A key reason why Stalin used terror was because of the threat of Hitlers Germany. The USSR was considered to be a "backward" country because of the fact that it lacked heavy industry. When Hitler took power in Germany, Stalin had already set up his five year plan but when he saw what was happening in Nazi germany such as the re industrialisation of the Ruhr, which gave Germany the ability to produce weaponry, Stalin felt a new sense of urgency to get his industry up to scratch because in the event of war, his state would not be able to trade with most of Europe. Therefore, to do this he intimidated the workers by show trials, which showed the public what happens if they put a foot wrong or dont pull their weight in work. This encouraged them to keep working hard.
Stalin had collectivisation plans which involved the of the peasants handing over what they had- animals, tools, buildings, land etc. The amount of peasants who did well for themselves felt hard done by this, and Stalin used terror to make sure they handed their goods over, and made sure they didnt think about resisting handing over either. This made sure the system worked smoothly because Stalin knew that it was a huge operation and would only work if people were forced to go along with it.
Stalin also used terror just because of the plain fact that he wanted his country to be rich and prosperous quickly. Because the Bolsheviks believed in communism, this means no matter how hard you work, you can be as wealthy as anyone else. Stalin wanted people to know that slacking is not acceptable and they cannot get away with it. This means that Stalin would achieve a richer economy faster and make more money.
Stalin needed to use terror whilst running the country because he was, some might say, paranoid, and trusted no-one, not even his fellow Bolsheviks. This is why he purged members of his party who he thought may be his opponents. He did this so he could nip any potential threats to his position of leadership in the bud before they became a threat. This also set an example to any other members of the party who were thinking speaking out against Stalin. This gave Stalin a solid base to work from knowing that no one would dare question him. He also purged people for his own peace of mind because he would have no worry about opposition from within.
Stalin also used terror because he didnt have the same ability as great speakers such as Hitler to get his ideas across. This meant he had to use terror as a last resort. We already know that Stalin didnt have a charismatic personality at all, so he didnt get his way through debates or speeches or effective propaganda, he did it by terrorising members of his own party and members of the public.
Another of Stalins personal flaws also made him use terror- his background. Stalin was bought up harshly when he was a child, within the space of 11 years he was arrested and exiled to Siberia 8 times, he carried out bank robberies, even the prisoners gave him his name- man of steel. This meant Stalin was well known as a "hard" man, which means that he had certain flaws which made him inflict terror possibly because he wanted people to feel his pain, or he wasnt aware of the evil in what he was doing- after all, we know that Stalin was treated harshly as a boy, so terror was just a normal thing to him, even if it was on a smaller scale.
In conclusion, Stalin used terror for a number of important factors which link to each other. However, the most important factors were the 5 year plans, combined with Stalins "hardman" personality. This is because Stalin used terror to make his ideas work as he didnt know any other way. He knew that he wasn't a very charismatic politician, and he also knew that he couldnt think up any other way to make his ideas work,although he used methods such as awards for so he used his hardman persoanality and used thuggish tactics to get what he was hoping to achieve.
