What Methods Did Stalin Use to Maintain Power?

Bothina ElkazzazAyanna Edwards

Akiera Davis

Overview...

We will analyze 3 methods used by Stalin.• Cult of Personality• Propaganda• GeneralissimoThey were all used by Stalin to essentially improve his public Image.

Cult of Personality

● What is it?o A cult of personality occurs when a leader uses

propaganda to create a heroic image.● It’s not really a bad thing!

o It is used often by many leaders however Stalin took it to extremes.

Cult of PersonalityExample: Our government often uses propaganda to make Obama appear heroic and to give the country hope. BUT we do not force the public to worship him or ban religion.

Cult of Personality

● How Stalin took it too far…o If you were not completely devoted to Stalin you were killedo Books & Music he didn’t like were bannedo No Religion could be practicedo No Free Press

People did not see the bad things happening under Stalin’s rule, so they thought he was a saint!

o He renamed the city Tsaritsyn after himself. In 1925 it became Stalingrad.

Overall, Stalin made it impossible to see anything he did not want you to see.

Cult of Personality

This picture was used to make Stalin appear as a sort of paternal figure.The girl in the picture was later sent to a labor camp by Stalin himself.

Cult of Personality

Thank you, Stalin. Thank you because I am joyful. Thank you because I am well. No matter how old I become, I shall never forget how we received Stalin two days ago. centuries will pass, and the generations still to come will regard us as the happiest of mortals, as the most fortunate of men, because we lived in the century of centuries, because we were privileged to see Stalin, our inspired leader. Yes, and we regard ourselves as the happiest of mortals because we are the contemporaries of a man who never had an equal in world history.The men of all ages will call on thy name, which is strong, beautiful, wise and marvelous. Thy name is engraven on every factory, every machine, every place on the earth, and in the hearts of all men.Every time I have found myself in his presence I have been subjugated by his strength, his charm, his grandeur. I have experienced a great desire to sing, to cry out, to shout with joy and happiness. And now see me--me!--on the same platform where the Great Stalin stood a year ago. In what country, in what part of the world could such a thing happen.I write books. I am an author. All thanks to thee, O great educator, Stalin. I love a young woman with a renewed love and shall perpetuate myself in my children--all thanks to thee, great educator, Stalin. I shall be eternally happy and joyous, all thanks to thee, great educator, Stalin. Everything belongs to thee, chief of our great country. And when the woman I love presents me with a child the first word it shall utter will be : Stalin.O great Stalin, O leader of the peoples,Thou who broughtest man to birth.Thou who fructifies the earth,Thou who restorest to centuries,Thou who makest bloom the spring,Thou who makest vibrate the musical chords...Thou, splendour of my spring, O thou,Sun reflected by millions of hearts.

Written by Russian Author AO Avdienko This shows how the general public worshipped Stalin as a sort of Pagan God.

So… How did Stalin use the COP to maintain power?The COP worked in many ways. Because of Stalin’s complete control of all outside sources, nobody saw Stalin’s bad side, they only saw the hero he portrayed in his propaganda. They could not practice religion, so who better to worship than the man who blessed them all? If they did know how Stalin truly was, they still worshipped him for fear of being exiled.

Propaganda

Stalin Used many methods to control the people. He used fear on the people

that they learned not to say what they meant or what was actually on their

minds, but to only speak about certain things.

The Soviet propaganda was later found everywhere. There were a lot of

posters throughout the towns and villages. Most movies had a propaganda

message in them. Also, all plays and other artworks had to be produced using

the Socialist Realism Style. Propaganda was a powerful weapon used by

Stalin.

Propaganda

Stalin used propaganda to build himself up in the eyes of the public and improve his image. He had cities named in his honor, and Soviet history books were rewritten to show him in a more favorable light. Stories in the history books showed that he played a prominent role in the revolution of the Soviet Union and gave him an almost mythological standing in other aspects of his life. Stalin controlled the Soviet media and made sure any artwork, literature or music about him was complimentary. He also had his name added to the Soviet national anthem.

Propaganda

Because Stalin was able to put a stop to all opposing info sources, you mainly only saw the propaganda that he put out. This allowed him to

portray himself in a positive light and others negatively.

Russia’s Citizens are either ignorant to the truth or afraid to take a stand.

Generalissimo• Generalissimus of the Soviet Union -

military rank created on June 27, 1945,

following the tradition of the Imperial

Russian Army. It was granted to Joseph

Stalin following World War II. Highest

Military Rank.

• Stalin was a commander during the Civil

War in 1919/20's. He had an extensive

military carreer dating from pre-ww2.

Generalissimo

● He never left Russia, as so, he had a very good knowledge of the country and therefore was

always put at work at a public level. Organising the party pre-Revolution and after, military

commander in the field during the civil war (unlike Trotsky, who was a bureacrat fighting from his

office), etc.

● All these claims of Stalin being an incompetent military leader and that he only took control of

the military for his own power mongering are a set of lies.

Essentially, The government could use Stalin’s Generalissmo title to make him seem like even

more of a hero. (Ties into cult of personality somewhat)