In 1936, Stalin drew up a democratic Constitution, which he proclaimed as the freest in the world. Bukharin, its author, was shot shortly afterwards following a show trial. In theory it was a fair democratic system. There were two ruling bodies, the Soviet of the Union, which members were elected to, and the Soviet of Nationalities, which was to represent the various national groups. All over the age of 18 were allowed to vote, and there was a secret ballot. However, crucially for Stalin, there was only one party and one list of candidates!
Stalin’s control over his own party was ensured by the simple elimination of anyone he saw as a threat through the Purges. These were really in three waves.
Firstly there was his war with the peasants and his “liquidation” of the Kulaks. A Kulak was supposedly a middle class capitalist peasant, again an enemy of the revolution, but in fact the term was really used to describe anyone who opposed Stalin’s policies regarding agriculture.
Large numbers of peasants who refused to give up their land and join collective farms were arrested, shot or deported to labour camps, and those who tried to sabotage the collective farms by only producing enough for their own needs, had their crops and livestock seized and massive quotas imposed.
However, many innocent peasants also suffered from these nigh on impossible quotas, and were accused of sabotage as well. Deportation, famine and death followed on a huge scale. At least 10 million died in the famine, and millions more were deported, but by 1937 90% of agriculture had been collectivised, and the peasants had been broken.
The political purges on the other hand focused on Stalin’s leading opponents: often well known figures. These opponents were often a product of Stalin’s own suspicions and paranoia.
Other rivals such as Trotsky had already been eliminated, Trotsky for example had been exiled, but others, the right wing Bukharin for example, opposed his ideas: Bukharin wanted NEP to continue hoping that the prosperity it brought would make the regime popular.
The Purges started with the murder of Kirov in 1934, a Politburo member whom Stalin himself may have had murdered. However, this was then utilised as an excuse to have other opponents, real or imagined, arrested, put on show trials and eliminated/
Many prominent figures were put on trial and then shot, many of whom were Old Bolsheviks whom Stalin now distrusted. Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin and Radek all fell prey to Stalin’s suspicions.
Finally, Stalin then moved onto the Army. The higher ranks of the Army were purged, the Commander in Chief Tukhachevsky, 13 other generals and approximately 2/3rds of the higher officers were either executed or put in labour camps. This was the main reason for Russia’s inability to face war in 1939, and the alliance with Hitler.
When failures occurred in reaching industrialisation targets, rather than have it understood that production quotas were simply absurdly high and that the Government had been wrong, Stalin simply blamed any shortfall on western sabotage and Russian traitors aiding the west.
Overall, anyone could be a victim. Thousands were arrested, and in effect, this lead to the masses either being terrorised into submission, or becoming so indoctrinated as to believe that the measures were needed.
Fatally however, all initiative was stifled. “Yes men” were promoted in industry and party ranks, and often the most intelligent and able officials and officers in society who realized mistakes and pointed them out simply disappeared, and in a country where education was still limited, this severely hindered progress.
Stalin also kept control of the state through various forms of enforcement: the police, the secret police, informers, labour camps and control of the law courts.
He also controlled the media, nothing could be printed without the Government’s consent. Education was strictly controlled in order to be as pro-communism as possible, to the extent of re-writing history books!
The economy was state controlled through the central body of Gosplan, and the various policies of industrialisation and collectivisation ensured political control of the economy.
There was a complete absence of any form of representative body for citizens; Trade Unions were banned, as was support fro other parties, and religious freedom. Instead there was an imposed loyalty to the State.
Crucial to Stalin’s retention of power was propaganda. He made extensive use of every form of communication available. Posters, paintings, photographs, slogans, radio and newspapers were all utilised. Visual propaganda was very important amidst a largely uneducated population with low levels of literacy.
Stalin’s creation of Lenin’s Mausoleum was possibly the most crucial piece of propaganda. This helped Lenin to achieve iconic status among the Russian people, and therefore, with Stalin claiming to continue his work, gave Stalin greater status.
There was even a personality cult. Stalin was everywhere. There was hardly a town in Russia, which did not have a statue, or portrait or posters of Stalin featured prominently.
Overall, Stalin became such a great power by the removal of anyone and anything that opposed him, and re-structuring the entire country so that control of almost the entire country fell to him, either directly or indirectly. Once this sort of power is held by one man, it is incredibly difficult to remove it, and this accounts for the longevity of Stalin’s power.