Matt Deighan May 9, 2013
Euro. History Essay Questions

Joseph Stalin was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from the 1920’s-1953. After the death of Vladimir Lenin he took power by having any of his opposition assassinated therefore leaving nobody to rule but him. He was a very paranoid man that trusted almost no one and if you ever did something better than him or not good enough he would have you killed. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union through communism bringing everything under government control and not allowing the people to own anything. Everyone lived in a classless society with very strict rules. He brought the agricultural society under government control and forced all peasants to farm on government owned collectives where they would need to produce a certain amount of goods in a short period of time to increase exports. These quotas were nearly impossible to meet and if they were not met you would be executed. Even if the quotas were met and you produced more than needed you would be executed for showing that you were better than what he wanted. Wealthy farmers known as kulaks were thought to burn their grain and kill their livestock to rebel against Stalin’s harsh demands. This was put to an end quickly and all kulaks were sent to labor camps with unbearable working conditions. To avoid any future problems like this Stalin created a secret police group to spy on families, farmers, and industrial workers to make sure they