James Pham

Practice Essay Stalinism as Totalitarianism

To what extent was the USSR under Stalin a totalitarian state between 1928 and 1941? The USSR under Stalin between 1928 and 1941 was to a large extent a totalitarian state as it had an extremely centralized government with control over society. This was due in great part to Stalin and the Communist Partys actions, fulfilling most elements of the Friedrich-Brzezinski model for totalitarianism; with some exceptions due to varying local implementation of central policy. This can be evidenced by the centralization of state power in three clear areas: over the soviet population, the economy and political power. Stalin and the Partys controls over the USSR population greatly exemplify totalitarianism as they show the use of secret police and laws to control popular opinion. This is supported by the Friedrich-Brzezinski model, created using evidence from Stalinism and Nazi Germany, as it evidences an effective use of a secret police and enforced adherence to an official ideology. One primary example of this was Stalins policy of dekulakisation, which aimed to liquidate the Kulaks as a class in order to remove rural opposition through weakening the power of the peasantry using the secret police force, the NKVD. In theory, this perfectly exemplifies totalitarianism as it uses police terror against an arbitrarily selected class of the population to weaken the peasantry through cultivating a fear of the state. However, in reality this led to local officials growing dizzy with success and use excess force due to pent up class rage meaning that the terror was not systematic. Another example was Stalins Great Retreat of Values, through which he imposed on society his traditional views and values. This was through reverting Lenins previous empowering reforms; such as the criminalization of homosexuality in 1933, the banning of abortion in 1936 and emphasizing the nuclear family and its importance. While this fulfills the models forced adherence to an official ideology, that of Stalins values, they was not intended to result in the 'perfect final stage of mankind', as they reverted from Leninist changes in that direction to suit Stalin. Stalins exertion of power over the soviet people can therefore be seen as being totalitarian as it utilized secret police and laws to control public opinion, although with some limits. This was due to the fact that while they implemented social controls, they were not necessarily to create a perfect society nor were they entirely centrally managed similar to attempts to do so in industry. The Partys increase in controls over the soviet economy also greatly evidence a totalitarian state through showing attempts made by Stalin to centralize control over economic production. This alone was a criterion under the model for totalitarianism, due to the importance of a planned economy. One primary method to accomplish this was to increase control over agriculture through replacing the peasant farms with state run collectives increasing state control over the agricultural sector of the economy, after disasters such as the procurements crisis of 1928. This was extremely successful for the Party as it placed the 25 million individual peasant farms of 1928 with 250 000 collectives in 1938, resulting in increased state power over agriculture evidenced by the simultaneous drops in production levels and increase in procurements. This exemplifies totalitarianism as it shows complete state control over the agricultural sector of the economy in terms of production and direction. The state also attempted to impose a similar control over industry through means such as strict industrial quotas and

James Pham goals, as well as centralizing the administrative aspect of industry rather than leaving it to the individual factory managers. While in theory this exemplifies totalitarianism through state control of industry, by managing administration and the creation of an impetus for increased productivity through the quotas, in reality it limited state control. This was due to the administrative complexity of managing industry resulting in very little actual control of the economys industrial sector; meaning that there was great room for managers to interpret central plans. These show how the Partys increased controls over the soviet economy, through exerting Party power over its two greatest aspects agriculture and industry, in theory epitomize a totalitarian state, but its actual implementation varied. While collectivisation ensured state power over agriculture, attempts to do so in industry reduced control as administrative complexity resulted in great leeway for local interpretation. Stalins centralization of political power, unlike the social and economic areas, perfectly embodies a totalitarian state with its establishment of an extremely powerful single mass Party. This fulfills the model as it resulted in a single political party interwoven with state bureaucracy through means such as the Cult of Personality and the show trials. The Cult of Personality was crucial in creating and maintaining a totalitarian state as it manipulated media, a prerequisite for totalitarianism according to the model, in order to create mass support for the Stalin and Communist ideology. The manipulation of media, particularly the use of propaganda, achieved this through completely reforming public opinion by deifying Stalin and Lenin to subvert idolatry of the Tsar, and also to shift the worship of the church to Communism itself ensuring absolute support for the Party. The survival of the totalitarian regime was also ensured by the various show trials, which allowed them to eliminate internal opposition and present themselves as the only political party. This was through publically executing those that they deemed a threat: such as the Old Bolsheviks, advocates for alternative socialist methods and even high rank military officers accused of treason justifying it by forcing them to admit, sometimes through torture, that they were Trotskyite counter revolutionaries.' This played a crucial role in the maintenance of totalitarianism in the USSR as it ensured an absolute monopoly over the armed forces, as according to the model a true totalitarian regime would have supreme control over the military. The show trials also eventually resulted in the Communist Party being the only political party through eliminating alternatives leading to control of the state belonging to a single party. Stalins political controls thus complete epitomize totalitarianism as they created a single mass party; with extreme media controls and the show trials ensuring mass support of the Party and its ideology and no political opposition. Stalins USSR between the period 1928 and 1941 was thus to a great extent a totalitarian state due to his creation of a state with extremely centralized control over all aspects of soviet society. This meant that it fulfilled all aspects of the Friedrich-Brzezinski model, despite some discrepancies when comparing with the actual implementation of central polices. This centralization of power is clearly evident in three clear areas of soviet society: the social controls, the economic administration, and the amassing of political power. 1094 words