Stalin propagated an image of himself as the father / protector of the nation with posters and statues of himself in many Russian town and cities. He also ruthlessly controlled the media to ensure that the Russian people were only given such information as he saw fit. An example of this is the fact that Trotsky’s vehement criticisms of Stalin from the various countries he lived in abroad were kept from the Russia people and indeed Trotsky who had been true hero of the revolution was blamed by Stalin for much of Russia’s problems at the time. Trotsky is also a good example of Stalin’s use of terror when propaganda alone would not succeed since ultimately unable to silence Trotsky in another way Stalin had him assassinated.
In the same way Stalin could not bear any challenges to his authority and intended to keep his powerful position through terror as well as propaganda. Purges and show trials were a major technique Stalin used to scare Russian citizens into supporting him. He began purging the Communist party of people who had opposed him previously or may pose a threat in the future. On March 1936 the first show trial was announced as I have mentioned above and all 18 of the defendants were sentenced to death and executed. These trials continued with both apparently loyal party leaders and over 25,000 officers of the Red Army being removed and either executed of exiled to the Gulags.
The organ of the state used to round up Stalin’s enemies was the secret police (NKVD). However members of the NKVD who were not efficient enough or who were deemed to posed a threat to Stalin were also killed of deported. In all cases the families of the accused were considered just as guilty of crimes committed against the state and were also deported. By the end of 1938 the Terror relaxed Stalin had achieved his goal. He had purged the party of all rivals and opponents and stopped the development of any future critics.
However Stalin’s economic policies also gained him support. The Russian people saw themselves as surrounded by hostile and powerful neighbours and shared Stalin’s view that rapid industrialisation was the key to the USSR’s survival. In 1928, under Stalin’s direction the first 5 year plan was produced the plan was a list of ambitious targets for the development of industry, power supply and transport. It emphasised the need for greater investment to create the basis for future wealth and expansion. Stalin knew agriculture and industrial development were closely linked and that whilst industrialisation was vital if the Soviet Union was to compete with hostile industrial neighbours that industrialisation was only possible if agriculture was substantially modernised.
Farming in the 1920’s had hardly changed since the revolution and was not producing enough food to feed the rapidly growing towns. Stalin’s solution to this problem was the collectivisation of agriculture whereby peasants were encouraged and later forced to join collectives working for the common good. Eventually the government became ruthless in order to speed up the process. The richest peasant class, the Kulaks, who owned their land were seen as obstructing the process of collectivisation and were ruthlessly destroyed by the Stalinist regime. As Stalin said in a speech in 1929 ‘we have passed from the policy of restricting the exploiting tendency of the Kulaks to the policy of eliminating the Kulaks as a class.’ Around 5 million Kulak families died in the labour camps between 1929 and 1936 and thousands more disappeared before reaching the camps. Anyone who tried to defend a Kulak was called a ‘Kulak-hireling’ and treated in the same way as the Kulaks themselves.
Stalin’s policy worked although the brutal way is was carried out led to lasting resentment. Non-the less rural society was revolutionised and agriculture collectivised and mechanised. By the end of the 1930’s the USSR was second only to the USA in industrial production. Huge new hydroelectric power stations were in operation; massive new steel plants had been built and now produced good quality steel for use in other industries. Communications by road, rail and water had been transformed. This was a massive achievement given the state of the country in the 1920’s. Despite the sacrifices they had made most industrial workers were justly proud of their country.
As I have shown Stalin’s economic policies, his use of propaganda and the cult of personality supported by the ruthless application of terror through the secret police and purges and show trials all worked together to keep Stalin in power. It is difficult to single out any one of these as more important then another as in my opinion they are inter related. Ultimately Stalin had to implement his economic policies which were crucial to his ‘ Socialism in one country’ philosophy. However those policies provoked opposition and required an unprecedented degree of ruthlessness to implement. Some of the opposition could be allayed by propaganda but in order to be completely sure of his position Stalin also needed the use of secret police and purges and show trials.
