To what extent was Stalin successful in transforming the Soviet Union

Question 1

BP1 - Political transformation

Answer 1

Stalin’s totalitarian governing immensely transformed the political environment of the Soviet Union.

Continued the practice of patry purging after Lenin -> development of the state into a one-party dictatorship

By the 1930’s, historian Orlando Figes estimates that one in ten of the communist party had been expelled. Highlights power of NKVD -> assassination of Kirov in 1934

Late 1940s, over 1 million members of the Communist Party had either been subjected to a show trial or exiled from the party.

Denunciation, punishment and persecution became apart of life -> wave of conformity, paranoia that swept across the USSR

Tensions increased due to fundamental laws 1936 -> reinforced one party state -> individual stripped of political freedom + only communist could run for elections

Those who disagreed ideologically with Stalin were persecuted through gulags.

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Through his totalitarian rule, Stalin transformed almost all aspects of political, cultural and economic life within the Soviet Union.

Stalin’s implementation of the show trials against not only the communist party, but the bureaucracy and the public instigated an atmosphere of fear and hysteria, further motivated by the 1936 Constitution.

Simultaneously, the enforcement of collectivisation and industrialisation propelled the economy forward. With that ongoing, Stalin established a cult of personality through the means of education and propaganda that would shape the culture of the Soviet Union.

While the impact of Stalin’s governing is indisputable, the fact of whether it had an overall positive or negative effect is debatable.

Question 2

BP2 - Economic transformation