Opinion About Joseph Stalin After His Death Essay Example

was skilled in strategic operations, his reign was marked by constant crises (Roberts 2003).

Stalin's birthplace was the small town of Gori, Georgia on December 18, 1878. His father worked as a leather worker and his mother as a washer-woman (Van Ree 2002). Despite growing up in poverty, Stalin showed great intelligence and managed to attend church school. Later on, he entered seminary in Tbilisi with the intention of becoming a priest but got expelled after five years. It was during this time that he became involved in the Georgian national movement and even had some of his poems published in nationalist journals (Van Ree 2002).

Driven by the goal of making Georgia culturally rich and independent, Iosif immersed himself in the movement.He frequently visited a bookshop owned by a member of the Society for the Spread of Literacy which served as a networking hub for like-minded individuals.In this bookstore,Iosif acquired influential books that focused on themes such as patriotism and peasant struggles against Russian rulers.His writings showcased a strong connection to the ideas promoted by this society; he likened himself to someone who had been forcefully expelled by enemies (Van Ree 2002).

By 1896, when his last poem was published, Iosif's poem theme shifted from nationalistic to an interest in the peasantry (Van Ree 2002). He became involved in a socialist student circle at the seminary, which brought him closer to Marxist teachings (Van Ree 2002). The early form of Marxism he was introduced to lacked a nationalist spirit, as he believed that Russian oppression of Georgia created inevitable class interaction (Van Ree 2002). He thought that capitalism divided countries into opposing classes, but economic practices caused

class mingling (Van Ree 2002), influencing Iosif's later identity as Joseph Stalin.Family-wise, Joseph Stalin's first marriage with Ekaterina Svanidze was tumultuous, as she passed away in 1907 after being married for only three years (Marriages and Family). There were speculations that Stalin felt any warmth he had for others died that day along with his wife. They had a son named Yakov Dzhugashvili, with whom Stalin had a difficult relationship in later years (Marriages and Family). Despite attempting suicide due to his father's cruel treatment, Yakov survived (Marriages and Family). Later, Yakov served in the Red Army and was captured by the Germans who offered to exchange him for a German general.According to a source, Stalin once stated that a lieutenant does not hold the same value as a general (Marriages and Family). It is believed that after sharing these thoughts with Yakov, Yakov unfortunately ended his own life by running into an electric fence in the camp where he was being held (Marriages and Family). While this is the officially recorded cause of death, there are doubts and uncertainties surrounding the actual truth.

Stalin's decision to not exchange his son for other Soviet families' sons in German camps was influenced by his fear of losing public support. Unfortunately, in 1932, Stalin's second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva tragically died after a fight with him, leaving behind a suicide note explaining her personal reasons. Together, Stalin and Nadezhda had two children: Vassili, who served in the Soviet Air Force during World War II but later succumbed to alcoholism in 1962; and Svetlana, who emigrated to the United States in 1967.

The Great Purge occurred during the late 1930s in

the Soviet Union. It was characterized by intense political repression led by omnipresent police forces. This campaign involved purging the Communist Party through trials, imprisonments, mass murder, and suspicion of saboteurs. Those accused of being counter-revolutionaries were specifically targeted for prosecution during this period. The primary motivation behind these actions against dissenters was to solidify Stalin's power as the supreme ruler.

The purge had an impact on various groups of citizens including government leaders, high-ranking military officials, intelligentsia, peasants, and the wealthy or kulaks (Conquest 1968).The Soviet secret police, known as NKVD, targeted various minorities in the Soviet Union and labeled them as the "fifth column." These groups were suspected of plotting against the government. The Great Purge began in 1933 with expulsions from the Communist party, but it escalated between 1936 and 1953 to include arrests, imprisonment, and death. While repression had been used before following the October Revolution, this particular process was distinct because it focused on targeting the ruling political party itself. In mid-1938, Stalin recognized limitations in the purging and replaced Yezhov with Lavrenty Beria as head of NKVD. However, mass exiles continued until Stalin's death in 1953. The term GULAG is a Russian abbreviation for "Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei," which translates to Main Camp Administration.

The Soviet system underwent a transformation, becoming a combination of labor camps and concentration camps. These camps included secret research laboratories where scientists conducted experiments and developed new technology (Applebaum 2003). Among the various camps, one focused on subjecting political prisoners to forced medical treatment and psychological testing. Additionally, there was a separate camp specifically for children and mothers with infants who were considered unproductive for the country's

production. This new camp system originated from the Siberian labor camps of Imperial Russia (Applebaum 2003). The camps themselves were divided into "Special purpose camps" and forced labor camps (Applebaum 2003).

