How Far was 'Stalinism' an Attempt to Recreate the Soviet Union as a 'Total War' State and Society by 1940 - Essay Example

How Far was Stalinism an Attempt to Recreate the Soviet Union as a Total War and Society by 1940 ID Number & Code Instructor’s Name Date Total Number of Words: 2,250 Introduction Joseph Stalin was the leader of Soviet Union between 1924 to 19531. Back then, Stalin was very much known for his dictatorship2, 3. He was always afraid that the presence of opposition would threaten his empire. To get what he wanted, he decided to use force and brutality against anyone who were against his plans4, 5, 6. In fact, anyone who would oppose to his plans would automatically be imprisoned or secretly be executed and killed7. The concept of Stalinism was based on how Stalin managed the Soviet Union. In relation to the leadership style used by Stalin, this study will focus on discussing how far Stalinism was an attempt to recreate the Soviet Union as a “total war” state and a society by 1940. As part of going through the main discussion, this study will explore the historical events that took place under Stalin leadership and discuss all factors that could have triggered Stalin to use power and excessive force in his collective plan for the Soviet Union. Eventually, this study will highlight the socio-economic impact of using power and force to implement a pure state of communism in Soviet Union. Historical Events and Factors that Triggered Stalin to Use Power and Excessive Force in Implementing his Collective Plans Stalin had a strong desire to pursue his Communist takeover plan against Europe8, 9. To establish a world revolution. Stalin strongly supported the idea that the process of creating a war against Europe was necessary so that he could successfully pursue his territorial ambitions10. Back in August 1939, Stalin entered into a secret “non-aggression pact” with the Nazi Germany, the Molotov, and the von Ribbentrop which aims to divide the entire eastern Europe into the the Soviet spheres and the German sector11, 12, 13. Several communist and fascist governments signed the “non-aggression pact”14. Basically, the said “non-aggression pact” served as the outline for aggression for Hitler and Stalin to create war against Europe. Stalin was never fair in his political dealings. In the absence of the said “non-aggression pact” with the Soviet Union, Stalin assumed that Hitler could have been very reluctant to create a war against Europe15. In other words, to win the support of Hitler and outmanoeuvre him in the end, Stalin had to sign the “non-aggression pact”16. The main reason why Stalin accepted the German proposal is because of the fact that his desire to create a Communist revolution in Europe will not be successful if there was no peace17. To create peace, Stalin had to trigger the development of a war. Eventually, Germany together with the Soviet Union purposely attacked several areas including the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, including some areas in Poland, Finland, and Romania18, 19, 20. It was clearly stated under the “non-aggression pact” that the territories of Estonia and Latvia was to be allocated to Stalin whereas Lithuania was to be allocated to Hitler21. To start the World War II, Hitler instructed some generals to invade Poland on the 3rd of April 193922 and officially invaded the territory of Poland on the 1st of September 193923, 24, 25. Using as much as 1.5 million troops26, “Hitler invaded Poland from the West while Stalin’s troops invaded Poland from the east”27. On the 10th of Septemner 1939, Germany and Russia aggreed to have their share in the territory of Poland28. Therefore, the German armies were sent to fight against the Polish army. Sixteen (16) days later, the Red Army troops entered the Polish territory for its final take-over29. It was also during the later part of September 1939 when the Soviet Union provoked Estonia to sign a pacts with the USSR to legally allow the Red Army troops to enter the territory of Estonia30, 31. After signing the treaty, the Red Army troops entered the territory of Estonia sometime in October 193932. A month later, the Soviet Union also convinced Latvia and Lithuania to sign the same pacts with the USSR to legally allow the Red Army troops to enter the territory of Latvia and Lithuania33. Back then, it was only Finland who refused to participate in the demands of the Soviet Union34. The process of signing the “non-aggression pact” gave Stalin so much time to “rebuild the Red Army” in preparation for the “great patriotic war”35. Sometime in June 1940, Stalin started to manipulate the government officials of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. What Stalin did was to manipulate the elections by removing non-Communist candidates from the official election36. This explains why the pro-Soviet Communist Parties had won the elections in five different countries including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania in the later part of 1940s37, 38. Brutality of the Stalinism started after the official election was conducted. Under the Communist leadership, “a massive terror campaign was launched”39, 40. On top of the armies and leaders of other nationalities, thousands and millions of people from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Germans who were against the Soviet government were forcefully arrested, imprisoned, and killed41, 42, 43. Stalin has always viewed the presence of Japan and Germany as the Soviet Union’s great threats. On the 22nd of June 1941, Hitler purposedly launched the Operation Barbarossa as a way to go against the “non-aggression pact”44. Basically, the Operation Barbarossa aimed to destroy the “massive invasion of the Soviet Union”45. As a result, millions of people died in the war. It was sometime in May 1945 when the Nazi Germany decided to surrender46. Only then did the Red Army “freed all Soviet territory and occupied large areas of Easter Europe including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and eastern Germany”47. Socio-Economic Impact of Using Excessive Power and Force Stalin considered socialism as the key solution towards increasing its industrial and agricultural growth48. Under the leadership of Stalin, the concept of Stalinism aims to eradicate the presence of capitalism throughout the Soviet Union49. To implement Stalin’s vision of socialism, a five-year plan was ratified under Stalin’s administration50, 51. In early 1930s, Stalin implemented the concept of Collectivization52, 53. Specifically the concept of Collectivization requires the need to consolidate all peasant farms into a single, state-controlled enterprise54. Aside from increasing the agricultural and other industrial output using a strong political control, the implementation of Collectivization under the era of Stalinism also made the tax collection become more efficient55. To stop the presence and restoration of capitalism, the peasants were not allowed to own their own agricultural lands and animals56, 57. The only thing that the Stalin government would allow the peasants to own is a small plot of garden58. As part of the Collectivization plan, all peasants were ordered to surrender their agricultural tools, animals and lands to the Soviet government59. Instead of working on their own land and farms, the average peasants were forced to work as a member of the collective farms60. In the case of the wealthy peasants, this group of individuals was either deported to a forced-labour camp in Siberia or starve themselves to death61, 62. A lot of peasants were protesting against the practice of Collectivization. As a sign of their revenge, many of the peasants intentionally destroy and burn their crops63, 64. Some of them would intentionally slaughter their animals as a sign of protest65. In the end, access to supply of food was a serious problem throughout the Soviet Union. Back then, tons of wheat was wasted since there were no sufficient animals to transport the raw materials to food manufacturers. Therefore, the government had to invest a large sum of money on tractors and other machines used in agricultural activities66. Conclusion By 1940, the extent of Stalinism as an attempt to recreate the Soviet Union as a total war state and society can be noted with the socio-economic impact of using excessive power and force. Although there was a great social and economic crisis caused by the implementation of Stalinism’s Collectivization strategy67, one cannot discount the fact that Stalin was able to successfully convert the Soviet Union from an underdeveloped country into a country that is known for being strong in terms of its “first-rate industrial and military powers”68, 69. To implement a state of socialism, Stalin came to a point wherein he had to betray and kill some of his loyal followers. He also had to use excessive military and police forces to control the people to follow and obey the political rules he had set for the entire Soviet Union. In fact, killing millions of people was not very much a big deal for him. Considering the case presented in this study, it is clear that in the absence of Stalinism, the Soviet Union could have still remained as an underdeveloped country. However, there is a saying that the end does not justify the means. 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