History Coursework – 8
Since Joseph Stalin was the long-time ruler of the Soviet Union, historians have judged his reign, however, due to various reasons they haven’t been able to agree. Some would say that Stalin moulded the features that characterized the Soviet regain of economic status and shaped the direction of post-World War II Europe. Stalin was also considered by many to be the most powerful person to live during the 20th century. However, many historians would say that Stalin was an evil communist dictator, whose only methods of leadership were force and persecution. Some have likened him to Adolf Hiller, or even said that his reign spelt more pain and suffering for more people than Hitler’s.
The main reason for the disagreement is the amount of secrecy surrounding Stalin’s reign and correct figures of the amount of people killed, for example. The reason for Russia isolating itself from the rest of the world, during most of the twentieth century was the fact that under Stalin the USSR was a communist country, unlike the rest of the world. Therefore, despite trying to convert some other countries to the communist way of life, they mostly kept themselves to themselves, and because of this, the mainly facts about Russian history during that time were kept secret. Also during Stalin’s reign anything written condemning him in anyway would be destroyed, therefore, most of the information at that time would have only shown a pro-Stalin viewpoint.
