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Chernal Lynch Mrs.Babcock English 9 Honors March 24, 2013 A Notorious Legacy One of the most forceful dictators throughout human history, Joseph Stalin rose to power by gaining support during a time of need, maintaining his power over the Soviet Union by controlling the people and helping the country, and fell from power due to his death, leaving a horrific mark on societies across the world. Stalins rise to power was caused by his increase of support from the people of Russia during a state of chaos. The Bolshevik Party rose by using the state of Russia at the time to gain power. Nicholas II, the Tsar who took power after the death of Alexander III, was a very stern ruler over his people, causing many to rebel against him. The last Tsar finally stepped down from his throne in March 1917. Lenin saw this as an opportunity to place power in the hands of the poorest strata of the peasantry (Lewis, 29). With the power collapsed, the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 allowed the Bolshevik party to seiz[e] control after The Red Guards, a powerful private army, invaded many public buildings and stations, and took over the White Palace and arrested the Government leaders. (Hingley, 157). After the power was seized, Stalin gained the support of the people by rising in the political ranks. Stalin was appointed as Commissar for Nationalities only a month after he was announced as one of the seven members of the Politburo, the highest body of the communist party of the Soviet Union. (Lewis,

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39). Stalins steady progress towards a place at the top of the Bolshevik leadership continued after the central committee delegated the right to decide to the team of Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, and Sverdiov (Lewis, 39). After a long period of time, Stalin became the sole leader of the Soviet Union by ruling out his opponents. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party, died from a stroke on January 21, 1924, leaving the leadership role open. For Stalin to seize power, he had to completely remove anyone that could possibly rise to power from within the communist party. After a long period of eliminating his competition, Stalin had seen off Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev (Ewing, 1), leaving him the unquestionable leader and, in 1928, [His] rule of the Soviet Union began (Lewis, 57). After a growth in stature in the Soviet Union, Stalin maintained power by seizing complete control over the people, as well as controlling the military and economy. Stalin maintained power by forcing large purges upon the people. Through the use[of] a massive purge, Stalin continued to remove any competition that challenge[d] his authority of power of the people. (Rong, 4). He eliminated over half of the Soviets troops, among many that were well known for their previous work in the army. He even removed people that never showed any objective to his rule, because he believed they criticized his policies (Rong, 4). While he seized control over the people, Stalin also took control of the economy. The government set up three sets of plans, The Five Year Plans, which were set targets and goals for the country (Ewing, 1). Gosplan, the committee used to balance the economy of the country, controlled the resources it needed to achieve the economic targets established for Russia. (Ewing, 1) The first plan was established to expand while the next two were established to stabilize the economy after expansion.

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Although Stalin contained full power over the Soviets, he suffered a dramatic fall after his cruel ways contributed to the loss of support from the people and subsequently, his death. Due to his secretive, unsuccessful tactics, Stalin slowly began to suffer a reduction of support from the people of the Soviet Union. Prior to World War II, the Soviet Union joined allies with Germany. Stalin was willing to allow the Nazis to invade Poland in exchange for a promise that the USSR would not be attacked. Hitler agreed and The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed on August 23, 1939 (Ingram, 80). Although this pact was signed between Germany and Russia, [Hitler] had agreed to it only to keep the Soviets inactive at the time. (The History Channel). Soon after, Stalin received warnings about the plans of a secret raid of the Soviet Union but he disregarded them, leaving the Soviets unprepared for the Germanics invasion in 1941. Even though Stalin lost the support of the people, he rule did not officially end until his death, but his ways of ruling contributed to it. After World War II, Stalin became even more harsh and brutal. He used his devious ways to force a large part of Europe into using a communist government under Russia (Ingram, 96). Other countries disagreed with the government of communism causing the Cold War or an exchange of views (Ingram,96). With the startup of the Cold War, everyone became an enemy to Stalin, but [He] ended up hostage of his own system (Lewis,179). Not long after, he suffered a stroke. No one was in a rush to help him whereas in any civilized country, any leader would get help within minutes, and Stalin died on 5 March 1953 (Lewis, 180). Joseph Lenin was a well known dictator over Russia. Lenin seized the power of the Soviet Union in a time a crisis, but after his death Stalin gained supporters, declaring him the new leader. His bad decisions led his fall and his death. Stalin has changed history as we know it.

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Works Cited Barter, James. Heroes and Villians: Joseph Stalin. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005. Print. Channel, The History. "Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. Hingley, Ronald, and Ronald Hingley. Russia: A Concise History. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1991. Print. Ingram, Scott. Joseph Stalin. San Diego: Blackbirch, 2002. Print. Lewis, Jonathan, and Phillip Whitehead. Stalin: A Time for Judgement. London: Methuen in Association with Thames Television International, 1990. Print. "Stalin's Russia." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. "Women in World History : MODULE 11." Women in World History : MODULE 11. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.

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