Stalin
- Born in Gori, Georgia in 1879
- Was a revolutionary from a young age
- Met Lenin in 1905
- Became General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party in 1918
- When Lenin died in 1924 he pushing out Trotsky then expelled all of Lenin's close companions
- Established himself as dictator
- Used the press and pictures make himself look like Russia's greatest leader
http://marxistleninist.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/lenin-stalin-china.jpg http://static.businessinsider.com/image/5076d95ceab8ea0f0200002c/image.jpg
Stalin and Lenin
Stalin and Lenin became very close as they came to power. They were best friends, creating their own version of Marxism, or Communism, to give them the most power. After Lenin's death, Stalin took advantage of it by creating Lenin into a god. In Lenin's will, he left the country to Trotsky, after seeing that Stalin was going too far. Stalin had it covered up and took Trotsky out of the picture by telling him the wrong date of Lenin's funeral, making him look like he didn't support Lenin. Stalin took advantage of the people's love of Lenin, he even had Lenin's body embalmed making his death bed a sacred place. He told them he thought the same way as Lenin, but after he gained their trust, went back against Lenin's views. He manipulated the media and the press to make him look like the greatest leader Russia has ever had by having pictures of himself everywhere, even changing textbook and school curriculum to idolize him and learn about Communism. While he was changing the textbooks, he took credit for the reform of Russia's economic condition under Lenin's rule, stealing the credit for Lenin.
Other Dictators
- Adolf Hitler - Germany
- Benito Mussolini - Italy
- Julius Caesar - Ancient Rome
- Omar al-Bashir - Sudan
- Giuseppe Garibaldi - Italy
- Kim Jong-il - North Korea
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history/pictures/communist-leaders/kim-il-sung-founder-of-north-korea-chats-with-his-son-kim-jong-il-at-a-mass-rally-in-pyongyang-in-this-september-1983-photo - this link shows pictures of dictators from the past and today.
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1366129547&disposition=inline - this link shows a student at Ohio States's final thesis and is very insightful and interesting.
Work Cited
South African History Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/
stalinism-grade-11-south-african-history-online>.
<http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/
stalinism-grade-11-south-african-history-online>.
History. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/
cold-war/cold-war-history/pictures/communist-leaders/
kim-il-sung-founder-of-north-korea-chats-with-his-son-kim-jong-il-at-a-mass-rally
-in-pyongyang-in-this-september-1983-photo>.
cold-war/cold-war-history/pictures/communist-leaders/
kim-il-sung-founder-of-north-korea-chats-with-his-son-kim-jong-il-at-a-mass-rally
-in-pyongyang-in-this-september-1983-photo>.
Dreeze, Jonathon R., B.A. On the Creation of Gods: Lenin’s Image in Stalin’s
Cult of Personality. 2014. etd file.
Cult of Personality. 2014. etd file.
It was beneficial to the reader with the overview of Stalin to give some background of his early life and career. Mentioning the relationship between Stalin and Lenin really gave a better idea of what was going through Stalin's mind during his rise to power. After the death of Lenin, Stalin depicted Lenin as a god to the people of Russia. I find it amazing how even after reading that Lenin left the state of the country to Trotsky, Stalin still took over. He was able to use the media to gain the love of the people. He was also able to get rid of all evidence that Lenin left the country to Trotsky.
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ReplyDeleteThe video in the beginning was very helpful in understanding the godlike image Stalin was seen as. The relationship between Stalin and Lenin was very helpful in understanding Stalins motives when making Lenin appear as a godlike image. It is sad that he would use a dead man to help rise in the ranks of Russian politics. It was also helpful that you had the bullet points underneath the video to give a general understanding of Stalins life. I liked how you included the other dictators other than Stalin giving us an idea of who Stalin would be compared to.
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with some of this because my project involved knowing some stuff about the cult of personality. In your blog, I learned that Lenin died in 1924, Stalin expelled all of his closest friends and companions. I found it pretty interesting that Stalin basically turned Lenin into a God after he died in 1924. They were very close friends and created their own version of Communism from Marxism. I also found it interesting that Stalin stole credit for Lenin's reform of Russia's economic condition. He did this when he changed all the textbooks. I liked how you explained how close Lenin and Stalin were.
ReplyDeleteI like the blog a lot, it gives great information that actually applies to the cult of personality. I find it amazing that people credited him with things that were clearly impossible, like single handily winning WWII. Also, the people "loved" him so much that no one wanted to be the first to stop clapping. Stalin had the textbooks changed to make him look like the best leader in Russian history. That just goes to show how desperate he was to be in power and that he would go as far as changing history to make him look great. He was smart about it too, how he used the media to his advantage. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started off your blog with a video to engage your audience. The video gave good examples that helped me to understand what the cult of personality was. The bullet points under your video were also very helpful because it gave some quick background information about Stalin. I found it interesting that Stalin preserved Lenin's body and created the idea of a scared Lenin, only to later go against his ideas. I enjoyed learning about Stalins power and the way he could manipulate the people. It was amazing how he could alter textbooks and people thought that he was responsible for the reform of the Russian economy. Your blog was informative and the video had good examples.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Heidi, it taught me a lot about Stalin and Lenin. I did not know how close Stalin and Lenin were. If Lenin had not died it would have been very interesting how all the power would have effected the two of them. Without knowing their past Stalin's idea to make Lenin a god was crazy to me.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that Stalin and Lenin were such good friends, or that Lenin ended up giving control to Trotsky. It is amazing how good at manipulation Stalin was and managed not only to cover up how Lenin gave Trotsky power, but to then use propaganda to put himself in power. Stalin was able to take over the country, and then used his power to create an image of himself as a god. Stalin controlled all forms of media and was able make people think of him as a god to give him ultimate power over Russia. The article also had a segment comparing Stalin to other dictators who like him were able to gain complete control.
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