they replied he ...

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