Stalin s rise was based on two principals. The first was his theories of socialism, and the second was his alignment with the right. The first pillar of Stalin was his idea of “Socialism in one country.” This concept was an innovation on an idea that Lenin had started, Lenin said that socialism could start in Russia, but Stalin extend this thought to say that not only could socialism begin in Russia, but it could also be completed in Russia. Russia was a vast country rich in natural resources. Stalin felt that by drawing on Russia s potential growth and protected by its size, the task was accomplishable. Too many this idea seemed ludicrous, but Stalin was unwavering. He truly believed that if left in peace, Russia would have no problem completing this revolution. The second pillar was Stalin s alignment with the right. The alignment was a tactical move, since Trotsky and his allies were of the Left. With his alignment, Stalin placed himself in a position to eliminate his opposition. That is exactly what he did, and with the elimination of the left Stalin had created an unmatched power base. He had finally obtained total dictatorial power over Russia. Russia was about to embark on the age of Stalinism.
The final ingredient to Stalin s rise was his personality. Stalin was a cruel and ruthless individual. He had a vision and that was to obtain total power and control by any means necessary. He did not care who he hurt, what he had to do, or the consequences of his actions. Rather Stalin did what was necessary to obtain control and eliminate the opposition. Trotsky did not have this type of demeanor, and it cost him. Stalin was not afraid to attack Trotsky with everything he had. He used all his knowledge, as well as his ability to bully other into agreement, as a means of eliminating people such as Trotsky and Zinoviev. Such a demeanor has caused many to criticize Stalin. His demeanor allowed Stalin to shape Russia into one of the most powerful nations in the world. When Stalin died, he died as the most powerful man in the world. He also died as the one of the greatest mass murderers in history.
Accomplishments
Stalin s greatest accomplishment was his creation of “Mother Russia.” Lenin had created a strong Communist Russia, but Stalin created a machine. He created a Russia that would become the most powerful Communist nation in the world. Directly after World War II and through the better part of the twentieth century, Russia was only rivaled by the United States in power and military strength. Stalin s theories and personal quest for unlimited power had created the Russia that countries came to fear. Also, since Stalin was so ruthless, there was little opposition within his own country. Very simply, when Stalin spoke, everyone sat up and listened. His demeanor seemed to be symbolic of the new demeanor of Russia.
His second accomplishment was his military tactics during World War II. In 1941 the prosperity of the Nazis’ initial thrust into Russia could be accounted for in part by the disposal of the Red Army on the frontiers, ready to invade rather than repel invasion. Stalin’s strategy followed the traditional Muscovite pattern of plugging gaps in the defenses with more and more bodies and trading space for time in which imposing climatic conditions could whittle away the opponents’ strength. Sustained by material furnished by Britain an the United States, the Red Army responded to Stalin’s call to defend not the principles of Marx and Engels, but “Mother Russia.”
The third accomplishment of Stalin was his ability to exploit the unwarranted Anglo-American fear that Russia might get out of the war, Stalin easily outwitted the allied leaders of the Teheran and Yalta Conferences. With the Red Army’s invasion of German soil, Soviet soldiers were encouraged to penetrate far beyond the point where they had last been employed. Thus Stalin’s dominance of the Potsdam Conference, followed by the premature break up of the Anglo-American forces, left Stalin with a territory enlarged by more 180,0000 square miles which, with satellites, increased the Soviet sphere of influence by more than 760,00 square miles. While Stalin consolidated his gains an “iron curtain” was dropped to cut off Soviet Russia and her satellites from the outside world. At the same time, a Cold War ensued between east and west.
Downfall
An entirely unscrupulous man, Stalin consistently manipulated Communist imperialism for the greater glory of Soviet Russia and the strengthening of his own person as autocrat. He died, in somewhat mysterious circumstances, in 1953. Unlike Hitler, Stalin did not lose his grip on power. Stalin was able to retain and even expand his power up to his final days.
Comparative Analysis
The previous part of this paper has explained how both Hitler and Stalin achieved their power, some of their finest accomplishments, as well as the way they lost their power. Now it is time to look at each one’s claim to being the more effective leader. The facts will be presented, and a case study of both Hitler and Stalin will be completed. Then on the basis of these facts, a conclusion will be drawn to answer the question set forth at the beginning of this paper. Who was the more effective leader? There are many things to be considered as to what makes a leader effective. One criterion is results. Does the end result look like the vision the leader set forth? Then there is the leader s vision, intelligence, charisma, and luck. There are other qualities that leaders have, but these are the ones that this paper will look at.
