JOSEPH STALIN — MAN OF STEEL
The leader who killed millions.
Hitler. Holocaust. These are two things that come to my mind immediately when someone mentions WWII and the catastrophes that occurred. But what I find interesting is that people spend so much time condemning Hitler and Nazi Germany that they forget the other horrors committed by a leader very similar to Hitler. In my opinion, Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union from 1924 until 1953, was just as bad, if not worse than Hitler. Stalin caused the deaths of millions of people, he killed anyone he suspected of working against him and he established a totalitarian rule in which most people feared him. So what makes him any different from Hitler? How come people remember the evils that Hitler committed, but not what Stalin did?
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE GREAT TERROR
One of the things that Stalin has in common with Hitler is that he brought his nation from being a mediocre regional power in Europe to being a superpower. However, Stalin and Hitler did this in different ways. Hitler put Germany back on its feet by rebuilding the military and providing jobs for the unemployed in order to get out of the Great Depression. Stalin, on the other hand, implemented a series of five-year plans that served to swiftly industrialize the Soviet economy. But, Stalin’s plans came with a severe cost. Millions of people who refused to cooperate with his idea to collectivize agriculture were either shot or exiled. When the kulaks (Ukrainian farmers) refused to give their land to the Soviet government, Stalin sent around 3 million of them to forced-labour camps in Siberia (called gulags) and confiscated their crops. This created the worst man-made famine in human history from 1932-33. It resulted in the deaths of approximately seven million people.
Stalin said that his actions were “A POLICY OF LIQUIDATING THE KULAKS AS A CLASS.”
Once Stalin came to power, he established a totalitarian state and eliminated any opposition to his rule (just like Hitler). From 1935 to 1938, Stalin made laws that sentenced people to death if they had engaged in acts against him or if they had retained information about people who were involved in such things. Even children aged 12 would be killed if they didn’t report crimes their parents had committed. He used his secret police to catch and execute anyone working against him (sound familiar? Hint; the Gestapo). The purpose of this purge was to rid the Communist Party, the military, and the Soviet Union in general from people Stalin felt were a threat to him. These three years were known as the “Great Terror” (or “Great Purge”) and during this time, one million people were killed and many more were sent to the gulags.
Considering the amount of deaths that Stalin brought about, it’s easy to argue that he was just as immoral, twisted, crazy, and ruthless as Hitler was. Despite the fact that communism had a very different ideology from fascism, both Stalin and Hitler had established totalitarian states in which people had been stripped of many of their rights and freedoms. So how come everyone knows who Hitler is but not Stalin?
WHY DON’T WE REMEMBER STALIN?
In my opinion, Stalin is not a “household” name, like Hitler is, because of the fact that he also benefited the Soviet Union in various ways. He industrialized the Soviet Union, made it an international superpower, defeated the Germans at Stalingrad (thus contributing to Allied victory in WWII), and established a Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. Therefore, popular opinion about him within Russia, even today, is mixed. A poll from July 2007 revealed that 54% of Russian youth thought that Stalin did more good than bad and that 46% of them didn’t see Stalin as a “cruel tyrant”. I feel that throughout history, or even in day to day life, we remember the bad things that happen much more easily than the good things. Therefore, the surprisingly positive view of Stalin is what makes him forgettable since we don’t have the image of a ruthless mass murderer burned into our minds. But looking back at Hitler’s rise to power, it is evident that he also did some good things for Germany. He restored Germany’s national pride, brought it out of a Depression, and re-established its military superiority. So how come the image of Hitler as the incarnation of the devil is often wrought in our minds when he did some good things too? Well, I believe this major difference in our surface perception of Hitler as compared to Stalin comes from the fact that Stalin was on the winning side of WWII while Hitler’s Nazi Germany lost. The victors are the ones who generally get to write out history and Stalin had the opportunity to cover up his sins with propaganda while Hitler did not. For this reason, Hitler was condemned after his death as a man who had caused the deaths of millions, while Stalin quietly got away with what he had done.
THE IRON CURTAIN
In the last few months of WWII, the Soviet forces swept through Eastern Europe on their march to Berlin. However, as they passed through Eastern Europe in 1944 and 1945, the Soviets occupied many of the nations they went through. After the end of WWII, Soviet troops remained in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Eventually, Stalin’s influence reached these countries as well. Personal freedoms were taken away and one-party communist governments (which were directly linked to Moscow) were set up in these Soviet “satellite states”. Stalin’s control over Eastern Europe was significant because it established the Eastern or Soviet Bloc, which Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Britain, referred to as the “Iron Curtain” that separated western democratic nations from the eastern communists. Tense east-west relations and suspicions about communist intentions eventually led to what was known as the Cold War. A nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union also resulted from this. Therefore, Stalin’s successful implementation of a Soviet empire in Eastern Europe had a huge impact on international relations, society, government, and people’s lives throughout the rest of the 20th century.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT WHAT STALIN DID?
First of all, I think that we should remember Stalin because of the fact that by some estimates, he is said to have been responsible for the deaths of 20 million people. This is an enormous number and it had a huge impact on the society of the Soviet Union. Through Stalin’s purges, he maintained indisputable power and the Soviet Union remained a communist nation. It’s important for us to know about this because it affected numerous significant events throughout the 20th century, for example the Cold War.
I also think that Stalin should be remembered for being as much of a tyrant as Hitler because of the effect that he had on so many people’s lives. By establishing the Eastern Bloc and implementing communist governments in these nations, Stalin changed the societies of numerous countries. This is especially significant for me because my parents and grandparents grew up in a communist country where they didn’t have freedom of speech or action. Families weren’t allowed to leave the country together on vacation and food was rationed. Living conditions weren’t ideal and a corrupt government still plagues the country my parents were from today. As a result of all this, my parents moved to Canada in search of a better life and a better place for me to grow up. So, in a way, Stalin’s exploits had a direct impact on my life. Perhaps if he hadn’t gotten away with creating a Soviet empire then I would be living in Europe today alongside the rest of my extended family. In any case, I think we should recognize Stalin because of the enormous impact he had on the political and social makeup of Europe in the 20th century. However, I guess the next question would be; should we also remember all the other tyrants in history?
WORKS CITED
“Joseph Stalin Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. <http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-stalin-9491723>.
“Stalin.” Stalin. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Stalin.htm>.
“Joseph Stalin.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. <http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-stalin>.
“Twentieth Century Atlas — Death Tolls.” Twentieth Century Atlas — Death Tolls. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm>.
“Joseph Stalin (1879 — 1953).” BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml>.
Written: Saturday, December 14th, 2013
