Essay
Stalin's Terror FULL A grade essay
- Module
- Russian Revolution
- Institution
- AQA
Full A-Level history essay on Stalin's Terror. Grade achieved = A
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Stalin’s use of terror was the most important reason for his success in establishingdominance over the USSR 1934-1941 – Assess the validity of this view
Stalin’s use of terror was key in helping him to establish dominance over the USSR
from 1934-1941 because once Stalin had extended his terror into the party, he was
able to remove his personal opposition and through the NKVD, Stalin also had a large
influence over society. Stalin’s forced collectivisation also included some aspects of
the terror, as well as the large Gulag population. Despite this, terror isn’t the only
reason why Stalin was successful in establishing dominance over the USSR. He also
used the Cult of Personality, industrialization and his influences over culture to help
him dominate every aspect of life in the USSR.
Stalin’s use of terror enabled him to remove all his former opposition from the power
struggle during the 1920s. This was predominantly done through the show trials,
which were the most public parts of the terror. The three show trials saw the execution
of Kamenev, Zinoviev and some of their supporters during the 1936 show trial, the
execution of 17 of Trotsky’s supporters in 1937 (Trotsky himself wasn’t assassinated
until August 1940 while he resided in Mexico). During this 1937 show trial, both the
Army and NKVD were purged too. This saw the execution of Tukhachevsky as well
as the removal of Yezhov as head of the NKVD. The third and final show trial of
1938 saw the execution of Bukharin and some of his supporters. This series of show
trials enabled Stalin to not only remove former opposition, but to also begin to
advance younger Stalinist comrades into positions of power, which in turn would be
solidifying his future power base.
A predominant example of Stalin’s use of terror to establish dominance is the Murder
of Kirov in 1934. Kirov had received more votes than Stalin at the 17 th Party Congress
and this put Stalin’s position in jeopardy, therefore Kirov was killed.
Stalin was able to establish dominance over the USSR through his use of the NKVD
and their terror. The NKVD had control over the civilian police, border and security
guards and they even had an influence over the Gulags. There was a large fear over
the NKVD in Soviet Society because they could simply come to your house in the
middle of the night and arrest you. This also helped Stalin to establish his dominance
over the USSR, as most people were so terrified that they wouldn’t oppose Stalin or
his policies.
Forced collectivisation is also an example of terror establishing Stalin’s dominance
over the USSR. This allowed Stalin to have more control over the peasants and
farmers by forcing them all to move into the Sovkhozes. This was also achieved
through the use of the de-kulaklisation, which Stalin announced in December 1929.
This removed the Kulaks as a class and he painted them as the ‘class enemy’. This
helped Stalin to establish his dominance because it would scare the middle class
peasants into the Sovkhozes.
On the other hand, it can be said that Stalin’s use of terror was not the only reason for
his established dominance over the USSR. An example of this is the Cult of
Personality. The propaganda that was published as part of the cult of personality
portrayed Stalin as a God-like figure who was the hero of the nation. It also showed
the huge successes of the Five Year Plans such as Magnitogorsk, Dnieper Dam and
Volga-Moscow Canal. The Cult of Personality is one such example of how Stalin was
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