Luke Garner 11Zc History
Why was Stalin able to hold on to power in the Soviet Union?
The struggle for power after Lenin’s death demonstrated that the leaders of the communist party disagreed strongly with each other on a variety of issues. By the end of the 1920s, Stalin had got the better of Trotsky and his other rivals, but he was still concerned that sooner or later his enemies would attempt to overthrow him. This was particularly worrying to Stalin during the terrible violence that accompanied the collectivisation and industrialisation campaigns of the early 1930’.
In the Soviet Union under Stalin, people were not allowed to think for themselves. They were told what to think by the state. Education served the purposes of the Communist Party. Pupils were taught the Communist version of history and even communist theories about science. Propaganda influenced almost every aspect of life. The mass media were all controlled by the state and they could only produce approved material. The states message was everywhere, from schools to offices. Even artists were brought under state control. They were only allowed to produce work that reflected the glorious achievements of communism. The propaganda played a part in Stalin’s gain of power because it helped create his cult of personality and therefore everybody saw him as a hero rather than a villain. Also as he had killed all his enemies in the purges there was no one to disagree with the propaganda so the people had nothing else to believe.
Since it had come to power, the communist party had periodically ‘purged’ its membership, getting rid of those who were suspected of being disloyal. Now Stalin began to plan purges of the top levels of the party, to deal with his rivals once and for all. By 1934 Stalin believed that his opponents were planning to replace him with Kirov, the young and popular boss of the Leningrad section of the party. He secretly ordered Yagoda, head of the NKVD, to have Kirov murdered. When this was done, Stalin used it as an excuse to turn on his enemies. Zinoviev, Kamenev and others were accused of being involved with the murder. They were arrested, put on trail and in January 1935 sentenced to long gaol terms. This was not enough for Stalin. Later that year he accused Zinoviev and Kamenev, along with Trotsky, who was now in exile, of being spies for foreign countries. When in 1936 the NKVD provided evidence that their supporters had been in contact with Trotsky, they were put on public trial on charges of terrorism. Despite being promised their lives if they confessed, when they confessed they were shot. This trail in August 1936 marked the start of the ‘Great Terror’. For two years the people of the Soviet Union had a state of terror in which the secret police hunted Stalin’s enemies, real and imagined, in all sectors of the Soviet society. Literally no one was safe. The purges played a huge part in Stalin’s rise in power as it got rid of all threats to Stalin and all opposition. Although, many people believe that he had a persecution complex where he thought everyone was plotting against him. The purges allowed the propaganda and cult of personality to work, as with out it people would have argued against the propaganda. Also if it wasn’t for the secret police then the purges wouldn’t have been so success full or even be possible.