Hitler
Hitler rose to power in Germany on the wave of change. Unlike many others in this time period, Germany was in a sad state of affairs. Hitler s rise took place during the interwar period, and Germany had been punished greatly for her part in World War I. The allies and the Treaty of Versailles left Germany devastated, and in a state of chaos. One of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles was that then Prince Max would hand Germany s government over to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert was a Social Democrat of the far left, and this led to many problems. He was open to attacks from all people on the right, and most Germans were also very unhappy with their situation after World War I. Since Ebert was in power, regardless of if it was his fault or not, most German s blamed him for their situation. While the discontent and civil disobedience were occurring, Hitler was rising. It was during this time that Hitler was expanding his education and joined the German Workers Party, who would later change their name to the Nazi Party. . Once Hitler had gained the power in his own party he moved to the national stage. After Hitler was in power he played on the emotions of his followers. Hitler realized that a vast majority of Germany was very dissatisfied with their position. Therefore Hitler s battle cry was “Germany Awake” a very nationalistic cry. This was the beginning of the peaceful revolt that was led by Hitler. Soon through elections Hitler was able to seize power in the German Parliament. However after the elections in 1933, we truly saw Hitler s disposition. He used an underhanded trick to seize power from any opposition.
Hitler was a very ambitious person. He never wanted to take a step backwards. It was always forward, forward, forward. It was once joked that Hitler did not know the meaning of the word conservative. The fact that he would not take a back step to anybody was very evident in
every step he took. One example was when the results of the 1933 election returned. The Nazis only won 44% of the vote and were forced to compromise with someone else. Hitler did not want this, he wanted total control. The result was a Kroll Opera House under siege, and the Reichstag decreeing Hitler the chief commander of Germany. Another example to look at is World War I. When Hitler invaded Russia, he attacked hard and pushed forward. Even though a harsh Russian winter was starting, Hitler continued forward. In reality Stalin was allowing Hitler in, and ad decided to let the winter kill the Nazis. The problem is that Hitler did not notice this and he pushed forward. In the end, this motivation to always move forward, killed the Nazis chances in Russia. This defeat was one of the worst for the Nazis, and started to spell the end of World War II.
Hitler had some truly great qualities as a leader. He did have vision, intelligence, charisma, and was a bit lucky. First of all was Hitler s vision, and actually he had two visions. There was a vision that the German population saw at first, then there was he second, personal vision. The first vision was to gain complete power of the German government, and the second was complete world domination by his Nazi Party. Both vision were very ambitious and they both had one important quality. Hitler was able to garner support for each vision. The first vision was very relevant to the people because they wanted to expel the current government. Hitler and the Nazis were the change the rest of Germany had been looking for. This was the first of many situations where Hitler was lucky. The discontent with the interwar government made it much easier for Hitler to garner power. Since the present government was disliked, all that was required of Hitler was to present the Nazi party as the best of the alternatives, and that he did.
Also Hitler had great charisma. One of the greatest and most useful qualities of a leader is the ability to speak well, and to motivate his constituents and followers. Hitler was able to do this. He was one of the greatest speakers in the world. He had a quality and character that sparked enthusiasm in everyone that watch him speak. Another quality that aided Hitler with his oratory skills was his appearance. Hitler was about 5 9″ and around 155 pounds. This was not a very imposing figure, but rather people were able to identify with Hitler and his ideas. When one can identify with a leader and feel like he is one of us, it makes it that much easier for the leader to lead. People are more willing to follow someone that they can identify with. Hitler was also very emotional when he spoke. He looked like he believed wholeheartedly in everything he said and did. Along with his charisma was Hitler s intelligence. He was smarter than an average person, and he always liked education. He practiced his speaking skills and learned the knowledge that would later become so useful in his motivational speeches.
Now Hitler did have the qualities of a leader, but he also had some circumstances that aided in his rise and retention of power. First of all there was the German population at large. This was a group of people that wanted change. They wanted and were willing to be led. The state of German affairs was dismal after World War I. The allies truly wanted to cripple Germany, in order to assure that a war of such magnitude would never happen again. The problem was that the Allied actions only backed Germany into a corner. A sense of national pride and unity. Germany reacted to this situation like any wild animal backed into a corner would. They decided to fight, and th