Stalin's Consolidation of Power and Soviet Control

How Did Stalin Impose His Power?

In 1929, Stalin took control of the government and established a personal dictatorship, based on:

Cult of Personality

• Propaganda was used to depict Stalin as the "great benefactor" and "father" of the people. Any positive traits in his enemies were eliminated from public view.

Terror and Repression

• All opposition was silenced. This was enforced by a secret police force called the NKVD. The public also contributed by denouncing alleged "counter-revolutionaries".
• The most intense purges took place between 1933 and 1939. At the Moscow Trials, former party leaders were forced to confess to crimes that they had not committed.
• Thousands of people were killed or sent to concentration camps (gulags), located mainly in Siberia, where they were forced to work.

Reinforcement of the Communist Party

• In order to take part in politics, people had to be members of the CPSU, as it imposed all the nominations to the Soviets. Therefore, the Soviets were no longer free popular assemblies.

Cultural Control

• The CPSU decided that art should serve as party propaganda. An official artistic style was established, called socialist realism. This style celebrated the revolution and its leaders, as well as groups associated with the revolution, such as workers and peasants.

Comparison with Nazi Control Methods

The Nazis used propaganda and terror to control the population, similar to Stalin's methods:

• The Ministry of Public Enlightenment, headed by Goebbels, was created to impose racist and national ideas, destroying intellectual freedom.
• The Nazi party controlled all the media.
• The educational system was reorganized and politicized; teachers were purged from schools and universities, and censorship was introduced in classrooms and books.
• The great Nuremberg Demonstrations were acts of propaganda.
• The SS served to protect Hitler. They also detected and persecuted opponents of the Nazi regime.
• The Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, was created to eliminate subversive elements. Its actions were out of control: it could torture and execute prisoners with impunity. The Gestapo also deported Jews to concentration camps.

Stalin's Economic and Societal Imposition

Stalin imposed a collectivist economy and society to generate growth and make the USSR a great industrial power.

The Economic Model Factors

The economic model was based on three main factors:

• A planned economy managed by the state. Five-year plans were established to organize agricultural and industrial production.
• The prohibition of private property. Land, factories, banks, transports, etc., became state property.
• Priority was given to heavy industry and energy production, in order to build the necessary infrastructure. This meant that there was rapid industrialization, but agriculture experienced a significant delay, as a result of its subordination to industry. It also meant that the production of consumer goods was neglected and the needs of the population were ignored.