What were the central features of Stalinism in Eastern Europe?

Résumé du document

The term "Stalinism" refers to the brutal dictatorship which lasted from 1927 to 1953 in Russia and Eastern European countries. Although he was the leader of Soviet Russia, Stalin soon became the dictator of a Soviet Union which had expanded to most of Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Stalin in conjunction with the Western leaders rapidly divided up the spheres of influence of the victors of WWII. These agreements took place during unofficial meetings, such those conducted during Churchill's visit to Stalin in October 1944, or official ones, such as the Yalta or the Potsdam meetings, in February and June 1945 respectively. By the end of Potsdam, Eastern Europe was almost completely converted into a satellite. Soon the Stalinist system applied to Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland too. Stalin's government has been defined as "A totalizing system, legitimized in terms of perfection, managed by convinced utopians and backed up by terror". This paper will elaborate on the central features of Stalinism in Eastern Europe.

Extraits

[...] This was reflected in the Stakhanovism phenomenon for example. Stakhanovite was a miner representing extraordinary and zealous work and the superiority of the Soviet worker, and was often referred to as a hero of the Soviet Union. This was the dynamic aspect of Stalinism, and had repercussions on all the population, with for example the introduction of electrification throughout the soviet union. Industrial production was greatly increased through targets set by the party in its 5 year-plans. For example in Hungary during the second 5-year plan, between 1950 and 1954, the aim was to increase the output by 204%. [...]

[...] Although ideally, the state was supposed to wither away once socialism had been established, Stalin argued that there was still some need for government control notably in the fields of distribution, even once he had declared socialism had been reached in Stalinism thus represents a communist ideology, with some variants in its practice. The political system under Stalin was hierarchical and disciplined, with Stalin gradually attaining the status of a in the USSR. All leaders of Eastern Europe were under orders from above. [...]

[...] This illustrates the party's refusal to acknowledge the fact agricultural work necessitates certain skills for it to be efficient. This led to strong resentment amongst the rural population, and passive resistance such as the slaughter of animals, refusal to produce anymore than absolutely necessary and other such actions of non-cooperation. Through the intervention of the State in the economy we can see that the egalitarianism ideal claimed by the communist ideology is not respected. In the economic field, the model of the male 3 metallurgist worker is clearly elevated above the rest of the working population. [...]

[...] This led to repression and terror. Through purges, purges, deportations etc . Stalin is responsible for the greatest genocide in history with between 9 and 12 million deaths through enforced collectivization and modernization of the first five year plan (19281933) million deaths with the Great Purge (and another 5 to 9 million arrested and deported), and the mass executions of thousands during 1937-1938, many of whom were communist party members . The coercive power was strongly used in the political sphere. [...]

[...] What were the central features of Stalinism in Eastern Europe? The term “Stalinism” refers to the brutal dictatorship which lasted from 1927 to 1953 in Russia and Eastern European countries. Although he was the leader of Soviet Russia, after the Second World War Stalin soon became the dictator of a Soviet Union which had expanded to most of Eastern Europe. Indeed Stalin along with the Western leaders, rapidly divided up the spheres of influence of the victors of WWII, during unofficial meetings, such as in Churchill's visit to Stalin in October 1944, or official ones, such as the Yalta or the Potsdam meetings, in February and June 1945 respectively. [...]