DO NOW What is it called when a government takes complete control of public life? What was the Great Purge?

JOSEF STALIN

STALIN’S EARLY LIFE Stalin was born Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvilli in Georgia, in 1879. Stalin’s parents were poor, but sent young Soso to private schools. Stalin would keep very simple tastes his entire life. Stalin learned early on to intimidate his peers in order to not get picked on for being poor, and short.

STALIN’S EARLY LIFE Stalin entered the Tiflis Theological Seminary in 1894. He was expelled from the Seminary in 1899 for possessing Marxist literature. Stalin was arrested for revolutionary terrorist activity in 1902 and was sent to Siberia by the Tsar’s police. Here he used the name Koba, and eventually Stalin – “the Man of Steel.”

Stalin or “Koba” in Tsarist police photo

STALIN THE REVOLUTIONARY Stalin escapes from prison in Siberia in 1904. Stalin meets V. I. Lenin in Finland at a Bolshevik conference in 1905. In February 1917, the Tsar abdicates and the Provisional Government takes over. Stalin and other Bolsheviks rush to Petrograd.

STALIN THE REVOLUTIONARY During the October Revolution, Stalin plays only a minor role in the Bolshevik seizure of power. Stalin is placed in charge of several regiments during the Civil War. He openly criticizes the way Trotsky handles the war.

STALIN THE REVOLUTIONARY After the Civil War is won by the Red Army, Stalin is made General Secretary of the Communist Party. This is a minor position. His only duties are to appoint minor officials and to take notes during Party meetings. Other Bolsheviks called him Comrade Index Card or The Grey Blur.

STALIN’S RISE TO POWER In 1924, Lenin suffers the last of a series of strokes and dies. He left no clear successor, but he did leave a letter to the Party, called his Testament. The Testament warned the Party to remove Stalin from his post, as he was too rude and cruel to be a leader.

STALIN’S RISE TO POWER But, Lenin also criticized other prominent Bolsheviks in the letter (including Trotsky and Bukharin). The letter was never circulated, because everyone feared for their own political survival. Stalin offered to resign, but was allowed to remain.

STALIN IN POWER By 1927, Stalin had worked himself into a position of power. He used his index cards to confront Party leaders about being anti-Leninist. He also appointed people loyal to him to many positions in the Party. Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev were all exiled or executed within the next ten years.

STALIN IN POWER Stalin announced his own theory of Socialism in One Country in 1928. This meant that the USSR would focus only on creating a socialist state in Russia, not to spread revolution worldwide. Stalin announces his first Five Year Plan.

STALIN IN POWER Stalin’s Five Year plan had three parts: Collectivization of agriculture “Crash” industrialization Elimination of enemies of the Party.

COLLECTIVIZATION Collectivization = combining millions of small family farms into huge collective farms. Stalin wanted to produce agricultural surplus to sell to the West, in order to buy equipment to industrialize.

COLLECTIVIZATION Millions of peasants starved to death because their crops were stolen to be sold abroad. The total number of deaths is unknown, but Stalin himself claimed to have “dealt with” over 10 million peasants.

Victims of the Great Famine

COLLECTIVIZATION Stalin focused on destroying the Kulaks Wealthy farmers. Millions of Kulaks and poorer peasants who resisted were sent to the gulag in Siberia or killed.

Discussion Question Why do you think Stalin wanted to destroy the Kulaks?

THE GULAG Prisons and camps located in Siberia. Stalin expanded the program into a system of camps called the gulag. At no time were there less than 10 million in the gulag.

The GULAG

“Crash” INDUSTRIALIZATION Attempt to catchup with the rest of the industrialized world Millions of workers killed Horrible working conditions Perform or be killed!

Discussion Question Is it worth peoples lives to industrialize a country? Explain.

Much progress was made. By 1933, the Soviet Union was one of the most industrialized countries in the world. The people had no rights whatsoever. Stalin became known to some as the Red Tsar because of the blood he spilled.

THE GREAT TERROR Stalin turned the weight of the State against his political enemies. At first, the enemies of the state were kulaks or saboteurs. Stalin paranoid and soon everyone was an enemy.

THE GREAT TERROR Also called the Purges, Began in 1934 when Sergei Kirov, the head of the Leningrad Party, was assassinated. Stalin’s had him killed because he was a threat to Stalin’s power He used this event as an excuse to begin his purges.

THE GREAT TERROR So, they confessed. Stalin put several other Leningrad party members on trial for the murder. Staged Show Trials. They were innocent, but Stalin’s men threatened to shoot them unless they confessed to the crimes. So, they confessed.

And then they were shot.

And then their families were shot.

Sometimes their neighbors were shot.

And the “defendants” named other names.

And then they were shot…

And then their families were shot…

Discussion Question Why do you think Stalin bothered with “staged trials” instead of simply executing his enemies?

THE GREAT TERROR In four years, over one million members of the Party were executed. Millions more sent to Siberia to die in the camps, after they were worked to death.

THE GREAT TERROR By 1938, Stalin had killed 30,000 Red Army officers. Including 42 of the top 45 ranking officers. Three years later Hitler invaded Russia.

“GODBUILDING” Stalin destroyed or turned most churches into train stations, post offices, or ammunition dumps. Karl Marx wrote that Communism and religion were not compatible, but Stalin created his own religion for his people.

THE CULT OF PERSONALITY He put his image, and that of Lenin everywhere. Children sang songs to Stalin. This “cult of personality” kept people in line while he did monstrous things.

THE CULT OF PERSONALITY Censored all media and press. Took credit for inventing things like the airplane, the radio, and car. Had old photos doctored so that the Old Bolsheviks were eliminated. Tried to rewrite history.

Before and After

Discussion Question What reason did Stalin have for trying to rewrite history?

End of Stalin Stalin died in 1953 of a brain hemorrhage. Nikita Khrushchev took over. For the first time Russians spoke openly of Stalin’s crimes. It would take twenty years or more for the USSR to “de-Stalinize.” No one who lived during Stalin’s reign was unaffected.