Between 1931 and 1932, the number of individuals imprisoned in the Gulags rose to approximately 200,000. This figure rapidly escalated to around 800,000 in the camps and an additional 300,000 in colonies by 1935. By 1939, the camp population had reached a staggering 1.3 million (Applebaum 2003). Interestingly, this increase coincided with the industrial expansion of the Soviet Union. During World War II, there was a decline in camp population as prisoners were sent to fight on the front lines for the Soviet army in hopes of bolstering their numbers.

According to Applebaum (2003), conditions within these camps were harsh. Prisoners faced severe living conditions with a quota system used as an incentive to increase productivity. Failure to meet quotas resulted in punishment through reduced food rations—a vicious cycle as decreased energy levels led to further decreases in production.

The mortality rate in the camps was 80% (Applebaum 2003). These camps were mainly located in remote areas such as north-east Siberia and south-east Soviet Union, particularly Kazakhstan (Applebaum 2003). Historians generally agree that approximately 700,000 executions occurred during Stalin's rule (Overy 2005). Researchers have verified these numbers using official documents that became available after the breakup of the USSR in 1991. For example, the Black Book of Communism and the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council have estimated that the total number of victims killed under Stalin's communist regime is twenty million (Overy 2005). Joseph Stalin adhered to an economic ideology based on Marxist principles, in which

there was no private ownership of the means of production and goods were no longer produced for the market (Van Ree 2002).

According to Van Ree (2002), the distribution of products among producers in the Soviet system was based on achievements, without the use of money. This method, known as "direct product exchange," was initially attempted when agriculture was privately owned and coexisted with a partially capitalist production system. The New Economy Policy aimed to eliminate private ownership and suggested replacing money and the market with direct product exchange, bringing an end to war communism. In the 1920s, Stalin supported this policy as a means to establish a socialist economy using the market instead of product exchange while overcoming capitalist elements.

However, during the early 1920s, Stalin's perspective shifted towards prioritizing heavy industry for Soviet Union's development. According to Van Ree (2002), he believed that metal played a crucial role in industrial growth and envisioned an internal market independent from world capitalism. Nevertheless, capitalist nations had already achieved industrialization through colonization and war. Despite this challenge, Stalin remained confident that an alternative path could be discovered.

Stalin believed that socialism could be sustained through rapid development of industry, which he considered the foundation, beginning, and end of socialism. He argued that this would make socialism superior to capitalism (Van Ree 2002). In order to advance the Soviet economy, Stalin acknowledged that the gap between industry and agriculture could not be immediately closed and that some negative impact on the peasant economy was acceptable (Van Ree 2002). He also recognized that the shortage of industrial goods for peasants was a consequence of prioritizing the growth of heavy industry over

the consumer sector (Van Ree 2002).

This would result in significant financial hardship for the peasants. Stalin stated that the peasants not only paid regular taxes to the state, both direct and indirect, but also had to pay inflated prices for industrial goods and received lower prices for agricultural products. He considered this an additional burden on the peasants to support the growth of industry for the entire country, including the peasantry. It was akin to a tribute or supertax that had to be temporarily imposed to maintain and further develop industrial progress (Van Ree 2002). This provoked strong resentment, and there was a debate whether to excessively exploit the agricultural sector or to stay within reasonable limits. Stalin aimed to maximize exploitation to the highest extent possible and even suggested that Soviet farms could operate without any profits if necessary (Van Ree 2002). He called for a faster pace of development in order for the Soviet Union to surpass the capitalist world.

Stalin argued that his industrial plan needed to be "accelerated" and "forced", prioritizing speed over balance. In 1931, he responded to criticism by asserting that the plan's success relied entirely on the Soviet people's ability and willingness to utilize their abundant resources. He stressed the significance of their work ethic, openness to new approaches, and determination in executing the plan (Van Ree 2002). Despite being hailed as the one who halted Hitler's eastward advance according to the Soviet public (Roberts 2003), Stalin's rule was marked by instability and efforts towards reconstruction following revolts and civil wars under Lenin's reign (Roberts 2003). Privately, Stalin was a tyrant who employed fear as a method of

control.

Stalin utilized internment camps, resulting in fatalities, to instill terror among the Soviet populace. Despite approximately twenty million casualties under Stalin's regime, there are similarities between him and the Nazi leader. Both sought to transform their countries by all available means, even if it meant sacrificing the well-being and lives of their own citizens. Interestingly, it is rumored that Stalin kept a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf in his rear pocket.