We'll continue examining the changes that take place in Russia (by now the Soviet Union) during the rule of Joseph Stalin. Tomorrow, we'll shift our attention to China in the years between the World Wars.
After Lenin: If you didn't get enough on him yesterday, consult the Lenin Internet Archive. After having been shot and later suffering a series of strokes, Lenin died in 1924. The leading candidates to replace Lenin as leader of the Communist Party were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Despite Lenin's "Testament" and caution that Stalin "has concentrated enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution," Stalin gained total command of the Communist Party by 1928.
Stalin's Russia: We'll consider a number of aspects of Stalin's rule today. As a backdrop, keep in mind that this is perhaps the best example of a totalitarian state in the 20th century.
Here are the key traits of totalitarianism as listed in the text:
- Dynamic Leader
- Ideology
- State Control of Individuals
- Methods of Enforcement
- Modern Technology
- State Control of Society
- Dictatorship and One-Party Rule
Think about how Stalin uses these various traits in creating and sustaining his rule.
Let's get started with an overview of Stalin's rule with a quick DBQ activity - "Stalin: Evaluation of His Leadership."
In addition, here are a few things we need to be sure we touch on:
- rise to power - feud with Trotsky
- Industrialization - Five-Year Plans
- Collectivization - kulaks
- Great Purge - the "Great Terror"
- Cult of Personality
I'll show you some images from the book, The Commissar Vanishes as well. Here is a website that shows you some images from the book.
Here are those other links from yesterday's blog entry:
Interviewing the Russians: If time permits, we'll try to close with one more activity. I'll give you a card with an identity and some key points on it. You'll pair up with another "person" and interview each other. Each of you should, in character, ask questions of the other character. (I'd recommend swapping cards while doing this to help you think of questions.
Here are the roles:
- Nicholas II
- Soldier at the front in 1916
- Alexander Kerensky
- Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov (Lenin)
- Priest of the Orthodox Church
- Worker of the Petrograd Soviet
- Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Trotsky)
- Joseph Dzhugashvili (Stalin)
Note that the dates next to their names on the cards are NOT their life spans. It typically is referring to their time in power.
HOMEWORK for tomorrow - Friday, January 23rd
Finish up your reading in Chapter 30 with Section 4, "Nationalism in India and Southwest Asia." (pp. 887 - 891)
