Joseph Stalin as the Most Influential Person of the 20th Century (Free Essay Sample)

“Some 10 million peasants may have perished through Stalin’s policies during these years. “ (Britannica.com).  From defeating the Axis to slaughtering innocent civilians Joseph (Dzhugashvili ) Stalin is the most positively and negatively influential person of the 20th century.  Joseph finally helped the Allied Forces win WW2 against the Axis Powers by turning against the Axis. He brought the Soviet Union to greater power by industrializing it rapidly in a violent manner. Stalin led Russia after the Russian civil war of 1918 following the fall of the Russian Monarchy. After the Russian Monarchy fell and the Russian Civil War erupted in 1918, Joseph swiftly took over the Bolsheviks and became the leader of the Soviet Republics.

After the fall of  the Russian Monarchy and the Russian Civil war of 1918 Stalin soon took over the Bolsheviks and became the leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin began to experience revolutionary revolts, so he started to read revolutionary texts while he was in a seminary. Consequently, “he was expelled for being a radical” (https://www.ducksters.com). Joseph was caught reading revolutionary texts causing him to get expelled from his seminary in Tbilisi, Georgia.  Dzhugashvili changed the name of the party in which he would later come to power  from the Bolsheviks to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union  in 1925,  as Britannica.com states, “At this congress the name of the party was changed to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)”  (Britannica.com).  As a result of the party's name change the Russian Monarchy and the provisional government fell, starting a long Stalinist regime. Joseph wanted to spread the Russian Empire’s culture following the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922 to furthermore increase the population of ethnic Russians in Soviet territories, accordingly Britannica.com states “During the 1930s and ’40s he promoted certain aspects of Russian history, some Russian national and cultural heroes, and the Russian language” (Britannica.com).  As a direct result of Stalin spreading Russian Culture many ethnic Russians are still residing in post-Soviet countries including: Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and more. Stalin increased the might of the Soviet Union greatly through the use of propaganda, force, and sheer power.

Dzhugashvili elevated the Soviet Union to a higher strength by swiftly and violently industrializing it. Stalin needed workers for his rapidly increasing number of factories, As he possessed a heart of stone he did ungodly deeds to achieve his goals. Consequently,  “Hundreds of thousands of these deportees, many of them children, ended up in labor colonies”  (McCollum 59). Joseph had clearly used up all of his workers that were adults , therefore he began to ship in tons of children and civilians on railroads to forcefully compel them to work in labor colonies that were called “Gulags”. Russia’s crumbling economy needed a revamp, Stalin clearly had something in mind therefore he planned to construct a proposition, and as Encyclopedia.com states, his proposition went something along the lines of,  “short periods of twelve to fifteen years, an economically backward agrarian country achieved rapid economic growth, created a more modern industrial sector, and acquired new technologies that changed” (encyclopedia.com). Stalin’s plan was to create deranged production quotas for “economic” periods which would be met with harsh punishments if they were not reached, but in Stalin’s eyes it was for the prosperity of the U.S.S.R.  Stalin audibly had a plan to bring stupendous power to the U.S.S.R , he  decided that it would be best for his country to overtake the western nations both technologically and economically as fast as possible, Home.csulf.edu states,  “That is good. But it is not enough. In order to secure the final victory of socialism in our country, we must also overtake and outstrip these countries technically and economically. Either we do this, or we shall be forced to the wall” (https://home.csulb.edu).  Stalin’s  “Great” plan of rapid industrialization would end up working, but without sacrifice causing vast damage to Stalin’s reputation.  Dzhugashvili assisted in the Allies' victory over the axis powers in World War 2 by turning against the Axis after they invaded the Soviet Territory. 

By turning against the Axis, Stalin aided in the Allies' win in WWII against the Axis Powers. While WWII was raging out Stalin was working on his plan of rapid industrialization in the Soviet Republics .According to Britannica.com, “ It is now clear that Stalin had no intention of becoming involved militarily” (Britannica.com). Stalin wanted his country to become a superpower without getting into many conflicts unlike the United States.Unfortunately, the eastern European Soviet Republics started to be occupied by German forces. So Stalin needed to become involved in order to protect his people. The Red Army finally joined the fight against the Axis in 1941 after the Third Reich launched an attack on Soviet territory. The Red Army was able to repel the attack as according to nationalarchives.gov.uk,  “The USSR became strong enough to help defeat Germany during World War 2 and after the war was one of the most powerful nations”  (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk). Stalin’s rapid industrialization gave the U.S.S.R a chance to fight off the Third Reich, and as a result of Stalin getting involved in the war the allied powers won; many sources say that without the help of the Soviet Republics the Axis would have won WWII. The Soviets were a key component of the Allied Powers’ win in WWII, but that did not come without a cost , consequently Britannica.com states that, “Soviet estimates of deaths due to the war ran well over 20 million, 8 to 9 million of them soldiers.” (Britannica.com). Although the Allied forces still came out on top it did not come without sacrifice, Stalin had lost an insane amount of his men who would later be crowned as heroes. In closing Joseph (Dzhugashvili) Stalin is the most negatively and positively influential person of the 20th century. 

Joseph (Dzhugashvili ) Stalin is the most assuredly and antagonistically influential person of the 20th century. Stalin aided in the Allied Powers’ win against the Third Reich in World War 2. He brought great power to the Soviet Republics by implementing periods of “rapid” industrialization. Dzhugashvili led the Bolsheviks after the fall of Czar Nicholas III’s regime. “ After saints in prison and several escapes, Stalin was liberated by the revolution” (encyclopedia.com).