STALIN BUILDS A TOTALITARIAN STATE

Setting the stage

After 1928, Joseph Stalin dominated the entire nation. The term
totalitarianism describes this best: a type of rule that takes total,
centralized, state control over every aspect of public and private life. All
totalitarian states share basic characteristics. These included:
1. One – party rule, dictatorship of a single party. The state machine
and party organization are the same. The Party = the State
2. Total control of the economy: party command economy
3. Ideology and indoctrination: instructions in the government’s
beliefs, requirements of unconditional loyalty and uncritical support,
to mold people’s minds, to glorify the leader while establishing the
"Cult of Personality". Indoctrination begins with very young children.
4. Total state control of individuals and society: business, labor,
education, family life, youth, religion, the arts etc. It demands loyalty
and total obedience to authority even personal sacrifice for the good
of the state and denies basic liberties.
5. Total terror: physical: police terror to crash all opponents or certain
groups of “enemies of the state”, persecutions and violence to force
obedience and psychological: everyday censorship and control of the
means of communication and propaganda. No publication, film, art, or
music is allowed to exist without the permission of the state. Citizens
are surrounded with false information that appears to be true.
Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State
Stalin aimed to create a perfect Communist state in Russia. He began building his totalitarian state by
destroying his enemies—real and imagined.
Police State Stalin built a police state to maintain his power. Stalin’s secret police monitored telephone
lines, read mails, and planted informers everywhere. Every family came to fear the knock on the door in
the early morning hours, which usually meant the arrest of a family member. The secret police arrested
and executed millions of so-called traitors. Stalin turned against members of the Communist Party. In 1937,
he launched the Great Purge, a
campaign of terror directed for
eliminating anyone who threatened
his power. Thousands of old
Bolsheviks were executed or sent to
labor camps in Siberia for “crimes
against the Soviet state.” When the
Great Purge ended in 1938, Stalin had
gained total control of the Soviet
government and the Communist
Party. Historians estimate that during
this time he was responsible for 8
million to 13 million deaths.
Russian Propaganda and Censorship
Stalin’s government controlled all
newspapers, motion pictures, radio,
and other sources of information.
Soviet newspapers and radio broadcasts glorified the achievements of communism, Stalin and his economic
program. In movies, theaters, and schools, citizens heard about communist successes. The people of Russia
had to read what the state allowed, see what the state allowed and listen to what the state allowed. The
state’s control of the media was total. Those who attempted to listen, read etc. anything else were severely
punished. Many Soviet writers, composers, and other artists also fell victim to official censorship.
Under Stalin, the arts also were used for propaganda. He used propaganda as a tool to build up a “cult of
personality” around himself and to make himself a godlike figure. Artists painted pictures glorifying Stalin.
These was an attempt to develop an image of a kind, homely man who was the ‘father’ of all Russians.
Those who wrote poems and novels had to do the same – write about Stalin and glorified him. This was all
called “Socialist Realism”. The socialist realism has as a style goal to show the Soviet life in a positive light,
promoting hope in the socialist future. Popular themes for socialist realist artists were peasants, workers,
and heroes of the revolution and, of course, Stalin.
Education and Indoctrination Under Stalin, the government controlled all education from nursery schools
through the universities. Outside of school, children were
expected to join youth organizations such as the
Octobrists for 8 to 10 year olds and the Pioneers for the 10
to 16 year olds. From 19 to 23 they were expected to join
the Komsomol. Children were taught how to be a good
communist.
Religious Persecution Communists aimed to replace
religious teachings with the ideals of communism. They
favored atheism or the belief that there is no God. The
Communists tried to replace religion with their own ideology. Like a religion, communist ideology had its
own “sacred” texts: the writings of Marx and Lenin and its own shrines, such as the tomb of Lenin. Portraits
of Stalin replaced religious icons in Russian homes. The police destroyed magnificent churches; many
religious leaders were killed or sent to labor camps.
Stalin Seizes Control of the Economy
In 1928 Stalin imposed command economy/planned economy, a system in which the government made all
economic decisions.
An Industrial Revolution: In order to make USSR well-developed industrial state Stalin outlined the first of
several Five-Year Plans for the development of the Soviet Union’s economy. The Five-Year Plans set high
goals for development of heavy industry and electrification. Stalin’s methods produced impressive
economic results. A second plan, launched in 1933, proved equally successful. The country became a
major industrial nation by 1939 and her progress was unmatched in the era of the Depression in America
and western Europe where millions were unemployed.
An Agricultural Revolution In 1930, the government began collectivization of agriculture in order to
increase food production. The government seized over 25 million privately owned farms in the USSR. It
combined them into large, government owned farms, called collective farms/kolkhozs. Hundreds of
families worked on these farms, called collectives, producing food for the state. Peasants actively fought
the collectivization. Many killed livestock and destroyed crops in protest. The peasants’ revolts were
suppressed by force. Between 5 million and 10 million peasants died as a direct result of Stalin’s agricultural
revolution. Thousands were sent to the labor camps. Violent methods of government used by the
administration led to catastrophe – millions starved to death in the grain producing areas of the country.
Total Control Achieved
By the mid-1930s, Stalin had forcibly transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian regime and an
industrial and political power. He stood unopposed as dictator and maintained his authority over the
Communist Party.
Achieving the perfect Communist state came at a tremendous cost to Soviet citizens. Stalin’s total control
of society eliminated personal rights and freedoms in favor of the power of the state.

What does the Soviet state emblem mean?

Proletarian solidarity
The red star and hammer and sickle are symbols
of communism and socialism.
The hammer symbolises urban industrial
workers while the sickle symbolises agricultural
workers (peasants) who together, as the
Proletarian class, form the state.