Moreover, he also strengthened his power by creating a new constitution for the Soviet Union in 1936. It was seen as an “illusion of democracy” (Lowe 327) because Stalin’s views were the only one being expressed. Although people were given the freedom of speech and free elections, there still was not a democracy in place (Lowe 327). Therefore, Stalin was given even more power as he was able to exercise absolute authority and dominate the government. The citizens of the Soviet Union could not criticize Stalin or else they would be immediately ‘purged’ (Lowe 327). So he still denied basic liberties as the people still had limitations in what they could say. Therefore, Stalin gained more power in the political aspect of the society with the new constitution.
Furthermore, Stalin had control over the cultural and artistic life, which influenced the way people think. Stalin forced writers, musicians, and artists to make works of realism glorifying soviet accomplishments, which must satisfy him or else they would be persecuted (Lowe 327). For education, secret police would watch and ensure the teachers were only teaching about Communist ideology. Schoolchildren were expected to join the Young Pioneers (Walsh 135). He took advantage of all forms of art and the education system, and used it as a propaganda. He got rid of independent thinking and had artists glorify him only to make him look good and help elevate himself to a Godlike rank. He created restrictions for art when it should be a freedom of expression, thus he constricted people to focus on one idea. The citizens were forced to think the same way Stalin did so they were only limited to focus on communism. Therefore, Stalin had total control over the cultural and artistic life as he was able to have all citizens have the same mindset.
Nevertheless, the Soviet Union was not entirely totalitarian as Stalin did have failures of controlling people who were committed to keeping traditional structures and values. When Stalin first introduced his idea of collectivization, many peasants had negative reactions to it and refused to give their land. They ended up killing their livestock and burning crops so that the state would not have them (Lowe 325). The peasants were thinking for themselves rather for the government. The fact that the peasants did this depicts how Stalin’s idea of collectivization did not gain popularity from the people. He was not able to satisfy everyone with some of his economic policies because some were stubborn about altering the traditional structures and values as it would deeply affect them. Therefore, he was forced to change the policy and allow the peasants keep their livestock in the end (Kuchenig). Furthermore, he failed to have total control over the religious aspect and ban any kind of religious worship. When he destroyed the churches and drove out the priests and kulaks, it forced all religion to go underground (Kuchenig). So people were still able to continue practicing their own religion secretly. They denied to stay loyal to Stalin and to believe in Communism. Hence, there were still some authoritarian aspects left in the Soviet Union because Stalin was not always able to impose his will.
Consequently, the Soviet Union under Stalin was still an overall totalitarian state because even though the peasants did gain some power over their livestock, Stalin still had control in almost every political, social, and economic aspect of life. People began to obey his rules because they did not want to end getting killed or being sent to labor camps. While he instilled fear in most of the citizens, some saw him as one of the “real heroes of the Revolution” (Walsh 135) because he created social mobility for those who didn’t have the opportunity before. Thus, Stalin had total control over the Soviet Union as the citizens were being loyal and did personal sacrifice for the good of the state.